Susan Collins has become a bedtime friend. This doesn't just feel like I'm reading a book, it feels like I know her. I look forward to spending time with her each night. She makes me feel her successes can also be mine.

The day this book arrived I read 6 chapters in 3 hours! This is a very inspirational book about leadership and success and is not just about your children. It would apply to anyone, any age, stay-at-home mom to CEO. I especially liked her personal stories, I felt like she was writing about me. I am living my dream and have never lost sight of my goals. After reading her book I feel like I have been more of a success than I had thought previously. This is a must read book for anyone. M. Craig - Successfull Internet Entrepreneur

Dear Susan, my husband is a busy physician who never has time to read anything but medical journals. Every night he brings home a briefcase full of paperwork. Typically when I read aloud to him from an interesting book, he listens politely for two mintues and then goes back to his work. I began reading aloud to him about your dream house. After a page or two, I asked, "Isn't this interesting?" He siad, "Yes, please keep reading." And he listened while I read twenty more pages. This is a first in our relationship!"

The experiences outlined in this book have changed my life completely! The spiritual messages and insights detailed herein I have had the privledge to personally witness. Answers to questions of mediums, spirit guides, re-incarnation, and more you will find in this remarkable book. More importantly, the spiritual messages from Beloved Vincent, may help you to find a more personal relationship with God and give you understanding as you travel along your path. Pebbles is a book to treasure and one to refer to often.

I finished reading this book in record time, couldn't put it down, when I was done, it left me wanting more. Pebbles made me think of my own path and purpose in life; I found myself analyzing my own experiences, accomplishments and what lies ahead. I experienced so many emotions while reading this book which made me more aware of things in life that I take for granted and how much more is "out there". Pat's life and experiences touched me deeply. She's a remarkable woman and my admirations for her are endless. I don't recall ever being a skeptic, but rather curious about the "unknown". Pebbles taught me and enlightened me beyond words. I've even begun to say my own daily prayer for protection and guidence. I'm working on becoming more God conscious and a better person. I thank you, Pat, for writing this outstanding book and may God continue to give you this incredible gift; the ability to heal, guide and help others. In love and Light always, Tove Prue

I have been a privledged member of the "Unity" that is mentioned in this book for the last 18 years. Pat's experiences and spiritual messages from our Beloved Vincent, in Chapter 6, have touched my life in such a profound way that there are no adequate words to describe the enlightenments and strength of faith I have come to know and completely rely on. The truth of the "holy spirit's world" existence will offer you understanding, peace and comfort as you journey along your path of life. Any and all questions that you may have pertaining to the existence of God and His Holy Spirit Messengers you will find in this remarkable book. I know that anyone that reads this book in search of the "truth", will find it. May His Peace, Love and Comfort touch all of you who read this book as well. Sincerely, Jan Grasso.

A Vash Prince, Rom B'kah "adopted" the twin teenage children (Ian and Ilana) of his beloved Jas as his own. Rom stuns the Vash nobility when he names the outsider Ian has his heir as king of the Vash Nadah Trade Federation as he sees leadership qualities and honor in the lad. Rom also knows that Ian would link the Vash Federation to the frontier that includes the youngster's home planet of Earth.

Led by U.S. Senator Randall and his "Earth First" campaign, Earth seems posed to reject the Federation offer of an alliance. Ian needs to know why Randall is so opposed. His trek into the outer space frontier proves dangerous and he soon finds himself without a pilot. He hires Rom's niece, Princess Tee'ah Dar, though he has no idea who she really is, to fly him in search of Randall. As they learn how dismal life in this sector is, Tee'ah and Ian fall in love, but both hid their real identity from the other. A permanent relationship seems remote, as the bond between them was not started with trust.

