I'm a "big" man. I'm "big" enough to know that sex is so much better when you have a good relationship with your partner. Miriam Wright's book is supposed to be for women. The couples talk and enjoy each other's company as well as have hot sex. But, talking and good sex are for men too - especially "big" men. I'm "big" enough to recognize a womderful erotic book - The Inner Core.

"Big" John

What great stories! I just loved the women in them (and the men, too). They were very descriptive, but also very romantic. It was nice to see something that wasn't romance mushy. The women really were strong and independent and loved sex. My lover and I have had great fun reading them together in bed. We usually never get to finish one, though! I would heartily recommend this book to any loving heterosexual couple, especially those who might never consider reading erotica.

I loved this book! A friend gave me a copy for my birthday and it was great. Normally I wouldn't read erotica but these stories were great on their own. Spicy, too! The women were interesting and real and so were the men. Romance stories always have hunky 6 footers, but these men were genuine. My husband appreciated that. We had a lot of fun reading these stories together in bed. Better than Viagara! Encore, Miriam Wright!

This is a fascinating and historically accurate account of the age old hatred and persecution of Christians and Jews as ordered by the Koran, and Islamic Sharia law.
After reading this book, one understands current world events better, e.g.: suicide murderers, massacre of Christian Sudanese, massacres of Christians in the Phillipines and in Indonesia, bombing of churches in Pakistan, and the massacre of Americans at the world trade center Sept. 11th 2001.
This book is a must read for people interested in understanding the Arab mindset, and it's origins.

Probably the most important book I have read in the last five years to gain an understanding of the realtionship between Christianity, Judism and Islam -- and I came across it by accident no less. The breadth of knowledge and citation displayed are exceptional.

Previously I forwarded a review of this book by Raphael Israeli, PhD, published in the 1/11/02 edition of The Jerusalem Post. The following is my own review:

V. S. Naipaul, the Nobel laureate writer, depicts in both "Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey", and "Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions Among the Converted Peoples" how Islam attempts to erase the pre-Islamic history of conquered, indigenous peoples. Indeed, in awarding its 2001 Nobel Prize in Literature to Mr. Naipaul, the Nobel Committee , credited the author "for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories".

Bat Ye'or's thirty years of scholarship on "dhimmitude", the religious, cultural, and political fate of non-Muslims, in particular Christians and Jews, living under Islamic rule, is a seminal effort to recapture this specific suppressed history. In her current work, "Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide", the author bravely elucidates how doctrinal patterns of subjugation of the dhimmi peoples (i.e., Christians and Jews) initiated during the Arab and Turkish waves of Islamic conquest, the jihad-dhimmitude continuum, are of immediate relevance to contemporary historical trends and specific events.

Ye'or's unique prism reveals striking, poignant hypocrises. For example, she compares the paucity of Western press coverage of the brutal ongoing, 20-year jihad waged by the Islamist Khartoum government against thousands of black African Christian and Animist inhabitants of the southern Sudan, to the ceaseless, exaggerated reporting of the so-called al Aqsa intifada:

"None of the Christian or animist children deliberately enslaved, converted to Islam by force, mutilated, obliged to flee, or killed had his photograph blown up in the Western press. And none of them was mentioned, nor their fate pitied. But Muhammad al-Dura, a Muslim Palestinian child- accidentally killed in a crossfire exchange between Palestinians who initiated it, and Israelis- became the most well known child victim on the globe. He was an effective banner for antisemitic and revengeful frustration against Israel- for the million and a half Jewish children deliberately rounded up, deported, and killed in Europe sixty years earlier. The serious Geneva daily, Le Temps, chose this tragedy as the 'photograph of the year' (December 30, 2000)."

