I have only seen parts of the movie, which is why i wanted to read this book. Joan Vinge is an excellent writer and, in my opinion, adds to this beautiful tale of forbidden romance. I can't say whether you'll enjoy it as much as the movie because i don't know, but it really gives one a sense of the emotions drive the characters. The epilog is an amusing and quaint surprise as well.

The book delves in to the emotions of the characters so much more than the movie. I read the book first and loved it. The movie didn't hold my interest and so much of the story was lost in the translation. This is a fantabulous piece of fiction.

This was a beautiful book that portrayed a very complex character. Aurora is found as a baby wrapped in a basket covered by a rubber sheet tied to an upturned chair which is floating on an ice slab in the Artic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland. It is only a few days after the Titanic disaster but nobody is looking for this baby and from the beginning everything about her seems unusual. She has pale skin and almost white hair and she always feels cool. She likes to wander by herself and she has a very unusual connection with animals which leads the locals to think that maybe she was left by faeries. I think I liked this book because although it paints this very ethereal picture of Aurora as a baby and as a child she has a very human marriage and a complex relationship with her children that is portrayed in a believable way. You do not always like Aurora's decisions and the book has its share of heartbreak but I guarantee you will feel you've encountered a genuine and unique story that will stay with you long after you've finished the book.

This is a beautifully-written book, providing a strong setting and feeling of Newfoundland, where it is mainly set. The timeline of the book follows the same as the life of Aurora, an ethereal spirit who was discovered as a baby floating on an ice slab in middle of the Atlantic ocean, her birthplace and story up until that point a mystery to all. From that point on, we come to know her, the members of her complex but very human family, and ultimately, to feel a part of the family and land. Highly recommended.

It was good reading. It also makes you hope that she will write something in the future relating to the three remaining bachelor brothers.

I really enjoyed this book. Both stories were great but I especially loved the story of Corrigan and Dorie. I really hope Diana Palmer writes the story of the remaining brothers.

hi ,
Im Hermione and i like to write a review on the above book.
its nice and ive bought it using the information they have given.
though i would like them also to write out the summary of the book so that the viewers have an idea of the book since all the books are about vasco da gama{the bks that i ordered}.
In all other respects the site is good
thanking you
Hermione{this is not only a name in the harrypotter bk but also my real name}
{im from britain and love harrypotter}

A Long And Uncertain Journey is the entertaining and informative picturebook story of Vasco da Gama's 27,000 mile exploratory journey in 1497. Sailing to discover a route to China just five years after Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama discovered what Columbus had not -- a sea route from Europe to China. Elizabeth Goodman blends a compelling, dramatic narrative with Tom McNeely's superbly drawn watercolors giving readers age 8 to 18 a memorable and enjoyable "window in time" to one of the truly outstanding feats in history.

Most of Wolf's early Regencies rate at least 3 stars from me. This book is a cut above them, with more believable interactions between the couple (even if they meet in a fantastic setting), and no long separations. The heroine Joanna Crewe is the niece of a duke (her father is *not* the duke, although the blurb on the back of my copy claims this to be the case). She is realistic about her life, in which her remarkably selfish father sacrifices his wife (almost literally) to his religious zeal as a missionary in what we now call sub-Saharan Africa. Joanna grows up disillusioned about her father, and determined to preserve her own individuality and her interests. Her father's death leads almost improbably to the slave markets in Cairo, from where she is rescued by an adventurer/explorer John Champernoun, himself the relative of an earl.

This is the first third of the book. In the second third, the heroine becomes engaged to a man, because she craves a normal life and she insists in denying to herself her real needs and interests. She is also marrying the man for his father and his house, as John Champernoun puts it. Enter the hero, now as earl, after his cousins all die heirless. Unfortunately for Joanna, the new earl is a close neighbor of her fiance's father.

