With Martha Pullen's research, this book is incredably historical to the time of the early 1900's. It is both beautiful and inspiring. As someone with experience in this type of sewing, I have found it to give me inspiration. It has been a springboard to design my own Christening and Blessing dresses in the heirloom style. I was taught these things at my own grandmother's knee and had forgotten the beauty of fine sewing. Sewing has gotten caught up in the hustle and bustle of how quickly it can be completed. These items do not show the lost art that demands that these items be passed on generation to generation as they were in the past. I hope to inspire others in my area to appreciate, even if only by observation, this precious and almost lost art when they see the results of my work as inspired by Martha's skills, enthusiasm, and requirement of quality.

This book is amazing! It's nice enough to be a coffee table book, and it actually is useful! The accompanying patterns are easy to read. It isn't too helpful for beginners, but it sure gets them interested!!

Martha has done a wonderful job of including beautiful heirloom sewing with all directions and patterns included. The pictures are breathtaking! This is not a good book for the beginner, however, - some heirloom sewing experience is necessary. But, its a great way to get inspired! And its HUGE!

This book is one of my all-time favorites. It's extremely funny; the characters are interesting and well-written, and the plot moves very fast! You can never tell where it's going to go next.

This is the story of a teenage girl and her family (parents and two brothers), who buy a small island in the St. Lawrence seaway when they suddenly come into an unexpected inheritance. The catch is, that when US and Canadian boundaries were established, each country thought this island belonged to the other! So now they don't just have an island; they have an independent country!

Setting up international relations and dealing with things like immigrants are things that the family never planned on, and their creative solutions are hilarious.

Though this book is usually classified as "young adult," I still enjoy it, though I'm long past that age. One warning, though -- the book was set in the turbulent 60's, and it's rather dated. It's been out of print a long time, but I would love to get a copy of it someday.

A friend pointed me to this book back when I was in junior high and I've a few times borrowed it through Inter-Library Loan just to re-read. It is one of the funniest books I've ever read and certainly one of my all time favorites.

I am in 8th grade and have been loyal to the Thoroughbred series since it came out, and I find this book a refreshing welcome back to Edgardale Farms. There was only one book regarding Edgardale (Ashleigh's Diary, Special Edition #1), and I'm really glad to see another one. Also, Joanna Campbell is a better writer than the new ones (not saying they're bad-- they're still good). I grew up with a longing to be a jockey (unfortunatly, I grew to tall- I'm now 5' 7") and I have had my own ex-racehorse Thoroughbred for a while now, and I'm really glad to see the racing part of the Thoroughbreds come back into action as Ashleigh comes back into the books.

I just finished reading this book, and I love it. This book is about a girl named Ashleigh who lives on a thoroughbred farm in Kentucky. When she is on a trail ride with her best friend, Mona, they find an abused mare living in a filthy stall. Ashleigh names the mare Lightning and tries to save her. But when the owner sees them he threatens to shoot them or call the police! Will Ashleigh save Lighting or will the mare keep on suffering? Read the book to find out!

This book was A-OK!!! I couldn't stop reading it. Joana Campbell really makes you feel like you're there with Mona and Ashleigh. I can hardly wait to get Ashleigh #2 and see what happens with Lightning!!!!!!! I own almost all of the Thoroughbred books, but Ashleigh books are just as great!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep up the good work, Joana!

I absolutely loved "I Hope You Have a Good Life." It was one of those special books that I couldn't wait to get to after I'd put my girls down at night. I'd reach the end of a chapter, look at the clock and know I should get to sleep, but then make the "mistake" of reading the first sentence of the next chapter and be hooked. And now I'm sad it's over.

Campbell Armstrong tells this amazing story with honesty, humility, and love. I was deeply touched by the short but richly fulfilling reunion between the two dying women--his ex-wife and her long-lost daughter.

Tears were pouring down my cheeks last night as I turned the last page. I got up to wash my face, and then I went in to my little girls' rooms to watch them in sleep for a minute and give them one more kiss. Then I got into bed and let my mind drift thru so many memories I have of my own mom. "I Hope You Have A Good Life" definitely reminds you to cherish it ALL.

