Maine Books

This first novel was good enough to keep me reading late into the night while my wife, usually the late reader, had gone to sleep. In fact, one night I stopped reading, turned out the lights and then tossed and turned for an hour trying to figure out where the novel was going (that's a compliment, not a criticism). The author, Terry Shaw, provides several misdirections that make you want to read the next chapter. I didn't see the ending coming--and that's how a good mystery should proceed. (I'm passing the novel on to my neighbors, who once lived in Maine.)

I can see Tom Seleck as editor John Quinn in a made-for-TV movie. I hope Terry is working on a sequel.

This is a fast paced, page turning first novel by an up and coming writer. From the first sentence to the very end Mr. Shaw keeps the readers attention. There are a few twists and turns to the tale, until you reach the end and find out who 'really done it'. And it wasn't the butler. I hope to read many more by Mr. Shaw in the future. This is a promising new author, with a bright future ahead.

Terry has the writing skills to create settings and scenes that welcome the reader to come right in. It's like being there as a witness to the crime. The prologue is a fine example of that. He brings you to the crime scene at the park with such force that the image of it stays throughout the book until the suspense of who-done-it finally surfaces. We have not heard the last of Terry Shaw.

This book is a great page-turner! I could not put it down once I started reading this novel. The author paints vivid scenes of a small-town murder mystery. This book definatly kept me wanting to read chapter after chapter, from begining to end. Read it!!

Shortly after submitting the first chapter of my novel in the Next Great Crime Writer Contest, I wondered just how good (or not so good) a former Gather.com contest winner's novel might be. When I learned that Terry Shaw's "The Way Life Should Be" had won the First Chapters Writing Competition, I decided to check it out. I requested a copy as a Christmas present from my wife and it was with great anticipation that I began reading Terry's novel the following day.

From the chilling prologue to the last page, I was very impressed with this book - having promptly forgotten I was reading a first-time published novel. Instead, I found myself drawn into this story about newspaper editor John Quinn and his search for the truth surrounding the murder of his childhood friend, Paul Stanwood.

Quinn, along with his wife and young son, has recently moved back to his hometown of Stone Harbor, Maine. The story begins with the mysterious murder of his friend in the bathhouse of a local park where gays have been known to hang out in search of some action. The local politics of the small town becomes blatantly apparent when Quinn realizes that very little is being done to track down Paul Stanwood's killer. This general apathy and lack of progress in the investigation thereby prompts Quinn to set out on his own to unravel the truth.

The most endearing qualities of this mystery novel are Shaw's keen skill at characterization and its solid story line. John Quinn is an intriguing protagonist with many layers to his personal and public persona. We see these layers stripped away piece by piece as Quinn struggles to come to grips with the loss of Paul and his struggle to find his killer amidst the allegations being made about his lifelong friend.

Quinn encounters a host of memorable characters throughout his one-man investigation including the arrogant police chief Al Sears, Paul Stanwood's grieving widow Lizzy, and her father-in-law Angus Stanwood. The story moves along smoothly with a lot of twists and turns, never failing to keep the reader engrossed and entertained.

After finishing "The Way Life Would Be," I felt that rare sensation one gets after reading a really good work of fiction. I was sorry to see it end and at the same time couldn't wait to read the author's next book. I also couldn't wait to contact Terry and tell him how much I enjoyed his first published novel. As an unpublished author, I felt inspired and motivated after witnessing firsthand how these writing competitions can yield such positive results.

To say that I recommend "The Way Life Should Be" is an understatement. You owe it to yourself to discover just how good this First Chapter's Writing Competition winning submission truly is!

This book was informative. I learned alot about depression and eating habits and hormones! He wrote the book as if he was sitting across from you and actually talking to you. He covers alot of scientific material in a way that doesn't bog you down. Great job!

First, I bought the book because I believe that some foods are addictive. Dr. Keene explains the biology better than other authors. The Menu for Life is realistic given the biology. There are several books on food addiction, but I found this one to be authoritative since it was written by a physician and based on his work with an eating disorders specialist who has a "problem" with food. The tone of the book is flawed; Dr. Keene tries to speak plainly and personally to the reader but comes off a bit too "cute." Nevertheless, his eagerness to help the reader shines through. His editor deserves some of the criticism.

