No comments about Lessons from a Girl's Best Friend: What My Dog Taught Me About Life, Love, and God.

5 comments about Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America's Independence.

1. Carol Berkin has written a book so interesting that I can cite the women's names and tell their stories to my friends. An outstanding author who has the ability to bring real women of the past into the present by describing the lives and the actions of these women. I've since ordered Berkin's other books. I've recommended this book to all my friends. The creativity and persistence of women to survive and lead productive, heroine lives out of the most extreme of situations amazes me.



2. I enjoy personal stories of the Revolutionary War. This was a good book, but not as detailed about the women's stories as I thought it might be. It was more detail about the state of American and gender roles with personal stories thrown in. What prompted me to look for more Revolutionary times books about women was Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation by Cokie Roberts. Founding Mothers was a wonderful detail of how these women were raised and their roles in the revolution.
   The book Revolutionary Mothers did cover more than the white upper-crust, it covered Native American roles, African American roles, and both sides of the war, patriot and loyalist. Overall, I am glad I read it.



3. I read this book for a class where the author came to speak. The book gives women a place in history and let's us all know that, YES, we did live and contribute back in the day.



4. This book captured the time period of the American Revolution and the role women played in it like no other book I have ever read. I appreciated the focus on particular individuals which really helped bring it to life for me. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about what part women played during the American Revolution. I'm sure you will be both surprised and delighted at your findings.



5. Never in my history lessons have I heard these stories. The struggles of women during the American Revolution were many. I'm embarrassed that I never considered what they went through; partly because we have always been taught only about the hardships on the battlefield. But, in this book, you will read about the many woman who followed the soldiers (camp followers), women who had no other choice but maintain the farms during their husband's absence, women who volunteered in support of the war (spinners, etc), and general's wives who helped boost the soldiers' moral. There are many interesting facts about Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and many other "celebrity" wives contributions during the war. A great book that I will talk about for a very long time.

5 comments about The Lost German Slave Girl: The Extraordinary True Story of Sally Miller and Her Fight for Freedom in Old New Orleans.

1. We often think we have read and heard enough about the history of slavery in the United States. This book while telling a personal story which is very easy reading, in-fact takes a very unique and complex perspective and exposes so much more than the story of one slave. By reading this book I have gained a much better understanding of many American attitudes that I used to find puzzling before. This is a valuable work and can be very useful for anyone who wants to better understand the roots of American racism.



2. I received The Lost German Slave Girl was a gift last year. As I read it I was amazed. As I read I realized I could be reading about my own ancestors.
   
   The first in my mother's family line immagrated from the same area in Germany in the same time period. His name was Jacob Miller/Muller. The author mentions male children but not names. Jacob was born in 1800 in the Alsace-Lorraine area and married Mary Shadrick born 1820 in either MO or Ark. Their first child was born in Missouri in either 1842 or 1844. He could very well have been Sally's older brother or a cousin.
   
   We have not been able to find records of where our family entered America. This could explain why. Very exciting.



3. John Bailey certainly used a lot of research in protecting the validity of this book. "The Lost German Slave Girl," a story of a girl named Salome (or Sally?) Muller, is a book of the white girl's fight for the reestablishing of her freedom. When her family was forced to move to America from Germany, they faced many hardships and misunderstandings once thay landed. With a dead mother and a stuggling father, the girl and her siblings had no where to go but into slavery.
   
   In 1843, however, the survivors of the voyage were surprised to have refound Salome Muller, currently called Sally Miller, working as a slave. Enraged to see that a pure white woman is held in bondage, the family guides her through many legal processes, trials, and degradations in order to reclaim her freedom. Many witnesses were brought in, some were very entertaining, to plead for either side. Overall, the trial process in the book was very thorough and entralling.
   
   This book shows great insight on Bailey's part and is a great read for anyone interesting in legal processes (great information), immigration, or slavery.