THE STAR PRINCE, Susan grant's latest science fiction romance, soars to the stars with a strong story line and deep characters that are easy to like and admire. The exciting plot makes life in outer space seems real. Ian is a great character balancing his heritage with the Vash honor system. Tee'ah is an intrepid heroine who is not afraid to try anything even when her peers condemn her. As with STAR KING, Ms. Grant takes the science fiction and romance genres on a ride not often seen by readers.

Harriet Klausner

Ian Hamilton is the son of Jas from the The Star King, he's been picked to be his stepfathers successor as king of the galaxy and is trying to prove himself worthy....Tee is a Vash princess who is soon to be betrothed to a man she met only once as a child and is wanting her freedom. She loves to fly and has taken piloting lessons on the sly when her father finds out and he says she can never fly again so she runs away...She ends up becoming the pilot for Ians' ship although they are both using false names to conceal there identities...Ian is on the trail of a US senator who is out to end Earth's alliance with the Vash Federation..I thought it was a wonderful story, action packed SF with a great romance......There's also a touching secondary love story between older characters Gaan and Lana ....if you like sf, romance, paranormal romance or romantic suspense I think you'll love The Star Prince. It was story that kept me up until I finished reading as I couldn't put it down....highly recommended!

Ian Hamilton has been the picture of propriety since his stepfather, Rom B'kah, named Ian his heir as King to the galaxy. Now, seven years later, Ian is fighting to keep Earth on good terms with the Vash. Wanting to pull out of the treaty that Earth signed seven years ago, Ian has set out to prove that it is best for the galaxy all around if they all stick together. With the return of Muffin, we are also introduced to a crew that will go straight to your heart. When Ian finds himself not able to keep a pilot, he hired 'Tee' whom he knows is running, but he doesn't know from what she's running.

Tee'ah Dar has fled her life as a Vash Princess. Never having the freedom to make her own choices, not even choosing the man she marries, Tee'ah is sick to death of her life as a pampered princess. The only thing she has ever done behind her family's back is learn how to fly, the one thing that she can't live without doing. When her father finds out, Tee'ah knows that she can't stay and keep suffocating under her father's rule, or her heart will slowly die. When she meets Ian, he seems a gift from God, or so she thought. What she didn't know was that he was the prince of the galaxy and if he knew who she was, he would return her before she could say 'Earthdweller'.

Tee'ah and Ian's story is truly heartwarming. All her life Tee'ah has been taught to put the needs of others above the needs of few. This once she has denied her heritage and fallen in love in the process. Ian has done everything he can to please Rom, and not end up like his father, who treats women as bad as he ever treated his mother. Ian has a rolemodel in Rom who he wants to be proud of him, but he doesn't think he could give up the love of his life.

Don't miss it!

Ferdydurke is out of print! It has been a battle to get this book openly published in Poland, but look at how English-speaking consumers conduct their own censorship scheme. Yet there is a touch of Anglo-Saxon to the novel's madness: the upper class school boys, the title borrowed from the netherlands of H.G.Wells' corpus and much, much more. The novel questions whether there is such a thing as maturity, sending its main character back to school as an adult, where he is among boys who treat him as another boy (as does everyone else!). It also asks one of the great questions of our time: our characters are made by others; is it possible to escape this or are we merely prisoners of other people's influences? Something for us living under states who idolize individual choice to think about. But Gombrowicz's book is also full of comedy: slapstick, sharp irony, plot twists and philosophical fables. Jokes are used as an ideal way to pose serious questions. Furthermore, in its giant bums and staring contests it shows how much more you can talk about reality, including prudent insights into totalitarian life, through wild fantasy. The experiments of the novel - the unique fantasy, the invasion of the author and the symmetrical interjections - put it at the heart of European modernism. It is a landmark, albeit buttock-shaped.