Well, I read Dr Keene's book within a day and must say I was very disappointed with the overall message. Firstly he claims that overeating is a genetic dysfunction caused by a lack of serotonin for which the overeater tries to compensate by eating various types of junk food. Then he goes on to say that prozac is often a good treatment in more severe cases. Admittedly he does clearly identify some of the emotions felt by overeaters and explains in not too technical terms why food is used as a comfort. However his solution is for those afflicted to "abstain" from "trigger foods" for life. He sets out a "menu for a lifetime" which should be followed and stresses that the overeater has to stick to this and always measure out their portions of food. For me, this meant that the obession with food would reign! There is no teaching of how to deal with the problem, instead it is treated as a handicap with which all those affected must live. My goal is to be able to eat normally, to be able to have an ice-cream now and again or a bar of chocolate and not feel guilty and not feel like I have to go on and finish the tub or eat 6 more bars. I do not want to have to spend my life thinking about food and measuring out each meal whilst following a "menu for a lifetime"! Certainly there is an issue of healthy eating which is what the menu is aiming to promote, yet to brand some foods as "forbidden" is ridiculous. How on earth can people with jobs, relationships and leading real lives possibly be expected to abide by this menu day in and day out! Obviously certain sorts of food are bad for us and should not be eaten on a regular basis, but coffee is also not the healthiest of drinks, yet 2 cups a day are allowed on the "menu"! For me this book sees the problem of overeating as a permanent disability with which we are born and thus makes it a central point of the victim's life. Every day has to be tailored to deal with this "defect" and it is made into something which distinguishes the sufferer from the rest of society, as opposed to helping the sufferer be reintegrated into society and live a normal life. It is a well-known fact that eating disorders are anti-social and this book, by introducing the "menu" does nothing to help the sufferer deal with this prevalent aspect of the problem. This book is an interesting perspective for those doing a comparative study on different approaches to the problem but absolutely useless for those looking for genuine support and guidance in dealing with with something which we want to change, not be burdened with for a lifetime.

I liked the title of this book, and so started it predisposed to liking it. I thought perhaps it would have some humorous insight into the serious subject of obsessive eating. Instead, what I found was that I was talked down to and insulted on almost every page. Rather than explaining the chemistry he refers to, this author uses analogies he must think are cute but which struck me as insultingly simplified, for the most part. As the book goes on, the author gets increasingly obsessive about the plan of abstinence he proposes. At the end of the book, he includes a height/bone structure chart that purports to tell readers their "ideal" weight. Both this chart and the suggested lists of foods he provides strike me as sexist. He hasn't updated his chart to show what nutritionists now recommend as a range of healthy weights, and he thinks that men can weigh 20 pounds more at the same height. His food lists specify things like "half a cup of cereal for women, one cup for men." Anyone obsessed with food will be setting themselves up for disaster if they take this book seriously. It will promote dieting and then regaining in most cases. Try Anne Katherine's much more respectful book on obsessive eating instead.

My parents were alcoholics. Fortunately, they found and sustained recovery. Friends recognized that alcoholism was a genuine disease, and supported both them and their recovery.

I never even tried alcohol (my parents taught me well in that regard). But I drowned my sorrows with food, day after day. There was no support and no understanding. My parents had a disease...but I was weak-willed.

Chocolate is My Kryptonite helped me realize that Food Addiction is a disease. In fact, it is quite similar to alcoholism. For as Dr. Keene points out, "what's alcohol, but the ultimate processed carbohydrate."

I'm using this book, and the Menu For Life to find recovery for the first time in my life. It's only been 4 months so far, but it is the best I have felt in ages.

I know that a prior poster had concerns with the concept of "abstinance," but having lived the life of a food addict, and the daughter of alcoholic parents...I find abstinence not to be a problem...but rather, to be the solution!

Chocolate is My Kryptonite is Freedom From Food Addiction.

Now I'm not saying this was a bad book. I actually read it in two days. However, with the title "courage on little round top" i was expecting a little more of the engagement on little round top. it wasn't until the very last chapter of the book that the engagement took place. if you really want to read about little round top i would say Shaara's Killer Angel's will do the trick. Again, a very good book just took a while to get to the actual "courage"

If you have read Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels" and Stephen Crane's "The Red Badge of Courage" you have an excellent basis to read and enjoy Thomas Eishen's novel that combines some of the aspects of both. This book features Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a prominent character in Shaara's novel, and Lt. Robert Wicker, who is only alluded to by Shaara.
Eishen's novel unfolds around the impending confrontation between these two men on July 2, 1863 on Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg. Wicker, whose unit is the 15th Alabama, had fled the scene during a previous battle, and, like Private Henry Fleming in "The Red Badge of Courage" worries that he in fact may be a coward. Since many of the soldiers in his company are friends and relatives from back home in Alabama, his fear is that a repeat performance in battle will make him a laughingstock and he will become an embarrassment to his family members. Chamberlain, on the other hand, has to deal with his two well-intentioned but meddlesome brothers who are members of his staff.
Eishen does a fine job of relating the evolution of these events through dialogue fashioned for these characters. The run-up to the actual confrontation between Chamberlain and Wicker is an interesting perspective on the daily lives of the common soldier in camp and while on the march.
First time novelist Thomas Eishen has done a commendable job of describing these fast-paced events, and readers will find that the situation only alluded to in "The Killer Angels" takes on new meaning, and the characters involved come alive.

