This book, Isabel: Taking Wing, was written by Annie Dalton. It was set in the Elizabethan age in London, in the year 1592. It is the first of the five books in the series Girls of Many Lands, which tells about girls in history, how they are alike and different from girls today.

Isabel: Taking Wing has about 180 pages and 12 chapters. Though the book was hard to get into at first, it became very exciting after the first few chapters. In addition to the story, the author put a section in the back of the book that tells what the women wore, as well as historical facts and pictures about Queen Elizabeth I and Shakespeare's theater. This book comes with a colorful Isabel bookmark where you can keep your place in the book.

This book has a very colorful picture of Isabel on the front, but no pictures while you are reading the story. I don't like that about the book. But I do like how the author wrote the book in first person, where you can feel what Isabel felt. She really described Isabel's thoughts and dreams in an exciting, fun to read way. I love the way the author filled this book with happy, sad and exciting times that Isabel experienced in her life.

Isabel is a 12-year-old girl growing up in a wealthy house in London. The author tells how Isabel grows tired of endless chores to prepare her for being a lady. So she sneaks out to see a Shakespeare play, but she is found out and banished to live at her aunt's house in the countryside. On the way there she is attacked by thieves. They leave her unharmed, but lost and alone. She then joins a band of actors, disguised as a boy, and finally gets a taste of the freedom she longs for. But it is not the freedom she imagined it to be. By the end of the book, though, she is reunited with her family, and discovers what freedom really means.

This book has many historical details, as well as good humor. It tells how women were expected to run the household and men to earn the money, like trading overseas that was Isabel's father's job. As Isabel bluntly put it, "Women must stay indoors, sewing stitches so fine that no one will ever see them. Our work is only visible if we do it badly. But men's work is very visible if you do it wisely." Isabel also says, "Girls must always be good and stay at home. But when you are a boy the world can be your home."

Isabel longs for adventure, and finds it in this book, and you will too!

is an excellent book! Isabel Campion has always dreamed of avventure. When her sister gets engaged, Isabel has to learn all about the house-hold responsibilities. She finds it a bore, so she asks one of her servants to take her to the playhouse. They steal Meg's(her servants)uncle's boat. Isabel is enchanted and instantly falls in love.On her way back, the boat get a hole, and Megs uncle saves them. Isabel is in big trouble. The punishment is to live with her aunt. Isabel packs her things and finally her aunts servant arrives to bring Isabel to her aunts home. On the way, Isabel is robbed and her aunts servant is killed. Isabel finds Megs brother and the rest of the people from the play. She disguises herself as a boy and even acts in some of the plays. When she arrives at her aunts house, everyone was glad to see her alive. She learn which plants heal certain sicknesses. One day, a letter arrives from her married sister telling Isabel that therir little sister has fallen ill with the plague. Isabel comes home and saves the day. I recommend it to all girls 9 and up.

While I have not read any of the other books from the Girls of Many Lands series, I really enjoyed Isabel: Taking Wing. The story begins on Christmas Eve. Isabel lives with her father, sisters Sabine and Hope, Aunt Elinor, and a few servants. She befriends Meg, a maid who is around Isabel's own age. Meg's brother, Kit, works at a playhouse, and Isabel's dream is to become an actor. One day, when Isabel persuades Meg to let her visit the playhouse, both return very late and Isabel is banished by her father to live with Aunt de Vere. While on the journey to Aunt de Vere's house, Isabel's companion, Aunt de Vere's servant, is killed and the horses are stolen. Isabel happens to meet up with Kit and his journeying troupe. She pretends she is a boy and acts in plays until the group gets to Aunt de Vere's house in three weeks. When Isabel finally reaches her aunt's house, the two of them come to love each other and have many things in common. Will Isabel's family ever forgive her and welcome her into their home again? Read this great story and find out.

The exceptional heroine of this book, Michelle Lovelace, is already a role model for me- her intellect, ambition, and open lifestyle. She's also a champion of worthy causes (such as the rights of Islamic women), an award-winning film actress (Best Actress at Venice), and an international sexual adventuress. However, her dedication to her dynastic role within the ISIS circle becomes in the end a fatal trap. Sensational, yet at the same time highly developed, this book is full of surprises. Also, the humor was very subtle and refreshing.

