Clubs Books

Melissa Michaels' "A Look Within" is a powerful punch to your head and heart. I recently saw her perform spoken word and was blown away. I don't know what is more beautiful Melissa or her poetry. She is the sexiest poet alive.

Melissa Michaels' "A Look Within" is captivating, brillantly written. The booking is stunning as she. I highly recommend "A Look Within".

I highly recommend this wonderful book of poetry. It is exquisitely written and is filled with experiences we all encounter on our journey of life. Melissa's poems are hip and brilliantly written. Her words capture you and hold your attention. Her poems are little gems of wisdom.

I found 'A Look Within' to be a very honest journey through one woman's experiences, and one that is impossible to let go without reading in full. Melissa manages to be both poetic and direct in her style, drawing the reader in fully. Excellent.

Melissa Michaels truly expresses those emotions which are in all of us, and clearly articulates the experiences we all share.
This is a journey to enlightenment for any who wish to follow.

Christina Evans' debut novel Lucid is a fantastic story about Andie Claibourne, a woman who can travel to other places in her dreams. Andie has been unable to control or otherwise consciously direct her power, until the sudden death of her father changes everything and forces her to put her unusual abilities to the test in order to forestall terrible things. An engaging, entertaining, and gripping narrative, Lucid is recommended for those who enjoy well written speculative fiction.

Christina keeps you on the edge of your seat with this one . A must read! I could not put this one down.
Great character development and a flowing story line keep you in this one till the end. Five stars all the way through!

Wow! This is a great book...it truly is one of those that you don't want to put down, and yet at the same time want to take your time reading because you don't want it to end!
It is definitely a well-written first book...Christina did her research well and because of that medical terms related to her character's condition were easier to understand!
The story line is crisp, and easy to follow!
Definitely,looking forward to Christina's next book!

I enjoyed the book, and thought it was well written. The book made me not want to put it down. And had you on the edge of your seat. I look forward to reading more from this up and coming arthor.

This was a great book...one you couldn't nor wanted to put down, but didn't want it to end, either. An amazing first book for Christina Evans. I have always wanted to write a book myself and she has inspired me to get busy on it. I can't wait until her next one!

This book is about three very close friends: Juniper, Gena, and Anne. They are the Fortune Tellers Club. Gena find a pair of cat-eye sunglasses in a thrift store and believes they can predict the future! Gina's friends laugh at her, but not for long. This is a well-written book, full of suspense. I wanted to keep reading and never put it down. It was a funny book at times, and serious at others. The story line was a little bit young. I would recommend this book to most kids who are ages seven to ten. The story moves quickly, and the characters have enough depth for teens to say "that's me," or "that's just like so-and-so." The interplay among the girls is excellent. One of the characters is dealing with a dad who wants to date again. Something today's kids can relate to. The author projects excellent imagery and its wholesome, fun reading. Kids at every age can use a reminder about the importance (and rules) of friendship. For those squeemish about mystical arts, it's an opportunity to talk with your kids and keep the 'evil' in perspective.

The Magic Shades is book 3 of the Fortune Tellers Club series and is told from the perspective of Gena Richmond. Gena is a tomboy who plays volleyball, and the jokester of the group. It's hard for her to take anything seriously! However, when she picks up a pair of cat-eye sunglasses in a thrift store and sees the future, she doesn't find anything funny about it! Will the woman in the thrift shop fall off a ladder? Will Anne become blind? Is her Dad's girlfriend snooping through her things? Gena becomes obsessed with the information she receives via the special sunglasses--but is she really seeing clearly?

The Fortune Tellers Club is a delightful series by professional storyteller Dotti Enderle. This series, geared towards ages 9-12, features three best friends--Juniper Lynch, Anne Donovan, and Gena Richmond--who use divination to solve mysteries, explain relationships, and understand life experiences.

Great suspense, true-to-life characters, and fine storytelling are all to be found in Book 3. This series just keeps getting better and better!

I've read all the Fortune Teller Club books and love them, especially The Magic Shades. The author is really hitting her stride with the characters here and the action has gotten even more interesting. It's a great read for girls of all ages, especially if you're interested in extra-sensory stories.

