This book is just great. I have a very old edition that my aunt bought in Germany in the 70's. I don't think it was even available in the U.S. then. It not only has great recipes, the style is wonderfully intimate and fun to read.

Just for kicks I entered Miriam Ungerer on a search engine and was really surprised AND pleased that this book was reprinted. It has been my favorite cookbook. I own a 1973 Viking first edition and while I haven't worn it out, I use it a lot.

I cannot name a favorite recipe, they all are good, and even if they are nothing I can fix (Mussels Dumas appear interesting, but I am potentially terminally allergic clam-like shellfish) they are informative. She gives practical wasy to cook most anything if you know how to cook and just need a nudge on ingredients. And she gives good ways to cut corners and make good meals while saving money.

And it is just as useful today as it was when I was a young housewife just starting out.

Hats off to Miriam Ungerer for producing such a good work.

I got this on a remainder table last month and have been reading it ever since. Reminds me of when I discovered Elizabeth David (also on the remainder table!) a dozen years ago. This book is a classic, and should be in every good cook's library, even if you aren't watching your food pennies. I love the eclectic mix of American regional food and good solid French peasant cooking. You will also find reliable discussions of the classic stocks and sauces of French cuisine. Furthermore, she tells you how to make yogurt from scratch!

"Departures" captures you with characters that enter the heart, with a richly layered story that continually draws you forward, with an embracing sweep of detail that makes these people and their culture seem so real, and therefore, so familiar, and all in a mature voice full of authority and insight. Miriam Striezheff Lewis is a masterful writer, and as I turned the final page, I wished that the next book of the saga was already published, because I was not ready to let go.

This is a terrific book, a first novel from a wondeful new writer. The central characters are rich and full, and the place and period are defined in succinct, specific detail. The book has the sweep of GONE WITH THE WIND and shares many of the same elements: the surprising changes in a culture and within one's self, the path to accepting hidden truths of the past, the precise rendering of a world now lost. I loved the people in this story and look forward to Lewis' next book. Remarkable storytelling!

Miriam Striezheff Lewis is a superb storyteller. Departures is a riveting page-turner and a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience. It is the story of one woman's passion for life and her tenacious efforts to preserve her self-identity in a world that seems determined to transform her "beyond recognition." This remarkable woman is Jeanette Ballin, a slight, dark-haired beauty, and the much-loved daughter of a successful Jewish furrier who lives in Paris during the first decades of the nineteenth century. The heroine's life story seems to stand as a microcosm of both the survival of Jewish identify in an often hostile Europe and the somewhat analogous resilience of a woman who manages to assert her individual identity in a male-dominated society. Jeanette's final words of advice to her daughter are significantly whispered in her ear so as not to be overheard by the men of their family who both figuratively and literally surround them: "Remember to speak your mind, and be firm of purpose" (354). . . . There is something for everyone in this life-affirming tale; it is an intricate matrix of interwoven passions for life's greater and lesser pleasures, a wealth of information that enchants the reader at every enthusiastically detailed allusion to theater, politics, history, geography, philosophy, fiction, music, language, dance, fashion, food, wine, travel, and romance in every sense of the word. Above all, it is a story of determination, survival and faith. Last but not least, like many great novels, Departures is a book about books and will bring delight to all lovers of literature.

Mackey's book sheds light on the shadow of money issues-a subject that I usually like to leave up to "luck". It is delightfully designed-and the questions were so provocative that I decided to actually use it as a workbook-rather than simply browsing through it. I feel my "money-mind" opening!

I gave this book to my wife and she loved it. For the first time, we were able to explore together our use of money. From my wife's learning, I think that Mackey's book has been of tremendous value.

Mackey's book helped me understand my emotional relationship with money & prosperity. The concept of finding JOY in financial planning rather than drudgery. My work is about creativity & fun. Mackey's work helped me see that prosperity belongs as part of my life as well. I recommend this book to anyone who feels overwhelmed by the conflict between their credit cards and bank balance. This book is for real people, not just those who have studied financial planning. I especially recommend this book to creative thinkers & "right brain, artistic folks!"