"Ferdydurke" by Witold Gombrowicz has finally been properly translated into English. Not that this is an event worth mentioning in general, but the point to be made is that the world of translation offers room for all kinds of mischief and sloppiness. Who would have thought that it were perfectly acceptable for publishers to allow translation from a second, and not native tongue? Imagine, for purposes of illustration, that a work of a classic British author translated into German not directly, but from Suahili, for this was the language the book was first translated into. Would you be satisfied with a product of this type? This was the fate of Gombrowicz, his native tongue was done away with, and the Anglo-Saxon world of bibliophiles had had no other choice but to read a lemon. Perhaps this is the revenge of the Heavens on the author himself, for never was there any other Polish author who had his native country in such a low regard as he did. In his "Trans-Atlantyk", Gombrowicz dared to ridicule everything a Pole holds dear, together with the whole idea of a nation as such. Were he to live today, he would embrace the idea of convergence and the global village of consumptionism, as opposed to Europe of Nations. That was one of the main reasons for Gombrowicz's emigration to Argentina, where he spent almost all of his literary career.

"Ferdydurke" is an early novel by this author, and it's never as crass as the aforementioned "Trans-Atlantyk". In fact, it constitutes part of a literary canon in Poland to this very day, and there is no educated Pole who hasn't read or at least heard of "Ferdydurke". Scenes from this book, gestures, and neologisms entered the mass vocabulary, and once you learn some of these expressions, you cannot unlearn them, for then there is no better way to express yourself, but to use the phrases coined by Gombrowicz. Whatever issues Poles have with this author, one thing is certain: we are grateful to him for augmenting our language. Gombrowicz created an archetype of a confused man, whose karma is to move back in time, back to school, with the mentality of an adult. I will even risk a claim that this fact alone lies at the very heart of science fiction - for how might that be possible, and what would happen if such occurence took place? How would that affect the object in queestion? Perhaps my perception of this problem is a bit skewed due to my occupational hazard of a scientist, but for me, "Ferdydurke" is a laboratory novel, where with a literary set of tools we analyze both the situation, and the object, in the vein of the medieval alchemist. This novel, hardly known in the English-speaking world, will be an exhilarating reading experience for you, provided that you will trust me and pick it up. The amusing analysis of the immature world the protagonist found himself in, mixed with elements from all literary forms, from plain mystery, via comedy, to sophisticated analysis of society, makes Ferdydurke an experimental novel of potential interest for all bibliophiles and lovers of the nonstandard.

You may well ask the above question, but you will never discover the answer, for there is no character, or thing, in this darkly comic masterpiece named Ferdydurke. It just appears to be some play on words, or a nonsense title to intrigue the potential reader. This book, written in Polish between the two world wars, is extremely capably translated, with a good use of slang and diminuitive terms which must have caused endless hours of trouble and frustration for the translator. It appears to be an indictment of the state of society as it existed in Poland in the 1930's, and may appear a bit dated since must of what is excoriated by the author no longer exists. There is particular emphasis upon the type of relationship which existed between the nobility (of a sort) and the peanant and serving classes. There is a lot about the threat of modernity in the country, and a great emphasis upon infantilism and immaturity. The work takes some getting used to by the reader, but read in the context of its time it is very well done, and should be read to be appreciated for what it has to say about the human condition.

The concept of this book was very appealing to me. Not only does the book take you through a very simple approach to fitness for "busy" people, it seems to be a perfect program for the average person who doesn't enjoy "working out". What can be easier than a program that teaches you to run, but if you are too tired; walk! This program teaches you to be the judge of your own progress. I liked the way author, Sue Ward, told some success stories of "average" people who followed the program and what a thrill it was for them to achieve their goals. The section on stretching and exercising was very easy to follow with just the right combination of pictures and words. This book combines a total fitness guideline (including eating) that I belive is simple to follow and easy to stick with. Especially, for someone who isn't a "super" athlete.

This book is truly outstanding, particularly for those of us who do not feel that they can run a meaningful distance. The best part of the book is the flexibility - it is not rigid in its approach which you often find in exercise books. Instead it contemplates that everyone can adopt a different approach and it does not matter whether a person runs at a fast pace or very slow.