I hope the next one has dopplegangers in it. They're cool.

I love how Gena finds her shades in a thrift shop and they turn out to have special powers. The premise of this book excites the imagination. The telling of the story lives up to this promise.

The Fortune Tellers Club is back with their most mysterious book yet. Gena buys a magical pair of sunglasses which show her images of the future. But can the glasses be trusted? Are they predicting the future or casting a dark spell over Gena? Danger and mystery grow with each chapter -- until the thrilling conclusion. I'm already looking forward to the next book: The Secrets of the Lost Arrow.

Much has been accomplished in this book. Dave Halsey not only traveled from one end of Canada to the other, but he lived with the Indians for a few months during 40-below degree winter season. He shares his experiences in both the hot and frigid, both the rapid and inch-by-inch travel. He has also been through inspiring and mind-blowing experiences. Plus, this book is wonderful for nature admirers and outdoor campers & hikers alike.

I have read David Halsey's Magnetic North repeated times for it's pure display of passion and adventure. Halsey was a man both before and beyond his time. He knew the importance of keeping his expedition a journey by primitive means, it was important to himself. His passing is a tragic tale, but not unlike many other great explorers and adventure writers of the 19th and 20th century. Within the pages of his account, there is more than a story. There is a compassionate soul bound to the wilderness, paddling his way through waters that had not been traversed by a white man, and a grievous attempt to return to modern society. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever dared to dream, not of greatness, but of a life lived in the wild to satisfy a yearning heart.

A great book. It wasn't long enough is the only complaint, and that's if you force me to complain.

This is a great yet tragic story about a man/boy who was meant to be in the woods. The book is, as you can guess, a trek across Canada by foot, canoe, and dogsled. Those that like the outdoors and wonder what the world was like before cell phones, pavement, and the flood of civilization need to go no futher than this work. The beauty is that this trek happened in the late 70s.

This book, from cover to cover, makes you yearn to be out in the wild and to wish you were there, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel (well some of it. The near dying stuff is best left alone). The wilds of Canada call to you as you turn each page, realizing that these travels are really not that far removed from the US/Canada border.

One gets a great perspective in reading this book through the words of Halsey and with the notes of Diana Landau, who does a marvellous job walking us through the rough parts of the story that were not completed before David's death. In fact, it could be argued that the reader gets a more complete picture in this, essentially a 2 author affair, than if only Halsey would have done it.

Truly Halsey is a man who was born to be in the outdoors and it is a shame that he did not remain in one of the nooks or crannies that he had crossed on the way. While there was a sense of inexperience in both travellers, it's hard to not feel for them and see their learning as the trip wound on.

The book is out of print, so it will be hard to come by. But if you can find it, do so.

Dave had a dream - and set out to live his dream. The book presents an excellent account of his trek across the Great White North. It makes you feel like you are living, breathing and feeling it with him. What a tragedy that he wasn't able to do more. He had so much to give and wanted little in return. An excellent account in survival and a lesson in human nature. Highly recommend!

This is a marvelous adventure story with a tragic aftermath. David Halsey was 21 years old when he set out to cross Canada's remote wilderness by foot, canoe, and dog sled, a 4000 mile journey that would take him several years to complete. For most of the trip, he was accompanied by a friend and a dog named Coy, who wandered into Halsey's wilderness camp in British Columbia one night, and thereafter became a permanent member of the expedition. Diana Landau did a wonderful job editing this book, which was no small task considering its author died in his 20's several years previous to her launching into the project. David Halsey was gifted with a pen however, and left behind enough raw material in journal notes and reflections that Landua could put together a cohesive reminiscence of his fantastic journey. This is one of those books that will remain with you always. Read it -you won't be disappointed.

when i finished this book, i just wrote 'the great book' on its first page... it was very helpful to build up my historical and economical knowledge.(but it's not boring. rather the author has some sense of humor)
and you can find some kind explanations and illustrations of the writer for your better understanding within pages... i would recommend this book for high school students or freshman students of college.

