American Books

I love thumbing through this book. I buy most of my seeds from Seed Savers Exchange so it is especially fun because several of the varieties I was already growing, are featured in this book. Plus I have been inspired to try a few more. Well laid out. Beautiful book.

Wonderful book written by Dr Carolyn Male. If you don't own or have not read this book, then you really are found lacking in life!

Enjoyed the book enough to buy another to give to my tomato-growing son. Also hooked me to the point of buying three other tomato books from Amazon. The author posts regularly on various tomato websites. Great photographs. For the price that Amazon sells this book - you cannot go wrong.

I have a small greenhouse and sell organic heirloom tomato plants. This book is my tomato bible! I am growing many of the plants she lists. Some I already knew about, some will be new this year, based on the information in this book. In addition, this book contains the simplest and clearest instructions I have found for saving seeds.

Her pictures - well, they are REAL! What a concept! Instead of pictures of these pristine tomatoes that were probably airbrushed, the pictures of her cherry tomatoes show a little crack here and there, and she unabashedly shows scarring and other blemishes. She shows top views, bottom views, and each picture shows a cut tomato so one can see the flesh. For a tomato grower like me, this is great information.

Her descriptions are frank, and since I was already growing some of these tomatoes myself, I know they are honest. You ever notice how the descriptions of the tomatoes in the catalogs imply that EVERY tomato is the BEST tomato? Dr. Male tells it like it is! In fact, she describes some of them having some faults, but has listed them for other reasons. (We agree - Amish Paste? Ho-hum. But historically significant and in spite of its faults, a very popular tomato.)

If you are a tomato aficionado, then you must add this book to your library! I will have a copy at my booth at the farmers market - and I bet it will be dog-eared by the end of the tomato season! I may have to buy another!

I received this book as a gift, after my small 4-plant tomato plot fared disastrously last summer. 1 of the 4 plants produced decent tomatoes, while the rest died unceremoniously. This year, following the recommendations in this book, my 4 plants are all doing great, and I already have little tomatoes-to-be on 3 of the 4. For that reason alone I would recommend this book. I wish some of the planting and tending suggestions were a little clearer; you have to piece some of them together for yourself. Nevertheless, just two of the express recommendations on their own have made a world of difference for me.

The photographs and descriptions of the different heirloom varieties are fantastic, and will inspire you to pick out some different and unusual tomatoes for your garden. You don't have to be a tomato fanatic to enjoy and learn from this book.

This is one of the best books I have read -certainly the best in the category of social history. Jay Stevens has researched his material meticulously and has delivered the narrative in a most enthralling manner. I found it hard to lay the book down. Whether, like me, you lived through the psychedelic experience of the sixties or you have but a passive interest, you will be amazed to learn of the full impact that the psychedelic culture has had on Western society, religion and philosophy -right through to the chemical hedonism of today.
This is truly a superb read!

I bought this on the recommendation of Dr. Stanley Krippner in a lecture on ayahuasca. It is absolutely the best book I have read on the history of the psychedelic movement during the past 100 years or so. Timothy Leary is not dead - he's only outside looking in. :-)

This should be required reading in American History. Who knew Canada had legal LSD centers? And the characters- Nin, Huxley, Kesey, Leary and Capt.Al Hubbard (??). Will we ever see their like again? Really a very sad story, and a fascinating one. Nice to see the Chief Boo Hoo, old Art Kleps in there as well. Sen. Kennedy: "Is your title really Chief Boo Hoo?" Art Kleps: "I'm afraid so, sir."

This is the definitive account of the 1960s psychedelic drug scene. Stevens does a great job of conveying the highs and lows of LSD and its proponents. His ability to relate endless facts while retaining a fast-paced narrative structure is amazing. I found this one of the most "addicting" books out there about the significance of drugs in American culture. Stevens reviews all the major personalities: Albert Hoffman, Timothy Leary, Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, the Grateful Dead, Alan Watts, Jack Kerouac, Aldous Huxley, and more. If you're interested in this electric decade, the power of psychedelics to warp the mind, or any of the poet-prophets who were compelled to experiment with and sing the praises of acid then this book is sure to delight.

This was a very good book. You get lots of interesting stuff about Aldous Huxley, the famous beat writers, Owsley, Timothy Leary, Ken Kesey and the evolution of the so called counterculture as a whole.

