5 comments about Leaving Earth.

1. This is a lovely book. Grace and Willa learn how to deal with discomfort in order to break the distance record. They learn that they do not have to speak in order to communicate. Maddy is a young girl at the age where girls fall in love with "stars" and she falls in love with Grace. this novel is about women and their connection to other women. It tells how women are able to adapt to any situation and work to make the best of it. It is the connection, that Grace and Willa learn that they cannot live without. I wanted more and Helen Humphreys leaves the reader wanting more.



2. I liked everything about this book. It is like a strange dream you have one night and wake up not knowing how things are really going to turn out. If you like books you can feel and smell, you will like this great little read.



3. In August 1933, the famous aviatrix Grace O'Gorman recruits the inexperienced Willa Briggs to accompany her in breaking the world flight endurance record. While circling Toronto, the women must deal with fatigue, the weather, and the sabotaging efforts of Grace's husband. Meanwhile, on the ground, anti-Semitism erupts and affects some of those connected with the women. Unable to communicate with words in the sky, Grace and Willa find new ways of communicating that change their views of the world, and Willa, with this new awareness, finds her feelings for Grace becoming more complicated. "Leaving Earth" is a magical and adventurous story, based on some true events, about women challenging the often-stifling roles of the 1930s. The book glimmers and comes alive, showcasing Humphrey's lush style in her first novel.



4. The main story was excellent - the story of two women attempting to set a world record for flight endurance in the 1930's. The secondary storyline of rising anti-Semitism didn't seem to fit in very well. There are subtle hints of more than just feminism.



5. 'Leaving Earth' by Helen Humphreys is an engaging story of two women aviators from the 1930s in Canada. It's a tale of two women Air Ace Grace O'Gorman and Willa Briggs defying convention and other odds, taking to the skies in their Moth for an endurance test to break the record of non-stop flight of 25 days. The book captures the exhilaration of flight itself and reminded me of the reasons why I love flying so much. The story moves with the pilots circling endlessly over Toronto Bay, inventing a new sign language to communicate when their paper and pencil flies away in a storm. It tells us of Maddy, a 12 year old girl who idolizes them and who would trade in her own mother for Air Ace Grace, not least because Maddy fears the prejudice against her mother's Jewishness as Canadian anti-Semitism gathers momentum.
   
   A lovely book, very evocative and draws us into the flight with a profound sense of aviation and a passion for leaving earth. Recommended reading for anyone who loves the thrill of taking off and staying in the air. Never mind Jet lag.

2 comments about The Dionnes.

1. Tescher's interest is not the happy-go-lucky little girls that adorned newspapers and goods in the 1930s but the adult Dionnes, ill-equipped to function in the real world. Until their recent financial settlement with the Ontario government they knew terrible poverty and have been marked their entire lives by their famous birth. An unusual angle to a fascinating subject.



2. The true story of the Dionne Quints, and how their life was not a story-book one as painted by the media and the Canadian government. What these women went through is tragic.

   A book to finally set the record straight!

No comments about Hell No We Won't Go: Vietnam Draft Resisters in Canada.

1 comments about With Wolfe in Canada: Or the Winning of a Continent (Works of G. A. Henty).

1. it is abut the fighting between england and france over canda. it is a read worth your time

No comments about Into the Blast Furnace: The Forging of a CEO's Conscience.

No comments about Women and Capital Punishment in America 1840-1899: Death Sentences and Executions in the United States and Canada.

5 comments about Railway Man.

1. I read this book when it was first published about ten years ago and the moving experience has remained with me since I finished the final sentence. It is an incredibly vivid book that you will not be able to put down.
   What Eric Lomax went through as a POW, and his eventual reconciliation with one of his torturers 50 years later displays a depth of humanity that is deeply moving.



2. What an incredible book I was not able to put down. I am a big military history buff and found the early pacific theater defeats very disturbing especially the battles in and around Malaya.
   