The late Leo was a master of popularization. He makes the "dull" topic of economic history and theory come alive! A real Marxist classic, even though his chapter on "Russia Has a Plan" is sketchy and weak. He's too uncritical of Stalin. He should have read Trotsky's "Revolution Betrayed." But he does give us a wealth of valuable information and theory. E.g., "The Church taught that there was a right and wrong in ALL man's activities... [Nowadays] a manufacturer will do anything in his power to squeeze out his competitor... St. Thomas Aquinas, the greatest of the religious thinkers of the MiddleAges, condemned the 'lust for gain'... Traders were denied the right to get more out of a transaction than would pay them for their labor." (p.40) Complex material is simplified so that it is very easy reading. History has always been the strong suit for Marxists!

In this fantastic well written book, history is made easy to understand. Forget school books, the old pedantic approach. Leo Huberman has a way to make the reader understand the changes that occur in the world and be interesting and amusing at the same time. I read it while at school and when my daughter was studying the subject at high school I gave a copy to the school library. Needless to say that it was photocopied by the teacher and given as a compusory reading to all school students. Great book. One of the gems of the century!

How com that the moviestar never pay the cabdriver? Where did royalties get their fortune?, from heaven? Huberman explain in a very simple way how the great fortunes where made. How it come to be that the existing economic system come to happen. He point out the actual facts of where welth were created and who rely did it.

Leo Huberman's masterpiece is a fantastic work, unfortunately out of print abroad but published in India and available in select bookstores.

In an age where belief in the Left is scorned and the free market rules supreme, this book is as relevant as ever, reminding one of the perils that can arise when a market is too free.

Huberman explains economics in its historical background and shows the user the reason why he is against free markets.

A valuable work from a brilliant American economist! His bibliography is also excellent

This book is still available in India!

This journal compiles amazing photographs of one of America's most envied gardens. It's layout is outstandingly useful for gardners and admirers alike. A "perfect" gift!!! Two thumbs up for its editors.

The perfect hostess gift! This beautiful journal is timeless and inspirational to those of us who struggle in the "green thumb" area! The photographs are beautifully done and the line drawings are beyond compare. A real treasure!!

This book makes everyone want to have a green thumb! Just looking at this beautiful book sitting on my desk makes me want to spend all day in my garden. The photographs are exquisite and the drawings are beyond compare. Marie Aull's garden is a work of art, a very special place, a garden that every gardener aspires to!

A perfect hostess gift to record garden events or personal memories. Pictures are exquisite! Possible travel journal. Plenty of space to record the important events we want to cherish. Wonderful way to honor our gardening friends or anyone who enjoys a tranquil stroll through a beautiful garden!

This book is a treasure! An exquisite journal honoring one of America's finest gardeners: Marie Aull. It was created in celebration of Mrs. Aull's One Hundredth Birthday and in recognition of her special genius. This exquisitely presented journal has many uses: to journal a garden, as a daily record or for multiple years; to carry on a trip and use as a travel journal...to create a personal diary or a birthday book; however you choose to use it, you will be touched by the depth and sensitivity of the quotations, by the beauty of the photographs of flowers and scenes from a nationally recognized woodland garden, by the delicate line drawings and by the clarity and sohpistication of the presentation of this little book. This is a book with heart. This is a book honoring and saluting one of America's finest gardeners: Marie Aull. Think of it as a walk through a woodland garden; the quotations will touch you, the photographs and art will inspire you . It is both useful and beautiful....a great gift for yourself and for others. I love it!

I haven't finished reading this book yet but its already GREAT! I love the mystery and the suspiciuos characters!! If you love Mystery and Horses just lie me you have to read this book!! its one of the BEST!

This book was so cool! I loved it and i culdn't put it down for a second. My fave part was when Stevies father was telling the gield about that rat Paul. I really reccomend this book fot anyone who loves horses. END

I LOVE bonnie Bryant i read almost all the series mainly Pine Hallow and Saddle Club. i love this book the whole plot is funny and realistic. I won't give out any secrets. Its a must have!

this book was really good. yet again it was a little unrealistic. i hate when people ruin the books so i won't do that. SC, Pine Hollow and Thoroughbred books are the best. well anyway i guarintee this book to anyone who is horse-crazy. horses rule and Ian Millar and Big Ben rock!