The last third of the book is delightful, in which Joanna is forced to confront her hasty decisions and recognize that she has made a wrong choice based on her fears about John's lifestyle and her own ambivalent feelings about her late father. Her fiance acts honorably and agrees to break off the engagement. Joanna will marry her true love, the man who will allow her to be herself.

This was a pleasant read, far more compelling than two other early Wolfs I read at the same time (FOOL'S MASQUERADE and A DIFFICULT TRUCE). In intensity of feeling and tightness of plot, it does not quite match A LONDON SEASON but it is a well-knit and fast-moving plot. The only thing I did not like was the part where Joanna ends up on the slave market - a plot device that has been used by so many writers of purple prose. Fortunately, that part was quickly done.

What a perfect novel! A hero and heroine which are intelligent, kind and perfect to each other. A real conflict, historical accuracy, wonderfull characterization, exotic places, all in some very fast 200 pages. One of Joan Wolf's better books, if not the best. This, by the way, is saying a lot.

I bought Luvella's Promise as a gift for a child and read it myself first. This book is as good for adults as it is for kids! I liked the language (no talking down), the history, the drama, and the character development. I feel like I KNOW Luvella and Bessie and even Mama. I have a new appreciation for how people lived in the early 20th century and I have a new interest in learning more! What a terrific book this would be for the classroom!

Joan Foley Baier has done a tremendous job with her first book. Luvella is an incredible little girl who proves that with determination and faith, a person can do anything.

From page one to the last, I was mesmerized. I hated to see the book end and am certainly looking forward to the sequel.

Luvella's story takes her through the pathos of joy and sorrow, but she is determined to keep her promise to save her mountain and her family. And, all this was done by age eleven.

Joan's characters are real and believable and a joy to know.

Thank you, Joan, for a charming and refreshing story.

This is one of the older Magic School Bus books which has layers of detail in it. You can chose how many layers to read, depending on the child's interest and on the time you have available for reading.

The obvious layer is the text. There is plenty of information from just reading the text. If you want to add more, read the dialogue between the characters, written cartoon style in balloons. The most detail would come from the children's sketches and notes that are in the (very wide) margins.

I like the scheme of taking the children through the system and coming out the other end. Children usually find the fantasy of changing size to be fascinating as well. To my knowledge, the book is factual and fairly well up to date.

As a seamstress, I love Ms Frizzle's clothing and accessories.

I taught a unit on water to three second grade classes this year and this book helped the students understand where our city drinking water comes from, how it is treated for impurities and how it gets moved through the system and into our homes. The pictures and text are informative as well as humorous and entertaining. This book kept the students' attention and promoted discussiom. I highly reccommend it!

I love these anthologies! There's something for everybody in MALICE DOMESTIC 9, this collected homage to Agatha Christie. Some of the stories are based on Christie's plots, some on her characters, and some just contain references to her works. Of the 14 stories, a couple are dark, some are outright hilarious, and almost all are in the cozy tradition. Besides Christie's own "The Case of the Discontented Soldier," there are stories by Robert Barnard, Jan Burke, Kate Charles, Marjorie Eccles, Teri Holbrook, Gwen Moffat, Marcia Talley, Dorothy Cannell, Charles Todd, Ann Granger, Walter Satterthwait, Carolyn Wheat, and Susan Moody. (There is no story by Joan Hess -- just a tiny introduction.) This is a really fine collection. I've read some of these first-rate stories several times already. These anthologies are an excellent investment!

In the mood for a good Agatha Christie type story? Malice Domestic 9 gives tribute to the talented, matchless mystery author in their 14 original traditional mystery stories. Each story carries a British flavor and sports the Christie flair.

