5 comments about Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic.

1. As many have mentioned, Beck's story has very little to do with Adam, her son, and everything to do with the many miracles that she feels surrounded his gestation.
   
   The assumption is that something very spiritual took place. I don't doubt that's true. But I found her position to be highly unbalanced.
   
   Being the scholar that she is, I have to wonder how she wrote this memoir as "truth" when the subject matter cannot be proven.
   
   The red flags are:
   
   1) From A to Z this story is presented with *high emotion.*
   2) While she was expecting Adam she was under tremendous stress.
   -she was physically hampered by a difficult pregnancy compounded by an autoimmune disfunction (which she doesn't name).
   -her academic requirements would have produced enough stress to put the Dali Lama on Prozac.
   -she had very little family support
   -she was caring for another child under the age of two.
   -after her appartment building caught fire, when she claimed she and her toddler nearly died, she kept right on pushing herself to the extreme. She sought no psychological help for what must surely have been a traumatizing event.
   -when her fears that "something was wrong" with her baby were confirmed, she kept pace with all her stress. She worked and studied and cared for her other child. It seems to me she took very little care for her physical and mental health.
   
   Another thing to consider is that her other books are also questionable. A quick background check into the controversies surrounding her life and experiences suggests there is no middle ground present in this woman, only extremes. Her pendulums swing all the way to the right or left. They don't appear to rest anywhere in between. This has landed her in more than one sticky situation. Beck and former husband John once co-authored a book on abstaining from homosexuality. Today they are divorced and both are openly gay. She also wrote about leaving the Mormon church, where she accuses her father of molesting her. Her seven other siblings all contest her reportings, some were said to have shared a room WITH her and have no idea how molestation could have taken place without thier knowledge. Even John felt the need to respond to her portrayal of events, feeling they were inadequate and unfair. To date she's at odds with her family, her husband John (so highly represented in the book, they are now divorced) and the Mormon church of her upbringing. Controversy is to Martha Beck as ink is to paper.
   
   By now this review sounds largely negative. Let me add that Martha's writing is stellar and extremely readable. Even believable. To the untrained eye, this is an amazing account.
   
   If you, like me, have that niggling suspicion her perception of supernatural abetting may indeed be larger than life there is one question to be considered: Is the niggling doubt of a spiritual manifestation? Or could it merely be common sense...
   
   I will close by mentioning that I too have kept journals of my experiences in life. Looking back I could easily assign spirituality as the sole benefactor of certain events. But it wouldn't be fair to present myself as though that were the ONLY cause of my life's outcomes. My choices and actions are part of the equation. One also has to wonder if Beck's perceptions were in any way altered by psychological (perhaps peri-partum depression? anxiety? Outright psychosis?) were in any way a factor in her view of what was happening inside (and outside) of her body at that time.



2. Read this book if: you are struggling with the belief that you must be perfect to be loved. I have read other Beck books. I especially liked Leaving the Saints. And like some of the other reviewers here, I occasionally pause, scratch my head, and say "can all of this stuff really happen to one person?"and "is it possible she is taking literary license with some of the details? And then I look at my own life, and I think, NO. If all of us told the truth of our own existence, the late night thoughts, the dreams, the spiritual experiences, we'd all sound like lunatics. These are the things we must share with each other and these are the things we don't share because we are afraid some "reviewer" will skewer us or smirk or otherwise besmirch our integrity and sanity. I loved this book. It brought me back to the power of my dreams and my connection with the divine. I thank Martha and Adam for the inspiration and love shared.



3. I was primed for this book. Our third grandson, Adam, had just been born (August 5), when I visited a bookstore just down the street from the hospital. So the title, Expecting Adam, quite naturally practically leapt off the shelf into my hands. I originally thought, what a great gift for my daughter (the new mother), but when I read it was a story about having a child with Down Syndrome, I reconsidered. Our particular Adam, although a few weeks premature, seemed pretty much perfect, and I didn't want to needlessly upset the new mom. I needn't have worried. This is an absolutely wonderful book, told with humor, compassion, wit, wisdom and a nearly other-worldy sense of wonder. And did I mention humor? Because this woman is a very funny writer. The numerous references to invisible beings, whether she calls them angels or Bunraku puppeteers, and intercontinental telepathy are the kind of thing that would normally put me off, as I am a natural skeptic. But somehow Beck pulls it off. Probably because she believes it, she makes me believe it too - all of it. My wife wants to read it now. (She'd seen Martha Beck on Oprah some time ago, she tells me.) We will then pass the book along to our daughter to read. We know she will relate, and probably cry a little, when she reads Beck's perfect descriptions of a tiny foot the size of a man's thumb and a head the size of an orange. Babies. Ain't they just the grandest things?! I'll say it again. This is a wonderful book. - Tim Bazzett, author of the ReedCityBoy trilogy



4. This book was recommended by a writer-friend saying it was well written and an interesting read. I was sucked in by the writer for a few pages, but then decided to start listing all the inconsistencies and reality-defying events. By page 95, where I am now, I have 10 major ones listed. Then I remembered the lately discussion about Fake Memoirs and thought, hey lets see what the reviewers on Amazon say. I'm surprised at the large number of reviewers who believe this stuff actually happened as written. She might have gone to Harvard and might have a Down's syndrome kid, but after that, it pure fiction. Try imagine writing about what you had in the refrigerator on day 26 of vomiting 10 years later. But you have to give Ms. Beck credit for a vivid imagination; similar to a paranoid-compulsive nephew I know who can make up the most compelling fictitious event scenarios; way better than I can.