This book was excellent. Bonnie Bryant does it again! This bookwas both amusing and mysterious. Although she writes the first chaptera little wierdly, i can't quite explain it, and it is a little hard to get into at first, once you get past that, you will not be able to put it down. She portrays the characters very well, as usual, and you really relate. Overall, this was a great book that you all should read.

Great book!! If you love horses--and mystery--read it! It's the best saddle club book that I've read! Excellent book! I'm a huge Saddle Club fan, and I've read at least thirty of her books (even though I have plenty more of her books), personally I think this one is the best yet!
Bonnie did a good job with stable rat Veronica! Bragging that she's going to win the Mystery Weekend, but she gots horrid luck! It's just great! I couldn't put down the book! It also has you giggling from this page to that page!
If you love horses--READ IT!!!

This book was great. I love the Saddle Club. I don't like mystery books, so I wasn't excited about this book when I checked it out of my school library. But I was wrong. GREAT BOOK!! YOU SHOULD READ IT.

This is a great book! It keeps you on the edge of your seet the entire time!!I'm like Carol. I know alot about horses and this is my favorite SC ! Make sure when you read this, you have alot of time because you'll need to take a breather!

This SC book was one of the best!!! It's been awhile since I've read it, but I know it was great!!! I'm a HUGE SC fan, great work Mrs. Bryant!!! I'm VERY horse-crazy, but I don't know nearly as much as Carole does :o) I just started English ridding and I love it!!!

Pine Hollows is holding its annual Mystery Weekend the riders will sped the nights in the hayloft and during the day they must try to solve a mystery conceived by Max himself. But when valuable saddles are discovered missing it isn't a game anymore and the saddle club must track down the trail of a real thief.

This book is perfect for people wanting to do beginner (and even a couple moderate) hikes in the White Mountains. It is very easy to use and detailed. All hiking books should use the format of this book. I highly recommend it.

If you are looking for more agressive hikes or multi-day trips, get the AMC White Mountain Guide with maps.

Being an avid hiker and an avid reader of hiking guides (when it's too cold and white to hike), I purchased several hiking guides to help me plan my recent vacation to New England. This guide is by far the best of that lot.

This guide describes 50 hikes in the White Mountains (45 in northern New Hampshire, 5 in extreme western Maine) divided into 8 regions by geography. Each hike contains detailed directions to the trailhead, a very good map that shows you almost everything along the trail except contour lines, and a description that usually lasts for several pages. The descriptions are divided into two sections: the first just gives directions for walking the trail along with the major highlights, while the second gives lots of information about the scenery (animate and inanimate) you are likely to see on the trail. In fact, this guide gives you more information on the forest and fauna than just about any guide I have ever read. Length of the hikes range from 0.5 miles to 5 miles with the average at 2 or 3 miles. Also, some of the trails can be combined to form longer hikes of up to 10 miles.

This guide emphasizes hiking with kids, so one might think the appropriate audience is somewhat limited. However, as a single man with no kids, I can attest that this guide will be useful to anyone interested in White Mountain hiking. In fact, much of the information "intended for kids" I found to be just good information about the trail's natural setting (as described above). So don't think this guide is one of the specialized type; it can actually be used by a very broad audience.

If there was one drawback to this guide, it would be the significant changes that have occurred on some of these trails since the book went to press. On my personal hiking journeys, I discovered:

1) the trail to Arethusa Falls (highest in NH) has been rerouted and
2) the Old Man profile in Franconia Notch has collapsed.

So there will need to be an updated version published in a few years. However, the publication date is still fairly current, and trail changes are beyond the author's control.

In summary, this is an excellent guide that anyone interested in White Mountain dayhiking should own. Very highly recommended.