This disturbing, graphic juxtaposition captures the books two key thematic elements: the violent, living legacy of jihad and dhimmi suppression in the Sudanese example, impossible to distinguish in its theological and juridicial underpinnings from the jihad of the Arab (634 to 750 C.E.) and Turkish (1021 to 1683 C.E.) waves of Islamization; and the notion of a "dhimmitude of the West", particularly evident in Europe, as manifested by official Church and/or European press silence regarding the blatant Islamist persecution of a Christian minority in the Sudan, or the rising tide of antisemitic violence in France, in particular, in contrast to the over wrought European reaction to perceived "persecution" of the Palestinians, strongly influenced (in a striking example of the self-loathing "dhimmi syndrome") by the distorted propaganda of dhimmi Christian Arab clerics,

A painstakingly documented book, its message requires urgent exposure in light of the cataclysmic events of September 11, 2001. Indeed, the media, academia, and the lay public ignore Bat Ye'or's scholarly insights at our collective peril.

A delightful tale of a cat ("Mickey Miggs") born in a mouse family's home and raised to be a mouse. Garth Williams' illustrations are, as ever, outstanding: The colors are bright yet soft, intimate and warm. Once the (human) children befriend Mickey, the cat discovers his true nature, and learns to accept cats instead of fear them. Still, his new feline-identified life does not end his friendship with and participation in the lives of his mouse family. This 28-page book from 1951 is a treasure for kids and the adults who read to them!

This is one of those that stays with you, well, forever! Written in 1951, it's really a timeless, gentle, and quite funny story. Garth Williams' illustrations of the "huge" kitten and his mouse family are loaded with personality, atmosphere, and great charm. Believe me, your kids will thank you for reading this one to them-now, and when they're all grown up.

My son has asked for this one every single night for the past 8 weeks. It is a sweet story, complimented by wonderful illustrations that make you wish you could pet the fluffy gray kitten. It's funny when the kitten finds out that he is not really a mouse, and for a while he's afraid of "his own cat self."

Oscar Wilde entirely dedicates this play to the exploration of the way a woman can be saved from destruction in this society of appearances. A woman was the victim of an imbroglio in the past and abandoned her daughter. This woman comes back and the daughter ignores her relation to her. She is brought back into societry by the daughter's husband who knows the truth but does not want his wife to know it. But there is some kind of malediction that flies over the heads of these women. The daughter nearly does the same mistake as her mother but she is saved by her mother who accepts to be tainted in her daughter's place. Bus Oscar Wilde must think there is some kind of reward for a good deed and all is well that ends well, and this play has a happy ending. In spite of all the melodramatic sentimentalese atmosphere, Oscar Wilde definitely explores in this play the great disadvantage of a woman in society. Men can do nearly all they want. Women are extremely limited and have to walk a very straight and narrow line. Oscar Wilde seems to be ahead of his time as for the fate of women: he seems to aspire for real equality for them, though he shows in all possible ways that this is impossible in his society.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Perpignan

My first experience reading Oscar Wilde... and certainly not my last.

Wilde's sardonic wit and ineffable satire had me enchanted from page one. Wilde writes with devastatingly appealing witticisms, and with a style and cleverness matched by few other authors. It is said that he is one of the more oft-quoted authors in the English language, and I now understand why.

In addition to axioms and aphorisms of pure genius, the plot both captivates and surprises the reader. Lady Windermere discovers that her husband has been cheating on her, and a folly of misunderstandings and poor advice then unfolds; all the while satirizing society.

This play is very interesting to read (according to me). I saw a lot of hypocracy and snobery of people in this play. But a lot of peole said that the plays of Oscar Wilde have no satire, means, there is no factor of politics, socials,etc. I think, what he wrote in this plays and other plays had something to critize the people in that time. I want more information about Lady Winderemere's Fan, I mean what is the background of Wilde wrote yhis novel. Is there any important effects so that he wrote this first play?

It is wonderful that books are being written that show women's influence in Biblical times, especially for children. Miriam is an inspiring heroine in her care of the Hebrew people, bringing them water even in the driest desert. That's why we drink from Miriam's Cup on Passover and it is her story we read here.