5. Expecting Adam is Martha Beck's engrossing memoir of her pregnancy with her second child, who has Down syndrome. She and her husband, John, both Ph.D. students at Harvard, decide to keep the baby, for reasons they can't at first articulate, and even though doing so goes against most of the values of their Ivy League community.
   
   During the pregnancy, Martha and John experience deep transformations of their worldviews, values, and ambitions. Each also has numerous spiritual and paranormal experiences which they understand to be connected to their unborn child. Most of these experiences are so strange that for many months Martha and John don't even confide in each other.
   
   The Harvard community Martha paints is bleak. Intellectual prestige and appearance are the supreme values. "Knowing a great deal is the norm and knowing everything is the goal, [but] appearing to know everything is considered an acceptable substitute." In order to survive in this culture, Martha consciously calls up a sort of alter ego, named Fang, before every visit to campus. Fang is fearless, aggressive, disdainful, and competitive.
   
   Martha also paints a less than sympathetic view of the passionate feminists who apparently exist in large numbers at Harvard. After one public bout of morning sickness, Martha is approached by one such feminist, a stranger, who says, "I think it's time you stop kissing up to the enemy... This crap about -- what do they call it? -- morning sickness. You know it isn't real... All of those myths were made up to justify denying women access to decent jobs and positions in society... I don't care if you think you can help it or not... It makes us all look bad... Just stop it."
   
   With the exception of a few amazingly supportive friends, this is the context and community in which Martha and John learn that the baby they are expecting has Down syndrome. Their community is often intolerant of healthy pregnancies, not to mention unhealthy ones. The Beck's are pressured on every side to abort -- by fellow grad students, professors, advisors, colleagues and medical professionals. Not to do so is considered both foolish and irresponsible.
   
   These pressures are intensified by Martha's nearly constant "morning sickness" (actually an autoimmune disease not diagnosed until many years later), John's frequent absences due to consulting assignments in Asia, and the anxieties they both have about raising a mentally impaired child.
   
   Martha and John find reassurance and strength in strange places. This is where the spiritual and paranormal experiences come in. They have visions, sometimes even "seeing" each other across continents. And they frequently sense the presence of spiritual beings who they believe speak to them, give them peace, orchestrate events in their favor, and in at least two instances save Martha from grave physical danger.
   
   The ending of the story is never in doubt. Throughout her memoir Martha intersperses chapters about Adam after he is born. He is a beautiful child.
   
   This book was an easy and engrossing read. I particularly enjoyed Martha's and John's transformation from a thin existence characterized by mindless striving, excessive individualism, emotional hunger, and disbelief in all things spiritual, to a thicker existence that was more human and allowed for (in fact, could not deny) a spiritual dimension to life.
   
   I also appreciated Martha's instinctive sense of the vulnerability and humanity of her unborn child. At one point she describes an exchange between herself and her obstetrician, who pressures her to terminate her pregnancy:
   
   "'I would not make the choice that you have made,' he went on steadily. 'I have never known anyone who would.' ...
   
   'I don't know,' I mumbled. 'I guess I just... can't reject him.' It was a miserably inadequate statement. My real feeling, the one I couldn't articulate yet, was that my entire life hinged on knowing that there were people who would continue to love me unconditionally, even if I were damaged, even if I were sick. Such love was the only thing that had sustained me during the turmoil of the past months. If I eliminated my child because of his disability, if I put him out of my life, I would be violating the only thing that was keeping me alive. I'd be ripping the rug out from under my own feet."
   
   In addition, I was touched by Martha's descriptions of life with Adam and the insights she gained because of him. For example: "I was afraid Adam would slow me down, and he has. Not because he has required more care and time than a 'normal' boy (he is the most helpful and least demanding of my children) but because the immediacy and joy with which he lives his life make rapacious achievement, Harvard-style, look a lot like quiet desperation." Another example: "[Adam] has taught me to look at things in themselves, not at the value a brutal and often senseless world assigns to them. As Adam's mother I have been able to see quite clearly that he is no less beautiful for being called ugly, no less wise for appearing dull, no less precious for being seen as worthless. And neither am I. Neither are you. Neither is any of us."
   
