What a great book! I actually am a lover of Paris and photography, and of course who can resist a dog, let alone two? I really hope the authors make this into a series, maybe London, Florence, Venice? The book reads like a childrens book, but the target audience does seem to be aimed at adults. Whomever reads this book, it's enjoyable and one of my favorites!

This book was a gift from a friend who knows our love for dogs and Paris. My wife had just returned from the city of lights to our four "children" when the book arrived. What a delightful remembrance of the city seen trhough the keen photographic eye of Michael Maylszko. The text is complementary to a fault. A truely seamless product.

This should be enjoyed by anyone who understands the mind of a dog or who has been to Paris. It will be especially pleasing to those who appreicate both

The dogs on their own are adorable, the words on their own are wonderful, the sights of Paris are beautiful - but put them all together in this lovely book and you get the dreamy package that is "Betty & Rita Go to Paris". Excellent work! I look forward to Betty & Rita's next adventure.

This cookbook gives great help to a novice cook learning to cook more diabetes friendly!

Excellent book - Recipes that will take the boring out of healthy cooking and teach the reader how to eat healthy, limit fats, and sugars, etc.
Purchased out of need because my husband's triglyceride count and other medical tests show him to be pre-diabetic. For a beginner in counting carbohydrates, learning about all types of diabetes and meal planning for a healthier lifestyle, this book fits the need! Easy to read, hints and comments from other diabetic patients & medical advice from contributing M.D.s.

This is the best diabetes cookbook that I've ever had. The pictures are beautiful, the meals are wonderful and the advice is extremely practical. Everyone with diabetes should have this cookbook!

...........My sister managed to get me a copy of this cookbook, her absolute favorite, as a Christmas gift. First let me say, grab one before they are no longer in print! This is one stellar cookbook.........filled with more than 450 best-loved recipes from around the world, many with tempting photos. My husband and I have made a batch of recipes from this cookbook in the short time we've had it and each has turned out wonderfully! From Hummus, to Hunan Lemon Chicken to Chicken Paprika with Dumplings to Hungarian Goulash and with desserts like Cardamom Fudge and Honey Cake, we've already fallen in love with this diverse, no fail cookbook. My sister and her husband have probably cooked at least half of the recipes in this cookbook and have really enriched and expanded their culinary experiences. There have been very few recipes that they haven't truly enjoyed! I highly recommend this cookbook to anyone intrigued at the thought of international cooking!

All recipes I have tryed has been weel tasting and easy to make.
It is a exelent Cookbook.

This cookbook is packed full of exotic but simple recipes and is a continuing source of culinary delight. The ingredients are readily available and the writing is very clear, with photographs for some of the dishes. Some of my favorite recipes are: - Sopa de Tortilla - Gazpacho (decrease the red wine vinegar to 1/4 cup) - Paella (open the clams and drain before cooking) - Coulibiac (use fresh dill weed only!) - Vatapa - Linguine con Vongole Bianco (al dente for linguine!!) - Chicken Curry - Coucous with Chicken - Gai Ding (the cashews should be raw) - Moui Nagden (steam green peppers and add them when the rest of the dish has cooked) - Carne Rellena - Feijoada - Cassoulet - Moussaka (use young eggplants) - Spanokopita - Irish Soda Bread

This is a very special book to me, because it fills me with joy to see so many other people with security objects. I, myself (a 20-year-old college student), still sleep with my baby blanket. He's faded to a yellowish-gray now, and I have to wash him by hand due to his delicate state, but I would *never* give him up (and, yes, he *is* male!). He's my most cherished possession. Reading this book fills me with such warmth. I think most of us can identify with the need for security. The people featured in this photostory collection range from toddlers to the great-grandparents, proving that age is nothing but a number when it comes to love and security.

I picked up this book at our English department's booksale on my college campus the other day. A quick glance showed to me that it would be a perfect gift for a couple friends of mine who are opening up a coffee shop. I bought the book and walked off to go about my business.

Later, when I had a break between classes, I sat down in the main square and started reading. I was not prepared for the effect it had on me. Funny at times, touching at others, the book had me smiling and tearing up at the same time.

I won't reveal which people and their objects were my favorite, because they need to be unwrapped and savored on their own. Suffice it to say that they are people of all ages, from all walks of life. I would definitely reccomend this book. I wish I could keep it, but it's obvious this book needs to go to the coffee shop so it can be enjoyed by everyone!

Creature Comforts reminded me of Dingaling (my stuffed horse,) cherished through childhood, used as a potholder in adulthood, and with me still. The book is a sweet read and provides poignant insight in to our human attachment to things. It made me wonder if people around the world behave in the same way. A sequel perhaps?

I try to get all of Bill Burk's books. I enjoy his writings about Elvis so much.
I also have all his Elvis World Magazines. He only writes the truth. You will find no lies about Elvis in his books so they will sell.