An un-typical and highly organized political thriller whose athletic prose has enough phoilosophical and historical currents running through it- women's lib, big oil, espionage, nuclear misadventure- to qualify it for the pantheon of Ludlum, Clancy, Forsythe and Higgins. The villainous element is highly effective- the Daughters of Isis, an elitist band of women bent on revenge and sexual chaos, are Terror in female form, making them the flip-side to Charlie's Angels. Prophetic and hard-hitting.

A very graphic peep show into the world of espionage and global power. The characters are realistic and memorable, and I found the action elements- the intrigue and the military and political angles- exceptionally well-researched. The erotica is hi-profile and steamy, and the book has a novel twist on the battle of the sexes- it shows how people, and especially women, can sacrifice their values for the sake of joining mis-directed causes.

When enjoying this page-turner, the reader has to remind themselves from time to time that they are reading a non-fiction account. Father Mark's journey,which he unselfishly invites us to participate, is enthralling. The sights, sounds and personalities of the monastic subculture he describes are unknown to most of us, but are truly worthy of exploration. What begins as an academic pursuit evolves into a mission, sanctified in the most austere and remote corners of the Egyptian desert. Yet, the intensely sacrificial life of the desert monks, does not subjucate the reader. Instead, Father Mark's account brings to life the divine richness of their existance. To delight in this gem of a book, one does not need to be deeply religious. However, it is hard to imagine that a reader could participate in this expedition with Father Mark without being transformed spiritually, as he was.

Father Mark's book, Journey Back to Eden: My Life and Times Among the Desert Fathers, is such a compelling page-turner that the reader must remind themselves that they're reading a non-fiction account. Father Mark brings to life the sites and sounds and personalities of an entire subculture which is known by few, but is so worthy of exploration. Co-mingled with his physical journey is the touching depiction of Father Mark's own spiritual journey, which he unselfishly invites the reader to participate. To enjoy this gem of a book, one does not need to be deeply religious, however, the reader should be prepared for a a literary experience that will not easily be forgotten.

Father Mark Gruber, a Benedictine monk of St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, came to Stony Brook University in the early 80s to study for his doctor of philosophy in anthropology.In his second year of study at Stony Brook, Father Gruber enrolled in a dissertation methodology class in order to hasten his degree program. Much to his astonishment, on the first day of class the professor announced that if students did not have dissertation topics, a compiled bibliography and completed research, they should not be in the class. When asked for his topic, Gruber responded, without thinking and knowing almost nothing about the topic, "Egypt. I shall investigate the Coptic people of Egypt." And thus, he began his study of the desert monasteries of the Coptic monks in Egypt, which would culminate in a year-long ethnographic fieldwork in Egypt.
Now, many years since his doctoral work was completed at Stony Brook University, Gruber has written a journal of his experiences as a student of anthropology and a Benedictine monk in a world in which the secular and spiritual are deeply intertwined. The book, Journey Back to Eden: My Life and Times among the Desert Fathers (Orbis: New York, 2002), offers readers an insight into the daily lives of the Coptic monks, Coptic Christians and the world in which they live, a world which is largely Arab and Islamic. It is an affectionate portrait, full of profound respect for the Coptic church.
Father Gruber's journal of his year with the Copts cannot be called a travelogue of the trials and tribulations of a young American student in Egypt. Throughout his day-to-day activities and frustrations lies a deeper insight into the people of a world in which all things are influenced by the spiritual. In the early days of his journey, for example, he tells of building a sand castle on a beach. Father Gruber is accosted by some young Muslim boys who accuse him of spreading Christianity in Egypt, mistaking his sand castle for a church. Egypt is truly a place of discovery, Gruber says, " ... seeing the character of these people and how deeply their religious concerns and issues preoccupy them and how they tend to interpret everything they experience through the prism of their faith. In seconds, the boys kicked down the towers of my castles and ran away ... triumphant or afraid?"
He also learns with some amazement of the Copts' respect for monks and priests, and he marvels at finding himself standing in churches using a handcross on lines of pilgrims who approach for blessings. On another occasion, he is baffled by an encounter with two Muslim brothers who, thinking there is a bad spirit in their house after their father's death, ask Father Gruber to bless the house. When he expresses his puzzlement, they respond that this is perfectly acceptable, and he should not fear any problems would persist. He is told not to interpret this as a secret vote of confidence from the Moslems. A friend tells him Moslems rationalize that the Muslim sheik is dealing with God directly and "if you want to resolve a problem with evil spirits, you need someone whose religion is of a lesser sort."
While the book can easily be read as a journal from beginning to end, its daily entries lend themselves to being read individually as spiritual and cultural reflections on an ancient people who can offer insights to modern Western man. Father Gruber's conversations with the monks lead to his understanding of the sense of humility and charity of the desert monks. His travels to 12 Coptic monasteries in the Egyptian desert describe monastic lifestyles steeped in silence, prayer and an austere existence devoid of any modern conveniences. At the same time, the monasteries, defined in many ways by climate and geography, are built on a deep sense of community. How is it that in a world of every modern convenience, where geography and climate play little role in movement and lifestyle, most Westerners remain isolated?
As Father Gruber prepared to leave Egypt, he realized how intensely he was affected by the Copts of Egypt. Thus, this is essentially a book about a deeply spiritual pilgrimage and the profound impact it had on one man's life. The afterword strikes a note of longing to remain in Egypt tempered with a desire to return to America. "I shall only manage to return to the world from which I came if I consider myself a bearer of the desert harvest.... My eyes will be turning backward, even as I had once looked forward to a future horizon before I came here."