   I had a few disappointments with the book. First, I grew tired of reading about Martha's sickness and her seeming neglect of her own medical needs. I began to wonder how, if she was so sick, she kept up with her doctoral studies, mothered her two-year-old daughter, and kept the voluminous journal that she said she relied on to write her memoir more than 10 years after the fact.
   
   I was also disappointed by Martha's misunderstanding of, and opposition to, the pro-life movement, notwithstanding her own profound experiences. She expresses puzzlement that religious people who possess "a devout belief in the life of the spirit" and a "belief that life exists outside of mortal bounds" are the same people who are "so obsessed with a fetus's 'right to life' on this messy little planet." What she doesn't understand is that such people (I include myself) are not devoted to some belief about the nature of spiritual life, but to God himself, the Author of life, who creates humans in his own image. Because he is the Author, that life is sacred and created for his purposes, not our own.
   
   I also found myself wanting to better understand Martha's and John's spiritual experiences. I hoped that these obviously significant experiences would lead somewhere coherent. But Martha and John seemed content not to question, categorize, or define their experiences. Martha simply called the visions the "Seeing Thing" and the spiritual beings the "Bunraku puppeteers" (after a Japanese puppet show). Perhaps their attitude is understandable in view of the Mormon faith in which they each were raised and each abandoned. Nevertheless, their spirituality seems to turn into a free floating, New Age-ish, therapeutic sort of thing. When they conceived Adam, it was as if a door cracked open providing a way out of a harsh philosophic reductionism, but the door never leads anywhere coherent.
   
   Lastly, as I hinted above, I had some doubts about the author's credibility. I wondered how a memoir like this, chock-full of details and verbatim dialogues, could be written so many years after the fact, even with the aid of a journal. I also began to wonder if Martha was prone to exaggeration and caricature. And I questioned the sheer number of strange voices, visions, presences, and events that she describes. After reading the book, I found some biographical information about Martha that, unfortunately, only added to my doubts about her credibility.
   
   Nevertheless, this story was engrossing, moving, and enjoyable.

5 comments about In His Sights: A True Story of Love and Obsession.

1. 
   
   
   
   Stalk, stalking, stalker - all frightening words. They are words that we see in newspapers, online, or in books. Fortunately for most of us those words are not applicable to our lives, yet we do know that millions of women are terrorized by stalkers. Frequently these women are too frightened to speak out. Not so for Kate Brennan who has been the victim of a stalker for some 13 years. Choosing to write pseudonymously in order to protect those close to her, Kate recounts years of emotional turmoil, fear, aggravation, and anything but a normal life.
   
   Those years have also been a time of growing self-awareness as she remembers growing up in an alcoholic family and the fact that she has always been attracted by slightly out of sync, controlling men. She wonders how she could have loved and once trusted a man capable of such fearful acts. Kate believes that the answer is "...that life with my family had left me with such a high tolerance for cruelty I couldn't recognize perversion when I saw it." Then, as she notes, when she did see it she still thought that sick people could be well, that enough love and understanding might heal. She learned how very wrong she was.
   
   Kate first met Paul at a party in the home of friends. A writer and Bronte scholar, she went alone, comfortable with herself as a 41-year-old single woman. Paul was attractive, a charmer, and independently wealthy. He was a photographer, and the two shared a love of travel. He pursued her and despite past poor luck at romance Kate moved in with him.
   
   However, Paul was not at all what he seemed to be. It wasn't too long before he began having affairs, there were signs of illegal dealings, his once congenial facade changed dramatically. Kate moved out. She thought this was easily done - just walk away. She learned differently. "You can do all the psychic and physical separation you want, but there's no getting away from someone who wants to remind you he can mess with your life anytime he wants." Paul has the resources to do just that, and she now realizes it will not be over as long as he lives.
   
   She has moved repeatedly, still her phone goes dead because her account has been canceled. Small things are moved from place to place in her apartment, people are hired to intimidate her. When she goes to a movie, she first locates the exit then sits in the back row so she can keep an eye on the audience. There is nothing the police can do because there is no solid evidence against Paul.
   
   One wonders how she has been able to maintain her sanity through all of this. Kate's story is a chilling one, even more terrifying because it is true.
   
   - Gail Cooke



2. I ordered this book immediately after seeing it advertised in a newspaper and read it almost straight through once I got it. I'm very sad for this author who has to be so aware & methodical in her daily doings and living. I also greatly admire her strength and tenacity in being in "control" of her own life while also being Mindful of how quickly the rug can be pulled out from under her. An amazing lady for sure!!



3. I had high hopes for this book. I myself was a victim of stalking several years ago, and was looking forward to reading an honest account of it. By the time I was 3/4 of the way through this book, I was genuinely beginning to believe that the author either fabricated most of the plot (which is fine, but just don't call it non-fiction) or, more frighteningly, was *herself* the obsessed one.
   