The problems that I have with Storming Heaven is not for what was in it but what was left out. For one Stevens was WAY too easy on Timothy Leary. The author seemed almost like a school girl with a crush when he recounts his visit to Learys home for an interview for the book. He comes off more as a fan than he does an objective writer at times when he deals with Leary. Why wasn't it mentioned that it has come out that Leary was a government informant and information he gave led to the death of two members of the Weather Underground? Its also a known fact that Leary was surrounded by CIA assets and there is a lot of evidence that he was a government agent himself, and at the least he was feeding them information.

There is also a fleeting mention that wasn't elaborated on about Ken Kesey that he had LSD experiments done on him at Stanford by the guy that ended up in charge of the CIAs Mkultra mind control program. This really makes me wonder about Kesey. Its more or less accepted history that the first LSD to get out on the street level was what Kesey stole from the medicine chest at his job as a night shift janitor at a mental hospital and distributed it among his elitist friends. Kesey went from writing what was probably the best novel written during the 1960's to, while becoming a counterculture hero, never writing another thing worth reading again. Did doing too much LSD scramble his brains and ruin his creativity or was his creativity nullified by Mkultra programming? Its hard to say for sure but I have to wonder if Kesey was not under some sort of mind control or was being used by the CIA in one way or another. There are a lot of unanswered questions in my mind about Kesey.

They also fleetingly mention the Brotherhood of Eternal Love who were major LSD distributors and were known to be full of CIA people and had a close association with a Jewish man named Ron Starks who was a CIA spook that also happened to the biggest LSD dealer in the world. Starks was not even given the first mention in this book!

I mean with all these ivy league, Mkultra and CIA connections to the elites of the so called counterculture I have to seriously wonder how much of the hippy movement of the late 60's was an organic rebellion against what was (and still is) a very repressive society both socially and politically and how much of it was intentional social engineering that came from the highest levels of the power structure. Many people believe that the anti-war movement was flooded with drugs, in particular LSD, by federal agents. Its well known that the government tried to subvert and destroy the anti-war movement with the cointelpro program so why wouldn't they also use drugs to try to destroy it? While it can't be denied that LSD has enhanced many an artist, writer and musicians work can you honestly say that sitting around frying on acid all the time is going to do anything but disable political activists who in many cases were in a life and death struggle? Besides that the fact remains that many people became permanently damaged as result of doing acid.

All that said I would definitely recomend reading or of you can get it cheap, buying Storming Heaven. I could hardly put it down once I started reading it. I realize that this book was more geared toward looking into what psychelic drugs can do with the mind and its exponents history and theories on the subject than any conspiratorial maneuverings by the US government involving LSD but it just didn't go deep enough into the rabbit hole for my tastes.

initally has a good start but then drags on...good book to take to beach on a long vacation...kind of flat from middle to end....mostly b/c "things" are held in by the main character so in that sense true to plot...3/4 of the way through I started to skim to find out end of story...which was predictable and flat...

Excellent book~!! I enjoyed it from Page One until the very end. Well written, it will keep your attention until the story is over. You will miss the characters for days, after you have finished the book.

Highly recommended.

I swear, I had to check several times to make sure this book was fiction. It is so well written, it feels like an autobiography.

Jorie is little more than a toddler (and her two brothers not much older) when their mother dies of polio-related causes. This is the 1950's, and their father is a doctor (and by the looks of it a successful doctor) who stands by helplessly as the mother of his children dies.

This happens in the first few pages of the story, and life doesn't get much better for these kids through the story. There is financial stability in their lives, but that is all. Their father rears them intellectually, but he disdains any emotion. And they only know him through the few stories he chooses to tell.

The novel is spun in such a way that you can't help but zoom along through it, wondering what will become of these poor scraps. It is a glimpse of what growing up without affection could be like, but it is not hopeless. In fact, just the opposite, Jorie is always full of hope. You cheer for her and her brothers as they grow.

I really enjoyed this story, though I found it completely heartbreaking.


(*)>

A well written, fast paced and fascinating book. One of the best reads I've found in a long time. The writing style reminded me of Dani Shapiro's (especially Slow Motion): very descriptive, highly intense and totally unflinching.