4. When I first discovered that I would be reading this particular novel, it was for a mandatory summer reading project. I was less than thrilled and found myself dreading the thought of reading a book from a generic list. However, I was quickly proven wrong in my primary criticism. This novel by John Bailey proved to provide a fairly accurate account of the times of slavery as well as enough fiction to fill in the questionable blanks that were left as a result of records.
   The story of Salome Muller is so heart breaking in its reality. Even if Sally Miller was not the real Salome, the fight that was made for her to remain in slavery is appaling. To think that a man would spend so much time and effort to make sure he was given what he felt he had a right to in Sally is no less than sickening. Just as well, she was not even seen as a person, rather she was seen as property. It is my belief that Sally remains silent throughout the trials as a result of the shame she feels in the degrading position she has been demoted to in her life.
   The ultimate eye opening part of the book to the actuality of slavery is when Sally's own defender attempts to prove her true identity by comparing her hardworking and prudent attitude to the stereotype of a reckless and extravegant person of mixed race. This aspect reveals the harshness of the stereotypes of the times of how people were seen as less than human as a result of the color of their skin.



5. "Can you make me free?" This question underlies the saga of the "German slave girl" Sally Miller. Miller is discovered on a New Oreleans doorstep in 1843 by Madame Carl Rouff, a German woman. Miller's facial features convince Rouff that Miller is not rightly a slave, but is in fact the long-lost goddaughter of her friend Eva Schuber. Schuber is ecstatic, and vows to free her goodaughter if it is the last thing she does. Fascinating courtroom drama ensues.
   I enjoyed the book because the idea of a "German slave girl" seemed like an oxymoron to me, and I wanted to see if whites had actually been kept in bondage in the pre-Civil War South. I was fascinated by the book's descriptions of New Orleans, which brought the city alive on the page. Bailey's thorough research also impressed me. I was not aware of some of the finer points of slave law until I read this book, and Bailey's detail on the racial categories into which New Orleans residents were placed was completely new to me. My favorite thing about the book, though, is its extensive use of primary sources. A newspaper article, letter, statistic, or court testimony backs up every point in the plot. By using a wide variety of sources, Bailey presents a balanced look at whether Sally Miller is really who Eva Schuber thinks she is. The Lost German Slave Girl is a great read for all lovers of historical fiction or legal cases.

5 comments about God Is a Woman: Dating Disasters.

1. This book was recommended to me by a friend and I'm glad that I decided to purchase it. I'm in a "book club" so to speak, in which we study the social sciences and while "God" isn't exactly heavy on helping one improving their social skills, the book was never touted as such. What it does deliver on is funny, often times hilarious tales of a traveling comedian's dating disasters and the lessons he learns along the way.



2. I can't say that I didn't enjoy this book, but I think the books by Neil Strauss are much funnier and more educational of the pickup. But this book is supposed to be a humorous read and it succeeds in this objective. I think it gets kind of old about midway through, but I hunkered down and forced myself to read to the end and thought that things picked back up again.



3. this is well written, with a lot of insightful ideas and thoughts on the subject. You should also read some of his ezine articles, they're terrific as well.



4. Dragged on and halfway through I couldn't finish it. This guy is the type of guy who thinks he is funnier than he actually is. Many other books out there that are similar and more entertaining. I think a lot of these 5-star reviews are contrived.



5. When I heard this book was by a comedian I was expecting it to be hilarious since there is so much material that can be derived through dating, but it's not particularly funny. The dating advice this book has is decent, although pretty basic (which in my opinion is all that matters but it just isn't that interesting to read). The value this book had to me was that the stories are pretty interesting but they aren't going to shock you unless you and your friends were hermits in college and have never heard slutty stories or anything like that. There's a guy called Max Tucker who has some more outrageous stories which you can get online- just google him.

5 comments about A Geisha's Journey: My Life As a Kyoto Apprentice.

1. Great pictures. I thought it was worth reading, but wish she would have taken it into day, what is she doing now?



2. Geisha are intriguing, enticing, and ultimately...frustrating. Enticing because there is something almost ethereally and sublimely beautiful about the painted white faces, shimmering kimonos and sheen of elegance; about the very concept of a woman who is trained to be a perfect artist and companion. Frustrating, because books like these are the closest most of us are likely to get.
   