"Lawrence the Laughing Cookie Jar" has something for everyone, it is truly a wonderful book. My grandkids love every bit of the book and make me read it over and over to them---they are especially fond of Reggie the dog. I also found it interesting that a jar is actually a jar in Will Marks' world, not a Safeway sourball. As a grandpa and erstwhile disciplinarian, I admire Marks' style by having the cookie jar laugh hysterically when the kids attempt to take more cookies. While my Phys Ed measures were far more draconian, Marks shows that you don't need to be Colonel Jessup from "A Few Good Men" to properly discipline kids. They are far better off learning from their own mistakes...the cookie jar is a kind way of teaching an important lesson in life.

This was a great 2nd book for Marks. As a bachelor for years, Marks provided me with many simple recipes in his initial epic instructional, "No More Mac and Cheese". The gazpacho soup recipe was my favorite, so easy I could throw it together in the back of my Vanagon or in the comfort of my PE office---although the aroma never overcame the jocks in the locker room!! Every meal was always finished off with a nice couple of jars, usually the ones left over from the glandular kids who got only 0+ on the pullup bar (apologies to Otis). I look forward to more from Marks.

The kids aren't happy with the ration of one cookie each; but they face an impossible barrier to more: a laughing cookie jar which loudly chuckles when they try to get more. Josephine Taylor's whimsical drawings enhances William C. Marks' fun story of trying to get the most from a cookie jar - through creative theft.

It's one of those books your kid makes you read over and over again long after you get sick of it (after 45 reads for me, which is a record). I give it as a gift to every new parent. You'll dig it.

Deborah Lighfoot Sizemore's The LH7 Ranch: In Houston's Shadow is the fascinating and informative true story of a cattle range that has operated since 1907 and the venerable family who owned it. Men and women worked hard to keep up with ranch life, stand fast through the Great Depression and finally stand up to a conflict with the growing metropolis of Houston. Energetic and aptly researched, The LH7 Ranch is a most compelling and highly recommended slice of Texan-American regional history.

Having reviewed books for THE CATTLEMAN magazine for 30 years, I read with pleasure this well-crafted work about a ranch in a part of Texas not commonly associated with ranching and ranch life. The Marks LH7 Ranch was established at the end of the 19th century in an area only about 20 miles west of the center of Houston. The author was fortunate in her work because she was able to interview all four of rancher E.H. Marks' children. This gives her work an immediacy not allowed to some biographers.--Copyright 1992 K.E. Snyder, Friends of the Fort Worth (Texas) Public Library

I got the book for Christmas and read it in two days. I loved it! Boy, what a family! I do a combination of genealogy and local history writing in the vicinity of the old LH7 Ranch and was thrilled to see what the author had done in this book.

Christophersen provides a simple perspective for parents to apply to in raising their children - you are a full-time, non-stop teacher. Based on this perspective, the best way to be the best teacher is to spend time with your children. Christophersen's guidelines are easy to follow and produce immediate results. An easy and indispensible read for every parent, even if your children are beyond the toddler age. The best child-raising book I've ever read.

Having bought this book after seeing Dr. Chstopherson on TV and speaking with him about his discipline methods, I couldn't wait to buy this book. What a gift. His techniques repect the child as well as the parents need to discipline their children. All information in the book is concrete and to the point making perfect sense of how we should discipline our children. My son is now 5 years old and I refer back to it regularly. I also teach disciplilne techniques to parents and reccommend this book always.

I'm SO glad Amazon.com now carries Little People! I like to give it as a baby shower gift, but it's been hard to get outside of the Kansas City area.

