Once you begin this book, you will not be able to put it down until you finish it. Chapman grabs the reader on many fronts: with a compelling story; with beautiful writing full of creative imagery and insight; and with lots of food for thought. Motherland holds appeal for many different types of readers. It is simultaneously a book about the Holocaust, the intricacies of mother-daughter relationships, and most importantly, the effects the past can have on the present and future.

I laughed and cried many times as I read this exquisitely-constructed book. And now that I have finished it, I continue to think about it. Motherland is very easy to read, but there is nothing light about it. I know it will stick with me for a long time to come.

This book is easy to read but difficult to put down. It is also historically compelling yet has the ability to slap the reader with emotion. It is a story about the healing of two generations, a mother and daughter, during a trip back to memories that were buried deeply in the mother's mind. By returning to Germany, the mother is finally able to begin to heal, and the daughter is able to begin to understand a mother she knew only superficially. This author has bravely shared with us an unforgettable story.

To read "Motherland" is to experience a whole different side of the Holocaust and its far-reaching implications. Lovingly told in vivid accounting and imagery, this story of a daughter's search to uncover her mother's past, and therefore fill in her own family history, will have a powerful impact on readers regardless of their religion. You don't have to be Jewish, a mother or a daughter to appreciate the beauty and truths Chapman displays. "Motherland" touches the spirit as well as the mind.

On this cold, winter day in January, I'm reading More Nitty Gritty Grammar. Who would have thought that a grammar book could be entertaining? Edith Fine and Judith Josephson have found the perfect formula. Similar to their first book, Nitty Gritty Grammar, this one is organized in an appealing, accessible way. I actually enjoyed testing my grammar skills with the quiz. Their compilation of nationally-syndicated cartoons addressing grammar issues adds visual interest and levity. They explain the rules, state the exceptions, and give plenty of examples. It's an excellent resource guide for yourself or for a friend. I highly recommend it.

There has never been a friendlier invitation to master English usage basics than Nitty-Gritty Grammar until its new companion, More Nitty-Gritty Grammar. I recommend them for all my community college students. Not in the ivory tower crowd, authors Fine and Josephson are, however, astute observers of language ills and, if laughter is the best medicine, most-palatable healers. Their topics are relevant, their well-researched explanations straightforward, their examples fresh and funny. My students agree.

I am a big fan of Fine and Josephson's Nitty-Gritty Grammar. Many times I have pulled out my well-worn copy of Nitty-Gritty Grammar, paged through the index for the topic of my question, and found the answer. Well, now thanks to their newest installment into the world of grammar, More Nitty-Gritty Grammar, no grammar question will go unanswered! The newest book is longer and provides a more in-depth index (helpful for the "quick look-up") but still retains the light-hearted, fun attitude about grammar. I highly recommend this book--it is an ideal reference tool for anyone from students to office workers.

So...last night I read through the vast majority of Nitty-Gritty Grammar and I gotta tell ya (this is a relaxed review), I liked what I read. In fact, I picked it up again tonight and found what I believe to be the best page -- 86! I have often erroneously used et. al., i.e., and e.g. I knew there was a difference and just never took the time. That's why this book is good. It reads like a good trivia book...lots of gems of knowledge packed in a tight, quick reference format. The ticker-tape tips at the bottom of each page in the shaded section are very handy. The book's organization is strong, as I would expect. For people on the go and who need quick references, such effective organization is crucial. Cartoons are additive, but the book could surely stand on its own. It's a dynamite guide in keeping with the easy-reference approach of the AP Stylebook. Nothin' fancy - "Just the facts ma'am." See page 27 - Sherrie (my wife) and I have a question about a grammar rule and eagerly await guidance. It seems there may be an exception to the who/m rule. For example, if we ask, "Whom shall I say is calling?" It's the rule, right? Well then, if we rephrase it, we would say, "I shall say he is calling," but not, "I shall say 'him' is calling." So, is that an exception to the rule? I wonder...if in the second edition, there might be an "exceptions" page - even if what we ask here is wrong and there's an easy answer...I'm sure there are exceptions to some rules - perhaps it could be set up like a trivia section. Sherrie (my wife), who has her degree in English and is currently and ESL instructor, REALLY liked the book - its whole approach. She wants to keep it on her grammar shelf and I want it for my public relations work. Looks like we may need a second copy!