   The world of the geisha is closed. Not by distance, however. One could live in Japan for a very long time and never be granted access, and indeed most Japanese people have never seen an actual geisha much less been entertained by one. It is a world of wealth and connections that one must be invited into. They are a symbol of the country, but an elusive and vanishing one. In modern times, the geisha have "exclusived" themselves out of business. People want to see them, want to share in the tradition, but the entrance fee is too high, and rather than lower the prices and become "cheap", the geisha would rather just die out.
   
   This is why a book like "A Geisha's Journey" is such a treasure. Aside from being a brilliant photo book (and it is brilliant), it offers a glimpse into the mind of the type of girl who would struggle though the long years of training and separation from society in order to preserve a valuable tradition and struggle against the unstoppable tide of modernity. To be a geisha is to live in the past, perfecting ancient dances, using outdated language, living in old-fashioned clothing...all for a slowly vanishing audience.
   
   This geisha in question is a girl named Ruriko who decided at age 15 that she wanted to be a maiko. A Japanese girl growing up in China, she had always cherished her Japanese heritage more than other children her age, and she was constantly reminded of her "Japaneseness" while living in the foreign country. So she moved from her parents into the hanamachi district of Kyoto, and was re-named Komomo ("Little Peach") and began her training.
   
   Photographer Ogino Naoyuki also grew up abroad, in Mexico, which also made him curious about "traditional Japan". A serendipitous partnership was made in these two, both Japanese, both foreigners in their native country, both seeking their roots through art and tradition. Ogino photographed Komomo over the years, recording her transformation from awkward novice maiko to full-fledged and confident geiko. Ogino has an eye for the flower and willow world, and he captures all of its mysterious beauty. Komomo, who supplies the text, is equally open with her life and thoughts, her journey along the way including the times she wanted to give up and live a normal life.
   
   There are many books on geisha out there, but there are few that are so intimate and personal. My favorite photograph is on page 106, which shows Komomo with her hair freshly cut. No make-up, no mystery; just the regular girl underneath it all, who vanishes every night to become a magical creature of paper lanterns and tea houses and old Japan.



3. This book was a pleasure--beautiful photos and nice comments from the subject that explain the occasion and feelings at the time. Highly recommended!



4. I have read and enjoyed both Lesley Downer's and Liza Dalby's books on geisha, and this gorgeous photo book serves as a lovely accompaniment to both. The text is somewhat sparse (as is to be expected in a photo book) but Komomo's voice really shines through. The foreword by Koito, her geisha "older sister" is also a treat. We get a glimpse of the unique customs of the Miyagawa-cho geisha district. The photos are intimate at times, but never intrusive - the photographer approaches his subjects with respect and affection. Komomo is truly charming and it is not difficult to see why she was one of the most popular maiko in Miyagawa-cho!
   
   I could wish that this book were a little longer, but it is completely worth its purchase price.



5. I was honored to receive an advance copy of this book and I LOVE IT! "A Geisha's Journey" ranks right up there with "Geisha of Gion" (Mineko Iwasaki) and "Geisha" (Lesley Downer)*. The pictures are a fabulous peek inside a geiko's life and I heartily thank Momo-chan and Naoyuki-san for putting this book together for us! The other books I mentioned are great, but Lesley-san's book is mainly about the history of geisha and Mineko-san's book covers a geiko's life in the 70s. It's lovely to get to know a "21st Century Geisha" (as it says on the front cover).
   
   I recommend this book mostly to seasoned "geisha geeks" like myself. If you're just starting out, read "Geisha" first, followed by "Geisha of Gion"...THEN add "A Geisha's Journey" to your collection.
   
   --------------
   
   * For those who have already read this book, one of the geiko that Lesley-san interviews/mentions, Koito, is Komomo's okasan!

5 comments about The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll: The Search for Dare Wright.

1. As an elementary teacher, I am very familiar with the children's books written by Dare Wright. However, I was not familiar with her life. Therefore, when I saw this book I was intrigued and had to have it.
   
