I always find it comforting reading Betty Neels books. The heroines are nurturing, plain, hardworking English girls and the Hero's are Handsome Doctors with good breading, loads of money and very restrained passions.

This book pretty much follows that pattern. It's a sweet romance and a fun read.

i was 20 when i first read this book it not only captured my mind but also my soul

An excellent depiction of early Seattle history: the voyage of "Asa Mercer's girls." Recommended to supplement NW history classes. Offers a different perspective from the many Oregon Trail novels. Makes me wish I could be there at the beginning to build a new city.

I read this book in 9th grade and remember loving it. I hope I can find a copy of it. It's left quite an image in my mind (which only really good books can do).

Zane Grey's second novel about life along the early American western frontier. Drawn from personal family history, he captures the brutality and the compassion of the early pioneers and the Indian nations that they were dispossessing.

Lewis Wetzel "Le vent de la mort", (Death Wind) is a prominent figure in this book. Wetzel is a genuine historical personage and is accurately portrayed as both a guardian to the border settlements and the Indian hater and killer he was known to be.

The book follows the life and adventures of two brothers Jim and Joe, Jim a Christian missionary and Joe a gregarious newcomer to frontier life. Wetzel always known as a loner, develops a friendship with the young man Joe and trains him in the ways of forest woodcraft. All the while Jim struggles to strengthen and protect the already established Morvian Indian mission. All of this set against the intrigue of Indian politics,war and the rampaging murders and kidnappings of the white renegades Simon and Jim Girty.

Although an historical novel, Zane Grey uses the various characters and happenings as a vehicle to give us a clear picture of the sentiment surrounding the precarious daily life for both the defenders of the Indian nations and those who acted as the American border rangers.

Read this book almost twenty years ago and this is one novel that made its greatest impact on me. Made me a Zane Grey fan. Lost my first copy so I ordered another one. Still find it a great read.

I am lucky enough to have a withdrawn copy of this book from the library. Although it is certainly dated, it holds up well as a sweet little story about a family with a VERY large teapot...and a problem. Their very large teapot has become home to a stubborn tiger, and not even the anger of Papa can force the tiger out. Only Littlest Sister Josie knows what to do, and a few kind words save the tea from being spoiled.

The pictures do set you back a good many years (it was dated even when I got it), but they are nevertheless..well, the only appropriate word is charming. The text is delightfully serious, even when dealing with the most absurd of topics. Short but sweet, this book should delight children and adults.

This book was a favorite of mine given to me as a child for my birthday from a great aunt. I never tired of reading about the efforts of a boisterous family to get a contrary tiger out of their enormous teapot. No amount of ordering, yelling, threating or pleading can budge the tiger and tea is becoming later and later . . . until littlest sister Josie comes home from a party and invites the tiger to tea! I now have the pleasure of reading this story to my three children. Told in all seriousness with lovely pictures it is sure to tickle any child's funny bone.

i can remember reading this book years ago and thinking it was so much better than i expected. her insights were valuable and one gets a good look into the life of the white house.

Vikki Carr is one of my favorites
and glad to read about her! I heard
that she is quite comfortable with both
President Ford and Betty.

Love ya Vikki!

This novel is a very sweet romance. I prefer strong character development and actual romance to heaving bosoms and inappropriate-for-time-period morals, so this is right up my alley.

Betty Neels has written many doctor-nurse romances (or doctor-typist, in this case). Charity is a typist at a hospital who is hired by Dr. Wyllie-Lyons, a reserved and gentlemanly doctor. While working for him, they fall in love and enjoy a gentle, old-fashioned courtship. While Charity is a bit too much of a dependent character for my tastes, the book is still very cute. The characters could be a bit stronger, but overall this book was a fun way to pass an afternoon.

Did you ever have one of those days, you just needed a pick me up? This is the perfect book. The story flows so smoothly, you just can't put it down. In typical Betty Neels style, there's nothing to make you blush, it is a wonderful romantic love story that makes you smile and wish all men could be like this one. She adds humor with a gentle touch, you just want to grab all her books, your most comfy clothes, and curl up for the day.