After reading this book and following the formula, a person who never thought they could run will have a more positive outlook towards exercise in general and running/walking specifically.

Great approach by the author. Very upbeat style and simple to follow.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone who wishes to begin a running/walking program.

This is a very well written approach to the common sense of staying fit. Not only did it give me a simple and efffective program to follow but, Sue wrote it in a way that made me feel like she was right there with me. Whenever I needed a lift , I just went back to chapter 1 and "Joyce". The pressure is off! Enjoy this book.

In this straightforward book, the authors coin the term stepcoupling to mean the "ongoing process of forming and maintaining a marriage when children are involved." We all know that we have to pay attention to our marriages to sustain our stepfamilies, and the authors tell us that our success "hinges on the willingness and ability of the partners to grapple with personal and family issues." Then they offer help.

The entire book discusses various personal and family issues that can threaten a stepfamily marriage. Instead of a lot of hard to understand theory, you'll find accessible advice that hits home with so many common problems. Gray boxes throughout provide questions for yourself and for discussions to have with your spouse. Autonomous questions pepper the text, and the authors follow them with practical solutions. Real stepparents, too, contribute their stories and feelings. You'll probably see yourself in several places in these comforting pages.

The book discusses a stepparent's expections of herself and her family. And in the very helpful section on boundaries, the authors discuss not only physical boundaries but also boundaries on relationships, including the need to sever the ties with former spouses and how to expand your boundaries to include your stepchildren. The section on "family acrobatics" tackles the issue of finding everyone's place in the family. You'll also learn how to strike a balance when your styles and values on parenting, money or anything else differ from your spouse's.

The final chapter is one stepcouple's story in their words, how they've survived twenty-nine years to become the close family they are. You'll find encouragement, advice and compassion in this book that truly understands stepfamilies.

I read this book in 48 hours and now use it to refer to whenever a crisis hits our stepcoupling relationship. Susan Wisdom dares to tell the straight facts about being a stepcouple while affirming that you can feel all the difficulties and still be considered normal. My children are all grown and at 50 I never expected to raise small children again but here I am in a love relationship that includes five year old twins and I need help. This book clarified the feelings that are associated with forming a stepcouple and allowed me to understand how it all takes time. An excellent book that I highly reccomend!

Here is the encouragement and advice many of us need to move forward in our lives along with the techniques and instructions to successfully deal with what faces us on a daily basis. There are so many factors that can complicate the life of a stepparent and 'Stepcoupling' addresses many of these problems head-on with real life stories and straightforward advice by ultimately proving that your marriage, as the foundation of your stepfamily, is the most important relationship you have.

The book labels itself as a "manual" and if ever there was a stepfamily 'How-To', this is it! After you follow several couples' experiences throughout the book, you will find a great surprise in the last chapter that rounds out this book perfectly. The 'How-To' flows through 'Stepcoupling' not only through the authors' life experiences and stories from stepcouples, but also by letting you fill in the blanks with your own life by allowing you to share honesty about your feelings between the pages of the book and yourself.

Being a huge fan of drive-ins, I really looked forward to reading this book. The only criticism I have is the sequence of the actual chapter text of the book, and the information inserts that the author has throughout. It is very "chopped" up. Reading the chapter, then turning the page to find there is information pertaining to something else on the next page. The chapter text starts a couple of pages later in some cases, breaking up the continuity. Other than this, it makes for a very interesting read for those who enjoy nostalgia and want to be transported back to a more simpler and fun time.

Exceptionally well written and thoughful chronology of an American icon. Once numbering in the thousands, only a few hundred remain. Many of the ghosts of the turnpike come alive for the reader who invests the time in this very readable, very attractive book. Show your kids what it was like. Hundreds of pictures. Visit your local drive-in today! It may not be there tomorrow.