   I am so glad that I bought this book because it explains Dare's life, her ups and downs, and how she decided to write such adorable books. The book also goes into great detail about her family background, which explains why Dare was such a creative and "unique" individual. The book also explains why Dare was such a tortured individual.
   
   An interesting read! The author did a wonderful job!
   
   (PS: the photos are also fascinating!)



2. I couldn't put the book down it was fascinating! Whether you ever heard of Dare Wright or not I promise this book with spark your interest.



3. Just as every little girl wonders about the secret life of her dolls -- teddy bear picnics and dolly tea parties when Mommie is not at home -- so we adults wonder about the lives of the authors who have brought us our favorite childhood books. They must have been beautiful princesses, we surmise, or else lonely old maids whose lives were lived through their characters. Dare Wright was an odd combination of the two -- a beautiful child/woman, who was primped and shaped by her mother, Edie, a well-known, well-respected portrait painter of her time, though a devastatingly domineering mother -- but who, after her mother died, indeed became a lonely old maid, bereft of any family ties.
   Jean Nathan's "The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll: The Search for Dare Wright" strips away the pink and white gingham cover facade of the Lonely Doll books to show us the bizarre, unconventional life of Dare Wright, a model/photographer/and author of the books, and her mother, a two-for-one pair all-but conjoined throughout Dare's life.
   When first introduced to a child, the adventures of the lonely doll, Edith, and her companions, Mr. Bear and Little Bear, are enchanting. The lonely doll seems to be living in a swanky New York City apartment, but there are no scenes of a little girl's room, or even any evidence that a child lived in that home at all. In fact, Edith doesn't seem to belong to anyone; does she live alone? Is that her apartment? Whose dressing room and jewel box do Edith and Little Bear pillage and plunder? And how exactly did the Bears come to show up on the lonely doll's doorstep?
   Reading Jean Nathan's book, it is quite clear to the arm-chair psychoanalyst that Mr. Bear and Little Bear are substitutes for the father and big brother that Edie callusly cast out of her life and her daughter's. For many years, Edie pretended that she had never had a son, while Dare tried to make sense of her buried memories of a family of four people that she could not clearly picture in her conscious mind.
   There are parts of the book that don't seem right, and as a doll collector (and owner of a very old cloth doll) I wished had been explored more carefully: the doll in the picture book series is made of fabric (by the Italian doll company Lenci), but doesn't photograph as a 20+year-old doll; the fabric looks immaculate, and shows no signs of wear. In later books, the doll keeps getting makeovers, but somehow the cloth's integrity is sturdy enough to keep up with changing fashions. And I have long been fascinated by the photo of Edith and Little Bear, standing with their backs to the camera, on the totally deserted Brooklyn Bridge. The mechanics of managing that location shoot must have entailed months of paperwork and permits and I would have liked to have just a few details of the artist's creative processes, and the actual task of wrangling those dolls (who truly seemed to have minds of their own) into such perfect poses.
   "The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll" is a book for grown-ups; once you have read it, you can never again look at the series of Lonely Doll books with child-like wonder. But for the adult reader it fills in the missing pieces of the books; the lonely Dare Wright created for herself a mother-less universe, with a father and brother who promised to never leave her, and together the three of them would live happily ever after.



4. If I had never read this book, I would never have imagined this kind of life. I have never read any of Dare Wright's books but I ordered this book shortly after reading the New York Times review. It read like an extended version of a DC Tales of the Unexpected comic about a possessive stage mother and her devoted income-generating daughter who never grew up and wore a wig of blonde banana curls. Sad to know that this actually happened to Dare Wright. I recommend this book. It's very sad but very informative about selfish personalities and a warning about dealing with such people. It also gives good reason for sleepaway camp. Too much parental contact is too much.