I hope Anitra Sheen will write a sequel to this moving book. This is one of the best books I have ever read.

Mary Oliver is one of my favorite poets. Everthing I have read of hers before this book was just great. This book was very disappointing and is not at the level of her past work.

I love the serenity that comes over me when reading Mary Oliver's poetry. Her way of tying the physical and the spiritual speaks to my heart. I appreciate both nature and the God of my understanding better because of her words.

"Thirst" is my favorite book of Mary Oliver's poems and prose. This contains some of her most overtly spiritual work. You can find a kindred spirit in her words. In addition to the title poem "Thirst," I especially loved "Making the House Ready for the Lord."

* Thirst, Mary Oliver. The tone of this beautiful collection of poems is set in the first line of the first poem, entitled Messenger: "My work is loving the world." It is obvious in this collection and in the larger body of her work throughout her life that her work is loving the world deeply. And it is in this same spirit that, after the death in 2005 of her beloved longtime partner Molly Malone Cook, has led her back to the church she disengaged from many years ago. Her journey has always been a spiritual one. In her poems about Jesus, God, faith and sacraments it is clear that for her, rdeengaging with the church is part of loving the world. A line in her poem "A Beautiful Striped Sparrow" says it best: "as they promised,/ God, once he in your heart,/ is everywhere--"

Though her path is different from mine, and though it may be off-putting to some, I deeply appreciate and respect each of these poems. I look forward to seeing more from her as she continues her work of loving the world.

The poems in this volume are poignant and touched me deeply. I read from it almost daily and find something each time to relate to and discover.

One doesn't usually expect to find oneself laughing when reading a book of criticism written by an academic, much less a book on Shakespeare. But Burt's book is frequently just that, funny to the point of making me laugh out loud. Burt has a refreshingly off-beat sense of humor, and the materials he has discovered--such as an adult movie version of Hamlet--aer themselves often hilarious as well, though not always intentionally so. But far from being just a laugh riot, the book is also a serious, critically sophisticated analysis of Shakespeare's fate incontemporary mass media, where much of hte lnagugae is cut or confined to well-known quotations. Burt's final chapter on films about teaching Shakespeare is quite moving, and Burt has the courage to raise difficult questions without pretending he is able to answer them. He is right to think that the questions are more important than the answers. Burt is to be congratulated for writing his book in a clear and engaging prose style without sacrificing the complexity of his thought.

In his wonderful and fascinating book Unspeakable ShaXXXspeares, Richard Burt, the leading scholar of Shakespeare and film studies, pioneers research into the manifold ways Shakespeare enters into American popular culture. Concentrating mostly on film but attending as well to television sit-coms, Burt offers penetrating insight into everything from mainstream adaptations of Shakespeare to "low" spin-offs in which Shakespeare's language almost entirely disappears. Burt explores both what film and mass media have done to Shakespeare and also what Shakespeare enables our culture to do trhough film and other electronic media. Readers intersted in this book will be happy to know that Burt has since edited a related collection entitled Shakespeare After Mass Media and has co-edited Shakespeare, the Movie II.

One of the many strengths of Burt's truly excellent book is that it not only discusses Shakespeare adaptations but uses Shakespeare, or of ShaXXXspeares, to discuss post-war American popular culture. Burt's theory of the loser as critic has ramifications for all criticism, not just Shakespeare. This is a profound, original, and engaging book.

I happened to be doing research for my thesis on Shakespeare in the university library and, while looking for other books, I was intrigued by the three XXXs in the title of Burt's book on the shelf, so I pulled it off and looked through it. What a daring work of cultural criticism! When I saw the chapters on Shakespeare porn, I marvelled both at the courage of the man to write such a book and how at the publisher who took it on. Of course, I check it out and read it. I especially was drawn to the chapter on action films and Burt's point that while the films cannibalize others, no one in the films ever eats; the characters are anorexic. The book is full of similarly wonderful insights. I am a cinephile, and very much appreciated Burt's quite hip approach to ShaXXXspeare. Now, it's back to those other, rather staid books of Shakespeare criticism, I was orginally looking for.

Whatever you think about Shakespeare, it is impossible not to agree with the points Burt makes in this book. His analysis is right on the money and you will never be able to look at Shakespearean movies or literature in the same way. A fantastic book and a must read.

