No comments about Dream in Color: How the Sánchez Sisters Are Making History in Congress.

3 comments about A Romantic Education.

1. I first read Patricia Hampl's I Could Tell You Stories when I took a 1st person essay writing class, and all of us in the class became instant fans. Her book provoked endless discussions about the reliability (or Unreliability) of memory and the role it plays in memoir writing. Hampl's A Romantic Education allows us to continue following her down her chosen path as she returns to Prague in search of her heritage during the gray pall of socialism. This edition of A Romantic Education is a reissue following the Velvet Revolution and is full of richly nuanced detail that we have come to expect from Hampl. It's an elegant piece of writing that allows us to taste and dabble in the trickling stream of history running beneath the surface of the everlasting riddle of personal memory.



2. Elegant, meditative, and special, Patrica Hampl's memoir of growing up in St. Paul and visiting her ancestral home of Prague deservedly won her a Macarthur genius grant, and remains a classic of its genre. When it was published in the early 80s, the gorgeous Bohemian captial of Prague was sheltered from the American line of vision by the Iron Curtain, and much less familiar to American readers than it is today; Hampl's book details her trip in the 70s to that loveliest of cities to visit her family's origins and learn something about her place in the world. But the book is also a beautiful meditation on another exceptionally romantic, and often still neglected, city, Hampl's hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota. Stunningly situated on the high bluffs overlooking a chasmic portion of the Mississippi, the home of F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Empire Builder James J. Hill, St. Paul has declined in cultural significance over the decades, overshadowed by its younger and more prosperous twin city across the river. But Hampl lovingly evokes what it was like to live in this atmospheric city of decaying Victorian mansions overlooking the downtown from the heights of Summit Avenue, both as a grandchild of Czech immigrants working as servants for the enmansed and as a young woman striking out as a student and a writer. It's an unusual, romantically-staurated memoir.



3. Being of eastern European descent, I found Hampl's book revealing and intriguing as it spoke of what my grandparents often alluded to when referring to "the old country."
   I felt myself travelling with her, trying to find out something, anything, about my roots.

5 comments about The Truth Is . . .: My Life in Love and Music.

1. This is a great book! It is an easy to read inspirational book that takes you on a tour of her life through her family, passions, traumas, setbacks and accomplishments. Sometimes it is comforting to know that we are not alone in this journey and reading about "celebrities" that had rough times too, triumphed in the end.



2. I guess I can now say that I understand why her music is so fantastic. It's raw and you can feel her emotions pouring out in each and every one. This book covers most of the basics of her life and of course details. You find out about all the heart breaking, losses, and happy moments of her life and how she came to be the person she is today.
   If your a fan of her music, you have to pick up this book to fully understand why her music touches your soul.



3. melissa life's is full of strugle ,truth and love. Please try to read the book. Is well written and full of love.