5. I suddenly became interested in the life of Dare Wright, for no other reason but because I started a small business on Ebay...I am always intrigued by eccentric individuals, and on my ebay search, I found The Lonely Doll, I also collect Lencis, and thought who would destroy such beautiful dolls for art?...Dare Wright's books, did not impress me as books for children, they seemed to be talking to an older audience. In my zest for learning more and more about this woman, I came to this interesting biography of Dare Wright.
   The initial 200 pages are fascinating, if indeed Dare Wright lived this horrendous existence, and was such an child-woman all her life, it explains why her books The Lonely Doll series are so much Dare Wright.
   What I couldn't quite understand was the end of her life as portrayed by Jean Nathan. I felt the writer embellished the ending, to make Dare's life even more horrendous, and compelling. I must commend Jean Nathan on her writing ability, but what I objected to was Jean Nathan bringing her own life in the epilogue, how can this writer identify herself with Dare Wright's life...Nathan had an angelic existence compared to this abandoned, abused, controlled, woman-child, Dare Wright. The book makes for fascinating reading...I would love Joyce Carol Oates to take a hold of Dare Wright's story and make it her own...

5 comments about Love and Consequences: A Memoir of Hope and Survival.

1. I saw this at the library and picked it up, not knowing about all the publicity, which I'm surprised I didn't know, since I try to keep abreast of all things literary. Anyway, I did have some doubts about the foster care system placing her in that home, and why they would; about how she was able to stay in that home and never be removed despite Big Mom's struggle with caring for all of these foster kids (which I didn't understand, since she got money for them); that the lady in the gray suit would be taking her to visit someone in juvenile hall (she didn't have anything else to do?); and how she seemed to effortlessly blend in with the Bloods in the park and they treat her like she's one of them. I also was disappointed with not learning how she fared in college. She touched on it a bit but not enough considering how challenging it must have been.
   
   Anyway, it could have been fiction if she did a little bit more research to make it flow and I'm mad that it was faked. What is up with everyone faking their life stories?



2. This book, billed as a truthful memoir of the life of a white girl raised by a black family in the South Central LA ghetto, is not factual, but is in fact the product of "Margaret B. Jones's" very febrile imagination. For starters: White children are not placed in black foster homes; the author claimed to be of mixed American Indian - White, but not a drop of the former made it into her face; that the first thing she did with the money from her first drug sale was buy a cemetery plot; that she had graduated from the University of Oregon, and the list goes on. Was the purpose to determine how naïve the reader, and more importantly, professional reviewers are of the true conditions in the ghetto?
   
   Lessons abound. Clearly all too many professional reviewers do not read critically, and are prone to "groupthink." Why do so many reviewers, all at the same time, think a book like "Love and Consequences" is significant; worthy of a review, and not a single ONE detects anything amiss, when virtually everything is. Why must the reading public rely on a truthful sister to reveal the true facts?
   
   Should the average reader mourn the curtailment of book review sections in major newspapers? Clearly a better solution may be reading rationale and thoughtful reviews posted at Amazon. With the prevalence of these incidents in the publishing industry, it stands to reason that more exist, waiting to be found.



3. I didn't know the book was fiction until I went to review it. I'm disappointed that the author couldn't be honest about this, but the story is still good. I have a sister who lives in the Bakersfield area, who raised two African American children in grinding poverty in a very bad neighborhood. There are many things about the story that rang true from what she has told me. The question for me: does the story move us forward? I think it does. I feel more compassion for poor people and the circumstances that lead them to crime and the gang life. Maybe I'm naive, but I think that's a good thing despite the deception by the author.



4. This is ridiculous, anybody who been involved or even been around this life on the outside edges would be able to tell right from the beginning where she says the thing about using K's for c's. becuz they would know that C's would not be spelled with a K, but a cK. so right from the beginning it prooves that she is ignorant of what shes talkin about. c's become cK=crip killer, there is many different parts of the language that gets changed, not just c's, so if that is all she bothered to change to the "blood speak" (just typing that made me roll my eyes) then its even more ignorant becuz she couldnt even bother to find out what language really gets used n what it stands for, just uses someone elses life as a frame to make her own picture look better and thats sad.
   
   Books like this make me sick, for real, cant people just write somethin real, or somethin fiction and admit it. you cant get away with lying like that forever. its sad also, that she robs other peoples lives, when in reality there IS many white kids as the minority in the ghetto, but it aint a myth. But people like her faking it, takes away from the reality of their situations, like its just some concept to be used for your own good and not someones actual life and suffering. What a pathetic thing to do, now being upper class and priveleged is so hard that people gotta pretend they had a different life to get acceptance?
   