After seeing the Civil War epic Gettysburg (Widescreen Edition) when it was first released, I made a special trip cross-country to the battlefield and, like the author of COURAGE ON LITTLE ROUND TOP, stood at the monument to the 20th Maine at the left extremity of the Union line and paid silent tribute to Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and his regiment which waged there such a stalwart defense. In a contemporary world so lacking in heroes, I put the gallant Chamberlain on a modestly tall pedestal, an atypical action that even survived my subsequent reading of the man's biography, In the Hands of Providence: Joshua L. Chamberlain and the American Civil War.

Here, author Thomas Eishen strives to add a human side to the battle for Little Round Top on the second day of the Gettysburg collision by re-creating in novel format the thoughts, words, and actions of Chamberlain and one of his opponents, 2nd Lieutenant Robert Wicker of the 15th Alabama Regiment, as they may have occurred during the couple of days prior to and during the assault.

It was the fictionalization of the days prior that perhaps reduced this book in my estimation inasmuch as Chamberlain and his regiment are assigned their do-or-die position by brigade commander Col. Strong Vincent only on page 250 of this 289-page volume. So, if you're hoping for an exhaustive immersion in the struggle for the hill, forget it. Rather, the preceding pages are filled, much like GETTYSBURG the film, with protagonists' dialog and mental preoccupations that are, at best, plausible but unremarkable script-filler and, at worst, an inane look at men under arms as they swan about the countryside pre-battle. Moreover, I was singularly unimpressed with the very few maps accompanying the text. Indeed, the one showing the opposing lines on Little Round Top was not much bigger than a postage stamp and would've required the use of a magnifying glass had I cared to bother with it.

I'm at obvious odds with other 5-star reviews of COURAGE ON LITTLE ROUND TOP. Perhaps my expectations were too great. In any case, I wouldn't recommend spending the money for this title unless you're seeking a very light read for an airplane trip to Pennsylvania, in which case it's perfectly satisfactory.

The author credits Michael Shaara's "Killer Angels" as being responsible for the start of his interest in the Civil War. This novel is a piece of lightweight fluff which I find difficult to read because boredom sets in quickly. Most of the book is meaningless dialogue and character's thoughts which do little to inspire the reader.
As an avid Civil War buff who has read plenty of history, both primary and secondary source material, finds enough historical inaccuracies in this book to wonder how it ever managed to find a publisher. Characters wander around the novel with no good reason. Major historical figures make an appearance with little connection to the fictional characters and the true story of the battle on Little Round Top. The author takes forever to set the scene for that struggle and the reader has to struggle with boredom to ever reach that point in the novel.
I have visited the battlefield at Gettysburg many time since my first trip at the age of 2. I have walked the field many times in many years. Eishen may have made a visit to the monument to the 20th Maine, but I wonder if he climbed Little Round Top by the route of attack by the Alabama regiments.
I had expected more mention of the other units involved in this engagement and I was sadly disappointed.
As an aside, there are enough typos and mispellings throughout the book which make it even more annoying.

Thomas Eishen nails a good one. Gettysburg is perhaps the greatest single battle of the civil war in terms of how the war ended. Eishen does an excellent job in novel form to keep the reader's attention. Written similar to the style of Jeff Shaara, one will not have a hard time reading this one. It is not boring history. It is an easy and enjoyable read and will add knowledge to what you think you might know about Gettysburg. Buy it. Enjoy it.
C Park

As a roll in HR or some one just begin study HR, you should read this book.

Author Dave Ulrich reflects an awareness that many professionals keenly feel: in these highly competitive times, they must either evolve or stagnate. His book tells human resource (HR) leaders how to assume more vital, strategic roles within their organizations. He makes a convincing argument that successful companies must elevate HR to the role of a strategic partner, to enable it to implement programs that support an organization's goals. Whether reading any book can put you in the forefront of hands-on transformation remains to be seen, but this volume certainly offers plenty of real-world case studies to back up its premise that HR professionals must step into a new, vital strategic role. Each company and each HR department is so different, however, that it may be challenging to apply some of these broad themes to specific situations. That said, the themes themselves ring true, although the book is now more of a classic than the innovative think piece it was when new. We recommend it especially to HR professionals as a comprehensive look at why you must conquer so much territory to keep your organization competitive.

Ulrich has marked a new theory on human resources management system. According to him, company's HR manager has strategic position and more than just "a head of employee division". HR manager, said Ulrich, at least has four key positions in building a competitive organization: as (1) strategic partner, (2) administrative expert, (3) change agent, and (4) human resource champion. Ket's learn more strategic steps with this Number One Management Guru!

HR Champions was the first mainstream book that looked at HR as more than just an administrative department. Regrettably, in the eight years since it's publication, few companies have truly taken heed. Many HR "professionals" (sic) quote Ulrich's work but few practice it.

This is a well written book crisp, devoid of too many clichés, practical, comprehensive. Forget those useless university HR text books, this one should form the base of your knowledge of the function. But make sure you keep up with the latest trends.

