2 comments about Making Known the Biblical History and Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous: A Sixteen-Year Research, Writing, Publishing, and Fact Dissemination Project, Third Edition.

1. I personally had a hand in the immense task Dick undertook in gathering these materials. We visited Jim Newton in Florida before his death and acquired all Jim's relevant Oxford Group library. Ditto Rev. Willard Hunter in California. And I helped Dick and others display, list, and prepare for shipping the huge library of history that Dick had shelved in the Maui A.A. Research Library in a room set aside for that very purpose. Shelves lined every single wall. Work tables held the groupings. And there were several huge groupings: (1) The huge amount of Oxford Group materials Dick had obtained from Newton, Hunter, MRA leaders and offices, and MRA packrat George Vondermuhll, Jr. (2) The huge Shoemaker collection Dick had obtained from the Shoemaker family, Episcopal Archives, Shoemaker churches, personal journals, and church records. (3) A complete duplicate of all the books in Dr. Bob's Library. (4) The temperance books, the religious books, the evangelism books, the contemporary A.A. and alcoholism books and reviews, and the many stories by alcoholics that were part of AAs' studies and heritage. (5) A complete set of the Big Book Second Edition printings. (6) A large collection of printings of the Third Edition. (7) Forty binders of historical papers. (8) Several huge boxes of tape recordings, including the entire collection of Bill W.'s public talks. (9) A host of similar materials purchased from collectors Danny Whitmore and Dennis Cassidy and elsewhere. (8) Books Dick had personally acquired and used in his research and writings. It's all in this book. And most of it is now lodged, through the generosity of several of Dick's benefactors, in the Griffith Library located adjacent to Bill Wilson's birthplace at The Wilson House in East Dorset, Vermont. The books and materials are there to be studied, copied, posted on the internet, and utlized to help AAs. Their wide variety insures that this is not just a collection that fits some particular collector's fancies. It far exceeds in volume the collection at Brown University, at Stepping Stones, and at Dr. Bob's Home and the Akron archives. And it is far more accessible to those who really want to learn and get well by studying the details of their fellowship history. And doing it in the delightful New England atmosphere of East Dorset, Vermont. It also serves as a backup documentation for the thousands of footnotes and comments in the history books by Dick and others striving for an accurate picture. This compilation is a gem, should be part of every reference library, and can be obtained as part of the reference set of Dick'b books.



2. I'm a researcher. I'm a student. And I am a Marine Corps vet. I am also an avid reader of the Bible and a believer. I lived with Dick B. for a while before I joined the Marines. Then I was married, and I was stationed in Oahu and frequently saw Dick, his son Ken, an their respective huge libraries; and so did my wife. I helped Dick inventory, prepare for shipment, and ship the 23,900 historical items that he had amassed and assembled on Maui and used in his continuing research and historical publishing. Then much of the material was donated to the Griffith Library at Bill Wilson's birthplace in East Dorset, Vermont. But not before Dick had inventoried the books and materials, the places where they were acquired, the libraries from which they had come, the people who made them available, and their relevance to aspects of A.A. history like the Bible, Jesus Christ, Quiet Time, Dr. Bob and his library, Anne Smith and her journal, the Oxford Group, Sam Shoemaker, New Thought writers, William James, Carl Jung, Dr. Silkworth, the Cleveland materials, the Clarence Snyder materials, materials on alcoholism and addiction and recovery, prayer, healing, guidance, the great mentors of A.A. like the YMCA, Salvation Army, Christian Endeavor, and so on. It's all in this book. It's a reference tool worth having for life. It's a source for historical study. It is a fascinating account of all the elements that fed A.A. It's a well-done bibliography. There's nothing like the content of this book. I'm all for it.

2 comments about Flip Flop (Real TV, 2).

1. Briana Harris is a typical teen who struggles to keep family secrets. Embarrassed by her alcoholic father, Bree does everything she can to keep her friends from discovering the truth. When her best friend Chickie Wells signs them up for Flip Flop, a reality tv show similar to Trading Spaces, Bree is scared. Will her dad be around and drunk? Will he make a scene? Will she be totally embarrassed by him?
   