This is a terrific book to use when you are going to hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It is rich with information presented in an easily accessible format. Useful introductory chapters tell you how to get the most out of the book, make suggestions for hiking with children, and discuss the natural history of the region, including line illustrations of plants and a few animals. A map shows the location of each of the 50 hikes, which are divided up between the Franconia Notch, Waterville Valley/Squam Lake, Kancamagus, Crawford Notch, Pinkham Notch, North Conway, Evans Notch and North Country regions. An easy-to-read chart lists all the hikes and their difficulty level, distance and whether or not there is a river, a waterfall, a lake or pond, a view, rock ledges, wooden bridge, blueberry bushes or special geological feature on that particular hike. A short introduction to each region details facilities available such as camping sites and visitor centers. Several pages are devoted to each hike, including length, elevation gain, time requirement and difficulty level, a description of the trail, highlights for kids, directions to get there, a map and a photograph. The book concludes with a bibliography and index.

If you get one book to help you explore the White Mountains, it should be this one, particuarly if you are hiking with children.

Now in an updated and revised second edition, Robert Buchsbaum's Nature Hikes In The White Mountains continues to be the premier guide to New England's White Mountain waterfalls, mountain ponds, blueberry patches, and outdoor adventures for the hiker, backpacker, and nature enthusiast. Mixing trail descriptions with natural history, Buchsbaum provides a series of hiking opportunities including a map, distance, estimated hiking time, elevation change, and level of difficulty. Nature Hikes In The White Mountains offers natural sites and activities for children; sidebars on natural features along the trail; detailed driving instructions to reach each trail; and a quick reference chart for selecting the perfect hike. Whether for a day hike, a weekend excursion, or to plan an outdoor vacation, Nature Hikes In The White Mountains will prove a much appreciated, practical, and even inspirational guide!

Went to the White Mountains with another adult friend and picked this book because the walks looked about our speed. The directions are great, descriptions and nature discussions also very informative and entertaining. I particularly liked the "what the kids get out of it" feature for each walk. I particularly recommend the walk to Diana's Baths, a waterful near North Conway, NH.

Spiritual path and makes you want to be wild and free like our ancestors and indigenous brothers and sisters.

Paul Shepard was an extremely brilliant man, most of whose writings focused on how we humans became what we are. I began with Dr. Shepard by reading his book, Coming Home to the Pleistocene.

Coming Home is a truly great book, but now I would recommend The Only World We've Got to anyone reading Shepard for the first time. It's an omnibus of some of Paul's essays and covers many subjects. It's a bit easier to read than Coming Home.

Shepard's books are not overly easy to read. They require concentration and either a massive vocabulary or a handy dictionary. (I've opted for a dictionary.) But the ideas contained in his writings are superbly enlightening.

If you're interested in how the lifestyles of our ancestors over the last several million years made us what we are today, you'll find Shepard's many books fascinating, thought-provoking, informative and enjoyable. I strongly recommend Paul Shepard's writings in general and The Only World We've Got in particular.

Have you ever wondered why we dream of animals or see them in the clouds and stars (e.g., Ursa Minor, Ursa Major, and Bootes)? Have you ever wondered why Paleolithic men decorated their caves with animal art? Have you ever wondered why we share our homes with animals, entertain ourselves at zoos, or why some of us eat meat? Or have you ever wondered why "mass society delivers itself into military hands" (p. 138), or seeks comfort in "massive therapy, escapism, intoxicants, narcotics, fits of destruction and rage, enormous grief, subordinations to hierarchies that exhibit callow ineptitude at every level, and perhaps worst of all, a readiness to strike back at a natural world that we dimly perceive as having failed us" (p. 156)? Ecophilosopher, Paul Shepard addresses all of these questions, and more, in this fascinating Sierra Club Reader. "The generic human in us knows how to dance the animal, knows the strength of clan membership and the profound claims and liberation of daily rites of thanksgiving," Shepard writes in this book's Preface. "Hidden from history, this secret person is undamaged in each of us and may be called forth by the most ordinary acts of life" (p. xx).