Along with the other stories is a Christie's original The Case of the Discontented Soldier. Major Wilbraham finds England too tame. He has answered Parker Pyne's advertisement in hopes of drumming up some excitement, and he does. I have to say Robert Barnard's story is one of my absolute favorites. Nothing to Lose is about a complaining elderly woman who moves into a nursing home and stirs up trouble - loved the ending! Another I favored was Kate Charles story, Murder at the Vicarage, about a vicar and too many spinsters. Ms. Charles character is a mystery writer named Ms. St. James - a "monopoly" play on words maybe? You don't want to miss Gween Moffatt's The Dark Tower, which offers a brief mystery with her spinster sleuth Miss Pink. Honestly there were a couple of the stories that couldn't keep my attention, but that's ok, it only means they were meant for someone else. Did I feel that the authors captured Christie's work? Yes, I do, and what's more, their individual talents added to this pleasant read.

Don't miss out on this one. It's a wonderful anthology written by Christie fans, for Christie fans. This one goes on the keeper shelf with my other eight Malice Domestic anthologies.

Joan Grant's books have been an important inspiration on my quest for personal understanding. 'Many Lifetimes' is a distillation of her philosophy of life and death making it a useful over-all picture to her work. The book was written in tandem with her third husband, Dr Denys Kelsey, a practicing psychologist, and he brings a fascinating insight to reincarnation theory and how it can be useful in dealing with current psychosis.

I first read this book in the 1970's and at that time was more interested in Joan Grant's chapters. I chose to re-read it for the purpose of reviewing it in Psychic Tymes and found that Dr Denys Kelsey's input had stood the test of time and had in fact improved. The first time around I had skipped a lot of his detail.

Joan Grant's chapters are always interesting, inter-lacing her philosophy of existence with paranormal experiences. She is one of those people gifted (or cursed) with psychic ability. The reason I took to her works was due to her 'far memory' and the concept of the 'long years'. Reincarnation always seemed a basic truth to me, as I could remember being other people at other times. Joan wrote about that as if it were a natural thing rather than a mental aberration. Reading her previous lives biographies (Winged Pharaoh, Eyes of Horus, I as Carola et al) and the explanation of them in her own current life's autobiography 'Far memory' was a homecoming. This book distills the wisdom that can be found in her other works into a single volume.

The book ends with the touching story of Joan and Denys' friend Ray, who is dying of cancer. It is a wonderful tale as Ray explores the lives that she feels are holding her back on her karmic journey. In expiating them she feels that she can die with grace and dignity, showing her nearest and dearest that death is not to be feared, but is just another beginning. Ray's story is a living example of Joan Grant's philosophy and is an inspiration to us all.

Read this book, and then go on to reading Joan's other works. You will learn a lot, as I did.

Joan Grant and her husband Denys Kelsey take turns writing their accounts of life in France during and after WWII and how they use her gift of seeing into the far past--past lives--to help psychologically maimed patients. The tone is very humble and yet matter-of-factly and helps us understand our own continuity and moral responsibilities. Suffering is indeed unnecessary and death is nothing to be afraid of.

This is a serious compilation and collection of factual studies, observations, recollections, and hopes and dreams of humans who believe that whales are so much more special than most of us realize. It was written by many authors with the intent of raising the collective consiousness of humanity and to stop the killing of these magnificent animals. Interesting and provocative. As a scuba diver who personnally witnessed an act of kindness by a Grey Whale in La Jolla Bay, I am just another human being who has read and learned enough to believe, that these animals have lived for thousands of years in the oceans of our world with few natural enemies (before mankind), may have more to teach us than we can yet imagine. "Within the headcase of the Sperm Whale lies the largest brain the world has ever known". From, Sounding, a wonderful novel about the Sperm Whale by Hank Searles

This book is filled with information on whales and neat paintings and pictures. It has bunches of little life stories that make feel awe, admiration, and a sense of coming together with people all over the world who love and respect the whales. Reading this book helped me to understand that whales are not worlds apart from me, all I have to do is look in the right place. It's a shame this book went out of print because the information in this book can not become out dated. I liked this book so much that after i borrowed from the library, and read it I decided I had to buy it and read it over and over!