My 7-year-old daughter, who is at the beginning of her religious education enjoyed the story and the illustrations and we now have "Miriam's Cup" at all our Passover seders.

This is a wonderful book. My children really enjoyed it, but my daughter just a little bit more than her brother. It was a pleasure to see my daughter realize that there are women that have made their mark on history.

I stumbled on this book by accident and I'm so glad I did! This beautifully illustrated book brings the passover story to life. It introduces a new custom of placing a cup for Miriam the prophet on the seder table to honor her and the women of the passover story. We introduced this new tradition at our seders this year and it was met with great appreciation by all in attendance.

This is one of those wonderful books that you can read to your child at bedtime when they just want to hear the sound of your voice. there is nothing too exciting going on, you can just have your child close their eyes, you can stroke their hair, and read this sweet story. OR, during the day, you can animate all of the animals' voices and have the child touch the great tactile pages. It is a great book!

My 16 month old grandson loves this book. Easy reading and the pictures of the animals are lovely illustrated. I have purchased another one for a baby shower gift.

This book is fantastic. The illustrations are beyond beautiful, and the story is so cute.

This book tells the story of a little polar bear cub searching for his mother. He gets all of his animal friends, including a fox, rabbit, owl, duck, and more to help him build a mother out of snow. Soon all of his friends have to go home and he is alone, but in the end his mother finds him and he's happy again.

This is an adorable book, and a must read, even if it's only for the illustrations.

First of all, Gimbutas was an eminent scholar, not a "fringe archaeologist". The fact that most archaeologists reject her theories does not prove that she was wrong. In fact, most, if not all, of her opponents has never seriously tried to explain why upper Palaeolithic and early neolithic symbolism is focused on women, while the latest neolithic and bronze symbolism clearly is cantered on men. No one of them ever had a good explanation for this fact - so why so harshly attacking Gimbutas who at least had a plausible theory?

In this book, published five years after Gimbutas death, the reader will get a good picture of Gimbutas theory of the goddess cult who, according to her, was the ideology of a matrifocal and matrilineal society. She is probably right in her main theory - at least none of her critics have a better alternative.

But... there is a contradiction between her tendency to idealize these societies and some known facts about some of them, facts that even Gimbutas acknowledge in this book. For example at page 106 the reader is informed that at the centre of the ritual circle Woodhenge, which Gimbutas sees a sacred place for the Goddess, "the archaeologists uncovered the crouched skeleton of a tree-year old child" . On the next page she argues that all the British "roundels" were sacred places for the Goddess and mentions "the sacrificial or ritual nature of their human remains". In fact , many of these human remains comes from small children, probably sacrificed when the circles where built.

Gimbutas was an eminent scholar, but when it comes to idealizing, it appears to have been a snake in the matrifocal paradise, at least in some regions, after all. If I have to choose, I prefer the Virgin of Guadalupe before the goddess of Woodhenge.

For those familiar with Gimbutas's earlier works, Part I is a refresher course on how the peoples of Neolithic Europe saw the Goddess. Especially interesting are the chapters on Stonehenge and other temples and ceremonial centers of wood stone and wood throughout Britain and the continent. The book's greatest value, however, lies in Part II, which comprises chapters on the Minoan, Greek, Etruscan, Basque, Celtic, Germanic, and Baltic religions. Gimbutas and Dexter explain with precision and clarity how the civilization of early historical Europe was an amalgam containing both Old and Indo-European elements. The Old Europeans were already there, of course, working the land, building cities, creating their elegant pottery, worshipping in temples sometimes miscalled palaces or fortified settlements. The Indo-European tribes came and saw and conquered. And then they settled in. Yes, they made terrible changes, but they also intermarried and adopted, and life went on. Much remained and was transformed. Although we are, for example, perhaps most familiar with the Greek gods and goddesses, we may not be familiar with their Old European ancestors. Hekate, Artemis, Athena, and Hera survived from Old Europe. So did some of the Greek gods, including Hermes, Pan, and (amazingly) Zeus. The information on the Balts is especially interesting, for they were the last pagans in Europe and their region "represents the greatest repository of Old European beliefs and traditions." This is the paganism Marija Gimbutas experienced as a child in Lithuania. Some who espouse the "culture wars" would have us believe that Gimbutas made it all up. This book is proof that she simply reported what she found. It is a testament to her extraordinary scholarship in archaeology, folklore, history, and matrilineal culture.