Thank God my mother sent me Nitty-Gritty Grammar. I'm a business man who works on Wall Street, and I have found NGG to be an indispensible (and fun) reference book. I use it constantly when writing my research studies and memos. I recommend it for anyone in the business world who has to write more than his or her name.

I read Nitty Gritty Grammar, and found it to be the most readable and entertaining book of grammar I've ever read. It probably is the easiest to understand and most complete, also.

This book is GREAT! The kids love the Little Critter, and the story is just like my house at bed time. I love Mercer Mayer's books.

A perfect book for reading just before tucking your toddler into bed. A great book for fathers and sons to read together and an absolutely heartwarming book that all kids and parents can relate. We give this book as a gift. It really encourages reading before bedtime. Our other favorite book is "Going to Sleep on the Farm" by Wendy Cheyette Lewison.

Little Critter relates to children everywere in this heart-warming book when Lttle critter keeps trying to put of bed time by playing space cadet, and bunny rabbit. A spectacular, charming book for everyone.

Though set in medieval England, Edith Pargeter's Heaven Tree trilogy (The Heaven Tree, The Scarlet Seed and the Green Branch) transcends the boundaries of the "historical fiction" genre. Although meticulously researched and unerring in historical detail, the story takes the reader beyond costumes and castles into the complex world of the human heart. Pargeter draw powerful pictures of all the characters, and her magic is such that, by the end of the saga, one has wept in compassion for the "villain" as much as for the sorrows of the "heroes". Few books have detailed so thoroughly the light and dark places of the human heart--and to have done so while telling "a rattling good tale" is an accomplishment beyond compare. This trilogy is a "keeper", to be read over and over in the way that one consults an old and wise, compassionate friend

My mother encouraged me to read the trilogy. In college she had the 2nd book and the girl across the hall had the other 2. They traded the books back and forth so they could read all 3. Before she left, my mom gave her friend the Green Branch saying that she'd buy her own copies of all 3. It took her nearly 20 years to find the books, since they are still out of print. When my mother found the books (hardbacks containing the trilogy) at Half-Price Books, she bought both copies they had. Right away she read them. The other copy she gave to me. It seemed a daunting task, but when I took the time to read the books, I found they were the best I'd ever read. Reading The Heaven Tree Trilogy is truely an experience. The books are such that once you get into the book they never let you back out. (Nor do you want back out) It is the most wonderful literary experience to read the books. What must writing them have been?

How lucky I was to have been living in England in the late 1980s when I discovered Edith Pargeter/Ellis Peters, because these books were in print in paperback (how I wish I had hard copies!). I have read and re-read these books, and all of the Cadfael books, and just about every other book she has written - I even bought the Cadfael mysteries in Swedish (lived there after England) because (1) I had that collecting EP boks bug and (2) it immensely improved my vocabulary!

This story is complex, compelling, riveting; human in scale, yet encompassing great themes; and it's a roaring good read. I laugh, I cry, I wish I were as wonderfully talented as Madonna Benedetta, or as loyal as Gilleis...and every time the boys seek sanctuary in Shrewsbury, I think "If only Cadfael were there, he would find a way to help them." Yes, I am obssessed, but in a good way!

I am impressed by Ms Pargeter's knowledge of mediaeval history, and even more so by her ability to create living, breathing characters to bring it alive. Because of her, I have read a great deal of serious, non-fiction history about the war between Stephen and Maude, and about the melding of Norman and Saxon into England. And because her sympathies are so clearly with both Welsh and English in the tangled border area, I have been able to burnish my strong pride in my Welsh heritage, while learning to forgive those who trampled it to bits. Because history is never as simple as it seems from this end.