   When you really get right down to it, this is the memoir of a deeply narcissistic, navel-gazing woman who took extreme-yet-illogical measures like traveling under an assumed name (like a customs agent in the United Kingdom, post 9/11, is going to care about a hand-written letter from a small town police chief when her airline ticket doesn't match her passport?) and yet she continues to go to the same therapist for a decade, continues to go to the same libraries for years and years, etc.?
   
   I just finished this book tonight. Once I read the last page, I sat down and thought, 'OK, what really happened?' She never once, except for at the very end, actually SAW Paul. She slipped it in that he had REMARRIED and completed MEDICAL SCHOOL, all the while he was allegedly stalking her? C'mon. So, her phone line went dead a few times. She herself admits it happened only once every two years or so. She saw an acquaintance at an airline ticket office, an acquaintance who apparently didn't even take note of her. Her "complex, modern" alarm system rang false alarms a few times. So does mine. All the time. I can't think of anything else that happened to support her claims of being stalked.
   
   She was never assaulted. She was never threatened; not verbally, not in writing, not second-hand. She never once saw her alleged stalker, nor did she imply that he was following her and was just good at hiding. A backpacker in the woods in Maine asked if he could sit next to her. GASP! CALL THE POLICE!!
   
   Honestly, I am surprised at my own reaction to this, but I guess I feel really tricked and manipulated by this book. There's simply no evidence that this woman was stalked, let alone brutally stalked by a virtual ARMY of paid "surrogates" for more than a decade. I think she is chronically bored, has an overactive imagination, and was perhaps spurned by Paul. What kind of a person doesn't get out the FIRST time their boyfriend says, "Does it bother you that I have a gun in the house?" Does it really ring true that she laid there night after night as he asked and re-asked that question? Wouldn't it be a little more realistic that she might turn over and go "What the hell, freako? You asked me that last night, and the night before that!"
   
   Another lie: She says she didn't get a restraining order because Paul would've had to come to court and be in the same room with her. That is an absolute falsehood. The system is not set up that way.
   
   If I am wrong, then God forgive me. But I don't think I am. Do some critical thinking, folks. Look at the evidence she provides. Look at the likelihood of some of her stories about creating false identities and "going on the run," yet then she returns to her mother's house (where presumably Paul had frequently been a visitor when they were dating) and lives there for a year without a worry?
   
   In conclusion? I don't buy it. In the very beginning of the book, she says she will not name anyone still alive in her acknowledgments, because she is afraid that Paul will hurt them. At the end, she goes on to name full, first and last names of several people who helped her with the book. Huh? I also found it interesting that apparently, according to the author's own words, several people in her life also decided that this alleged "stalking" was a fabricated drama of her own making. I'm with them.



4. I am surprised by the anger this book generated in a recent review. I, too, read the book. It was clear the experience was fully documented as accurate. Although documenting subtle and mind-playing games must be difficult, it was apparent that the authorities saw it as real and recognized the potential for great danger and harm. I applaud the effort and courage this author extended to validate her own experience and the experiences of others who feel helpless and victimized.



5. This book is an amazing look inside the life of someone who's being stalked. It's written in such a compelling way, I couldn't put it down-- Both times I read it. It makes you both sad and angry because it reveals how ill equipped we are to protect the victims of this crime. Everyone should read it. It's that good.

5 comments about A Thousand Days in Venice (Ballantine Reader's Circle).

1. This is the sort of romantic story you expect in the movies, not real life. To find your great love, almost by accident, in Venice, while walking through Piazza San Marco, seems impossible and yet that's exactly what happened to the author. Sharing this lovely story gives us all a chance to dream. And it isn't just ordinary sharing, but beautifully crafted description of a place that boasts an extraordinary amount of beauty. Not all is wine and roses for this implausible couple--eHarmony would never have matched them up--and yet it works on many levels and thanks to Ms. DeBlasi, we readers are allowed a glimpse into an inner life in Venice which leaves us wanting more--and luckily, following stories by Ms. DeBlasi provide that.



2. This is a fabulous - - fiction or non-fiction - I am not sure which - book. Almost a fairy tale type book. It which makes those of us who have never visited Venice - yearn to do so. I wanted to walk where she walked and especially eat all the delicious foods she describes. A fantasic risk she takes in moving there to be with "the stranger" and the story winds through their getting to know each other in a daring yet believable manner. The romance of it all brought tears to my eyes many times. I loved it. Can't wait to read the next in the series.