The evidence laid out in this series of works is very compelling. The critics of these ideas seem only able to express themselves with "Preposterous!" or "Idiotic" but never with a calm rational comparison of data and artifacts.

The Kirkus reviewer says it is "bordering on the ridiculous" to assume that the bull could have been a female symbol, that this is Gimbutas' imagination. But then there is artwork remaining from this era with clear pictures of bull skulls with horns drawn over the pelvic areas of women, with the horns positioned where the fallopian tubes would be. This murals are reproduced in the book. Had the reviewer wanted to actually check what the book presented as evidence for this assertion, he or she would have been able to find this mural. Bull skulls painted over the pelvises of women, the symbolism is hard to dismiss.

The critics of Gimbutas either don't read her work or address people who have never read her work themselves.

Seeing the anger and spite towards this body of scholarly work leaves me wondering why is there so much hatred and antagonism towards the work of Gimbutas? Why are there so many irrational and inaccurate criticisms of her body of work?

The Kirkus reviewer was sloppy -- if he or she had bothered to read the book being reviewed, then he or she would have had access to the data that supports Gimbutas' assignment of the bucranium, the head and horns of ther bull, as a uterine symbol.

What kind of fly-by-night operation is Kirkus that they allow such sloppy reviews by someone who will make an attack on a position presented in the book without actually looking at the physical evidence for this position that is decribed and presented and footnoted properly in the book itself?

I am not impressed by the critic of Gimbutas. I haven't seen a criticism that was either accurate or unemotional.

To be fair, I'm reviewing this work at the request of the author, who happens to be my "great" aunt in both senses of the word.

I finished reading this book while camped at 12,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada mountains near Bishop, California. The next day, I was to embark on one of the longest, most physically challenging, and fear-inducing days of my life, including a climb to over 14,000 feet, losing one of our companions for 10 hours, and backpacking all night down the mountain in the darkness. Throughout this time, I was comforted by the words of Psalm 23 as taught by M.P. Krikorian nearly half a century earlier.

I was encouraged while reading about this young man's persistence in pursuing education and spiritual growth in the face of adversity. I also enjoyed reading about the author's decision to accept Christ as her savior in a small Pennsylvania church at which this man preached, and about her successful effort to research his life and produce this book.

I recommend this book for those interested in biography, Armenia, the 23rd Psalm, or the history of the Brethren in Christ Church.

I am an Armenian Evangelical woman who enjoys reading of church histories and personal testimonies of fellow believers. This book is a thoroughly detailed and fascinating account of a great evangelical who maintained his faith despite the loss of his martyed father and 75 other relatives during the incomprehensible, yet very real massacres of the Armenian people by the Turkish Muslim government during 1898-1922. Reverend Krikorian points out in his writings that the Muslim religion allowed those to be spared, should those convert to Mohamadism. Still, millions of Armenians refused, and were martyred for their faith.

Reverend Krikorian was a survivor of this ordeal, yet instead of turning from his faith, he embraced it as a Pastor in America and missionary to those left in Armenia who survived.

This book is fascinating, thorough in detail and a must read for those who identify as either a Christian or Armenian.

The book about Meshach Paul Krikorian is a compilation of his writings and other works brought together in one book by an exciting author, Miriam Taylor Wert, with a unique gift of presentation.