I highly recommend these books. I sent copies to a friend of mine for his birthday one year and I hope he treasures them too!

Enjoyed The Cad by Edith Layton? Wondered what happened to the urchin Gilly who masqueraded as a boy to protect herself? Well, The Choice is her story.

It's set four years after The Cad; Ewen and Bridget have made Gilly and her little sister their wards, and are bringing them up as educated young ladies. (No-one claims that they are in fact 'eligible' by birth, and rumours circulate that they aren't of good family).

At a ball one night, Gilly is attacked by a young aristocrat who, having heard the rumours, assumes that she's fair game. As he's standing nearby, Damon Ryder prepares to come to the rescue; but instead he finds himself having to pull Gilly off the young man! Just who is this young woman who can fight as well as any man?

In revenge, Gilly's attacker tries to ruin her reputation, but Damon again comes to her rescue by claiming that they are long-standing acquaintances and are actually engaged. Thus begins what to Gilly is a pretend betrothal; Damon very quickly realises that he'd like nothing more than for it to be real, and sets about persuading Gilly of his intentions.

But there are several things he doesn't know about Gilly. Readers of The Cad will be aware of her origins in the slums of London; to Gilly's surprise, Damon isn't at all bothered by that discovery. So she reveals her deepest secret to him: as we know from The Cad again, it is that she was raped as a very young child. Again, Damon is only sympathetic, not disgusted as she expected.

So she agrees to marry him. But at the same time there are other complications. Drum, Ewen's cousin (minor character from The Cad), with whom Gilly has been in love ever since she met him, returns and, as the book jacket informs us, seems to see Gilly in a new light. Could he be in love with her after all?

And what about the disreputable Hathaway Wycoff? A married man legendary for his affairs, he treats Gilly as a friend - and she returns the compliment - but he makes no secret of the fact that he would like her to be his lover. And that he is aware that being somebody's mistress might be the only option open to someone of her background.

Three delicious men - all of whom will, I hope, eventually get their own stories: which one will Gilly choose?

Read The Cad and want to know more about the characters, especially the young street-urchin, Gilly? Well, don't miss this wonderful book. The story commences four years after the end of The Cad; Ewen and Bridget are still very happily married, with two children. In the interim, Ewen made Gilly and her young sister Betsy his wards, and Gilly cast off her boy's clothes and learned to live as an educated and ladylike young woman, taught by - among others - Ewen's friends Rafe and Drum (the Earl of Drummond).

As the story starts, Damon Ryder - newly returned from America - is strolling in the garden at a ball, and sees a beautiful young woman apparently in danger of being embraced against her will by her companion. He rushes to her rescue, only to find that she doesn't need help; he ends up having to pull her off her attacker. Thus he discovers that there is a lot more to Gilly Giles than meets the eye. However, since her attacker then tries to destroy her reputation, Damon claims that they are secretly engaged.

Gilly, although grateful, is anxious to free Damon from this obligation, but he is only too happy to make the engagement real; he fell in love with her the moment he saw her, and the more he learns about her only makes him love her more. Even when Gilly tells him the truth about her background - that she comes from the slums of London and that her father was a docker, *and* that she was raped as a small child - his feelings don't change.

But Gilly still feels that she isn't good enough for him, or for his family. And what she hasn't told anyone is that she's been secretly in love with Drum, her old friend, for years. But he never saw her as more than a child... until he returns, and it seems as if he's beginning to see her in a completely different light.

And as if having to choose between Damon and Drum isn't enough of a problem for Gilly, Lord Wycoff - married, but who lives apart from his wife - also makes it clear that he would take her any way he could have her.

Can Gilly choose between three men, all of whom want her? Or will she leave it too late to work out who she really loves, and risk losing them all?