   Lawton captures the hopes and fears of teens dealing with alcoholic parents. The reader journeys with Bree as she struggles to deal with her father's problem and the impact it has on her entire family. Lawton masterfully captures the voice of teens today, writing a book they will surely connect to.
   
   Wendy Lawton has written a winner that teens and adult alike will have a hard time putting down.



2. The reactions of the characters to the situation presented make for reality and real-life drama. What would you do in Briana's shoes? Wendy Lawton guides the reader through a real life dilemma and shows that easy, pat answers do not always come. However, through it all, God is real, too, and He'll catch you when it looks as if the floor has fallen out. Since I love the Trading Spaces show, this makes for a great read.

No comments about Genesis: Spirituality in Recovery from Childhood Traumas.

No comments about Desire and Craving: A Cultural Theory of Alcoholism (S U N Y Series in New Social Studies on Alcohol and Drugs).

No comments about Cognitive behavior therapy for chronic insomnia occurring within the context of medical and psychiatric disorders [An article from: Clinical Psychology Review].

No comments about Help to Get Help: When Someone Else's Drinking or Drugging is Hurting You!.

5 comments about Falling Apart (Sweet Valley High Senior Year No. 23).

1. This book was pretty good but the not best SVHSY.The best part about it was when you realised that Jeremy and Jessica(the perfect couple)might get together again.All because Jade gave Jeremy this really soppy card while Jeremy gave her this just friends one.Jade begins to flirt again because she doesn't want Jeremy to feel sorry for her.
   Conner's off living with his dad and enjoying his total freedom until he goes overboard with the alcohol and ends up in hospital.Will he admit he has a problem?This question is answered in the book.Also Andy has to start getting serious about his future.It's college application time and Andy's grades are not that good.Will he be able to get into college?This might seem a bit vague but I don't want to spoil anything major.You don't actually find out if he gets accepted or anything but you do find out how he tries to get into a good college.
   The other storyline which the book is supposed to be centered around is that since Conner took off Elizabeth has been taking comfort in the friendship of Evan Plummer.But does she want it to become something more?Also Jessica wanted Evan to take her to the homecoming dance but since he's going with Liz that's not possible.So Jessica is ignoring Elizabeth and trying to make her feel guilty.
   I like this book because it is a fairly easy read and the diary bits between chapters are interesting to haer the characters point of view.This book may not be the best but it's important because many plot lines get started i.e.Jessica or Jade?Elizabeth with Evan?Ken and Melissa?Will Andy get into college?
   If these sound interesting go out and find a copy of this book.
   Happy reading!!



2. Usually this book is about Elizabeth, worried about Conner and having some kind of feelings for Evan...
   While single Jessica wants Evan and wants Liz to stop cheating on Conner and not liking Evan instead. But I say that Miss Jessica has to stop being ALL jealous of everyone that wants someone that she has to like.
   She should mind her own business, in fact. In this book, I actually feel sorry for Melissa. It is a good thing that she starts to "move on" without Will. Conner finally apologizes to Tia and Elizabeth. Which I thought it was loyal of him.
   Evan and Liz should be a couple. Well, because he's a fun, smart, and a humorous perosn to hang with. If I were Liz, I would go for it. Maybe he has long hair and all, but I think that they would be a great couple.
   But Conner was never the kind of guy that would give Liz comfort and a lot of funtime with him. I'm actually surprised that Melissa goes to the dance with Ken. But I say that Ken should back together with Maria. Until she's not crabby or anything to him.
   Oh, and Tia and Liz finally make up. Andy has to improve his grades with going to college and all. SO this book was okay.
   Now, this is what I would give to the main characters in this book with their attitude and all.