In my estimation, the biography of Meshach Paul Krikorian is an invaluable addition to anyone's library of God-centered, and inspired writings. There is no doubt when reading about Meshach from his early childhood to his ultimate destination in the United States, that he was able to overcome man obstacles, attaining what may have seemed to him as unattainable goals.

From the beginning of the book, his expression of love and obedience to his parents would enevtually lead him on a path that met God's plan for his life. I was quite impressed and overwhelmed to see how God's wisdom was brought out as Meshach interpreted the Holy Scriptures to the understanding of the reader. From a shepherd boy to Writer, Minister and Missionary, Meshach's life was of complete Servanthood to God and to all people.

Meshach's Ministry brings hope and salvation for anyone seeking the ultimate answer to life's questions.

This fun anthology gives us four different novellas, each including a Christmas setting and delightful dogs. We get to understand people and events from the dogs' points of view and their uncanny senses--and the way they can sometimes gently nudge their people together. Loving pets combine with loving stories to make a marvelous combination that's a great read any time of year.

Victoria Alexander starts off with "Shakespeare and the Three Kings," set in 19th century England. Sir Oliver Stanhope's great aunt, the woman who raised him so lovingly, has died and left Oliver charged with the care of her three beloved Yorkshire Terriers, Melchoir, Balthazar, and Gaspar. She has also arranged for one D.K. Lawrence to come and train the Yorkies for him. When Diana Lawrence, once the love of Oliver's life, shows up at his home with her Great Dane Shakespeare in tow, Oliver wonders at his Aunt Ellie's true motives--but of course goes along with his aunt's last wish. Lady Eleanor's hopes for her nephew to find true love tug at the reader's heart--be sure to have a hanky ready.

In "Athena's Christmas Tail" by Nina Coombs, Athena that knows her mistress, Mercy, isn't as happy as she should be, especially since she is newly married. And Viscount Brockton acts strangely towards his bride, as well. Athena knows he likes his new wife, but why is he so distant from her? When they buy Hannibal from a cruel master, the two dogs put their noses together to try to get their master and mistress to see what any dog can tell immediately--that they really do care for each other. Another sweet, emotional story.

We move to the present day for "Away in a Shelter" by Annie Kimberlin, a funny, original twist on the snowed-in-log-cabin story. When they signed up to volunteer for the Christmas holidays at the animal shelter, neither Camille nor Roger realized they'd be sharing duty with the volunteer they liked least: the snobby lady lawyer and the big guy who always looked at her like she was a pariah. Both of them want to adopt the little dog who was left on the steps of the shelter; Camille calls her Gracie and Roger calls her Splinter. When the snow storm doesn't allow Camille and Roger to leave the shelter on Christmas Eve, they are forced to get to know each other as human beings--and find not only do they have a love of dogs and cats in common, but that they actually enjoy each other's company, and made some bad assumptions about each other at the outset. This is one of the best contemporary romances I've read all year. The characters and setting are all so very real, likeable and sympathetic. I was very sorry to see this story end and am very much looking forward to more from Ms. Kimberlin. (Writing as Annie Smith as of October 2002, with a new novel out -- yahoo!)

Miriam Raftery wraps it up with "Mr. Wright's Christmas Angel," which opens in present-day Los Angeles. Joy is upset that she won't be able to fulfill her daughter's fondest Christmas wish: she wants a daddy. The Santa Claus at the hospital that Joy has just been fired from gives Joy two airline tickets to Alaska, saying that perhaps a vacation from insurance forms and administration is just what she and her daughter Holly need. When Joy and Holly reach Noel, Alaska, the location of the cabin of Kriss Kringle, where they are to be guests for a few days, their rental car runs into a snowbank--they'll have to walk to the cabin. A big white dog, Frankincense, finds them and leads his master, Nicholas, Mr. Kringle's caretaker, to them. Nicholas is kind, if gruff and old-fashioned, not understanding what Joy means by "car" and "telephone." In fact, Joy marvels, Mr. Kringle's cabin has no electricity, no plumbing, and of course no phone. What kind of strange neighborhood have she and Holly been brought to? When a blizzard makes travel even out to the road impossible, Joy, Nicholas, and Holly all have more time to get to know each other... and like what they find. A happy story and satisfying end to this collection.