As are most of Betty Neels' books, this is a sweet and light romance that runs a little toward the antiseptic in his romance, but still satisfying enough to recommend. Krijn is an emminent doctor who is attempting to write a book on bile ducts, Beatrice is a nurse who is mousy and plain and is resigned to a spinster life ahead. However, she meets the good Professor and falls for him almost immediately. The professor, notoriously absentminded, takes a little longer to catch on, and proposed a marriage of convenience. Beatrice, happy to take him however she can get him, agrees to it and secretly plans to convince him to make the marriage a real one. It take the entire book to make Krijn come to his senses, and realize he's just as crazy about her as she is about him, but along the way its a good story. I felt often sorry for Beatrice, obviously used to being ignored but really hungering for her husband to take notice of her, and I wanted often to shake Krijn and yell at him to open his eyes. But the characters are both likeable, and you really get interested in their romance despite the shortcomings. A high recommendation here.

An Unlikely Romance is Another good book written by my favorite romance book author Betty Neels, I really enjoyed reading it and I liked the characters a Dutch guy named Krijin Van der Brink-Schaaksma and an English lady named Beatrice Doveton. This book is a keeper.

The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells is a classic science fiction/fantasy novel. It is based in England around the late 1800's and also thousands of years into the future. It is an epic tale of a journey through time. Every one of the Time Traveler's friends and colleagues doubted him. They didn't believe that he had gone into the future. But he did. He visited a gentle breed called the Eloi. They were all alike. They dressed the same, walked the same, looked the same, and even reacted to life's conflicts in the same way. These identical "people" served him gratefully, giving him all the fruit he could ever want. He tried to learn the Eloi language, but their short attention spans caused him to not learn very much. The Time Traveler began to dream as to why this race of people was so alike. He couldn't figure it out. He decided that he had found himself in a utopian society, where neither reason nor strength was needed. He didn't find the real reason out, until he had discovered his time machine to be missing. Night fell and all he could do was search. When he found it he also discovered a horrifying secret about the reason as to why the Eloi were so perfect. It was a terrible secret, one that you will only know if you read this book. Believe me, it's quite a twist. All in all, I would have to recommend this book to anyone. It has elements of every genre in it: horror, science fiction, fantasy, drama, and comedy. It is just a really well rounded book that all can enjoy.

What can i say about this book? It's a classic, and that sums everything up. As a young science fiction fan, i couldn't put this book aside and last weekend decided to read it. It was everything i hoped for.

A scientist builds a time machine. Why? Because of mere scientific curiosity. I know that's not enough for the modern fans, but putting the book in its historical contet, we go back to a time where the advancements of science were increasing every day, each scientific field being researched. Of course, Time wasn't the exception.

The time machine leads the scientist and the reader to a dark, bleak future, where the enthusiasm for knowledge has been exchanged by the pleasures of a dull, easy life withou work or preocupations, an utopia for a small group called the Eloi.

But underneath their feet live the Morlocks, a group of cave men who toil for the Eloi and are paid with their meat, for they are cannibals.

Wells surely wasn' an optimist regarding the future of our earth, for the time traveller ends his dark journey at the end of earth's existence, no longer inhabitted by men but by gigantic creatures such as crabs and butterflies.

Most readers might complain about the lack of characterization, thence my four stars, the weakness of the plot, nowadays very common,and even the lack of scientifical explanations, that makes today's science fiction novels so wonderfully complex. but this was a classic among the classics, that gave birth to so many books... A lot of people owing a lot to H. G. Wells, who never got anything for his unique book.

OK, we've all seen at least one of the movie versions of H.G. Well's The Time Machine, but none of them truly compare with the oringinal Sci-Fi classic. The book tells the story of the Time Traveler's journey nearly a million years into the future and the very unexpected and disturbing society he finds there. The Time Traveler formulates various theories based on what he observes of the society, which each, in turn, prove to be oh, so wrong! [Warning: mild spoiler] In the end, his realization of the future is especially terrifying considering it is the result of our current social structure (or H.G. Well's, anyway).

I especially recommend this book for those of us with short attention spans - it's only 140 pages (and that's the large print version). But don't get the wrong idea, this book still has more depth and creativity than most 500 page books i've read and is a great read, even compared with today's science fiction standards.

This book has to be considered a classic considering it spawned a whole genre of time traveling books, movies, and tv shows whcih imitated it. Get a hold of a copy and read it today!