This is the longest-running, best-selling book in the Graceland shops since its first printing in 1987! The author -- a personal friend of Elvis' and a journalist who wrote almost 400 stories and interviews on Elvis during a 20-year span -- paints an insider's picture of Elvis, the human being behind the glitter. He was the lone journalist allowed on Elvis' private train car coming home from the Army and the first to take Elvis aloft in a small airplane and allow him to handle the controls. Follow the ups and downs of Elvis from 1957 to 1977, including their last private conversation while parked behind a donut shop near Graceland after midnight just 3 months before Elvis died. The author -- well-known to Elvis fans around the world, and widely "researched" by more famous writers -- has always been sensitive to the private Elvis.

This book is one of the most comprehensive looks at a legend ...an inside look by Mr. Burk who was the only journalist allowed inside Graceland to interview Elvis. I was fortunate enough to have a friend to loan me the first edition years ago, and I contacted Mr. Burk to try to obtain a copy which was out of print at the time. I'm so grateful that he had another printing done and I was able to obtain a copy for myself. Just one in a series of works from Mr. Burk about his favorite subject. I will always buy Mr. Burk's books.

This is a really great book to read. I injoyed this book very much. I'm a teen my self and this book showed me that no matter my problems I could always talk to my parents about it. If you are haven trouble talkin to your parents you should read this book.

This book was good. I think all teenagers should read this book, especially those who are into boyfriends, or want boyfriends, or guys to notice them.
This book really got me thinking when I read it, and it showed how she had to deal with the problem that she created- how it impacted on her life.
I realized just what a great difference one decision can make on the course of your life. It is realistic and very believable. Every teenage girl should read it.

This was (in my opinion) one of the best books in the SpringSong collection! 3 cheers for Betty Shaffer. the story was a bright realization that you should wait to have sex untill you marry someone! i will say that whoever likes an intresting story to keep you on the edge of your seat should READ THIS BOOK!!!!!

Loving Midlife Marriage has been very helpful to us. As a couple in our 50's, we are dealing with empty nest and upcoming retirement problems. The chapter on "Seven Marital Themes and the Empty Nest Marriage" was especially meaningful. The rehearsals and testimonials elevate Loving Midlife Marriage above the typical dry "self-help/how to" book. Specific solutions were given to reoccurring, but seemingly unsolvable problems.

Our retired friends were particularly impressed with the book's perceptive analysis of what work and retirement mean to husbands and wives. It will definitely help us prepare for that time in our lives.

Thank you Dr. Polston!

Francie and Jerry Levin, Baltimore, Maryland

I am so sick of reading books that I can't understand, not because I'm stupid, but because every Ph. D. thinks he/she has to show everyone how many three and four-syllable words they can fit into a sentence. The thinking is not clear or logical so the thought gets fuzzy. Polston and Galant write for EVERYMAN/WOMAN, clearly, concisely. with well organized material that's a snap to grasp. Ladies, get this for you and your husband for the holidays. Life can be sweeter!

I retired and was lost. My wife didn't know what to do--I kind of hung around the house and we both got on eachother's nerves. She picked up Loving Midlife Marriage at our local bookstore and started to involve me in some of the exercises.I don't believe in all this psych stuff but went along just to please her. To both of our surprises some changes started to happen--in other words--the book has really helped us and our marriage. To anyone going through this difficult time, I highly recommend this book.

Mr. Karade seems to have found himself suddenly in the position of being a writer about Yoruba tradition, only a few years after being ordained as clergy in that Afro-Nigerian religion. One of the ways to become a really good writer is to have read, and thought a lot, and then read a whole lot more. Some of us (myself included), need(ed) a long apprenticeship to the craft of words before achieving reasonably good results.

Mr. Karade needs no help when writing chapter 2 (of three), where he is concentrating solely on the Ifa religion. He displays more knowledge, intelligence and poetic power than 999 out of 1000 writers on this and similar subjects. His brief but succinct characterizations of seven of the orisas ('gods/goddesses') are astoundingly rich - so incisive and deep! Read them at the right time, when you're relaxed and in the right mood - not only will they begin to light up your world, but will show how these principles of divine intelligence interlace beautifully and powerfully to render our world/cosmos both its form and function. Each one of these terse formulations shows one of the orisas as a layer of the whole - and how they all interpenetrate so beautifully.

Karade also does an amazing job articulating Ifa's principles of right, ethical living, etc. There are so many, very expressive kernels of truth and knowledge running through this entire chapter, it totally wows me. And he attempts at certain junctures to help out his parishioners by offering interpretations of some of the more obscure phrasings of Yoruba myth and text, and does a good job. Interpretation is always a dicey game - he doesn't go too far - just opens the door a little so you can get a sneak peek, then decide to explore for yourself, now or later.