4. The title is "The TRUTH is... My Life in LOVE and Music". A lot of the reviewers seem to think that Melissa has been too honest about her relationships, or is too focused on herself, or was unfair to Julie Cypher by detailing the road to the breakup in this book instead of just writing about her music. This is Melissa's AUTObiography, and as such is the truth of her life as she sees it, not anybody else's version. For most artists their emotional life is a huge part of their creativity! For an artist this powerful, that harsh personal life IS the most important part of the songwriting, and why the songs have so much impact and resonance. The life experience and love leads to the music. I read this book a few years back, and was also appalled that Melissa could put up with so much apparent acting out from Julie, while also understanding that it takes two to make a union. Having personally dealt with the kind of crazy-making emotional game playing that it seems was going on, I will especially applaud Melissa's courage for being honest about her own part in enabling the behavior (through not understanding it, through giving up her own power, for rationalizing, for covering up and making excuses, and for desperately holding on to someone who wanted and needed to leave), and thus how destructive it was for both of them.
   This book helped open my eyes to how common this is. Abused kids turn into adults looking to heal the abuse by partnering with people who feel "like home", but who basically just further the abuse so familiar from childhood ("you looked like Father, you felt like Mother, my mind told my heart there is no other. And I gave you my soul and every ounce of control.."). Get two people with abusive childhood backgrounds together, and many people of all sexual orientations never make it out of that pattern, looking for healing and redemption in another person, when healing from abuse is an INSIDE job! They understand that something is wrong, but keep trying to placate and please the other person to "fix" the relationship that is mirroring their past, instead of realizing that one CAN'T fix anyone else, only oneself. Julie did Melissa a huge favor: she gave her the feelings that made the songs. ("I turned your dreams into lightning, ain't that enough? I held the world back for you, ain't that enough? I loved you past the point of dying, ain't that enough of me for you?!") Giving and giving and giving to the point of exhaustion only destroys the giver. ("My lover needs to seize, bring me to my knees"). It doesn't make a relationship work any better, but it gave Melissa the personal impetus to make incredible music that, in attempting to heal herself, can also help to heal others.
   By being so honest, Melissa gives readers the gift of examples of dysfunctional family abuse with which they may be able to identify, and the resultant unhealthy relationships that can't work without understanding how our past affects our present. She finally figured a lot of this out. If she can do it, so can others in similar circumstances who might never have understood how dysfunctional their own relationships are. Gay or straight, it still hurts when a relationship isn't working despite one's best efforts. "Truth Of The Heart" among other, newer songs, is an example of the spiritual growth she achieved as a result of the pain. I think the book truly is a gift to any reader, fan or otherwise, who can empathize and identify with Melissa's life and see parallels in their own, and maybe get some big AhHa s and clues to eventually healing their own pain and becoming emotionally healthy and wise. As for the voice and editing, it was collaboratively written, and needed to be accessible in tone. If I want great literature, I go elsewhere. For healing though, it's the honest story that helps the most.



5. Great book written by Melissa Etheridge! She really lets her guard down and tells all. Never knew she was so down to earth until reading her bio. Great read if you want to really know the woman who has a superb voice.

4 comments about A Holy Life: The Writings of St. Bernadette of Lourdes.

1. This book is a wonderful resource for all who want to know Bernadette better. From her writtings one can see the depth of her faith. She saw all that occurred in her life as the will of GOD and she accepted everything that came her way. One learns that Bernadette carried her cross in life with acceptance and love. She suffered greatly and wanted to unite her suffering with Jesus' for the sake of all sinners.



2. In developing my own book on the famous apparitions at Massabielle (Lourdes: Font of Faith, Hope, & Charity, Paulist Press, Sept. 2007), I researched a great number of titles. None of them, however, gave me better insight into the real person of Bernadette Soubirous than A Holy Life. Thanks to Patricia McEachern's careful translation, English-speaking readers can appreciate the oftentimes difficult journey to sainthood through Bernadette's candid letters and journal entries as she lived out her sanctity in the motherhouse at Nevers. A true treasure -- it was like meeting the visionary in person!



3. In the initial account of the apparitions Dr. McEachern uses the method of drawing lines from various different accounts given by the Saint over several different years in order to present one comprehensive report. If you accept this methodology as valid, you will draw much from this book. I felt a bit uncomfortable realizing I was reading a mosaic of shards shattered and shorn from so many different sources and presented as her complete account, but perhaps such textual criticism does not present a problem to other readers. I would prefer to read the accounts in their entirety, including to the various ecclesial and legal authorities who questioned her, in chronological order, and piece together a conclusive report from that entirety. Here this work has been done for us, leaving only the golden threads from among the whole cloth. I would hope one day to see the fullest tapestry.
   
   After that opening, the compiler of this volume does leave us a fairly representative collection of the Saint's letters, translated. Again I hope one day to see them in the original, including the regional dialect, and in chronological order, as here we find the intriguing and often difficult and treacherous work of translation done for us.
   
   I also found the opening introduction touched by a persistent trait of other reports on this Saint, the disparagement of her family and conditions and education and mind, rather than a charitable embracing and comprehension. I am always uncomfortable to read such judgmental emphasis, yet here find it more balanced and contextualized than in earlier standard texts. The Saint herself suffered this from the first moments she reported the Visions, and for the rest of her life on earth, and accepted this suffering, for reasons she examines in this book, including unmentioned yet infinitely consoling comments by Our Lady herself, who was of similar age and education and conditions. I am not so holy and so feel deeply uncomfortable for the Saint suffering such mistreatment both during and after life, but I must resolve to convert by her very wise and holy and compassionate example, and by her own exhortations shared here in her own, translated hand.
   