This is just a great collection of Chrismas stories. If you are a animal (more specifically a dog) lover you will truly enjoy this collection. My personal favorite is "Away in a Shelter" by Annie Kimberlin. The main characters Camille and Roger are a lot of fun to get to know and "Splinter" or "Grace" which ever you prefer is a true matchmaker. Victoria Alexander contributes a great historical piece with so many matchmakers the hero and heroine cannot help but finally get together. This story definatly contains lots of dog matchmaking fun. This book is well worth the read and it is extremely enjoyable...especially with a cup of hot coco and a furry friend.

This collection of novellas is a delight for the dog and romance lover. My favorite was Away in a Shelter, by Annie Kimberlin. An innocent puppy, two lonely dog-loving volunteers, a Christmas Eve blizzard that strands the three at the animal shelter--what more do you need for love to blossom? The puppy is wonderful--very much a character in her own right, and yet totally canine. Nothing mystical or anthropomorphic about her. Just Puppy Magic--which works on everyone! The man and woman work through their romance-traditional initial dislike very believably, especially considering the amount of time they have to do it. Real characters, honest settings and believable dogs add up to a great Christmas story which could be enjoyed any time of year.

If you need to read this for a college or high school class, or as part of a women's studies project that you are doing for some other purpose, then I'd like to assure you that it won't be all that painful. You may even enjoy it and wish that you'd found this book sooner, all on your own. I was only assigned to read parts of it, but I finished the book by choice.

It's interesting and well writen. Some of the language and nearly all of the issues that are brought up are inflamatory. In class discussions I compared the book to "Fight Club," and was nearly laughed out of the room, but I am at least partly serious. It does have the edge of a social visionary who wanted to shake things up and blow old fashioned society out of the water. No soap bombs, though, but that's only a technicality.

If you have any choice in the matter I would suggest that you choose this book over stuffier works by less forward thinkers. I swear that reading it won't hurt that badly.

It is interesting to teach this book and track how students respond to this book, and how differently male and female students respond to the issues Wollstonecraft raises and discusses. We contextualize the book, and then extract it from its time and place and try to place the issues in our own time and place. A lot of great questions can be raised as we contemplate how far we have and have not come, and what can or should be done about that. . .and who shall do it. It is also an arresting exercise to ask students to apply different literary theories as they discuss this text. The idea is to encourage them to step out of their own shoes and into someone else's as they consider these issues. And it gives great opportunity to ask students to try to separate themselves from their own assumptions and stereotypes about gender and gender behavior, and reassess the issues in Wollstonecraft's time and place, and in light of today's assumptions and stereotypes, which can be harder to quantify than some presume.

As I read this book, I find myself comparing the authors examples of the treatment of women by their fathers/husbands with the way women are today treated by the media.

Mary discusses how women are to be kept ignorant of all knowledge and only to be valued for their physical charms (almost every ad on TV/in print). The examples of her contemporaries that she quotes are frighteningly familiar.

Why is this so? Who determines that the education of females is not relevant to society. Sure they are allowed to go to school now, but they are still treated with amazing patronization and condescenscion? The amount of my (intelligent) female friends that insist they are dumb/ignorant/stupid/an idiot is disturbing. Maybe now females are allowed to learn, they should also be allowed self esteem.

I think I got sidetracked. This book is a complex and well written argument for the emancipation and education of women. It is as true today as much as it was 200 years ago. It is, however a slow read as the language is couched in the vocabulary of the late eighteenth century and many of the terms are unfamiliar.