Elsewhere in the book (chapters 1 & 3) there are literally dozens of times it seems Mr. Karade is riding a wave of numinous excitement when he resorts to a sound bite to get his point across, or to amplify his argument; but the sound bite he's chosen often doesn't compute. We can cut him slack because, after all, his thesis is moving excitedly along, and making quite a bit of sense; but there are too plentiful moments that some might consider 'brain farts'. Maybe these were direct, intentionally unedited transcriptions from speeches or sermons, which somewhat lets him off the hook.

I mean we all write this way to an extent, but most of us edit it several times before we let it fly off to public view. That way those bits that don't quite fit the context, or don't quite match the way people usually talk and listen, can get weeded out. Mr. Karade either didn't edit, or he's too proud to improve on his original draft (which I doubt, but . . .), or otherwise he doesn't care to. Possibly, he just doesn't yet know any better. But we all have to live and learn. (In one of Zulu shaman Credo Mutwa's most recent writings he strenuously chastises the writing style of his much earlier work 'Indaba, My Children', though I personally haven't found much of anything to fault there.)

In spite of the frequent stylistic gaffs, Mr. Karade effectively assumes a mantle of eloquence with respect to his attempts to outline and explain the deleterious effect the Muslim and European/Christian colonizers have had upon the native religions of Africa, and upon the practitioners of those high-minded and deeply rooted modalities.

But at times, I think he's just too brief, and uses high gloss vocabulary to make the reader ignore how spare his explanations are . . . when we really want more . . . more . . . more. Maybe being a minister makes him want to flesh out the full story only to the initiates/members of his church - and maybe that's OK, but . . .

Mr. Karade's third chapter (on the origins of the slave trade in Africa) is an amazing read, even when he makes claims that I hadn't heard before. There's plenty of fire, and it's quite astounding how effectively he channels it (good energy - no hints of hatred), despite the occasional tangents, false starts, etc.

But it would help immensely here (and, really through much of chapter 1 and parts of chapter 2) to have detailed footnotes so one could go and check out the references, not because one doesn't believe him, but because you want to read more . . . more . . . more! There is not a footnote in the entire book, despite its containing a 3-page bibliography.

Imoye, A Definition of the Ifa Tradition is another excellent book in the continuing writings by Baba Ifa Karade. This book lends clarity to the religious practice by stating the sources from these practices originate. This book is steep in the sacred text, the Odu-Ifa and also gives people a new understanding of how the universe and man came into being. This book is a must for devotees of the faith and an excellent read for those who want more information on the Ifa religion.Ajuba, Oloye.

Most of us wait around for peace and enlightment to come to us, thinking it is something we attain from the outside self. In Imoye, Baba Ifa Karade shows and direct us to that deep awareness of our true self which lies within.The reader is able taste the very essence of Ifa, the proverbial wisdom, and the way to inner being, peace and serenity. Colonialism has so deeply disrupted the African mind, that a majority of us are unaware of our true selves and our abilities. Many of us are lost in the "comfort" of commercialsm and materialism. The light that is so needed in this climate is shown by the powerful and poignant words of Baba Ifa Karade. He makes us aware that survival,traditional pride and innate wisdom can only be taped if we go back to our tradition.The blessings of the Orisa and the ase of the ancestors are deep within you, Baba. Aboru, Aboye, Abosise! May Orunmila be with you- always! Your books have touched my longing Yoruba heart from England to the USA, ASE-O. Modupe, Baba!

When a subject is as ineffably touching as the love story of Abelard and Heloise, it'll drive you continuously to dig more and deeper into the story. So after the novel "Stealing Heaven" by Marion Meade, the film based on the novel entitled with the same name, as well as the poignant musical "Rage Of The Heart" by Enrico Garzilli, in which Peter Abelard was sung by Michael Ball and Heloise by Janet Mooney, I read the book "The Letter Of Peter Abelard And Heloise". If all of the previous works I have encountered are artworks carrying more or less the creators' imaginations as well as their biases, then this book of letters, not only a true documentation of these two extraordinary human minds, but also a true portrayal of these two extraordinary human souls, provides the resources where you could reach the truth and make the judgment of your own.