Dr. C. is great at explaining simple ways of bringing up and disciplining kids. For instance, he says "catch 'em being good." My heart just breaks when I see a child trying to please a parent who doesn't notice or reward the child with a few kind words or a moment's attention. Dr. C. also explains how to adjust your methods to the age of the child--for example, don't lecture a 2 year old about the benefits of not crossing streets, because she's not old enough yet to understand the lecture. But best of all, his methods make sense. There's no psychobable. There's no guilt. His techniques are easy to remember, don't hurt children, and they work like magic. I just wish more parents used them (especially when I'm in a busy grocery store or on a crowded airplane).

Looking for Canterbury
Reviewed by Randall Dean Marshall, MD
Director of Trauma Studies and Services
New York State Psychiatric Institute
Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

Jason Marks has written an accurate and thoughtful memorial to the many Vietnam Veterans who continue to suffer from the hellishness of war, and the humiliation of their homecoming. His story could not be more serendipitously timely. He gives life to the great loneliness that veterans have felt in a civilian world and, more tragically, among the politically and bureaucratically fragmented subculture of Vietnam veterans since the war.

He shows how the power of the past and the depth of shame that connects us to the loved and dead cannot be underestimated; in fact, if one's story is desperately in need of telling, the willful silencing of it can determine the course of one's life. The great gulf between what we expect of ourselves -- i.e., courage and heroism -- and what we actually do in the chaos of battle can become an emptiness that simple forgiveness or religious exoneration cannot fill. He shows how guilt can become the primary emotional connection between the living and the dead, and how difficult it is to find a more livable way of honoring the lost. But most importantly, Mr. Marks reminds us that great literature can play a profound, transformative, even lifesaving part in soothing human unhappiness that springs from the dissatisfaction that moral people feel with themselves.

Acceptance of human frailty -- and Chaucer's genius was its portrayal -- can be mysteriously difficult, and profoundly liberating. The descending wisdom of the lost owl, at the end, speaks for itself.

I was moved to contemplation of these universal questions -- especially since Spetember 11, 2001 -- by reading Looking for Canterbury.

What do a New York City butcher, medieval poet Geoffrey Chaucer and the Vietnam War have in common? They all served as creative fodder for Jason Marks' powerful and imaginative new novel, Looking for Canterbury. In an impressive literary feat, Marks has successfully applied the premise of an Old English classic to a modern-day tale and produced one of the most brilliant and insightful books you will ever read.

As Looking for Canterbury begins, Vietnam veteran Harry Baylor and six war-scarred friends have lost control of their lives. Tormented by emotional demons spawned by horrific experiences in Vietnam, they have battled for years to purge the visions that haunt them and move on with their lives. Conventional therapy hasn't worked and they're quickly realizing that their homegrown support group is proving futile as well. Their destinies seem clear; they will endure mental torture for the rest of their lives. That is unless Harry Baylor has anything to say about it.

Armed with half his life savings to finance his plan, Baylor, an enthusiastic fan of Geoffrey Chaucer, proposes that the group recreate the story-telling journey detailed in the poet's Canterbury Tales in New York's Central Park, essentially transforming them from a troop of soldiers to a troupe of actors. The challenge for each of them is to tell a tale that will distract the others from their worries. The only rule: the stories can have nothing to do with Vietnam. Sounds easy, but it proves more difficult - and dangerous - than they had ever imagined. As the trip progresses, the group comes to the painful realization that the demons they hoped to leave behind have, in fact, come along to spoil the ride. The mental reprieve they desperately need is in jeopardy, but they're not giving up. They've got nothing to lose but the remains of their sanity.

Looking for Canterbury takes readers on a thrilling, sometimes painful, adventure into the human psyche. Thanks to Marks' profound ability to engage readers in the lives of his characters, you find yourself experiencing first-hand the acute emotions that surface during their journey. Filled with expertly crafted hairpin turns, Looking for Canterbury keeps you wonderfully off balance. Within pages, you find yourself laughing at a humorous tale, shocked by an unexpected emotional breakdown, anxiously anticipating a character's complete disintegration, then laughing again as you're suddenly pulled back from the edge of emotional chaos. Just as Canterbury's characters, you will find yourself enjoying a leisurely stroll through the park basking in rich scenery and heartwarming comradery while simultaneously running a mental race against the subconscious at breakneck speed.