   Her use of the slang wasnt even on point, that should tell you straight up at the start what kind of suspect book you have.



5. This is a well written, most engaging story and it is so unfortunate that the author chose to label it as a true memoir which caused the publisher to recall it. BUT give her a chance... it should be read, not "banned"! (I chose to read it anyway because I'd heard the NPR interview with the author and was intrigued. And, I certainly was not disappointed at all in the book.)
   I think the author has a real gift to tell a story with feeling. Her descriptions of events and people are indeed well crafted. She has a talent for painting pictures with words. This tale of a youth growing up in the inner city is a fascinating, believable and captivating one. And, if you "read" the book on CD, you'll be treated to not only a well-written story but a well-read one as well. It's truly a "hard to put down" book. I hope she writes more, honestly!

1 comments about Occupied with Nonviolence: A Palestinian Woman Speaks.

1. This is a book about a faithful and persistent woman. You will learn a great deal about this part of the world and you need to know what she has to tell.

2 comments about Elizabeth I (Profiles in Power).

1. There are too many biographies of Elizabeth I out there--thankfully this isn't one of them. The author purposely avoided another one, and instead focused on the evaluation of the way the virgin queen used her power. Elizabeth was the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty, and had to rebuild the country after the disastrous reign of Bloody Mary. This book shows how she effectively maintained control of the public, the church, the nobility, the court, the council, and the military, and tells us why Elizabeth was able to hold the throne almost 45 years.

   Again, this is not meant to be a biography, so this book assumes that you already have a basic knowledge of Elizabeth's reign. If not, you'll find yourself lost, but if so, you'll learn all kinds of stuff and find yourself looking at this English queen in a whole new light. If you're a student of Tudor England, this one's for you.




2. This short book is a good summary of Elizabeth during her reign. It focuses on eight different aspects of her life: the throne, church, nobility, council, court, parliament, military, and her people. It is not very detailed. If you want quick information on the queen, this is the book for you.

5 comments about Listening to Whales: What the Orcas Have Taught Us.

1. 'Listening to Whales' was a touching story of how a women's life was enchanted through her passion for marine life. We follow the author, Alexandra Morton, through her life and career- which often go hand in hand- as she evolved as a marine scientist and a woman devoted to her love: the orcas. We are taken from her first job as an acoustics expert in Marineland to her more profound passion which is to examine the killer whales in their natural habitat; the open ocean. This book was not only captivating, but as I read through it I learned so many fun facts about orcas and dolphins and the life of a marine enthusiast.
   My favorite aspect of the book was the way she explained how her extreme passion for orcas came to be. I loved learning about how her love for marine life evolved from her love of frogs and grew from there. I find it so fascinating that as a small child something like loving frogs has evolved for decades and turned into her fulltime career. It proved how dedicated she has been to her work for so long and how there is constantly so much more to learn. I loved how she dedicated her young life to follow her dream, and this story showed how far you can come if you are persistent and dedicated.
   There wasn't any specific part of the book I didn't like. It was a story of this brilliant woman's dreams and stories, I don't think anyone is to say there was something wrong with it; it's an unedited, unchangeable story of her life. I think she had a good balance of her life-stories and experiences and her knowledge and history of her life with the whales. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in marine life or anyone who has a passion that they want to persue. It's a very inspiring story, which makes the book good for almost anyone.