A beautiful story, wonderfully written and a pleasure to read. You won't be able to put it down!

I enjoyed this novel. The main character was someone you knew well after a few chapters, and I found myself rooting for her, her friends and her love interests. Her adventures were exciting enough, and her love story was affecting. Once I began to care about the characters, I could easily ignore the problems with this book. I spent several late evenings reading this.

The problems are not too terrible. The author often tells the reader details that should be revealed through the story. The prose is slightly awkward throughout. There is a lot of coincidence in the plot. Some of the coincidences are so improbable that they began to annoy me.

There is also a good deal of historical detail in the story, which I enjoyed. The action unfolds in Berlin, Vienna, and Prague- in real places which are well described. Now I feel like seeing those places for myself. I feel as if I know them intimately.

This is the first book in a series: The Zion Covenant. I will read the next book in the series, because I am hooked. I want to know what happens to everyone!

At first I wasn't sure what to expect from a "historical Christian fiction" book, but once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down! I can't wait to pick up the next one. This book really does have it all.

This book is a real eye opener if you are interested in WWII, but don't want to watch boring documentaries or read boring text books about it. It brings it to life. Charlotte Mason would have called this a "living book". Historically acurate history written in story format. There are 9 in the series, and all are worth the read.

Elisa Lindheim is young, beautiful, and gifted. The oldest child of retired Luftwaffe officer Theo Lindheim has grown up in Berlin, enjoying the privileges of her father's heroic World War I reputation and of his financial success as owner of Lindheim's Department Store. The shadows cast by Hitler's rise to power are darkening her life, though, in 1936. Estranged from her lifelong love and former fiance who's chosen to give her up on orders from his military superiors, Elisa lives in her Gentile mother's native Vienna and calls herself Elisa Linder. She plays in the opera house's first violin section, and - like so many other Jewish or part-Jewish Germans and Austrians - refuses to believe that things will continue to get worse. Any day now, the German military will have had enough of the mad paper hanger; and after that, life will be normal again.

Of course that's not what happens during the year that follows. As Theo Lindheim moves to get his family to safety, but fails to get himself out of Germany successfully, history in the making catches up with Elisa and forces her to make choices she never imagined anyone might have to face.

This is that rare book, a "faith based" novel that's worth any reader's attention. Well researched and well written, VIENNA PRELUDE moves along at a steady clip and then races to a suitably tense climax. The authors understand what far too many writers (especially of faith based fiction) don't "get" at all: that characters' actions must flow from who they are, not from what the book's chosen theme requires them to do. While the coincidences that keep parting and reuniting Elisa and American journalist John Murphy become strained from overuse, somewhere in the tale's second half, and a few of the characters' lines of dialog sound more like a sermon than an individual's words in conversation, the overall effect is just what it should be. The reader quickly becomes invested in knowing what will happen to Elisa and the others, and the triumph of their faith is all the more real because of the struggles that living it costs them. I expect to read more in this series, and that's the best compliment one can pay to any author.

A good book from a pilot who made two tours in Vietnam. Initial fears. Courage. The unconsciousness. The youth involved in this conflict viewed from the sky. Not bad at all.

For some time now I've had a fascination with the F-105 Thunderchief and the men who went Downtown during the Vietnam war. To further my knowledge on the aircraft and the men who flew her I picked up When Thunder Rolled.

Overview
When Thunder Rolled is a pilots view of the F-105 and the missions he flew during the Vietnam War. In this book our Fighter Pilot (I mean this a complement to Mr. Rasimus. I believe it would be a greater honor to call him a Fighter Pilot than by his retired rank, read the book if you want to understand why) gives us a view of the F-105 from training thru his time in Thailand flying missions in North Vietnam.

The Good
Wow! What a book. Mr. Rasimus pulls no punches. In all of the books I've read dealing with a persons own experiences in war I've found very few that are as candid about being scared. Mr. Rasimus tells us about how his initial debate is if he should fly combat mission or not and then flies a couple. I have to think that the fear Mr. Rasimus talks about is more common than many other books would have you believe.

I also loved how Mr. Rasimus mentions the maintenance men who took care of the Thud he borrowed (sorry, everyone knows that a fighter is owned by the crew chief, pilots just borrow it). This is something kind of rare and nice to see.