3. I love Marlena's Book, all of them! Please write more.... I'm waiting! This book, A Thousand Days in Venice, is another one of her magnifico writings, which is also a true memoir of her life. I like to read a book that is "real life" happenings! I've been taking two tour groups to Italy twice a year now for seven years. I also travel to Italy and France to the markets for my store. I love the markets, especially in Italy. And, Marlena describes them well. My extended Dad, is born and raised in Sicily, and now lives in Tuscany, which is wonderful! I am in Italy as much as the United States. Marlena describes Venice, as well as the many other places in Italy, so well. Reading her books, puts you right there with her, and that's a wonderful thing when reading! I also like the balance in her books; she doesn't talk too much about food, but keeps a balance. Lately, I've read too many books about Italy, that are so boring and too much like the others out there. Not Marlena's books, true stories of her life in Italy! They really entice me to keep reading and reading until the end! Thank you so much Marlena for sharing your life with others, especially those who are in love with Italy! You have probably seen me around Orvieto, Venice, and many other places, especially my big sign that reads, Decorate Ornate.com! That sign has been North to South many times. Keep up the writing, I have enjoyed your books so much! I highly recommended "all" of your books to my customers, especially those of them that go on my tours and love Italy! They have the same compliments too, wondeful book, and when is the next one?
   
   Stephani Chance
   Decorate Ornate
   Gladewater, TX



4. The main character of this book Marlena, a chef from St Louis, is visiting Venice for one of the many times she goes there. This time , a Venitian ,as she comes to call him, notices her and her life changes forever. This memoir tells of her life setting up house with the Venitian, her forays into the markets and her recipes and meals. De Blasi has lovely words to describe the scenes and the smells and the tastes as she explores Venice with her new husband. Some of the description may be over the top but Melena lives life that way.



5. What a wonderful little novel! If you love Italy as I do, you will love this story as it leads you through the day to day life of this interesting and colorful heroine throughout the city of Venice. Diplaced, lonely, living in this city that couldnt be further away from Saint Louis, Missouri in every way, she builds a new life for herself. The story is full of cooking, eating and enjoying the food of Venice as well as the people who live there.

5 comments about Lakota Woman.

1. The book came in perfect time and is in excellent condition. I have added it to my collection of Native American History



2. An interesting look at the American Indian's struggles in the latter half of the 20th century. The perspective of Mary Crow Dog is helpful for those who have no similar life experiences to compare to it. Very good insight.



3. An autobiographical account of Mary Crow Dog's life, this includes experiencing the events that happened at Wounded Knee, and her relationship with her husband, as well as the politics and experiences associated with the AIM political movement.
   
   A look at the disturbing state and problems these people were facing at the time, very interesting.



4. I learnt so much from this book, and felt myself getting angry because of her experiences. good on her for telling her story. L'Ohanna



5. Oh please get out the hankie and feel oh so terribly sorry - - and guilty -for this woman and her tribe. If you light skinned, get out the scourge and whip yourself you evil white person. Only white people are bad. Only people of color are abused. I was a white girl in a foreign country struggling to learn the language and get by and I did. Now I am highly paid having gone through the experience. I learned to speak the language and adapt. Cultures change, people change, ethnic peoples are brutalized, citizens are mistreated. Ms Lakota Woman thinks her life is hard, trying being non-hispanic and live in California!

5 comments about The Girl from Foreign: A Search for Shipwrecked Ancestors, Forgotten Histories, and a Sense of Home.

1. At the behest of her dying grandmother, Shepard investigated her family's past in India and Pakistan. Her journey is a combination of revelation and research, with some intellectual discussions about the meaning of religion, family, and nationality, thrown in. Chapters alternate between Shepard's research and travels and accounts of her grandmother (her mother's mother,) who grew up a Jew in India and became the third wife of a Muslim businessman who moved to Pakistan after partition. Shepard's father is an American Christian. Her clear writing is full of insights, with many questions left for the reader to ponder.



2. Mesmerizing memoir, quirky nuanced story telling.
   
   Engagingly discombobulated at times, yet microscopically real, as Shepard explores the nooks and crannies of India and Pakistan using her curiosity, camera and notebook to illuminate micro-cultural threads that weave the tapestry of her heritage. Full of fascinating exposure to Jewish Indians with unique roots and customs who lived harmoniously among Muslims and Hindus for generations. A stirring exploration into the diverse cultural palette of South Asia.
   
   A book to read slowly to best savor the revelations that unfold with Shepard's entertaining and insightful journey full of detailed ambiance and discerning commentary.
   
   Readers beware, as this book may have a lasting impact on your own desire to understand a little bit more about the influences of your own cultural legacy.



3. Is there a significant difference between family and spirituality, and family and religion? In Girl From Foreign Sadia Sheppard, a young woman with three religions and one home, explores the distinction in a quest to discover her grandmother's roots. In this quest Sadia begins a complex journey into Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Can one have three spiritual homes? Or is it necessary to choose one? What unites all three religions and what distinguishes them? Can one live with the values implicit in all three religions?
   
   This book highlights the ambiguity of life. How we as modern people can get beyond the view of the world in black & white. The world in actuality is a multiplicity of shades of color. Why do we have to define differences rather than developing a sense of expansiveness?
   
   For Miss Shepard, as it is for most of us, it was important to discover her grandmother's physical and spiritual roots. That knowledge of our ancestors gives all of us a sense of physical continuity and a concreteness which then becomes a jumping off point to discover our own self.
   