When Fortune Magazine published "Taking on the Last Bureaucracy" in 1996, a gauntlet was thrown down for the HR community. Thomas Stewart, Fortune columnist, indicted the professional Human Resources community on many fronts. The most damning was, though, that HR added nothing to the achievement of strategic organizational purpose.

This book was the best response to that challenge, and it was a great start. I've assigned this book to my HR management graduate students since 1998, and have not regretted it.

Yes, it is somewhat outdated now, but should be read for its role in reshaping the very definition of HR work. Sorry to say that its companion volume, "Delivering Results," is now out of print, but it can still be obtained.

A recommendation: read this book along with "The HR Scorecard." They work together almost seamlessly.

This book keeps coming back with each generation. I read this book as a child and both my boys have read it as well. A well written account of a true life adventure providing suspense, adventure and thoughtfulness. A perfect summer read for young people, it's fairly short and they could get through it in an afternoon.

and now @# years later, I still love it! For any lover of the outdoors and for those of us that like to have "Survivor" weekends, it is a fun, quick read that encourages the question, "what would you do?".

I think this book was good, but not edge of your seat kind of good. If I were to give this book a rating on a scale of one to ten, I would give it an g. I mean, sure it was a true story, but if it weren't true, it would probably be more exciting. The story basically tells about a boy who was lost for nine days. The story tells it from his point of view and what really happened during those nine days. For example, he had to survive some close encounters with deadly animals and a few incidents in the rushing rapids of a stream. I don't want to give too much away but I will tell you that what this boy went through is amazing. This book would for someone who likes true amazing stories about people that push themselves to their limit both physically and mentally. That's just what this book is about, a boy who pushes himself to his furthest possible limits.

By Keegan, a sixth grader in Maine

LOST ON A MOUNTAIN IN MAINE is one of the best books i have ever read. The begining of the book is clear of how every thing started. The mittle of the book told the problems on the mountain. This book has the zing that grasps you into reading more. Some parts of the book are dull but it fires back up and hooks you into reading more.

I liked the book. It was full of adventure and suspense. You never wanted to put it down. It is a true story.
Donn Fedler got lost in a mountain in Maine at the age of twelve. He starts back down the trail to go back to meet his father at the plateau and takes the wrong trail by accident because it was so foggy. At night he slept in hallow trees or on patches of moss. On his third day he looses his pants and meets a deer. On the fourth day he sees a bear and finds a blanket in an abandon cabin. Throughout the next two days he sees another bear and hears screech owls. Will Donn ever get home?
The type of reader who would like this book is someone who likes adventure stories. Anyone who has read the book Hatchet and liked it would like this book too.

THIS BOOK WAS THE CUTEST OUT OF ALL OF THEM, AND IVE READ ALMOST ALL OF THEM!! EVERY GIRL WANTS EITHER ONE, OR BOTH OF THESE GUYS, A BAD BOY AND A CUTE-AS-CAN-BE, GUY-WHO-BRINGS-YOU-ROSES TYPE BF, GOSH, THIS BOOK WAS SOOOO GOOD, U DEFINITELY HAVE 2 READ IT, EVEN IF U DONT ORDER IT FROM HERE, BUY IT AT THE BOOKSTORE OR THE LIBRARY, I REREAD THIS BOOK LIKE 3 TIMES!!! ITS SUMMER READING TIME!!!!!

Colleen lives on an island off the coast of Maine. For the summer her parents were going to Germany and she was staying at the island. Three of her best friends were moving in to live with her for the summer. Colleen was really excited to spend the summer with her boyfriend Ben. The summer had started her parents were finally gone Colleen had to start her summer job at Bobb's. When she got to work a couple of days later she saw Evan who she had fallen for last summer. Colleen was doing everything she could to avoid Evan because she as in love with Ben. Evan and Colleen would flirt with each other a lot while working. For work one day they had to cater for an event that a rich family was having. The family later called after the party and said that some of their jewelry was stolen. They family thought that is was Colleen because she was the last one out of the house. Colleen was really upset that her boss would even think that she stole the jewelry. Colleen ran outside to the dock to sit by that water and she started crying. Even came outside to see if she was alright and he gave her a hug and that was when Ben walked up!
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books about drama, boys, friends, and problems. This is a book that would be good to read on a rainy day.
One thing I liked about the book was that it was a really good book about friendships, and relationships, and once I started reading Main Squeeze I could never stop reading it because I always wanted to know what would happen!

Colleen's parents are leaving her home with friends for 10 weeks while they go to Europe, and she plans to have the best summer ever, despite the House Rules Contract she signed. But her plans change right away, starting with one of her friends bailing on the two-month slumber party, and then her last-summer's fast-and-furious fling coming back into town. Even though Colleen is perfectly happy with her boyfriend, Ben, she can't stop thinking about Evan-- and not just the way he hurt her last fall. Her attempts to ignore her ex are thwarted as they are constantly thrown together at their common workplace. Colleen has to re-evaluate her choices, and the difference between safe and right, in addition to making sure her parents don't find out about her slight rule-bending. With three girls and two boys to help, it shouldn't be hard, but maybe "the more the merrier" doesn't always ring true. The love-triangle plotline gets a bit repetetive, but is intriguing nonetheless, and, coupled with the four girls' antics, will keep you reading.