In a memoir every bit as compelling as his signature fast-paced literary thrillers (Jig, Jigsaw), Campbell Armstrong recounts a true and often heartrending tale of love and loss, guilt and redemption. In I Hope You Have a Good Life, Armstrong tells the story of his former wife Eileen, who after a valiant struggle with lung cancer died in February, 1998, and of Eileen's long-lost daughter Barbara, who--given up for adoption when Eileen was seventeen--relentlessy sought a mother she never knew across a gulf of four decades and seemingly insurmountable odds. Artfully intertwined with this is the story of a man on the lam from himself and his demons, and a family fragmented because of it. Almost as if we are in one of Armstrong's thrillers, we are swept from the sooty streets of Glasgow in the early sixties to mod London's cultural revolution later that decade; and from the winter blizzards of upstate New York in the seventies to the sledgehammer heat of a recent Phoenix summer. Through these times and locales Armstrong weaves the strands of a young woman's whispered confession in a candle-lit tent and, forty years later, her whispered deathbed request; of a writer's obsessive quest up from the dissolution of alcohol and drugs to find some sort of grace; and of another woman's search for her mother urged on by an impending sense that time is running out. As the strands converge, the writer achieves a sort of redemption through a promise finally kept, and the woman finds a mother's love at the last moment. In an age of literary "catharsis," the memoir has become a sort of industry too often based on the kind of neurasthenic twaddle spun from what granny did to one in the woodshed at the age of five. I Hope You Have a Good Life is a welcome departure from this. Campbell Armstrong stares at the sun without blinking, writing with skill and unstinting honesty of personal failings and the struggle to put things right, of promises exacted and at long last kept, and of a family reunited by death and by the transcendent power of enduring love.

I just read All That Really Matters the UK version of I Hope You Have A Good Life. What a wonderful book! I would definately give more than 5 stars if I could. The book is a true story of a woman who gave up her baby girl years ago. Well she gets married, to who else, Campbell Armstrong an aspiring writer, and has kids, 3 boys, of her own. After they move to Phoenix, they end up getting divorced and Campbell moves back to Ireland where they are originally from, while Eileen stays with the boys in Phoenix. Years later Eileen finds out she has cancer. Across the world, a woman named Barbara also finds out she has cancer. She has been looking for her real mother for a long time. When she finally finds her mother and they both discover they both have cancer, the illness doesn't matter anymore because they have found each other. This is a story of loves lost and found along with lifes ups and downs. What a magnificent story. I have also read Concert of Ghosts by Campbell Armstrong. Also a descriptive book!!!

I read this beautiful book when I was in eighth grade. Legend of Lost Earth is a combination of science fiction, negative utopia, and Norse mythology in which a society known as the Earth Worshipers strives to escape from Niflhel, the eerie, futuristic, dungeon-like world in which its members must live. Although a wondrous adventure in itself, the book had another curious aspect. I began reading Islandia, Austin T. Wright's celebrated epic, shortly after I finished Legend of Lost Earth, and in my imagination, John Lang bore a striking resemblance to Giles, Hope Campbell's protagonist. Legend of Lost Earth is an inspiring tale that I continue to remember well.

A powerful tale of hope and reclamation in the midst, quite literally, of hell. Giles is a successful, up-and-coming civil engineer in a world where clanging Sarumanish factories rule and rain is just a rumor. He finds himself investigating a strange religion with an impossible belief -- that the people of his world originally came from another planet, called Earth. People who've never seen a tree and have no idea what animals are have been flocking to this ridiculous mythological superstition as though it actually had some validity. The authorities have deemed the Earth worshippers a cult and are determined to exterminate it... but why, if there's no such place?

I read this book when I was ten years old -- it was a chance purchase, it came as the second half of an Ace Double with Leigh Brackett's "Alpha Centauri or Die", the first book I ever bought with my own money. We still own it and return to it thirty-five years later.

We knew something of Norse mythology already -- but this was our introduction to Irish mythology and language. We wanted more and couldn't find any. The author cites her sources at the beginning, and we still want the books she names.