Peter Abelard is a far more complicated human being than any artwork could deal. This is a man who was blessed with talent that's so distinctive, born with the charisma that's so appealing, and yet, tormented by the tragedy that's most appalling. The letters included reveal the connections of Abelard and Heloise years after both of them took vow to monastery life. You'd feel that the tragic consequence of their love relationship had created a different Abelard, from whom the words were more focused on his devotion to God and his advice to Heloise on the same subject, also his keenness on the his study, and his somewhat apathy towards their previous relationship, for which it could be easily mistaken as selfishness or indifference. But it'd be very unfair to blame Abelard for negligence. If we are able to see that this is a man who had suffered unimaginable infliction and unbearable humiliation, for which he himself believed to be the punishment for his sin, it becomes all so understandable of his words of remorse and his dedication. I believe that after the tragedy, he tried to hide his pain and forget the past in order to re-live his life. After all, he had paid the highest price for his love to Heloise. However, despite all these, his deep love and emotions towards Heloise could not be concealed but be felt between the lines written to her and from the Historia calamitatum: The Story of His Misfortunes, written by Abelard to a friend. Although their love that once reached its peak was forced to come to an end so suddenly, later on through letters it had been restored in an unusual spiritual way and on a new level of depth.

Heloise, an equally extraordinary human being as Abelard, on the other hand, was simpler and more straightforward, and yet, with a mind that's almost as acute and a heart that's braver and more passionate. When disaster struck upon these two lovers, she took the veil and entered the abbey in obedience to his wishes, only for her love to Abelard. Her sentimentality could be fully felt from her emotional outpouring of tears, grieves, and longings in the letters. The walls of Abbey never stopped her from loving Abelard, to whom the love she confessed and never denied to be beyond her love to God. Her perspective about true love is most incisive. Her talking about sensuality of flesh is very frank. When responding to Abelard on the subject of virtue and chastity, her strong arguments and copious quotations from various resources are simply brilliant. This is a woman, who had an exceptional beauty both inside and outside as well as the most admiring courage, that can't be judged conventionally.

The text translation is eloquent, literary, and beautiful. These letters, once were written many centuries ago and once were the only connection between two passionate hearts, are still compelling to read nowadays. In their own words, they told the story, in which they were teacher and student; friend and lover; husband and wife; brother and sister; and ultimately, two inseparable souls.

By any standard, the tale of Heloise and Abelard is an extraordinary story => brilliant young philosopher seduces brilliant beautiful student, passionate affair ensues, she gets pregnant, and they secretly marry -- but her relatives feel he has wronged her terribly, and in the middle of the night they break in and castrate him, after which both take refuge in the church. This book begins with a well-written introduction by Betty Radice, which gives an overview of the story. The letters, written years after the affair, are of great eloquence and depth of thought and feeling. Through them, the couple works to transform their 'earthly love'(which had continued to burn in Heloise's heart) into a spiritual bond that turns out to have similarly great passion and transcendence. Although the letters are steeped in religious debates and intrigues of the time, their beauty makes the love behind them seem as alive today as it was so many centuries ago ...

This is a facinating medieval romance, which I had actually never heard about until I read this book. Now that I have, however, I highly recommend it. The romance of Abelard and Heloise is a well known classic in France--it is high time the rest of us heard about it, too.

The story of Abelard and Heloise is "star-crossed lovers" yarn akin to something out of Shakespeare. This is the story of Peter Abelard, an outstanding scholar from twelfth century France, and Heloise, a beautiful young girl with a reputation for brilliance. Abelard is impressed with her, and manages to talk her uncle into making her his pupil. They fall in love, and eventually are secretly married and have a child. However, Heloise's uncle becomes suspicious of Abelard's motives and has him castrated. Abelard seeks refuge in the monastic life, and insists that Heloise follow his example. In the midst of their hardships, they keep in touch through the letters contained in this book. The letters are beautifully written and really manage to bring the story to life.

And I would just like to add that I don't agree with the reviewers who criticized Abelard. Abelard was a fine man, and there are no real grounds for anyone to suspect him of deceit. Sure, he was reluctant to renew his relationship with Heloise, but that is completely understandable. He had been mutilated, for crying out loud--the guy was humiliated. If he didn't love her, why wouldn't he say so outright? He had nothing to gain from lying. Cut the poor man a break! He was persecuted viciously enough during his lifetime. Do you people really have to keep pecking at him a thousand years after his death? Stop trying to turn a classic love story into an episode of Jerry Springer, okay? Potential readers, please don't let a few overly suspicious critics fool you--the book's demmed good. Buy it now!

This book gives an excellent insight into the life and times of Mabel Normand - one of the first women of cinema. Her life was complex and peppered with tragedy. This book fully explores all the hearsay about Mabel's downfall, and looks further into the roots of the controversy surounding the Taylor murder case, amongst other scandals of her time. I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone.

All I can say is read this book. It is one of the best Bio's written about a silent Movie star.

Betty Fussell's book is one of the best biographies I've read. I've read it several times since it was published in 1992. Why, you ask? It doesn't begin with the usual chronological story, but jumps back and forth from the present to the past. Fussell interweaves Mabel's family, her nurse, her friends with the tragic outcome of Mabel's life. It reads like a detective story, as Fussell tries to capture the clues to Mabel's life . Get this one, you won't regret it.