Maine Squeeze, written by Catherine Clark, is an enjoyable and exciting book, which is most likely to appeal to teenage girls. It is the story of a summer in the life of Colleen, a college bound 18-year old, who is living on her own for the first time. She faces many obstacles over the summer, from reuinting with her ex-boyfriend, Evan, losing her current boyfriend, Ben, having a truly awful roommate, and much more. Colleen, however, is able to make it through the months with her three closest friends by her side and an unexpected new friend, an elderly artist. Colleen ultimately struggles with herself, making mistakes along the way, yet finally arriving at a place she can be at peace. Furthermore, Catherine Clark is able to make her novel come to live by the use of many literary devices. Through the constant use of rhetorical questions, Clark allows Colleen to state the obvious in her own thoughts and while conversing with others. Also, personification is used often when Colleen describes her cats, Starsky and Hutch, making them at times seem human. In addition, while Colleen is working at a crabshack, her boss tells her to chose a crustacean which represents her personality. Colleen, therefore, speaks metaphorically when she refers to herself as a soft shell crab. Clark's style is plain and simple, making her novel easy to comprehend. Its tone is constantly changing from shocked to humorous and candid. Overall, along with Clark's other novels, I enjoyed reading Maine Squeeze and recommend it to teenage girls looking for a quick and fun read.

Have you ever dreamed of having the house to yourself with your parents half way around the world on vacation? With only a list of rules, Colleen Templeton, just graduating from high school, plans to spend the summer living with her three best friends while her parents are visiting foreign countries. Busy serving tables at Bobbs, Colleen spends most of her free time with her loving boyfriend, Ben, hanging out, or painting. Life sounds perfect, right? That's when Evan, Colleen's ex boyfriend, shows up and claims he will be staying for the whole summer. To make matters worse, Evan starts working at Bobbs and Colleen can not stop looking at him. After all the weeks Colleen spent getting over Evan, she still seems to want him back. Right away, Ben notices a difference in their relationship. Can Colleen maintain her relationship with Ben, or will she run off with Evan?
This book will keep any teenage girl up all night, with all the drama, bickering, and romance the fun never stops. The author explains how Colleen or any typical girl deals with the unexpected choices each having critical consequences. I love how I can relate to this book; it helps you realize that life is not perfect.

I JUST COULDN'T PUT THIS BOOK DOWN!!
This is the first book by Janet Chapman that I have read and now I'm a fan. So many interesting twists and turns. You never saw some things coming. The characters were so lovable and captivating. One of the best books I've read in a long time.

Well, I liked it. I didn't necessarily LOVE it, but it was good enough where I thought about the next time I'd get to read it when I had to come to a stopping point.

My favorite part was probably the beginning, around the time he kicks her out. You definitely wanted to punch Alex when you found out that Sarah didn't drive. That was the highest emotional point to me. But it kind of went downhill from there as far as an emotional tug of war. They just kept being civil to each other. No fun in that lol.

Honestly though, I don't think I liked Sarah all that much. She's such a typical personality. I'm meek, quiet, and shy. I've never been anywhere in the world. But I'm a wildfire when you get me really mad or naked in the bed. And honestly, how hard is it to learn not to slam the foot down on the pedal? lol. I've always thought people who don't know how to drive basically putt-putt along behind the wheel, too afraid to give it any gas at all. Not Sarah apparently.

This was a good book for me sometimes Sarah made me get a are you for real expersion on my face but she was still likable along with Alex and the whole family,I am about to read the second book hope it is as good. This is the first read for me from this Author. I did like how the author incorparated her other romance novel in the story, the book Sarah was reading.

The only thing i don't like is that the story didn't need to be so many pages, i guess thats why some readers think some stories are being dragged out.

This book is the perfect 3 star for me. It wasn't great, it wasn't terrible, it was just ok.

My main gripe is with Alex. I just didn't like him. He was an arrogant, horrible, spiteful man who, in my mind, didn't deserve Sarah. The first three chapters where Alex learns that he's been unknowingly wed to Sarah and his treatment of her were enough to make my stomach turn. Why Sarah would look back onto their first "encounter" with anything but disgust is beyond me.

Although he spends the rest of the book trying to make things right, he still has "lapses" where he treats her rudely and badly. I find nothing romantic about that.

The kids were sweet and a nice addition to the story. I really liked Grady, Alex's dad, and wondered how such a wonderful man could've sired such a jerk! I also am intrigued by Ethan. However, he did show some tendencies to be a complete jerk like his brother so I think I 'll contemplate whether or not to subject myself to the sequel "Stranger in His Bed".