   Jessica: 3 stars/out of 5
   Elizabeth:4/5
   Evan: 5/5
   Conner: 4/5
   Andy: 5/5
   Melissa: 4/5
   Will: 1/5 LOL
   Ken: 4/5

   So in my opinion, I think that of their act in this book. So read this book. If you want to.




3. Oh my gosh!! FINALLY Conner wakes up! It's about time! I cried so hard when I read them breaking up... sorry, yes, they break up! That whole Liz and Evan thing is [***]! Liz is in love with Conner, even though he hurt her, and if that's not enough, SHE BROKE UP WITH HIM A FEW DAYS AGO! come on, Liz! Wake up! That whole thing in the end about jess being [mad] at jeremy because he was visualing dancing w/ jess was soo funny! "jeremy looks happy. da[r]n." that was great. overall, this book was sad but good!



4. Although Conner McDermott now has total freedom and a father who buys him alcohol, he still isn't happy. It's not until he ends up in the hospital due to alcohol poisoning that he "see the light" and returns home, agreeing to enter rehab. But first he breaks up with Elizabeth Wakefield, which allows the inevitable to happen: Liz and Evan Plummer hook up.

   Meanwhile, Melissa Fox and Will Simmons are back in the plot loop again, though there's not much to tell. Will's still at home moping after his big football injury that lost him everything-his football position, scholarship, and girlfriend, who is now falling for Will's replacement and Maria Slater's ex: Ken Matthews.

   Overall, I thought "Falling Apart" was a lukewarm book. There were some interesting moments, as I've mentioned above, but nothing earth-shattering. Even Conner and Liz's break up wasn't that big of a deal; it was long overdue, in my opinion. Worth mentioning, though, is Andy Marsden's humorous list on page 165 in regard to the homecoming dance that even he attends.




5. Elizabeth and Connor break up,so does Ken and Maria,Will and Melissa,who does Melissa chase after? Ken,What a Witch with a capital b,Melissa is the one who spread rumors that Jessica was a S*ut and stole her 2 best friends, Amy Sutton and Lila Fowler ,or turned them against her. Connor starts drinking,While his Mother Mrs. Sandborne is in a Rehab center,She is a recovering alcoholic.

1 comments about Message in a Bottle: Stories of Men and Addiction.

1. Before reading this book I had never really thought about the existential implications of alcoholism. Now I see chronic addiction in a completely new light. This approach makes more sense the more one really looks at susbstance abuse and the reasons why so many people keep 'slipping' when they are well aware of the negative consequences.
   
   Very well written and not too academic for those familiar with college-level psychology texts.

No comments about Fifteen Hands (Jennifer Book, 7).

5 comments about A Room on Lorelei Street (Golden Kite Awards (Awards)).

1. This is a gripping novel about a high school girl who leaves her alcoholic mother and rents her own room. I loved everything about it.
   
   The main character, Zoe, is so well drawn she seems almost real. She has flaws, but she has a big heart and a lot of drive. I really wanted her to make it on her own, and found it difficult to put down the book until I got to the end and discovered her fate.
   
   The language is gorgeous, but it's not one of those beautiful books where nothing happens. A lot happens, with page-turning suspense througout the novel.
   
   I also liked reading about the vivid supporting characters-- the mean yet realistic grandmother, people at Zoe's school, the creepy guy who Zoe sees at work.
   
   This is my favorite teen novel of 2005.



2. Mary E. Pearson's A Room on Lorelei Street is gripping and well-written, a bleak story with streaks of hope. A Room on Lorelei Street is the story of Zoe, a 17-year-old girl burdened by a difficult family. Her father is dead, under somewhat mysterious circumstances, and her mother pretty much lives inside the bottle. Her beloved younger brother has been sent away to live with a more stable aunt and uncle, who have no room for Zoe, while Zoe is left to care for her irresponsible and needy mother.
   