   A necessary addition to any Catholic spiritual library, and probably the best we can get for this Saint.



4. This book is very revealing. I had thought it likely that I would find out more about Bernadette's life as a nun from her writings; but she was little concerned with her material life, and almost completely concerned with her spiritual life. She constantly sought to be as saintly as possible, making a conscious attempt to be worthy of the sainthood which she suspected was her destiny. She cultivated within herself humility, altruism, patience, and love for and dedication to God. She also turned out to be very sensitive, and sought emotional support by corresponding frequently with her family. In her letters, she was very loving toward them. After reading the book, I believe that Bernadette achieved her goal of being worthy of sainthood.

5 comments about Irene Nemirovsky: Her Life And Works.

1. This short biography helps the reader get a better picture of Irene Nemirovsky's background and hardships as a as a Jewish author living in France both leading up to and during the occupation before her deportation. I highly recommend reading it after reading "Suite Francaise." Her tragic and untimely death keeps us from being able to see how the rest of her serial novel (Suite Francaise) and writing would have unfolded had she survived.



2. This great work brings to light the controversy of integration. Irene, sacrificing her Russian Jewish origins to embark on a literary career in France finds acceptance, not because of who she was but because of what she could produce. Her intrinsic value as a human being is recognized by a few but ignored by the masses as she finds her end at Auschwitz. Her works seem to be a foreshadow of her life. Am I Jewish, am I Russian, am I French, am I a woman of letters, am I a friend, am I a mother, am I a wife...or am I human debris? Tragically this book is non-fiction! A great read as a follow up to Suite Francaise, which is written by Irene.



3. This biography is an academic, critical study of the life and writings of Irene Nemirovsky. It is well researched. As a critical study it is directed to other professionals in literature and to their graduate students.



4. Having read the majority of Nemirovsky's works in French, I was eager to read this book. What a disappointment! Mr. Weiss cannot make up his mind whether he is writing literary criticism or biography. His research is thin and the conclusions he draws (or attempts to draw) from the works themselves and various bits of research are extremely dubious. Mr. Weiss has jumped on the bandwagon of the success of 'Suite francaise' to sell his book. Do read Irene Nemirovsky's works and make up your mind youself about her work; I highly recommend them. As for a biography, save your money and wait for the really good biography of Nemirovsky that has just come out in French, which should be available in English in about a year.



5. The author has successfully been able to glean most of the existing information of Nemirovsky and put her and her works in a meaningful order in the light of France
   in 1930-1942....helping the reader to get the full impact of her works, especially Suite Francaise

5 comments about Stages.

1. STAGES is the latest show book of Britney Spears. This book is fabulous! There¡¦re so many colorful and beautiful pictures inside the book. I can¡¦t tell how fabulous and wonderful this book is, I think fans of Britney Spears should not miss this fabulous book!!
   Although this book does not have a story, but it still got some words that Britney wanted to tell her parents and family members. The best part of the book is the free bonus DVD with a title called ¡§Three days in Mexico¡¨. The DVD shows you what happened to Britney before her final 2 concerts in her DREAM WITHIN A DREM tour, during the concert, during rehearsal the concert and what happened during the FINAL concert. And the book also came with a beautiful poster! By the way, I was surprised about the shape of that book! It¡¦s huge!
   I can also tell that this is the best book in all my collections. If you¡¦re fans of Britney Spears, what are you waiting for? But this book RIGHT NOW !!!



2. Get real. Britney is So out of date. Not anyone to follow. HA!



3. The DVD & poster are great bonus with book. Fully illustrated. I must have for all fans or collecters.



4. This book is awesome, its full of amazing pictures that capture the real britney. Even if your not a britney fan you will still admire all of the awesome pictures. This is a must have for any die hard britney fan like myself.



5. This giant coffee table book retailed for 30.00 US dollars, so the Amazon used/new price is very good. The pictures are pretty good, but not phenomenal. Britney is so photogenic that anyone could have done just as well, if not better. Also contained in the book is little messages (to Britney) from Britney's friends and family. These are kind of interesting, because they give you an idea of "who Britney is", as told by her closest friends/family members.
   