Miriam Grace Monfredo is one of the best historical mystery writers today, and her skills are well displayed in this book, the second in the Glynis Tryon series set in the upstate New York town of Seneca Falls in the middle of the 19th century. Glynis is the town librarian, with a strong belief in women's suffrage (along with her friend Elizabeth Cady Stanton). Until this story unfolds, however, she has been less supportive of the abolitionist cause which was strongly supported around Seneca Falls through participation in the Underground Railroad. Through the events linked to this murder mystery, however, Glynis is forced to rethink her position and ends up travelling as far as Richmond to fight against the Fugitive Slave Act.

One of the best things about Monfredo's stories is that she shares with you an entire town, in all its complexity and liveliness. Every character in the book is lovingly and lavishly drawn, and several plots unfold simultaneously which gives the stories a feeling of authenticity that is hard to beat.

You will want to rush out and buy the next story (Blackwater Spirits) immediately, to see how Glynis's friendship with the new Seneca/French constable, Jacques, turns out!

This is the second Glynis Tryon Mystery, and it is even better than the first one, "Seneca Falls Inheritance." It is now 1854, six years after "Inheritance," and the abolitionist debate is going strong. The Republican Party has just been founded in Ripon, Wisconsin.

Glynis strongly believes in obeying the law of the land, but she is unable to obey the Fugitive Slave Act by turning in Kiri, a lovely young girl who has escaped from a plantation in Virginia, and who is the beloved of Glynis' landlady's son, Niles. Glynis helps get Kiri to the home of Frederick Douglass, where she is hidden awaiting the opportunity to escape to Canada, where Niles plans to join her. When Niles is captured and taken to Virginia for trial, Glynis and Jeremiah Merrycoyf go to Virginia to try to save him. There ensues a fine courtroom drama, with Glynis turning up a key piece of evidence. Glynis and Merrycoyf return to Seneca Falls, and the villian, Thomas Farley, is unmasked.

This is but a small sample of the plot twists of this delightful book. It is a great read, and you will learn a bit of American history in the bargain.

I loved this book. Though it is the second in the series, it was the first one for me, and I intend to read the rest of the series now. It rates a close second to City Of Light in the realm of historical fiction based in my part of NY State. I like that it includes real characters along with the most important issues of the time, and murder, mystery, romance and good fictional character development.

There have by now been many excellent accounts by adult concentration camp survivors, but Eva Mozes Kor, in a simple, matter of fact style, shows us a different view of Auschwitz as it was for a child and human guinea pig in the terrible medical experiments of the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele. Eva and her twin sister Miriam were 10 years old when they were forcibly separated from their family upon arrival at Auschwitz, kept alive to be experimented upon while their parents and siblings were sent to the gas chamber. Eva's witness of what happened to them as Mengele's guinea pigs provides an important historical account and a really inspiring story of the incredible strength and resourcefulness of these children in the face of a man and a system that intended their death. Through ingenuity, mutual sacrifice and sheer strenght of will, Eva and Miriam survive Auschwitz. This autobiographic story continues through the post-WW2 years as the girls cope with the loss of their family and live under another totalitarian system in communist-ruled Romania, and finally emigrate to Israel. 'A tribute to the ingenuity and indomitable spirit of children everywhere.'

I this book a few summers ago after visiting Eva's Holocaust museum in Terre Haute, Indiana. The book was excellent, but it is an EXTREMELY worthwhile experience to travel to Indiana and see the CANDLES Museum and hear Eva's story from her own mouth. It is very moving and she is a wonderful and strong person- a true thrill to meet in person. I reccommed this book on account of its historical and emotional content, and reccomend the museum for people to realize just how lucky they really are.

yeah, so, sue me. i just wanted to say that eva kor spoke to my class about her experiences in the holocaust. it was very touching. i live in illinois, and so does she! her story is very interesting, and i want to read this book, but i cant find it anywhere!!!! shoot.