   One day Zoe sees a sign advertising a room for rent in a gracious home on Lorelei Street. She is unable to resist the lure of getting away from her mother, and of being in a place that's all her own, clean and quiet and safe. She rents the room (more of a studio apartment) from the quirky but kind Opal, and finds it everything she has dreamed of. However the ties of family and guilt are not so easy to break, and Zoe struggles with continuing demands from her family. She also struggles financially, not really able to afford living on her own while working part time while attending high school. But she's not willing to go back, either.
   
   This book made me think about all of the things that I took for granted growing up: clean clothes, abundant food, parents to attend any plays or recitals that I was in, siblings who lived in the same house. Zoe is painfully in need of someone to care about her, to put her needs first, to be what family is supposed to be. When Opal attends one of her tennis matches and cheers for her, it brings tears to Zoe's eyes. She considers it the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for her. How sad is that? How many kids are there who have no one to care about them?
   
   The ways in which Zoe acts out are not surprising, given her background, and are treated matter-of-factly by the author. The looming menace of what she will or won't do to earn money to afford her Lorelei Street haven is more disturbing. Toward the end of the book, things get increasingly difficult for Zoe, and the fragile ties tethering her to the community snap one by one. What keeps Zoe going are a few precious memories of her father's belief in her potential, and her own unquenchable sense of possibility.
   
   Zoe is a strong character, a teenage girl facing situations far beyond her years. Her landlady, Opal, is delightful, glowing with enthusiasm, despite the hardships in her life. The small, depressed town of Ruby, Texas is almost a character in the book, too. Ruby is beaten down and insular, without much economic potential, but the stars still shine overhead. And there are still beautiful rooms on Lorelei Street.
   
   This is a book that will make you think. About the connections between people. About what kids need from their parents. About what makes some people keep going, while others give up. About where responsibilities to family end, and responsibility to self beings. Mary Pearson's writing is spare and elegant, with just enough detail to make the scenes pictured painfully clear. I think that it will particularly resonate with teenagers, male or female, struggling to find their place in the world.
   
   A Room on Lorelei Street won the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite Award for fiction published in 2005. This is the only major children's book award given by the writer's peers.
   
   This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on July 18th, 2006.



3. No wonder this young adult novel by Mary Pearson was honored with SCBWI's prestigious Golden Kite. You're drawn to Zoe from her first inappropriate outburst in English class, then amazed by her resilience as you're swept deeper and deeper into her story. The characters could be people you know--their quirks, their messy personalities, their coping mechanisms. You want to reach into the pages and give this gritty girl some gasoline money. With an eye for detail, Pearson pulls many threads through this teen survival story--keep an eye on the bulldog! Clever, whole, moving. Makes any reader yearn for a room on Lorelei with a landlady like Opal.



4. Zoe is determined not to be like her mother. So she sets out on her own and rents a room in an attempt to get away from the things that drag her down...then she becomes that which she despises.
   
   This happens so often in families. Kids are always saying "I'm not going to be anything like my parents." Yet, that's what they know, so that's what they become. And most don't even know it.
   
   The real beauty of this story is that Zoe sees what she's become, acknowledges it, then takes steps to change. She's heading into the unknown, and has no idea whether she'll be okay. But she takes comfort in knowing that this is the right direction.
   
   Such a stunning and courageous message to send to kids. Well done, Ms. Pearson.



5. A Room on Lorelei Street by Mary E. Pearson was over all a worth while novel. It is based on the life of a teenage girl struggling to cope with a highly dysfunctional family. It finally comes to her moving into a rental room to escape the emotional abuse of her mother and grandmother. Barely making it by, some of her methods are a little less than honorable. The author does an amazing job with making the reader feel as if she or he is truly in the mind of a struggling teenage girl. The figurative language is captivating and voice is realistic. Characterization is well developed but some of their actions are very dishonorable and then never reconciled when the reader is led to believe that they will be. In the end the majority of the conflicts from the beginning are left hanging along with some new ones. This left me feeling like I wanted to keep flipping pages that weren't there. Other than the abrupt ending, A Room on Lorelei Street was a great source of entertainment.