The description of the environment is great. Referencing stealing hubcaps for what it took to be a fighter pilot over there was sheer genius! Between the use of vernaculars and a simple honest approach, one is able to visualize and feel something of what he was experiencing. I also loved the way Mr. Rasimus takes us thru the base and the missions. From premission briefings thru the return. Interestingly there isn't a lot of focus on the post mission time at the Club.

The Bad
The only one I can readily think of is that the book ended. I loved the story telling. It flows so nicely. The real shame is that we know that our fighter pilot went on to fly F-4's in the Linebacker timeframe. I'd have loved it if this would have been brought together to hear the differences in the aircraft and how the war was fought.

Rating Wise
5 Stars! This is the best personal account I've read from an aviator. A solid read and is a must read by anyone interested in knowing about F-105's, the Vietnam airwar, or about a pilots view of combat.

This is the best book along with Jack Broughten's "Thud Ridge" that I have read concerning the Air War in the North, especially as it relates to F105's.If I were to write a book on this subject, this is what I would have written.

Whilst putting you very much in the cockpit Mr Rasimus has at the same time managed to produce a thoughtful, insightful, and instructive book that gives an excellent view of the experiences, feelings and thoughts of what it meant to be a fighter pilot in the early years of the Vietnam war. Highly recommended.

What a great book! I agree that this is the best of the F-105 books about combat during Rolling Thunder. Such detail! Ras explains everything so well and puts it in words that non-pilots can understand. He even takes you on R&R to a Bangkok niteclub to get a "massage" ;-) The difference between a fighter-pilot and a pilot of fighters is explained. I was at Takhli, the other F-105 base in Thailand, and I remember the Wild Weasel/Iron Hand "F" models. The initial group was sent in and shot down. Then another batch was sent in and shot down. I believe there were five or six airplanes in each group. During that initial period, the crewmembers of F-105F (Weasels)were virtually assured of death or capture. What a slaughter.
I loved the noise of that beautiful bird when afterburner with water injection kicked in. Not to mention the noise when a pilot returned after his 100th mission and went "supersonic" right on the deck. Awesome!!!! Also described in the book was the practice of burning off fuel with the speed brakes open and the afterburner on. I saw this on another 100 mission bird going low and slow with the "finger" extended in a pass just above the runway. This book brings back memories of that. In the meantime, back in the "world" (US)Hippies were coming on the scene. It was a shock to me and many others returning. And, by the way, so much for the "domino theory" - Thailand is still there.

i mainly bought this book as a gag gift for a coworker who always claims he had a white trash upbringing...he got a kick out of the cookbook and mentioned there are many recipes he remembers as a kid...anything with lots of ketchup! Mmmm...good.

I was tired of getting my mom the typical Mother's Day gifts, so I turned to cookbooks. Instead of typical cookbooks, I got my mother White Trash Cooking and White Trash Cooking II to play on the fact that she and my father relocated to Mississippi in recent years.

While I myself have not had the pleasure of reading these, they were a huge hit. We're just wondering where to get our hands on a cooter to cook up....

This cookbook has a lot of basic and simple recipes in it that are good for every day use. It has great ideas for family "gatherins" I found it to be very helpful when I want to make a quick lunch, or when unexpected people stop by. It uses very common ingredients that I usually have on hand.

As a chef, and a food historian, this book is a "must" for anyone serious about regional cuisine. I have pilfered many recipes from the "White Trash" series of books to the delight of my guests. Offering a bit of "home" to guests is a treat for both me, for being able to bring their "comfort foods" to them, and to them, for having it available. Many of his recipes have been adapted onto my specialty menus, and even born and bred Yankees want a taste of the classic southern cooking that Mr. Mickler has preserved.

I also have found some great Americana recipes in the Firefox series, and would recommend those to anyone who is interested in traditional family Appalachian cuisine.