Miriam Cohen's stories bubble with the energy of children. They address the real stuff that's on kid's minds without being preachy or moralistic or stodgy. Eddy's Dream reminds me of the "Jim" series of books that are now classics and in every school library across the country. What's so amazing about this book is it's fresh approach: using Adam Cohen's intimate photographs insead of illustrations. Together, Miriam and Adam Cohen give us a vivid story of how kids interact and what they dream of.

It's a great story for parents to read and for kids to listen to (or read themselves). Best of all, my seven year old son picked it over and over as the book we'd read together at reading time.

You'll love it! And so will your child!

I just had the opportunity to see this book up close, and it's just amazing. I was so moved that these kids used their imaginations to transport a boy mired in sadness to a dream trip to his beloved grandma in Puerto Rico. I just loved Miriam Cohen's ability to lift the spirits of both children and the adults who read to and with them with this book.

It isn't often you get a book these days with black and white photographs. Somehow I think we think kids won't look at them, but what a mistake! This book is simply special. There's room in the text and pictures for the reader to find her/his own magic. And that's what it's all about isn't it. Can't imagine a kid not getting caught up. Thank you Miram and Adam Cohen!

This was a moving account of a brave young girl and woman surviving a horrendous time in history. I was interested in reading it because I've been researching the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia as my grandparents and father were born there and left before the Nazis completely took over. The writing is clear and it reads like a thriller. I am amazed that the author survived but she used her intelligence and her strong will to do so. Definitely worth reading.

This is a wonderful memoir about a twelve year old girl who witnesses the prelude to the Holocaust and is smuggled out of Czechoslovakia a few months before the German invasion of Poland starts World War II. In England, she is bounced around from school to school until finally settling in London. She deals with coming of age during a time when she did not know the fate of her parents, was forced to move from residence to residence during the bombing and V-1 attacks on London, and grieved over the deaths of young expatriot friends who had volunteered to to fight against the Nazis. At the end of the war, she makes an ironic return to Berlin and Prague where she first experiences the effects that the Cold War will have on the remainder of her life. The author also manages to subtly but profoundly provide a testament to the courage of her parents.

Displaced persons constituted a large body of people affected by World War II and have continued to do so in the wars since. Farewell to Prague is one of the best accounts of what it is like to experience the anger and insecurity of leaving one's home and never being able to regain one's previous sense of community. This is an excellent book for adults who want to understand the importance of perseverance in the face of bitterness and loneliness. The book would make an excellent gift for teenagers who would benefit from learning to appreciate what they have in life.

'You have to start something with a bang!' said Miriam Darvas, author of the recently published 'Farewell to Prague.' The book is written as a memoir that chronicles her harrowing childhood in Nazi era Europe. In it, she masterfully tells the story of fifteen years, at times horrific and other times hopeful, beginning when she was just six years old. The book reads like a suspense thriller, and keeps the reader riveted ' right from page one. In the opening pages, Darvas lays a shocking foundation with a story of her childhood love, Kurt Blumberg. The event that occurs is so dreadful that 'I still sometimes awaken in the night to the sound of screams and the smell of blood,' she said. 'My life, thereafter, became a series of aimless wandering directed by people I did not know and events I did not understand.' And therein lies the story that follows. Shortly after her young friend's death, and with nothing but the clothes on their backs, the family escapes to Prague and establishes a new home and life. Six years later the Germans arrive in their city, and her mother and father send twelve-year-old Darvas, unaccompanied, to make her way to England. Darvas writes of her final departure from her mother: 'The mass of bodies crushed the air out of me. Mother pushed me through a cluster of people hanging from the train doors and forced me into the corridor. Some unknown hands hoisted me into the luggage net. Through the top of the window I saw my mother's head disappear in the crush of the milling crowd. I waved frantically through the open window. If only she would turn to wave. 'Mother!' My cry was lost in the tumult. Oh, please dear God, let her not be lost to me, I prayed. I sensed this was my last good-bye to her, and feared I would always have to remember her being swallowed by the crowd'' Alone but for the help of strangers and a headstrong will to endure, the young girl makes the journey to England on foot, train and boat. As if the experience forged in her an unshakeable courage, her approach to life in the years that follow, though they remain rampant with near-misses and hard luck, is nothing short of astounding. 'I would never again go anywhere that I did not want to go,' she writes. 'I knew what I wanted: to study history at London University. I wanted to comprehend the events that created this war and gave rise to Hitler with his despotic hold over countries and peoples.' Perhaps an adventurer above all else, Darvas at one point decides to travel into Russian-occupied Prague to visit her sister and learn the fate of her family. Her means of escape from the country, as borders were closing during her stay, is the essence of what a desperate life she had come to lead. An emotionally charged story written in beautiful English, 'Farewell to Prague' stands on its own in the realm of Holocaust books. It is a view into a life practically incomprehensible to most people today, especially considering Darvas's age when she experienced it. 'When you live under the stress of war,' she said, 'civilization disappears. Most people who live in a civilized society don't realize it's a veneer, and it all goes the minute disaster occurs.' 'Farewell to Prague' is the author's first book.