I first read this book in college, and have reread it a number of times since then. The story is set in the newly-formed Republic of Gilead, what used to be the United States (and more specifically the story is set in and around Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA). Atwood incorporates a number of different and some might say disparate schools of political theory into this dytopia, including communism, Christian fundamentalism, and radical feminism, and shows what happens when normal citizens fail to educate themselves about ideas that may differ with their own. While many reader may consider this novel completely feminist or anti-Christian, a closer look reveals neither to be true. The Republic of Gilead twists Christianity considerably from its true message; in fact there is one passage where Baptists (who a lot of people think of as the "most religious" Christians) are being beseiged by the Gileadean army. And it makes a number of jabs at the goals currently held by some radical feminists, among them striving for a man-free "women's culture". All in all, this is a book that gets off to a somewhat slow start but really grows on you after awhile, and by the time you get to the end, you want to pick it up and start all over again. The scariest but also most imspiring part was thinking about what we as a society can do to prevent this.

THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Margaret Atwood is a true classic. It is a cleverly crafted novel about a young woman called Offred who lives in a dystopian fundamentalist society called Gilead, set in the future. The book unfolds like a diary or series of letters, as the reader is provided with a clear psychological insight into the main character. Much of the tension stems from our exposure to Offred's internalised feelings; which are often ones of both frustration and resistance, faith and hopelessness. From the start of the novel, the reader plunges into Offred's world without much orientation and at first it is hard for the reader to decipher exactly what is going on. This is obviously Atwood's intention, as our confusion mirrors that of Offred. In fact, in order to get the most from this book, you really need to suspend judgement as nothing is really made clear until the last page - and even then, you may find a second reading beneficial.

Atwood explores controversial issues including feminism, anti-feminism, abortion, pornography, environmental issues, violence against women, bisexuality, ethics of cloning, racism, extreme right-wing polices, militant nationalism, and religious fanaticism. I am sure that we can all think of events that relate to these issues, and many of them will be as horrific as the society depicted by Atwood in this book.

The emphasis in this novel, however, is not in giving answers, but provoking thought and warning the reader to guard against complacency. It is an open-ended narrative and this can feel very frustrating for those of us who like a 'and they lived happily ever after' ending, where we can feel a sense of completion and satisfaction. This book is just simply not like that, and to be honest, I think it would be to the detriment if it were. This is an eye-opener and not intended to reassure the reader of his or her own well being.

Although not set in the 'real' world, this society is very realistic in many senses. Think of Nazi Germany, think of American Puritanism, the Romanian state controlled birth rate, slavery, Stalinism and some of the principles outlined in the Bible and you will soon realise how terrifying our own world can be. This may be fiction, but it would be true to say that none of it has been made up. A true work of art. Highly recommended!

I had this book on my bookshelf for three years before I finally decided to read it. Now I'm kicking myself for waiting so long! The Handmaid's Tale is awesome and it has completed my favorites list of 2002. Highly recommended.

Margaret Atwood's story is set in the future after the United States has undergone a nuclear war and the government has been destroyed. In place now is a strict and dangerous political scene, where any type of crime can result in an execution and a public hanging on The Wall. Not only that, but women are made secondhand citizens and are no longer able to hold jobs, make money, read or write.

The Handmaid's Tale is told through the eyes of Offred in the former state of Massachusets, now called the Republic of Gilead. Offred is a Handmaid, or a surrogate mother of sorts, who is appointed to an infertile couple in order to get pregnant and help boost the population. However, it isn't as easy as that since the only legal way to get pregnant is the old-fashioned way, which causes jealousy and tension throughout the household. And with the rigorous government, Offred isn't allowed to complain or refuse unless she wants to be shipped off to clean up toxic nuclear waste for the rest of her life.

I absolutely loved this book and will recommend it to all my book friends. The Handmaid's Tale is the perfect book for book clubs as it will evoke numerous discussions on feminism, nuclear war, radical government policies, slavery, etc. Margaret Atwood poses the question of "what if?" and one can only hope that this tale remains fiction. Excellent, thought-provoking, fascinating and heart-pounding -- this novel will never be forgotten.

"It is as if Emily Bronte could tear up all that we know human beings by, and fill these unrecognizable transparencies with such a gust of life that they transcend reality." -Virginia Woolf

Damn straight, sister! I gotta tell you, read this book in the *summer time*. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, read this in the gloom of winter, as I stupidly did.

The epic story of Catherine and Heathcliff plays out against the dramatic backdrop of the wild English moors, and presents an astonishing vision of fate and obsession, passion and REVENGE.