I must confess that I resisted buying this cookbook for many years. I am an avid collector of American Regional and International cookbooks, but found the title of this book offensive. I assumed it was written to mock rural whites, a people I know to be hardworking, self-reliant, and decent. I was wrong about this one. This book actually celebrates these people and their cuisine, and is one of the very best traditional American cookbooks in print. Great recipes for fried chicken, catfish, hushpuppies, collard greens, Hoppin John, cornbread, and biscuits, as well as rabbit, squirrel, and yes, even possum. The book has a folksy humor throughout, and the recipes are authentic. Books like this become even more precious as this and other American regional cuisines disappear under a blanket of bland corporate burger chains, sub shops, and pizza joints. Incidentally, several recent medical studies have shown that rural Appalachians who consume this traditional fare are far healthier than those who embrace the modern suburban diet of chain restaurant food! If you have any interest in traditional American cooking, this book is a must-own.

The series of Yada Yada Prayer Group is wonderful!! Christian women and all women can be entertained and learn a few things from reading this series!!!! The books get a 5 star rating from me.

Bonnie A.

Love love love these books. I am going to hate to see this series come to and end. Pleased with the condition of the book and was here very quickly.
Thanks
Connie in NC

this is an awsome read...just as goood as the first 5 in this series...can't wait to start number 7 and hope she writes more!!!!

I have enjoyed the entire Yada Yada series. I and my friends have been blessed.

These gals are a hoot. Even got their guys going. What a great story line. I enjoyed every line of every book. Wish there were more - what about new grandchildren and new members of Yada Yada? Peggy Touchtone Sholly

I can't emphasize how good the three stories within this book are. Not only do they entertain my 4 year old (we read this book almost every night) but I can't wait to read this book as well. All three stories share a theme - arrogance, jealousy, and ignorance are all for not. Entertaining both visually and verbally - a must have for your child's collection.

Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories is amongst Seuss' best works. The stories are poignant. They are all great Read-a-Louds, and they have great rhymes.

The first of the three stories is Yertle the Turtle. It's about a king turtle that decides that his pond is not kingdom enough. He orders his subjects -- other turtles -- to stack themselves so that he can see further; his assumption being that he is the king of all he surveys.

It's actually very amusing to see how many ways there are to interpret this story. A quick trip over to Amazon.com will show you that people view Yertle as everything from simple bossy-boots, to a stand in for Hitler or Stalin. And far be it for me to argue that they aren't correct. And, in fact, this is the power of this story. That it can be understood from different perspectives, so that children can 'grow into' various interpretations.

Personally, my first thought was that Yertle was like the British Aristocracy, while the lowly turtle Mac (at the bottom of the stack) was the American Colonies.

The second story is "Gertrude McFuzz". Gertrude is a bird that is suffering from jealousy. She sees La-La Lee Lou and wants a grand tale like her. In the end though, she comes to appreciate what she has.

The final story continues with the theme of humility and is entitled, "The Big Brag".

The Accelerated Reading designation for this book is 3.3 which means that your average 3rd Grader in the 3rd month of school should be able to read this book themselves without getting too frustrated by words they don't know. [The book can be read to any age, of course.]

The "official" Interest Level is given as Preschool thru 2nd Grade. I, personally, disagree and think this makes no sense given the reading designation, and would suggest Preschool on thru fourth grade.

Meant for practice reading, Seuss tried to include useful messages when he could. The ones in this books are particularly useful and deal with consideration, jealousy, and bragging.

Highly recommended.

Pam T~

he's one excellant teacher. This is a great book to read at nap, bedtime, or anytime. It also teaches good lessons in a fun way.

I recently read this book to my grandchildren. As I was reading it, I realized that the book described a situation that was occurring in my own career. The more I read, the bigger my smile became. I realized that I was Mack and my co-worker was Yertle. As I finished the book, I told my grandsons that this was by far and away my favorite Dr. Seuss book. They asked why and I told them that sometimes in life, people seeking more and more power and greed will try to step on you and it's up to you to stand up for yourself.

Great book, great morale to the story.

I remember this one only vaguely from childhood. But when a friend loaned it to us recently, I had to buy our own copy.

There are three stories inside:
Yertle the Turtle -- be considerate
(something about Gertie's tail feather) -- be content
The Big Brag -- be humble

(sorry I can't remember the name of the second one -- the book is tucked away in the slumbering bedroom and I am NOT going in there to check it)

The morals of the stories are accessible at the kindergarten level -- and nice reminders for adults too.

The rhyming and meter, as always with Dr. Seuss, are great. Just perfect for reading out loud. Easy for the kids to memorize the lines, too.

This one deserves a spot next to Green Eggs and Ham and all the rest.