I not only read Miriam's book, I read it again. The introduction is critical as it prepares you for the elequent journey into truly enlightening stories of how people met and fell in love. What makes this book unique is the innocent and sometimes strange circumstances surrounding the clandestined lovers within its binding. Miriam covers everything from the first kiss to second chances for those who were either to inmature to notice or to stubborn to care. Each story is laced with destiny; and lends credence to the possibility of a soul mate for everyone. At first glance it is just a compilation of "How We Met" stories. On a second it touches you on a deeper more spiritual level, freeing the you (the reader) from the ideals and standards we set for "the perfect mate". For those of you in relationships you won't finish this book without seeing yourself in at least one of the characters. For those of you single and still searching, "How We Met" holds out hope, inspiration and faith in what is destined for you. Soul mates do exist!

So why only four stars?? You can tell by the introduction, these stories affected Miriam in a spiritual sense; so much so that she speaks to the issues of spirtuality, destiny and soul mates as they relate to love. It would have been great had she shared some of this insight at the end of each story. Then again, maybe it is better left to the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. You be the judge!

Miriam Sokol's book of real life stories was a joy to read. I didn't want to put it down. In a world where sometimes there is so much sadness in relationships, it was so refreshing to realize that meeting our soulmates is possible if we allow ourselves to realize that a higher power is guiding us.

The stories in How we met are wonderfully written, engaging and with a surprising amount of depth. I also liked the insights that begin each chapter, which served as a guide for the stories. It's a fun and interesting read for just about everyone. I even had my teenage daughter read it!

I love the way Ms. Cameron crafted Karma & Happiness--writing as if I am there with her, having a conversation. I'm fascinated with how her husband Mike joins in and adds insight with his different perspectives.
Ms. Cameron, who is a bio-ethicist, questions everything and tries to balance it on an ethical scale, which might vary according to the issues around a given problem. I love it! As she is learning, so am I. She describes Tibet so clearly that I almost feel as if I am traveling with her. Five Stars!

Miriam Cameron shares her journey to inner peace through various paradigms--both religious and secular. And as she comes closer to her center, she prepares for a trip to seek the perspectives of the Tibetan people. Fortunately, Ms.Cameron takes the reader with her and her spouse, Mike, on breath taking (literally) mountain bus rides to the center of Tibet. The reader listens in as they speak to Tibetan monks and nuns who fear the demise of their culture. However,the Tibetan people whose lives are committed to positiveness and compassion transcend the Chinese desecration and provide direct guidance for all who encounter these beautiful people. Reflective of their peace, along with Miriam, I was touched in a very personal and profound way.