This classic book is a bummer. Not that it's bad writing, but my oh my.. it makes you so sad! Your heart just goes out for Heathcliff and the depression he faces. But also, the um... "inter-breeding" (*blush*) is quite disturbing!! One cousin marries one other cousin and they have kids who marry their other cousins, I was just surprised that the whole lot of them weren't, "messed up".

I really wouldn't recommend this book for happy people. If you want some romance and a historical novel, read "Gone with the Wind". My favorite.

Wuthering Heights is a classic only in the sense that it was written in the 19th century. But it is a compelling story w/ dark, violent passions, and emotions of love and hate. Heathcliff's only goal in life is to seek revenge on anyone associated w/ the Earnshaws and Lintons. His love for Catherine is evident, but his hate is chillingly cruel and violent that touches everyone between the two estates. Only when he is w/ Catherine is he pacified. Catherine is torn between her true love Heathcliff, and her duties to marry someone of her station in life. But she doesn't understand her love and emotions for Heathcliff. (Which makes me believe she's too childish, spoiled, and bratty to handle her emotions rationally or she's a manic depressive). It's a dark passionate story that is compelling to read. Unfortunately it's also hard to follow in the third person narrators. The long winded descriptions makes the book drag (which explains the 300 pages). And what in heaven's name is Joseph saying? Are most uneducated people of countryside England so hard to understand? This book isn't for the light reader. If you want something easier and more light hearted, go for Charlotte Brönte's "Jane Eyre." Or books by Jane Austen.

"Wuthering Heights" is, with Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," my alltime favorite book. I've read it several times, beginning at age twelve. Even when I was too young to understand all of its complexities, I still appreciated its highly atmospheric qualities and the magic that makes it timeless.

Over the years, I've asked myself, time and time again, just what it is about "Wuthering Heights" that gives it such power. I've finally come to the conclusion that "Wuthering Heights" endures simply because its characters dare to feel things and act in ways the rest of us don't. We all have times when we're tempted by obsession and revenge, but most of us don't act on those temptations. At times, we all feel driven almost to madness and we all have a wild side (some of us more than others) that finds perfect expression in the character of Heathcliff. In this book, the characters are always threatening to break the bounds of respectibility and civility.

While some people see "Wuthering Hieghts" as the ultimate love story, I've never found much love in this book, not even between Catherine and Heathcliff. What I have found are obsession and revenge. Love would have watered this story down; obsession and revenge crank it up. Love is an acceptable (even prized) emotion; obsession and the desire for revenge, though felt my many, are definitely frowned upon. The fact that Emily Bronte allows her characters to give in to obsession, to go mad, to exact revenge, gives her novel a distinctly disturbing, unsettling power.

There are many criticisms of this novel that attempt to analyze what Emily Bronte was trying to say. Many compare the domesticity of Thrushcross Grange to the isolation and wildness of Wuthering Heights. These ctiticisms don't interest me in the slightest. No matter how educated Emily Bronte was or wasn't, she certainly didn't study psychoanalysis and she certainly didn't write her novel keeping the finer points of analysis in mind. Emily Bronte was, by all accounts, a highly imaginative girl who cared more for the world of fantasy than for reality. Approach her book as literature; enjoy it and don't attempt to "pull it apart."

Many people have said that the "second generation" in this book redeems the one that preceded it; i.e., Cathy and Hareton redeem Catherine and Heathcliff. I can't agree with that assessment. All of the characters in "Wuthering Heights" show themselves to be capable of violence and obsession (even Edgar). I think, in seeing the "second generation" as restorative, we deny many of the passions inherent in this book. Catherine and Heathcliff are the characters most given to wild emotions but they are not the only ones; all of the characters can and do resort to violence when it suits their needs.

"Wuthering Heights" is one of those rare books: a truly inspired masterpiece. It has a very unsettling, disturbing, even fascinating quality about it because it touches the darkest regions of our soul. Heathcliff is the dark side in all of us; the side we don't enjoy even acknowledging and Catherine's failure to deal with her obsesion reminds us that we, too, can fail, we all are vulnerable to Catherine's fate.

"Wuthering Heights" is a stormy, unsettling, often violent book that explores the darkest side of human nature. Its beauty is raw and savage; its emotions spill over the constraints of civility and common sense. It's a powerful book (one of the most powerful in all of literature). It's a work of genius that's truly unforgettable.