With its complex characters, fascinating literary allusion, rich description and gripping psychological insight, Marks' Looking for Canterbury is a 21st century classic, one you won't want to miss.

A unique idea to have a group of Nam vets seek their own Canterbury, complete with costumes, food and even personalities similar to Chaucer's pilgrims, the stories they tell of course differ. As it turns out their journey is more rewarding than the group therapy they have tried and it is most rewarding to the reader. An excellent read, that is, indeed.

A very fine collection of the letters, with multiple sides of VVG revealed. To read a collection of letters by an artist whose work you know very well is to invite yourself to take a look at him as a person. As a person, I found that I liked him best in these letters when he was struggling with his religion, his art, and his purpose. I'm glad that Roskill didn't make a selection that focused solely on the more famous and theatrical depressions.

I don't agree that this work reveals Van Gogh as a writer. For me, they definitely confirmed his status as a painter. At his best in these letters, he's painting with words.

Which doesn't make it a less interesting read. I found this a good adjunct to taking a look at the work again, it added an extra dimension to experiencing him as a painter.

Well worth the time it takes.

I bought this book several years ago in a college bookstore. How fortunate these students were to have been able to read and discuss this with others! I have had a long interest in Van Gogh and found this book to be fascinating, an almost voyeuristic look into his short life. I am glad to see that it is available * * and would hope that people now seeing the traveling Van Gogh portraiture exhibit might read it.

De Leeuw has compiled letters covering over 25 years of Van Gogh's life, letters that offer the reader an intimate look into the artist's thoughts and emotions. He writes about his friendships, his family, his attempts at love affairs, his religious beliefs and questions, and most importantly, about his art. These letters reveal him as anything but the anti-social person often portrayed in the past, with the ones about his relationship with his brother Theo being particularly touching.

Van Gogh was a prolific correspondent and an absolutely wonderful writer. His prose is remarkable--he could have been a writer as well as an artist. These letters shed light on the inner thoughts and the inspiration for his art and show him as a person of great passion and compassion.

This is probably the most terrific book I have ever read in my whole life. Before I bought this book I couldn't believe how Van Gogh 's life was so joined to his brother Theo and , after reading this book ,I realized how important could be in your life the presence of such an important person as a brother that support your life's choise as an artist or any other thing which needs strong support and stubborness to be archived. This told,the book offer Van Gogh's mail to Theo disclosing the whole process of Van Gogh artistic development from the early years when he was spending his lonely life ,to his relationship with Sien ,to the days of the great hope (Antwerp,Paris), to the total ruin in Arles and Sain Remi' in south of France. All those letter ends with a greeting from Van Gogh which I consider unique and that I want to borrow for my own: With a hand-shake your faithful Luca.

Children are for the most part not being taught how to treat other people. It seems that its evryone for himself. This book takes current day issues and asks how the Lone Ranger would have acted. I think it's great.

The Lone Ranger's Code of the West, was not (to my delightful suprise) just a clever title ! Radio and Tv Rangers needed "motivation", and a literal Lone Ranger Bible of ethics is included as part of this fascinating and odd clash of a modern man's meeting with the Masked man and Tonto ... it's perfect as the second read after "I was that Masked Man! I now have the Code posted on my car's dashboard ... this book fits any reader from ages 8 to 98! Don't miss this!

Being a big time restauranteaur, I normally don't have much time. But this book had everything ...adventure, lessons learned about character and very funny, too. I liked the part where Tonto cooks up a receipe right out of Martha Stewart Living! --Dan Donati

When a life partner dies, the widow or widower is faced with a multitude of decisions at once, at a time of emotional depletion when even one decision is experienced as overwhelming. This book is a handy and well-thought-out compendium of ideas and insights and suggestions that can make the early months of loss more manageable.

The first chapter tackles the psychological: several compassionate stories are offered that make the complexities of mourning seem more "normal." These men and women got through it, and thus, so can you. The rest of the chapters cover financial issues, taxes, social security, and so on, including some thoughts about funeral arrangements.

Written by experts in their fields, these chapters offer up-to-date information and provide an excellent starting point for getting back on one's feet. An extensive Directory of Resources is valuable in itself.

This book helped guide me through a difficult time. It reads easy and follows like a recipe book. I would recommend it to any friend who has experience the loss of a spouse. The Author takes a very difficult subject and makes it understandable. Furthermore, I was able to get back to the business of taking care of business.

I loved the book. I got it for my mother after my father died. It helped her with the tough decisons she was faced with. Its worth the money