   I literally took Sadia Shepard's journey with me as I read her story. It is a moving tribute to her grandmother and presents possibilities for individual peace within a warring world.



4. I expected this book to be informative and interesting, but I had no idea of how emotionally involved I would feel by the end. Shepard's first-person narrative describes the two years she spent in India, researching her grandmother's roots in a small community of Indian Jews. Her tale depicts the blending and intermingling, successful and otherwise, of nationalities, cultures, and religions, both in India, Pakistan, and in the U.S. Her quest to understand her grandmother better inevitably draws the reader in, and by the end of the book, I couldn't help but feel an intimate connection to both Sadia and her grandmother. Shepard tells her story beautifully, and I was very impressed that this is her first book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys personal narratives, foreign travel, the intersection of cultures, and questions of religious faith.



5. This is a fascinating, well written story. The author has organized a very involved story in a format that makes it easy for the reader to follow. In addition to her Grandmother's story I learned more about the partition of India and Pakistan. Sadia Shepard should be very proud of her first book.

5 comments about Women of the Bible: A One-Year Devotional Study of Women in Scripture.

1. I really love this book! It's a versatile resource for personal home devotional time OR a group Bible study (I know, because I'm currently using it for both). My favorite part is the first day's reading, where they take the featured woman's story and retell it in a compelling, dramatic way that draws you into her experiences. I feel much closer to many of the women of Biblical times after spending a week with them through this book.



2. I LOVE this book. I have been using it this past year and am now buying it for friends!



3. This is one of the best book purchases I've ever made. This is a wonderful devotional. I look forward to opening it up everyday. You will not be disappointed.



4. We are using this in our Women's Circle at church and take one of the Women each meeting we have. It has been a really good study and I have really enjoyed learning about these women in depth.



5. This is a wonderful book! However, in the copy I received there were some faded pages that were difficult to read. It was small disappointment in an otherwise very pleasant choice!

5 comments about The Liars' Club: A Memoir.

1. Mary Karr is that most exceptional of non-fiction writers: one who went through exceptional tragic / comic circumstantial experiences as a child; who absolutely remembers them AND how she felt as if they were yesterday; and who grew up to become a literature professor who can write!! Wow! That's the only word for the book. I have never read an autobiography remotely like it.
   
   In simple terms, Mary, the younger of two sisters, was the daughter of a tough, take-no-prisoners, blue collar oil refinery worker Father and an ethereal, arts and drame culture-oriented Mother with her heart still in New York or Paris but with obligations in backwater southeast Texas. What a situation, and, to my amazement ... she remembers it all, seemingly day-by-day.
   
   The Liar's Club (her small child's view of hew dad and his friends and their times in the bar) is a memoir from her earlest years through late childhood (her later book Cherry carries the story forward through teenage years). You'll both laugh histerically and cry at the heartbreaking situations for the little girl and the family trying to keep it all together. Wow! Highly recommended!



2. I read this book when it was first published; and re-read it this week for a book club discussion of "reader's choice." Mary Karr is a poet with a hard-knock childhood. Is it any wonder she wrote a memoir that is beyond belief in every sense? The sentences jump off the page. Oh, that I could write like this.



3. I just finished reading this book, and it is one of the most un-put-downable memoirs I have ever read. Karr grew up in the lower middle class of a depressing town in Texas. The story revolves around her family life as a very young girl - ages 6 to 9 or so. What first strikes you is Karr's voice. Tomboyish, able to hold a grudge, thirsty for love, stubborn as a mule, Karr unflinchingly admits her own foibles and those of others, but also cuts through the novel's events to the beating, loving heart of her family.
   
   Her alcoholic/manic depressive mother is beautiful and educated in a town where neither attribute was common. Her father, a working man with a talent for bombast, dotes on both his children, but particularly on Karr, whom he dubs "Pokey." After her mother leaves her father, Karr and her sister choose to live with her mother, more out of a sense of feeling obligated to protect her from herself than anything else.
   
   Eventually, the family finds its way back together again, and the story is satisfyingly whole. Though few doubt that at least some of a memoirist's work must be imagination (Who among us can remember such detail about their life as a 7-year-old?), Karr has a knack for taking down some of her more relatable thoughts and experiences. The people she writes about, their conversations, their weaknesses, have the ring of universality.
   
   Worth reading, and one of the best examples of the genre I've come across in a while.



4. Mary Karr shhots from the hip, creating a superficial narrative that expounds a kind of confession. People like this-- that is, average readers. Set out in the world she claims, in Book World(2008) Bill Matthews beat brain cancer by having a heart atack-- (lie) She also misspeaks regarding Keats(Book World 2008)-(liar) As I said, she shoots from the hip-- in no way is an academic, does not check her sources, writes anything she wants, because, perhaps, she has branded herself a liar already. Her work is, frankly, weak, poems and prose. Those of you who "love" it should reach higher in regrd to your reading. Or not. Stay on the low plain of writing like Mary Karr's.From what Kevin saio



5. If you are a fan of child rape then this is the book for you. Otherwise you may want to try something a little lighter. Briged Jones Diary is good for a few laughs. Anything by Terry Pratchett is amusing.