   If you buy the book, make sure you get the bonus DVD. I didn't find it as amazing as some of the other reviewers. I didn't like how they cut out just as things got interesting (such as when Britney is meeting with the tarrot card reader). However, there was some interesting moments, such as Britney's press conference with the Mexican media. I was amazed at how rude they were to her. They asked question's like "how much did you pay for your mansion", "can you get up and show us what your wearing; can we see you from behind" ?

4 comments about A Girl's Life Online.

1. The story, at times, drags on but you want to keep reading it just incase something happens. Its a book yous should read if you have alot of time on your hands.



2. I loved this book and think that every parent, preteen and teenage person online should read it. It was well written and gives you insight into what she was thinking and feeling in her world around her. Highly recommended and well written.



3. I do not recomend this book to a preteen. There are parts in this book that are explicit ie: talking about oral sex (but not using the term oral sex!) along with other things that a preteen doesn't need to be subjected too at such a young age. The less prude person may say parts of this book boarder on soft porn. If you want to read about a girl getting mixed up with a 41 year old man, than read this book. I hope that this book does not end up in libraries at our schools.



4. I read the earlier version of this book, "Katie.com." The book starts off slowly and I was getting bored with it for a while. I just couldn't relate to this teenage girl from an upper middle class family. In my opinion, she was too obsessed with designer clothes and with her swimming team. The book eventually gained my interest when she started talking to a guy that she met online who was going by the name of Mark. Their relationship and the legal case that followed are the only things that piqued my interest. I'm glad that I read the entire story, but I'm very glad that I spent so little to buy it. This book is well worth the few bucks that I payed for it. I found it to be very mild. I do recommend it--even for other teens.

5 comments about Mistress of the Elgin Marbles: A Biography of Mary Nisbet, Countess of Elgin.

1. Susan Nagel's biography of the Countess of Elgin makes history come alive in a dramatic, romantic page-turner. You'll be transported to a land of wealth and privilege, where egg-sized emeralds are exchanged as small tokens of affection, where cannons salute the arrival of dignitaries into new ports and where love of art and love of man mixes to create a heady and destructive combination of emotions.
   
   
   
   This book is perfect for a day at the beach or an evening curled up at home - if only all history could be this fun!



2. "Remember the ladies" Abigail Adams charged her husband John -- that's what Nagel does with "Mary Nisbet"; she fills in fascinating and colorful details of the world of the women of society in England during the war against Napoleon. All the teasing glimpses we get in O'Brian's masculine epic are fleshed out, as it were; the opulence of the Bey's court; Emma Hamilton's manipulation of Admiral Nelson; the impact of the war with Napoleon on life and travel -- all the dinner parties O'Brian glossed over in passing come springing to vivid life as we read from Mary's actual letters. If you loved Master and Commander or the whole series, pick this up and treat yourself to a richer picture of the period.



3. Quite a Girl! We have this vision of the women of a century ago being totally subservient to the men. It has been the men who made history. Where there have been women in the story, they are often viewed only as a companion to the men, as examples, the recent biographies of Washington and Nelson. In recent years we've begun to see well written biographies of women who certainly led fascinating lives.
   
   Mary Nisbet was smart, rich, beautiful. She took smallpox vaccine to the Middle East, brought classical marbles from the Parthenon back to England (before Napoleon could get them). Then she 'replaced' her husband with his best friend.
   
   Quite a Girl, Very interesting character, well written book.



4. I just finished reading Susan Nagel's wonderful Biography of Mary Nisbet, Countess of Elgin. Rarely do I read Biographies and feel so intimately close to the subject as I did with this well researched piece of work. I felt as if I had lived right along with Mary through her travels, adventures, exploits and tragedies. Packed with Romantic locals and historical people. An intimate peek into a fascinating life, who was Mary Nisbet, Countess of Elgin.



5. Mary Nisbet was the definition of an aristocrat. She lived a life most people dream of: She was good looking, charming, intelligent, extremely wealthy, and was admired and respected by some of the most powerful people around.
   