A friend recommended this book to me as a good introduction to Paul Shepard's ten other books. In the first Chapter, "The Eye," Shepard studies the human eye and how it differentiates us from species. In Chapter Two, "On Animals Thinking," he argues that the human mind "and its organ, the brain, are in reality that part of us most dependent on the survival of animals," that "living animals are a necessary part of the mental growth of humans" (pp. 22-3). Whereas Darwin "rediscovered" in 1859 that man was an animal, Shepard's book considers what animals tell us most about ourselves (p. 107). "Physiologically," he writes in Chapter Five, "from the neck down, so to speak, [man] is an omnivore whose diet is about three-quarters plant products, like a bear or boar. By looking only at his gut one might predict that he is a kind of oversized raccoon. Yet the patterns of life set by hunting-gathering peoples are centered on the spiritual and ceremonial eating of large mammals. Behavior and culture are more wolflike than bearlike" (p. 113). Men "wolf" their food, as they say. "Man is a fat-making, fair-weather carnivore who can eat more than three pounds of meat at a sitting. He is also a primate snacker, a connoisseur of ripe and unripe berries, of frogs, crabs, and insects" (p. 131). Like animals, "men need, in their nonhuman environment, open country with occasional cover, labyrinthe play areas, a rich variety of plants, animals, rocks, stars; structures and forms numbering into the thousands, initiation solitude, transitional and holy places, a wide variety of food organisms and diversity of stone and wood, nearby fresh water, large mammalian herds, cave and other habitation sites, and so on" (p. 135).

In Chapter Six, Shepard examines how we have "broke bonds with the earth, soil and nature," and how the human spirit has become dissociated "from seasons and celestial rounds" (p. 149). As a result, civilized culture has become stuck in immaturity; "to remain a child," Shepard observes, "is not an appropriate individual destiny, nor is it a norm for our species" (p. 160). He encourages us to free ourselves from our cultural immaturity.

Nature writer, Barry Lopez calls Shepard's writing "endlessly stimulating." Paul Shepard was an original thinker, and this brilliant book offers an eye-opening and imaginative look at ourselves, and "the only world we've got."

G. Merritt

I used Shepard's works a few years ago among supplemental books for a course I taught theological students regarding their awareness of science and nature. People may recognize me today as the co-author of the recent "Nabokov's Blues: The Scientific Odyssey of a Literary Genius" (1999)(which I must mention to make my major point about Shepard and his books). My point concerns the world's own "right of passage" regarding urgent dictums akin to "its the only world we've got". What we see in Paul Shepard and his work reflects a level of awareness typifying the keenest of polymathic minds from, say, the 1970-1990's. However, many people do not realize that before that (before the major books of environmental awareness were well-known to the public [Carson, Ehrlich, Meadows et al., etc.] and thus germinal in most minds) writings about nature by even celebrated literary writers, like Vladimir Nabokov [as in The Gift], or great "nature writers", like Edwin Way Teale, peculiarly LACK a sense of this urgency. Recent writings on these latter authors (who shared 1999 as their centenary year) brought this question to the fore when comparing them to the "levels" of modern eco-awarenss in men like Shepard. Observers were stunned-- how could men like Nabokov and Teale who wrote so genuinely, and with wondrous detail, concerning nature, "miss the point" [i.e. no "urgency"] regarding what we see as the environmental crisis today. A fine reading of Shepard's works (this "Reader" among them), provides the answer. If ones reads far enough back in Shepard's writings-- and then follows the development of his major theses enculcating URGENCY in eco-awarenss-- one realizes that what one is seeing IS precisely the germinal stage of that sense worldwide. Before that, for writers even as sensitive to nature as Nabokov or Teale, its seemed that no matter how assaulted nature was around them, and in their writings, "it still had someplace else to go". Somehow, great writers of nature of that earlier era never had that "personal epiphany" when a "line in the sand" was drawn for them. It seems so odd to scientists today (especially those working overseas) who experience that epiphany very day. With this in mind, Shepard's works are perhaps one of the best examples of that awakening and seeing them in that historical perspective gives them even more life.

Paul Shepard (who also wrote The Tender Carnivore, which is also highly recommended)was one of the most insightful and brilliant thinkers of our century. This book has the power and impact of Thom Hartmann's "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" and the insights of Michael Tobias's "World War III." Highly recommended.