I understand why this book would appeal to some, but it just wasn't for me.

This was my first Janet Chapman book. I liked the story and characters however, referring to her other works was a bit much.

I found this book in a thrift store and it was the best 10 cent purchase that I've made! I immediately connected with the main character. The growing suspense and romance kept me wanting more. The setting was lovely and I was kept guessing until the end to find out who the murderer was. This is a book not be be missed.

this was my first read by this author. I loved it. It was an easy read and I could feel the characters feelings. I recommend this book to every one.

Dark Water had me hooked from the beginning. The suspense was just enough to keep pulling you along. It was not a steamy romance but enough of romance in the story line to make you feel the passion. The author does a good job of keeping you guessing who the killer is until the very moment it is necessary. It makes for a good read because you keep guessing until "Bam" there it is. I only just finished this a few hours ago and I am still trying to absorb all the information. It is so addictive that you will be done with the book before you know it. I thoroughly recommend this book.

When she was ten, Sarah Whitman's life was turned upside down; her father was accused of robbing his bank when he disappeared at the same time a cool million bucks went missing. Her mother, unable to cope with the humiliation, committed suicide, leaving Sarah to grow up with an "aunt" in New Orleans. She returns to Maine upon discovery of her father's body, which is found at the bottom of a lake outside town. Sara insists the bank heist investigation be re-opened. She also plans to avenge the devastation that the town brought to her family. Her first love, Chicago nightclub owner Tony returns to stand by her, something he failed to do 20 years earlier. But someone would rather see Sarah dead then the past revisited.

Overall, the plot is a bit thin and somewhat predictable; I guessed the bad guy early on (a rare occurrence for me). But Sala always creates such engaging characters, and despite its predictability, I found it to be an interesting story.

Sharon Sala is fast becoming one of my favorite authors and she continued to intrigue me with DARK WATER. I figured out the identity of the villain, well almost! She kept that a hidden secret until the very end and I doubt many will figure it out.

Sarah Whitman left Marmet, Maine as a broken-hearted child. Her father, Franklin, had been accused of stealing a million dollars from the bank in which he worked and then disappeared. Soon afterward, not able to continue enduring the ridicule of the town, her mother committed suicide. Sarah then moves to New Orleans with her mother's best friend and she vows never to return. Twenty years later, when an armored car is robbed, and a teller is kidnapped, the assailant decides to ditch the car and hostage in Flagstaff Lake, only to die during this escapade. While divers try to retrieve his body, they find a chest holding the remains of Franklin Whitman. Sarah returns to Marmet to give her father a proper burial, to find his killer, and avenge her parents' deaths.

Tony DeMarco had come back to Marmet to lend his support to Sarah. Seems Franklin was young Tony's mentor and he feels obligated to help Sarah to pay his debt to her father. Sounds a little convoluted, but it was actually sweet. When he sees Sarah though, all thoughts of being a gallant gentleman escape as he falls head over heels in lust with her. When an attempt on Sarah's life fails, Tony realizes he feels more than lust and also understands that she's upset her father's killer with her vow to uncover the real thief and murderer.

Ok, so the love story part of this book is a bit gaggy (is that a word?), but the suspense is wonderful! Sala continues to keep the action going and the reader guessing throughout the entire book. I had narrowed down the villain to a handful of people, but when I tried to figure out the one person who could be behind these crimes, my guess was wrong. I was close, but not quite close enough. I love it when an author fools me!

The wide assortment of characters was very interesting. Sarah is a strong independent southern woman. Tony is the bad boy turned successful business owner (and we're only given a few hints as to how he got the nickname of "Silk" when he was a teenager). Lorett is Sarah's "Aunt" who raised her. She is able to see the future and has been known to use a bit of voodoo if the mood arises. She's wonderfully developed and always brings a smile to the reader's face whenever she enters the scene. The rest of the support cast is also well built and interesting. The eclectic group of older ladies who make up the town social order are all fascinating and enjoyable. Maury, the private investigator, is rough around the edges, but loveable. Another book could be written with any of these in the lead roles and it would be wonderful.

The suspense portion of DARK WATER is extremely well done, but the love interests bring the book down to a 4 ½ star level. Even so, it's one that should definitely be added to your Must Read list.

The dietician at the VA Clinic in Lufkin TX says this is the best diet for anyone with high blood pressure. It is a low salt diet and helps a person to lose weight. The American Heart Association has endorsed this diet. It's mostly about portions and the correct amount to eat at each meal. I recommended this book to relatives who have high blood pressure.

This book gives excellent information on hypertension and just regular diet guidelines. Would recommend it to anyone with hypertension or without. Great for someone who wants to lose weight even if they don't have hypertension.

This book is excellent. My bloodpressure was up to 160/90 and now
I have a bloodpressure mean of 120/60 ! But: You have to follow all instructions of the DASH Diat. And it really works ! Great book and the price you spend for your health is nothing !