   The treatment of Mr. Lomax was not surprising as the Japanese were ruthless. Putting this experience into such a personal and riveting ordeal makes this book a must read. Eric Lomax puts personal vivid perspective on the years after his ordeal that is often left out of most military history accounts of battle, defeat and capture.
   
   This book is very cathartic and brought tears to my eyes. Forgiveness is a more powerful emotion and triumphs over anger and revenge.



3. i also read this when it first appeared, was deeply moved and presented it to my wife's father, a ww2 veteran. i write this review today because a man george bush proposed for attorney general is about to be approved while refusing to admit that waterboarding is torture.
   
   as every reader of this book knows, this is precisely the torture that was used on the author eric lomax, which terrified and impacted him for his entire life, and made it so hard for him to forgive even the interrogator present during it.
   
   several reviewers have said this book documents how brutal was the japanese treatment of prisoners, and i agree.. how can we allow ourselves to become the same as those wartime enemies we have characterized as monsters? god help us if we do not object..



4. I was standing in a college bookstore and saw this title as the text for a class on Asian history. I typically have no interest in this genre but this book was riveting. The detail and genuine quality of the author's words are unique. One expects a POW who was tortured to seek out the torturer for revenge not forgiveness. This story has a beautiful, eternal message to the rest of us who hold grudges over much smaller offenses.



5. When I read this book 10 years ago, I couldn't understand what Lomax was talking about when he described how he was held down by Japanese soldiers, a cloth placed over his face, and water poured over him.
   
   It's now very topical.
   
   It's a very honest and informative personal story, as well

No comments about Too Big to Fail: Olympia and York-the Story Behind the Headlines.

5 comments about Iran Awakening: From Prison to Peace Prize: One Woman's Struggle at the Crossroads of History.

1. This book is the perfect book for people looking to read inspirational stories. I would recomend this book to anyone with an open mind.



2. Here is a woman who is trying her hardest to be islamic and make excuses for her religion which is a bad one to start with. Very few mulims seem able to look at Mohammed and his life. However, this is a brave woman in the limits of Islam.



3. This is a concise book on how the society is affected by revolution and its vagaries in Iran. Written by the venerable Nobel Laureate, it showcases many brutalities done by the regime in the name of tradition and religion. This also shows a woman's struggle to cope with the human rights in such regime. Although written very briefly and possibly in a haste, meaning that scenes jump to one another suddenly and there is no in depth explanation why the society is behaving like this, this book is a primer in civil movement in Iran. I had a long-time suspicion that Iranian law is very messy, making its people hate the regime and it turn Islam itself. This book proves it, which shows how Iranian penal code uses extreme means in the name of Islam, whereas the same laws are very different in other muslim countries.



4. Shirin Ebadi ([...]) is trying to be loyal to Iran's cultural and religious traditions as well as universal values of human rights. Unlike many Iranians, whom she chides (perhaps unfairly!) for abandoning Iran and Islam, she has chosen not to abandon this heritage to the forces of darkness and intolerance. She has taken her life in her hands to protect what is left.
   I am not a Muslim and I have left Iran (although I have family which has stayed behind), but I can only be moved by her example of steadfastness and courage.
   This book is not without flaws. Its coauthor, or at least its editor, should have been familiar with Persian. And some of her reasoning about the compatibility of Islamic dogma with human rights struck me as weak. But otherwise, I heartily commend this book to anyone who cares about Iran.
   One question: How come this book is so hard to find in American bookstores? Just wondering...
   For a more detailed review, please visit my blog at
   [...]and leave a comment.



5. I join those admirers who have called Nobel Peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi a woman of steel. Her intelligence, tenacity, and courage to bring justice to women, children, and dissidents over the years is amazing!
   