5 comments about My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams.

1. If you are a history buff or just a little interested in the history of our nation you will love this book. The letters exchanged between John and Abigail Adams are wonderful. Abigail was definitely John's rock. She kept him focused and steady. John was a very passionate man in his beliefs and at times would become a tyrant trying to convince people that his way of thnking was the only way to think. Thank goodness he had Abigail as he ran everything by her to see how she thought the people would react to his perception. Abigail would let him know when he needed to press an issue or just be quiet and let it happen on its own. Besides being lovers as husband and wife they were truly best friends. An inspirational read.



2. I must shamefully admit that prior to the renewed interest in John Adams with the recent miniseries, I really had only a general knowledge of his role and importance in the founding of our country. This book gives a private, personal and wonderful view of the strength,deep,abiding love of this first family. I could not put it down & would highly recommend it to anyone.



3. A beautiful book as I was sure it would be. Now in the possession of another John Adams admirer who happens to be a resident of Cornwall, England.



4. A collection of authentic letters between a man and his wife documenting the actual events as they occur from their first meeting, the beginning of the revolutionary war, the first meeting of Congress to negotiaing a system of government through freedom of our liberties through the written and signed Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. Although early years were spent much apart, this extraordinary couple persevered a deep love, an emotional partnership and friendship while enduring personal tragedies of early Colonial life in the 1700's. These letters are Historical Documents. This was the life of Abigail and John Adams. A story that aided this reader in understanding a period of History so unassuming, so important in acknowledging the birth of our nation.



5. I am very pleased with the quality of this book. I watched the John Adams series on HBO and this makes a nice companion piece to that miniseries.

5 comments about Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life (Ballantine Reader's Circle).

1. A woman ahead of her time. Compelling biography that sheds light on both Eleanor of Acquitaine, as well as much information about the age in which she lived.
   
   Who needs soap operas - the lives of royals are always intriguing - scheming, treachery, and plots abound within the royal family and amongst friends and neighbors. A good read, well researched, a fascinating character with a plot line that spans the reaches of both France and England for 80 years - with a Crusade in between.



2. This book purports to be a biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine, and in that respect it is deceptive. As the author states several times throughout the work, there is virtually no source material on the subject. How then to fill almost 400 pages on a subject for which there is no reliable history beyond the obvious?
   
   First, the author fills the book with general 12th century history and facts. There is every bit as much, if not more written about Henry II, the second husband of Eleanor than there is about Eleanor herself. In truth, the book should have been entitled "12th Century European History." The author writes extensively about the Second Crusade, undertaken by Eleanor's then husband, Louis of France, but has virtually nothing to say about Eleanor's role. Understandable, since there are no sources that speak of it. The book deals primarily with the political and martial dealings between the various Kings, Dukes, Earls and Counts of Europe and England.
   
   Second, the author writes generally about the role of women in 12th century Europe and tries to compare and contrast Eleanor's activities in an attempt to paint her as a much more politically savvy and active member of society than most women of the age.
   
   Finally, the author takes very flimsy historical information and tries to expand it to fill the historical gaps and flesh out the subject of the "biography". To her credit, she uses this technique very sparingly and avoids wholesale fiction.
   
   With respect to the author's writing style, I found it to be very dry and at times, merely a recitation of historical facts running for pages at a time. The plethora of names and titles were at times confusing, a situation that was compounded by the style utilized by the author.
   
   We know about Eleanor's family, her titles and estates and and the rough timeline of her marriages, divorce, children and death. Beyond that, with respect to Eleanor herself, we know very little. We do not even have a reliable likeness of her appearance. To sell this work as a "biography" is to give the word a definition with which I am unfamiliar.



3. Alison Weir's book *Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life,* which places Eleanor in the context of her times, provides a microcosm for the medieval world and can be used in a variety of ways to study European culture and history in the Middle Ages. Here are a dozen ways this book can be used: (1) the use of Chapter 7, "All the Business of the Kingdom," as a stand-alone piece, laying out all aspects of medieval culture: kingship, the Church, knighthood, political geography, crime and punishment, art, architecture, music, towns, economy, diet, and science; (2) the conflict between Church and State that so dominated the High Middle Ages, including Henry II's infamous murder of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury; (3) a study of the Crusades that focuses on the territorial ambitions of the European nobility; (4) the role of marriage as political alliance, including the near arrangement of a marriage between Eleanor's daughter and the Muslim leader Saladin; (5) the importance of genealogy to the study of history, including eight genealogical tables that help the reader understand the relationships of the many individuals in Eleanor's story; (6) the importance of geography to the study of history for which three maps are included; (7) a refutation of the idealistic image of Richard the Lionhearted as portrayed in the Robin Hood legend; (8) a study of the ways that the Arthurian legend served as an influence on the lives of the French and English nobility; (9) an insight into the way historians evaluate and use primary sources of history; (10) a reality check for the usual Hilary-esque treatment of Eleanor of Aquitataine; (11) an insight into the way the foibles of an individual can influence world events; and (12) a heightened awareness of the ways in which medieval women in the Church and the State influenced and even directed history through both beauty and intellect. Weir has given a highly readable, solidly researched, footnoted account of the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of two kings and mother of three, which is both entertaining and educational.