Well, mine was one of those very very very difficult cases for physicians. In fact in my family has been a tradition of very high blood pressures. I have been sort of a buddhist meditator for years in the aim to help my high blood pressure, and I look in Taoism to see if I could find any help for it. Almost three or four weeks ago I received my manual to lower my blood pressure in 14 days. The main problem I had with it was that I had to translate the 67 recipes into spanish, as I live in Colombia, South America, so I just tried to resume the philosophy of the DASH diet, insisting in more fruits, vegetables, less red meat, very very very little sodium and much more dairy products than we usually do.

I decided to order the Dash diet manual the day I had a very severe crisis of blood pressure, 200/120, very early in the morning, even though I had been taking the days before maximum dosis of drugs for hyper tension prescribed by my physician.

So just use it if you have high blood pressures, and you will see the results by yourself!!! It really works!

Now I am just taking one drug, and my aim is to take none, as I had to suspend another maximum dosis of drug with dangerous side effects, as for the first time in my life I had a low blood pressure crisis.

The Dash Diet for Hypertension: Lower Your Blood Pressure in 14 Days--Without Drugs is a good book to learn about Hypertension but as far as the diet is concerned it is far too high in refined carbohydrates and not enough protein. Their diet would be very difficult and or dangerous for a diabetic. The diabetic would have to take much more insulin than necessary to follow the diet. And to lower the blood pressure 6 points is nothing in the total picture. So I would not recommend this book. I have a degree in nutrition and work with diabetics (my husband for one) all the time.

This book was a fair book. Not my favorite, but did make some very valid life conclusions that I needed to hear. Drinking in the Rain takes some patience to read due to the overwhelming about of discussion about herbs. But if you are into plants and solitude, this book is for you.

Drinking the Rain, as one might guess from its beautiful title, can be described as a novel-length prose poem. I think of it as an ode to nature and to a particular time in the life journey of its author. It is a time when Shulman's children are grown; her husband, Jerry, and she have become estranged; the feminist movement to which she had been devoted seems dormant and a thing of the past. In short, a time when the author loses the passions that had driven her and, sadly, loses sight of the significance of her life. Having recently turned fifty, she feels a new urgency. Then something happens to bring about her firm determination to "begin a new chapter."

While exercising one morning, Shulman is seized by an intense and frightening vertigo. Her vertigo continues in the days and weeks ahead, but the doctors can find no explanation. Certain that this is the beginning of the end of her life, she seizes the day and listens to her heart, which urges her to remove herself from obligations and pressures that have filled her life. She wants only solitude and silence.

In the past, she has been afraid to spend time alone at her family's isolated cabin on a promontory in Maine--not even with her children during summer vacations. The cabin has no plumbing, heat or electricity, no neighbors, no phone, not even a road should she need help for some reason. She wonders if she can get the fridge started and imagines disasters such as lightning striking the tinderbox cabin or a slasher steeling his way into her bedroom in the dead of night. But her need to slow her life down, to get away from her mailbox stuffed with announcements and invitations, and to escape the incessant ringing of the telephone takes her to this cabin. Her fears go with her.

Shulman learns to begin her days without an agenda. Her many fears loom large. I confess to identifying with all of them. Where we part company is in her ingenuity to find sustenance on this "nubble," as she calls the promontory. I would see the nubble as a beautiful place to visit for an afternoon before going in search of a cozy restaurant for a warm dinner. Not so for Shulman. She remains at the cabin for months on end, unearthing a daily fare for herself that is nothing less than delicious and healthy. She scours the shoreline and coves for mussels, clams, periwinkles, even the occasional scallop and lobster. She recognizes every herb, every edible berry, and knows just how to cook them.

Drinking the Rain is the author's honest account of surviving on this isolated stretch of beach and, in time, transforming herself. Eventually, her fears diminish. She begins to feel safe and even protected in the ever-changing vastness of her simple ocean dwelling.

But this is not an account of an easygoing change of lifestyle. The challenges are intimidating... such as a warning she hears on the radio about a red tide--a deadly organism that attacks the nervous system and paralyzes the vital organs. That bit of news certainly would send me scurrying back to my city habitat. Yet Shulman does not flee when unexpected difficulties overwhelm her. Among other things, she seeks out a native dweller to learn more.

When an old friend and free spirit, Margaret, comes to visit, they take long walks and enjoy meaningful conversations Shulman has been craving. They explore the beauty of nature and the complexities of their own inner natures. When it is time for Margaret to leave, the author is "... both relieved and sorry to see her go: relieved to resume my experiment in solitude, but sorry to lose the company of the one person I know whose sympathy for my chosen life is incontestable, though she'd never choose it for herself."