2. Alexandra Morton's book, "Listening to Whales" is a fantastic story of how she came to study and love dolphins and killer whales. Morton grabs the reader's attention from the beginning by telling of her childhood and how she came to love animals and research. She was first intrerested in frogs, then snakes, then moved onto dolphins and eventually to killer whales. Morton's story of how she started her career was fascinating, and all about meeting the right people at the right times. She started slow but her passion willingness to learn kept her going. After years of tedious work, Morton finally landed a job at Marineland where her first job was to study the sounds that dolphins make. By using a hydrophone, Morton was able to listen to the dolphins, but there were many problems in her studies. One problem was that the dolphins were too fast for her to write cooresponding notes, and also, she wasn't able to figure out which dolphin was making which noise. Two killer whales that also happened to be in Marineland started Morton's true interest on killer whales.
   Morton's career has let her listen to these killer whales, witness a birth, and uncover habits of these creatures that no one at first believed. Morton then goes into the wild to listen to and observe these beauties in their natural habitats. Morton continues to study killer whales in the wild and learns a lot from listening to these whales communicate.
   I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought it was interesting that Morton gave a lot of information on her personal life and background and told the readers of how she started her career. I thought the way she opened the book got the reader's attention from the start and built up her ethos. The only weakness to the book I'd say is that it is a little slow at the beginning. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning about killer whales, or anyone who wants to hear the story of how a young, animal loving girl, grew up to be a wonderful scientist. This is story is one of "following your dreams". Morton did what she loved and knew she wanted to do, even when discouraged by others. Aspiring scientists and whale lovers would love this book.



3. The novel "Listening to Whales: What the Orcas Have Taught Us" tells Alexandra Morton's story of how she dedicated her life to studying marine mammals, in particular killer whales, in captivity and in the wild. In addition, it describes the struggles she encountered along the way, such as caring for her young son on her own. After finishing this novel, the reader feels like she is an expert on killer whales, due to the clear descriptions Morton gives on the lifestyle, habits, and traits of the species. I felt that for the parts of the novel when Morton described her life aside from the whales, though, that she skipped over details, making it seem like events occurring over a long period of time were instead occurring over a matter of a few days. I would definitely recommend this book, especially to anyone interested in learning about killer whales and how important it is for people to protect their species.



4. The book, Listening to Whales: What the Orcas Have Taught Us, is a spellbinding story of a woman's stuggle through life as she relentlessly studies killer whales. She brings us with her through her life's work of note taking and photo identification of the whales as she raises children, survives as a single mom in the wilderness, and falls in love. Alexandra Morton also teaches us of our human errors and our insensitive treatment of nature, as we do whatever is needed to fill our own pockets with more money, acting naive to how it is affecting the world around us. I especially enjoyed the peace and serenity of the novel. The setting and the whales themselves calms the nerves. I think it makes us all somewhat jealous of life outside of busy streets and many people. However, like with all autobiographies, the author can not control what has already happened, which makes the story move slow at the times when not a lot happened in the author's life. I would definitely recommend this novel, especially to anyone wishing to learn about whales and to anyone who loves reading about the serene and complexity of nature.



5. Listening to Whales is a wonderful story of a woman's life in the wild and the beautiful creatures she has devoted her life to. This auto-biography of the life of Alex Morten follows her journey through studying dolphin noises to captive dolphins to captive orcas and finally spending 25 years in the wilderness off the western coast of Canada studying killer whales in the wild. This story is so powerful and definitely shows us how important and intelligent these creatures are. Aside from retelling the moving story of how the whales thrived in those empty waters to completely leaving the same land with the coming of fish farms, this novel teaches the reader so much about this whale species, their culture and their environment. This is a must read for anyone interested in the preservation of the once pristine waters that are home to the killer whales and other marine animals--such as dolphins, porpoises, salmon, seals and otters--and for anyone who finds these beautiful and smart animals at all intriguing. Morton will make any reader fall in love with orcas as she takes the readers out on the waters in her boat, watching the whales live, play, love, and die. The end of the novel becomes more of a commentary on the industries--fish farming in particular--that destroy natural ecosystems. Morton leaves the touching story of her whales as they leave the once peaceful waters near her home, and throws a lot of political jargon at the reader. Though what she has to say is quite shocking, and definitely will leave the reader understanding the terrible effects of such an industry, the constant barrage of numbers and statistics that Morton uses to get her point across can become quite tiresome. However, it makes the final beautiful pages of this novel all the more emotionally touching. This book is amazing, and will definitely leave any reader feeling the same love that Morton does towards killer whales.