Anyone who appreciates the linguistic grounding and environmental ideals behind Tolkien's work will want to read this book, published ten years after "Lord of the Rings" first appeared.

I have been reading Thoroughbred books for a while now and was really excited about this book. It's about Ashleigh when she lived back at Edgardale (before the virus) and trying to cope with snobby girls at a riding school and her wish for a horse.

The first time I read this book, I thought it was pretty good, but not extremely exciting. It's low-key compared to the others, without much of a plot. (the only conflict is resolved early in the book) Though some parts are good, I have to admit most of it is kind of boring. I tried to read it again and couldn't even make it through, it was so boring! If you really want to read it, I'd advise checking it out at the library and reading it once instead of buying. It's not the type of book I'll read over and over, unlike most of the other Thoroughbred books.

I have read every single Thoroughbred book, and I also own all of them. I love them. Maybe they are for younger kids, but I have been reading them since I was 11, (I'm 18 now), and I still rush to the store every time a new one comes out. They are the best. I met my best friend because of them. I do have a couple of questions though. 1. Where did Parker come from, I thought Brad and Lavinia's baby was named Ross? 2. What happened to Ashleigh's baby from #17? 3. What happens between book #23 & #24? I think it's time for a new Special Edition? Also, I think that after the ASHLEIGH series goes on for awhile, there should be a SAMANTHA series. She is much more interesting. She is my favorite character. I was mad when the books went to Cindy. BRING SAMANTHA BACK IN HER OWN SERIES!! Otherwise, I think these books are great. I would recomend them to anyone. All you people out there who are whining about little details, (like book covers, #9, #18, and Dead Heat being alike) need to get a life. Nothing is perfect. Just enjoy the books!

This was a great book. When I started reading it, I just couldn't put it down. I highly recommend this book to a horse lover. It also a good book to read before you start buying and reading all the rest of the books. It sure is a great starter to show people how horeses really feel and how Joanna Campbell writes the series. I just can't wait to get started on the rest of the thoroughbred books!

Yet another book to stretch out the time before the derby....Mary Anderson, why? Why did the series suddenly become even more of a soap opera? Really, the character of Brad Townsend is so greatly exaggerated that is borders on the ludicrous. I realize that they are trying to present him as the antagonist and as a flat character that will never change, but honestly! Furthermore, I found Cindy to be infuriating in this novel...the only way she got to be a jockey was having a family in the business and willing to help; yet she can't give Wolf a chance? And didn't she get to ride Glory when she was barely learning? She is taking her frustration at not being able to ride out on Wolf. She is still the insecure, petty, ungrateful child she always was, and will remain.

I was really dissapointed with this book. For one thing...Cindy is all ticked off because she can't ride Gratis. She acts as if she can't ride at all. Another thing...she was complaning that Wolf would never ride Gratis because it takes years of experience to ride in the Derby. But remember in book 22? Didn't Cindy ride in the Dubai World Cup after riding in only TWO races? Yes Cindy, it takes YEARS of experience to ride in a world class race. Brad Townsend? Gimme a break! Attitude way WAY to strong. It made me want to rip the book into thosands of pieces. But I guess it's an important book, so you should buy it...only if you have a lot going on around you.

This was a very good book, but not as good as the other Thoroughbred books I have read. This book was a good chance to get to know the character of Cindy McLean because she hasn't been mentioned much in the series. With the Kentucky Derby coming up Cindy is pressured to get a jockey. Christina and Melanie both are riding their own horses, so Cindy doesn't have much choice for a really good jockey, either they can't handle Gratis or the already have rides. Gratis is the most stubborn and untrained horse I have ever heard about. He is pig-headed and tries to throw his rider off at any chance he gets. I can understand Cindy's suffering of not being able to ride because of her shoulder injury. She really wants to race Gratis and she probably could if she could ride. I really enjoyed this book because it showed a side of Cindy I had never seen before. The only thing I would change about it is that it probably needed a bit more action in it, although it did have some. I can't wait to find out who wins the Derby! You should definitly buy this book!