   She used her creative juices to organize a public funeral for one little girl who'd been left in the custody of her abusive father, after his divorce from her mother. In divorce cases, the law automatically gave custody to the father, no matter if he had an abusive history and/or was a drug abuser. Ebadi helped to bring change in that unfair law with the help of friends/colleagues through that public event as it stirred the public to speak up, and even one man came forward with another child that had been left to the whims of his abusive father, though the boy had wanted desperately to live with his mother. That was just one of many cases where she tried to effect change in unjust laws and bring justice to victims and their families, most of whom had been severely abused by their country's legal system. Or more precisely perhaps, by whoever's whims they happened to be dealing with at the moment. She has written articles that brave editors published, thereby raising the ire of government hard-liners. And she has exhaustively researched through musty old religious texts, to better argue her cases; she hasn't always won, but when she's in the courtroom, she seems to the reader to be steadfast and unafraid of any religious hard-liner, and not afraid to speak up if she thinks they said something totally unrelated to the case (which often appears to be a condescending reprimand to her).
   
   Her belief and hope in Iran is truly admirable, though I think she comes down rather harshly on her friends and colleagues who fled the country over the years, especially during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
   
   Her recollections of clients and friends who were abused by the powers that be are heart-wrenching. Some cases kept me on the edge of my seat, such as when a writer friend of hers was en route to attending a literary conference in Armenia and the bus driver twice abandoned the bus full of 20 or so writers on the high, winding mountains of northern Iran. The second time he abandoned it, the nose of the bus had just slipped over a mountain cliff (he jumped out in time, of course). Or when a classmate who was a judge was travelling with her fiance and two male friends to visit her mother--and was stopped by the "morality police"; they were held and interrogated for three days. It is painful to learn what little freedom of expression the Iranian people have, and the extent of intolerance the hard-line members of their government harbor towards women's rights, dissidents, and activists like Ebadi.
   
   As Ebadi herself writes, this isn't a political memoir or political analysis of how and why events came to pass. It's her personal story and how events in the last half century have affected her life. Her strength radiates throughout the book, especially when she recounts her time in jail. Before she reported to the judge, she left a note to her family:
   
   "My dear ones, By the time you read this, I will already be in prison. I want to assure you that I will be fine. I will be released and unharmed because _I have done nothing wrong_ (italicized in book). Can you please do something for me? I want you to imagine for a moment that I've suffered a heart attack and have been rushed to the hospital. Wouldn't that be terrible? It would be much, much worse than my arrest. So please keep all of this in perspective. Love to all..." (pp. 161-162)
   
   Shirin Ebadi had open-minded parents, who treated her, her sisters and brother equally. What a fortunate beginning, as well as having an open-minded husband who "let me be myself from the beginning, and encouraged my work as part of me, rather than a hobby or indulgence" (p. 29)! She maintained her domestic responsibilites at home, while managing her writing and legal work. I can only marvel at how she stayed focus as mom, wife, judge, and then as human rights lawyer/activist! Her memoir will surely be an inspiration to human rights activists everywhere.

3 comments about My Years As Prime Minister (Ron Graham Books).

1. As he always seemed to be, this is an honest and humorous account of his years as the prime minister. He is probably one the best Canada has seen in recent history. And the book is not only his memoirs, but also is full of lessons for those interested in politics, policy makings, and respect. Every Canadian should read this book, whether you like him or now (I know of very few people who don't praise his work and leadership abilities).



2. Sheds a lot of light on the accomplishments of the Chretien government and the media-driven scandals that ultimately caused the downfall in 2003 under Paul Martin. Great book for readers from Canada as it shows the true side of Chretien, something that was often muddled in the press. Readers from other countries will see the impact Canada had on world affairs under this leader, and come to understand how the Canadian political scene and "state of mind" differs very much from other countries, especially the United States.



3. I read this book primarily to find out whether Jean Chretien knew that 9/11 was an inside job and if he knew why Canada went along placidly in support of the war on terrorism . Although he does not answer the questions directly, he deals with them. He writes Putin told him that he believed the US military and the corporations involved in profiting from war were behind 9/11. They needed a new playground for testing their new war toys. In a totally different context in the book Jean Chretien writes that Canada could be invaded by the US at any time. Putting the two statements together I had my answers. He knew but he had no choice.
   Well written book, easy to read and packed with insightful information.