Soon after the departure of her friend, Shulman is served with divorce papers. The shock is great. It is one thing to choose a solitary life, another to have it thrust upon you. Her first fear is that she may lose the cabin which she has come to love as she never did in all her years of marriage. What happens now to our brave protagonist? A great deal. Her new life requires earning money, achieving an understanding with her embittered children, her continued determination to avoid the materialism that consumes those around her, and the challenge of a love affair.

Drinking the Rain is an illuminating memoir. It reminds me of the importance of taking risks, of trying new things, of following my heart. But most of all, it piques my curiosity about and sustains my interest in this fascinating author who is willing to share herself with such honesty in this eloquently crafted work. Shulman's book is an excellent choice for those women who wish explore their potential and travel new ground.

by Duffie Bart
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

Ten years ago Shulman went to her family's primitive cabin on Long Island, Maine, for a summer of solitude. A New Yorker through and through, she was apprehensive and fearful, but also excited and determined. Her life was vaguely dissatisfying and she was looking for a change.

Reading her memoir is like having a personal conversation with the author. Her tone is personal and intimate. When she stands back for a moment, picturing herself through a passing stranger's averted eye - a middle-aged lady in floppy hat and mismatched tennis shoes, gathering weeds in a basket - we too are startled and amused, having been looking from the inside out.

Shulman, recognized for her novels and feminism, reaches her cross-roads at age 50. Her children are grown, her relationship with her husband is a distant truce, the feminist movement has stalled, and her life is overfull of busyness.

But the birth of a new passion in her life is serendipitous. Always an adventurous cook, she finds her lengthy trips to the uninspiring island grocery a jarring intrusion on her pleasing solitude and a chore contrary to her new motto, "Do only what you like, nothing you don't!"

From years before she remembers mussel gathering, one of the few pleasures of the hurried vacations she had always hated. In those years, with small children and a domineering, orchestrating husband, the summer cabin, with no electicity or plumbing had meant a round of endless drudgery.

Now that she has only to please herself, mussel hunting is merely the first of her pleasures. Around her a world unfolds. Armed with Euell Gibbons and determination, she reaps the bounty of wild things, spending her days in exploration and discovery.

She finds in herself a new tranquility and simplicity which, as she feared, is invaded by New York's cosmopolitan pace and abundance. The reader is a bit ahead of her here, exhorting Shulman to enjoy what the city has to offer, just as she enjoys her island.

And when the author does absorb our advice (given to her by an old childhood friend at a party), she embraces it fully, applying this tactic to her whole life. Thus, when she accepts a position at the University of Colorado, she plunges into an exploration of New Age mysticism, health foods, mountain hiking and Buddhism. You don't have to share her interests to find her open-minded approach admirable.

There are upheavels too. Her children are less than thrilled in the back-to-nature changes in their New Yorker mother. Her husband shatters a summer's idyll at the island by sending divorce papers. And romantic love, with all its joy, threatens to disrupt her solitary self. As I said, you don't have to agree.

But through it all, Shulman struggles to maintain her equilibrium, making deliberate choices, letting her thoughts range free. She is enchanted by the wholeness of things - how all of nature interrelates - and then dismayed as pollution from the cities and radiation from Chernobyll threatens her island haven.

This is a memoir of continuous awakening and endless dialogue with the self and the world. There's helplessness, anger, hope and love and inspiration. It's a joy to read.

Shulman raises many provocative ideas in her memoir. Among the ones that affected me most profoundly are Solitude, Rebirth, Self-Sufficiency, and the utilization of the resources in your own environment.

If you've ever feared that the possibilities for excitement, adventure, wonderment, or simply change- shrink with age, you will be inspired by Shulman's resolve to continue searching for meaning and discovery in her life at fifty and well beyond. What courage to embark on a new and thoroughly independent life after decades of playing the role of wife and mother. But Shulman is not a super human. She does not possess some rarefied quality that we could not all find nestled in our spirit. We walk with her down the beach of her island past a barking and threatening dog. She has always held an irrational fear of dogs though never has she actually had a bad experience with one. Her instinct is to turn back, but instead she contemplates the nature of fear and how best to conquer it, and she decides the best thing is to face it. So she continues on, if somewhat cautiously.

This book will mark you, if you let it. I come away feeling better equipped to face my barking island dogs. I am more observant and appreciative of my surroundings. And I will never see myself as stuck in a single way of life, never let the light of change and possibility elude me.

I must confess I almost couldn't get through "Drinking the Rain". Kates Shulman's account of a citified feminist's return to nature seemed an unintential parody, not helped by the comically overstated title. But midway through Ms. Shulman's story I became hooked. What seemed at first a pretentious and self-important rant transformed into a thoughtful and evocotive musing on what it is to be an artist. Ironically, it's only after Shulman returned to the city (and later goes to teach in Colorado) that the book came alive for me. Her descriptions of dinner with an old feminist friend left me teary eyed at their simple eloquence, and the descriptions of a snowy Colorado reunion with her kids kept me reading. By the end, I adored this story.