   So what will you get out of by reading this book? Your be put into the shoes of Mary Nisbet and her extravagant lifestyle. Your get to know her spendthrift husband and his preoccupation with marbles from Parthenon. But really not much else.
   
   The book is based off of Mary's diary, which really helped give the book life.
   So, I'm giving the book 3 stars because the book was written fairly well, but the story was a little boring.

5 comments about Breaking the Limit: One Woman's Motorcycle Journey Through North America.

1. Breaking Limit was an awsome book to read. She describes her trip where you can feel your there. Having family that have gone to Alaska and being adopted myself, I was able to relate to what she was feeling on her trip. I myself ride a bike and Karen's bike from what my husband says would be a hard trip that long and that far.Karen gives an amazing travel journal with the roads she chose and gives someone the ideas of what to expect on a bike trip.My husband enjoyed the book aswell.Any bike rider would enjoy it and relate to it. Ladie riders it will give you the confidence and encouragement that us gals can travel and do it.



2. Don't waste your time reading this review ... man or woman, find and devour it as I did.



3. What an incredible read by an amazing woman. The book is intelligently written, including bits of history in her descriptions of areas traveled and her encounters with strangers. I also ride a "SPORTY" and men are amazed that I have ridden over 10,000 miles on it, much less a "short distance" trip of 450 miles in one day. I am in complete awe that this women did it on a model that was not rubber mounted as is mine. Have shared excerpts with my husband and he is interested in reading the book also. And being the man that he is, knowing I would enjoy a solo/soul searching journey of travel, encouraged me by stating he would "hold down the fort" so I could have a similar but shorter experience. Definitely recommend this to all women who ride.



4. This book was first brought to my attention as an amazon reccommendation. Just from reading the excerpts I thought this might be a good read. I will say, (again,) this was exactly what I had hoped for. Karen's journey from New Jersey into Alaska and back, using almost all back roads, was a detailed account of what it might be like as a woman traveling throughout the united states. She stayed at, for the most part, campsites or hostels, only rarely staying in a hotel, thats over 14000 miles. An incredible review of the journey, and not so much the destination.
   The first thing you might ask while reading this, as I did and do, is, how did she remember all these details? She must of taken notes every night before she camped. The roads she took, the people she met at gas stations or coffee houses, their names, what they were wearing, the expressions on their faces, all of it. She of course doesnt account everything, the book would be monsterous, but she gives you a good idea of the whole aspect of the journey. If your into adventure, motorcycles, and possibly getting an idea on your next summer road trip, I say read this book.



5. The story is excellent .you get the feel of riding a motorcycle through her words.

5 comments about Fireman's Wife, The.

1. This book was given to me by my firefighter fiancee soon after he proposed. What a Godsend! I consider this my "bible". Susan summed up the feelings we as wives have about our firemen husbands and does it in a funny, thoughtful and wonderful way. I recommend this be required literature for every fireman to hand out when they decide to propose!! LOL. Thanks Susan for sharing our side of the story!



2. This is one of the best books that I have read! Susan really knows how to express what all fire wives feel. This book made me laugh, cry, and say "yep, I've seen (heard, felt, done) that!" so many times. I think anyone married to a fireman would love this book. I really appreciate the awareness it has given me. I only wish I read it sooner. As a 9-year fireman's wife myself, I highly recommend it!



3. Loved this book. It was past around for the wives of the fire academy to read. With my brother on for a few years, I thought I knew a lot about what this journey would entail. But this book was insight, funny, heart wrenching. It was a easy, quick read. I will know give this to all the new wives entering this department. It really opens you eyes on what to expect, from the shift to your husband's second family. Worth your time.



4. I am the wife of a Fire Captain and I could relate to so much that Susan writes about. Thank you Susan for telling such a wonderful story! I read this book over a 24 hour period, no easy task with a 7 week old baby and a 3 year old, and with my husband at the fire station. I could not put the book down and didn't want it to end, I laughed and cried and totally enjoyed every page. This is a must read for any wife, or family, of a fireman.



5. My uncle was a Fireman in San Francisco for over 30 years and the realization of his job hit home to me as I read this book I have recommended it to everyone its an awesome story of Love Courage and family and Gods promise to see us through any trial even a fiery one .Lynnette Davis