4. I expected to learn more about the person when I read "this is a biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine." Although Eleanor is mentioned in every chapter,this is a history of Henry II and his conquests in war and lust. Eleanor and her children become peripheral characters in the tale of Henry,Beckett,Louis,Rosamund, and war,battles and conquest.In this book, Eleanor of Aquitaine is lost among the far too many other characters. Ms. Weir writes well researched and utterly dull history books. The kind of reading required in high school and responsible for so many students losing interest in medieval history.I am plodding through her books because I enjoy English history and in between the page after page of detail, I occasionally find an interesting fact.



5. This biography of a wonderful historical figure is well written and an enjoyable read. When facts about the central figure become gray the author turns to her husbands, political climate and children to draw upon more understanding of Eleanor.
   
   Touching on the political geography of the time as well as the crusades, this book was enjoyable. VERY ENJOYABLE.

5 comments about The Sum of Our Days: A Memoir.

1. In terms of literature, a bit of a disappointment -- it certainly isn't a candle on "Paula," and I kind of agree with the reviewer who said it seemed hastily written. It does, and there's little of the lyrical language that made "Paula" such a treat.
   
   On the other hand, it IS interesting to see more of the whole "tribe" here, and people are depicted more as real people, including Isabel herself. I was shocked and surprised to find that Paula, who came across as almost too saintly in the last book, didn't like children, but it made me like her a lot more as a real person. (Perhaps it was just her youth; I can imagine her, like many woman, wanting a child as she got older.)
   
   I'd say this book is best for people who have already read a lot of Allende and are interested in her and her family. I wouldn't start anybody off with this one, and even for diehard fans, the hardcover price may be a bit much. I'd say wait for the paperback or borrow from a library.



2. Like most reviewers, I've enjoyed Allende's previous works, and I spent most of a Sunday afternoon wrapping up this latest offering. I can feel my furrowed brow as I type, because I don't know what to make of it. I enjoyed reading about the various members of Allende's "tribe" and at times wished I could join them. At other times I felt like the book was an infomercial. Clearly Allende is justifiably proud of her friends and family's accomplishments--her friend Tabra's jewelry business (I'll probably make a purchase shortly), her former daughter-in-law's Marin County mountain bike tour company, her husband's novels.
   
   Allende also discusses her frequent travels around the globe with family members--annual trips to Chile to her mother, an African safari with her grandchildren, a trip to India with her husband and Tabra. I suspect the average reader can only dream of such adventures; am I envious? Allende and her husband can afford to be financially generous to their large family, and they obviously enjoy sharing their good fortune, but for a reason I still can't put my finger on, broadcasting that fact to devoted readers just smacked of Oprah to me.
   
   Other reviewers had mentioned that they felt the book was written in haste, and poorly edited. Passages like this one simply didn't ring true for me: "I had shrunk an inch [she's 5 feet tall] and the body lolling in the water was that of a mature woman who had never been a beauty." I'm sure anyone who has seen photos of Ms. Allende would agree that she's stunning and quite beautiful. Had she been unattractive, I suspect her career might not have been as successful as it is.
   
   I'm sure I'll be editing my review once I've given it more thought. For now, I agree with other reviewers that The Sum of Our Lives is not the best introduction to Allende's wonderful body of work. Start with House of the Spirits and work your way up through her earlier works to the current offering.



3. Isabelle Allende writes in a very simple way her memories about her life. While reading the book the reader is concentrated on her life and can enter in it without being conscious..I recommend this book to all people in search of emotion...



4. Isabel Allende's book "The Sum Of Our Days" bring both extraordinary insight and what I consider thoughtful availability to her memoir that touched me deeply. I got to "be" a part of her story, her family...it was truly intimate.
   
   Her conversations and storytelling throughout the book, with her deceased daughter Paula, are both beautiful and haunting. Watching through Isabel's eyes, her family life unfolding around her, and dealing with their grief was amazing. It aided me personally in my own grief over the loss of my daughter Martha to breast cancer in Febuary of 2007.
   
   Isabel gives hope in sharing her memoir. We can move forward through all of life's changes, both joyful and sorrowful. After all, we are the sum of our days...



5. I loved this memoir and could hardly put it down. Allende is honest, open, and emotional. She touches your heart and makes you laugh at the same time. I love getting to "know" her family. I wouldn't recommend this as first Allende book, however.