The best book of its kind, bar none. Photos are excellent, and it is obvious that the authors really know and love their subject. Anyone who has ever spent an evening at the drive-in would love the memories this book evokes. Anyone who never had the opportunity to participate in the golden age of drive-in movies can experience it vicariously through The American Drive-In Movie Theatre. I've given several copies as gifts -- Everyone loves a Drive-In !

I finished this extraordinary book a few days ago and just can't let go...I actually found myself speaking in the Gullah dialect for a time,I so loved Marietta("such a feminine name for such a big old girl...makes me think of Lemon Pie...")I kept thinking the whole time I was reading that this should of been an "Oprah" choice.Susan Strait is white,which is fascinating to me...I too am white...but it seems to me she writes the black experience with so much feeling.All race issues aside,this is a womans story (a "Large Woman's"story, which I have never seen done so well) and a single mothers story...From the great title to the wonderful ending...if you read nothing else this summer...take this one along to the beach....and stop for fried catfish on the way!!!

Incredible book. Funny, heartbreaking, brave, fearsome.
Marietta, the protagonist, is a large, "blue-black" pregnant teenager in the Gullah speaking region of South Carolina. Big Ma (her granny) delivers her of a set of surprise twin boys (a scene that I, a midwife, found particularly engaging), and the rest of the book is Marietta's struggles to do right by her two hulking sons. Not to give the end away, but football becomes their salvation.
The daring part of the book's construction is that huge sections of dialogue are rendered in accurate Gullah dialect. It takes a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it flows beautifully and adds immeasurable richness to the reading.
Don't miss this one.

What an extraordinary book. I Been In Sorrow's Kitchen And Licked Out All The Pots is a froce of nature. Marietta Cook, is a tall, blueblack girl, who grows up wehn she finds herself pregnant with twins. She is about strength and beauty. She develops an inner strength at a time when the world seems determined to desstroy it before it can begin. Raising twin sons, she sets a path for them to become successful through football. A moving book that is bound to ring the bell of your soul, it should be read and read again. A masterwork from a brillant writer.

Johnny Sosa, the Black, lives with his mistress, Dina, in a shack on the outskirts of the tiny village of Mosquitos, in central Uruguay.

A dreamer who loves old American movies and listens to a radio serial, "The Fertile Hour in the Early Dawn," Johnny ekes out a living by singing the blues and playing his Black Diamond Guitar and a little green bongo drum in a bar adjoining a local brothel.

Known to the patrons of his venue as an angel with a golden throat, Johnny belts out renditions that are a mix of Frankie Avalon, Ray Charles, and Lou Brakley, with echoes of the blues from plantations on the Mississippi Delta.

Stark poverty has always made life difficult in Mosquitos. The situation worsens, however, when a junta pulls off a coup d'etat and many of Johnny's friends and acquaintances begin to disappear.

The author of The Ballad of Johnny Sosa, Mario Delgado Aparain, is a journalist and university professor. He first became famous in Uruguay for his short stories, which depict the contrast between country and city life. He lives in Montevideo, where he works at the Department of Culture.

... Black Johnny's fortune seems to be improving when Col. Werner Valerio, a mysterious official in the new military regime, takes a liking to Johnny and offers to pay for his visits to the orthodontist. But there are strings attached to the Colonel's offer.

How far does Johnny dare compromise his integrity...

In the stifling atmosphere of political conformity, Black Johnny makes a desperate bid for freedom, deciding that it is better to die on one's feet than live on one's knees.

Why pay eighteen bucks for slim volume of approximately 20,000 words? The simple answer is: Because it's worth it.

The sparse prose of Aparain's tale signals the appearance of an emerging Latin American voice, one that values freedom and liberty above tyranny and oppression. Moreover, the author reveals "the vast distance within the human soul between the well cultivated surface and its deformed depths."

Aparain's novella is hauntingly memorable. No wonder it has been published in ten countries to extraordinary acclaim.

Roy E. Perry of Nolensville ...