Namaste! Beautifully written....I can't describe how wonderful it was to journey to Tibet and a variety of other geographical spots around the world. The Tibetan perspective provided insight, angst, and pleasure....and.... to revisit the Kathmandu temples (Bodnath, Pashupatinath, and Swayambu) evoked vivid memories that included sights, sounds, and smells! Nepal is unique and wondrous, and now I have a much better picture of Tibet. Thank you for such a deeply moving book!"

Rosemary Mild has written a wonderful tribute to her very much loved daughter Miriam. Miriam at aged 20 years was murdered when Pan Am flight 103 crashed over Lockerbie. Rosemary carefully recalls Miriams early years as a baby and their flourishing relationship as she grew into a very fine young woman. She clearly was outstanding and poised on the pinnacle of life itself as fine young student and incredible human being. She was more than a photo much more than a few embroidered lines on a tribute quilt. She was someones daughter and someones friend and had done so much for so many in her short time on this earth. This is a loving book written with compassion and warmth and will move you to tears as it did me as you go through the emotional journey that Rosemary takes you it is clear to see that Miriam was indeed gifted and the world has lost someobne very special.

Miriam's Gift was one of the most moving reads I have experienced in a long time, deeply rewarding. Rosemary Mild has created a loving portrait of her daughter Miriam, who perished on Pan Am 103. I am so sorry that Miriam, and her fellow passengers, lost their lives due to the selfish, hateful acts of terrorism. This book has inspired me to try to find joy in daily life, even if it is difficult. It was one of the saddest books I ever read, yet I found myself smiling at the memories of Miriam the author recounted. Thank you Mrs. Mild for sharing Miriam with the rest of us. And thank you Miriam.

Although Miriam Wolfe was a victim of terrorism, a victim of official incompetence and bungling that produced catastrophic results, this is not a book about her death. This is a book about her life - a life lost much too soon.

Be sure to have plenty of tissues and hankies nearby while reading this book, for you'll surely need them. For Miriam's story will touch you to the depths of your very soul and beyond. Miriam was a gift bestowed from heaven and had heavenly gifts of compassion, love, and understanding bestowed upon her. She was a truly gifted and unique individual and I'm deeply sorry I didn't know her, for if I had I would have been truly blessed. So many crime and terrorism victims are swept under the rug because it is too "politically undesirable" for the powers that be in the international community to seek due recourse for the terrorist crimes committed by such states that sponsor them. I can't understand this logic - why is it "politically undesirabe" to seek justice for the innocent, to speak loudly for those who no longer have a voice? It took almost 12 years to bring the 2 fiends responsible for the Pan Am 103 bombing to trial. Even then, 1 was acquitted and the other sentenced to 20 years in prison. Can anyone justly believe that this is proper punishment for the taking of 270 innocent lives?

But this book does not deal with these political and diplomatic inadequacies, though Rosemary gives a brief depicition of these. She wants to talk about her beloved only child Miriam. While Miriam was not famous or well known, she possessed admirable stellar qualities. As human as the rest of us and therefore imperfect, she was indeed a young woman who saw potential in goodness and beauty, who placed real value on life's simplest joys, who viewed the world and all its sweetnesses through eyes which saw the glass as half full rather than half empty. Do all of you cowardly terrorists follow this concept?

Rosemary describes her and the rest of her family's reactions to this appalling deed in a heartsickeningly candid guise that will transport the reader from the snugness of their own lives into the bleakness caused by such random and unmitigated acts of incomprehensible evil. I dare fellow readers to skip through this story. You can't, for in a world still reeling from the ghastliness and horrors of 11 September 2001, it strikes too close to home. For terrorists don't care who they destroy.

But how you live is more important than how you die. Miriam's afterglow is great, for her name and her soul endures. There are now scholarships and memorials awarded in her name. Even in death, she's blessing people's lives and spirits with gifts given in the name of goodness. She's still helping those less fortunate than herself. What a wonderful legacy. Hatred combined with a few ounces of Semtex plastic explosives can't possibly destroy that.