Having read this, I now can't wait to read The Challenge, to find out how Hathaway gets on in America; and I sincerely hope that The Conquest is going to be about the last member of this little group of men!

Damon Ryder felt the magic of Miss Gillian Giles from the first time he saw her. He didn't care that because of her humble beginnings she was ineligible to become a nobleman's wife. She was his soulmate, his other half. But he was beginning to despair that he would ever convince HER of that!

Gilly wanted desperately to believe him. But it was obvious that she was a disappointment to his family. Although she had learned to look and act like a lady, she was afraid she would never truly belong in that world. And she worried that she would never love Damon as truly as he deserved to be loved...because her first love would always take first place in her heart, even though he didn't reciprocate.

Or did he? The Earl of Drummond never expected Gilly to turn into such a desirable woman. How could he let her marry Damon Ryder when there was just a chance that she might be the one for HIM?

A poignant tale of a woman learning about love in its many forms, as well as her own value and purpose in life. And a man who learns to fight for the desire of his heart. A real winner!

And, considering the existence of several luscious potential heroes in this book, I am eagerly looking foward to hearing more about these fascinating characters in future sequels.

THIS BOOK IS GREAT! I for one, am very critical about books. It has to be perfect for me to love it and this one is. It has more action than the first one, Hero's Song, and it has a very little bit of romance. Not enough to be disgusting, but a subtle hint if you look closely. Our old heros, Brie, Collun, Sillien, return, along with new ones. It is more of Brie's adventure this time. It's not exactly a cliffhanger, but there can obviously be more to come. I hope Ms. Pattou writes the third book soon!

To put it simply this book is AWESOME. I am a big fan of fantasy and for those of you who are this book is for you. It is a bit romantic but I like a little bit of romance. Not too much to make it mushy but enough to make it sweet. I haven't read the first book but I understood this one pretty good. I simply fell in love with Collun. He's so calm yet exciting at times. I can't wait to read the first book. And if there is a third one I would love to read it too.

I am reading a number of novels in this genre and I was really satisfied with Fire Arrow. I didn't immediately take to it (maybe because I didn't read the first book first - duh!) but it grew on me quickly. What I really appreciated were the details and descriptions pertaining to places, people, creatures, new concepts and native languages. Usually I don't care for detailed descriptions, but there was just enough in Fire Arrow to make everything vivid and realistic. It was so real I felt like I could travel to Eirren and Dungal and know just what to expect. I picked this book out originally because, based on the short description on the back cover, I knew that the main character was going to be female. Characterization was believable and honest. It is a high quality read. I hope that Edith Pattou will have yet another book about Brie.

I remember this book from middle school. I told people the story, and everyone thought I made it up! I'm glad to see that it's in print, and not just a figment of my imagination. If you love fairy tales, you'll like this book. A little strange, but worth the read.

From one irritated, uninvited guest comes the gift of baldness. From one poorly worded wish comes out of control hair. Add one prince determined to find the solution. Mix in Melisande's need to rescue her island home. How does it turn out? It adds up to an enchanting tale that delights both young and old. I've used the book in elementary classes as well as college classes--both were mesmerized.

...Nesbit writes beautifully and is clever and unpredictable enough that without going over the kids' heads, the reading adult can enjoy it too. The illustrations are excellent; I just wish the hardcover version was available!

An incredibly inventive and thought-provoking collection, "Strange Pilgrims" is reminiscent of Milan Kundera's "Book Of Laughter and Forgetting", as well as Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried". Constructed as interweaving short stories, these twelve misfit pieces all deal with moving themes: loneliness, death, travel, the otherworldly nostalgia that these phenomena provoke, and ultimately the sadness of being lost in your own experiences. Like Kundera's "Laughter and Forgetting", "Strange Pilgrims" does not attempt to draw lucid conclusions between its seemingly unrelated characters. Instead, Garcia-Marquez simply allows the reader to develop his own relationship to the text. At times, "Strange Pilgrims" achieves what Garcia-Marquez so eloquently refers to when speaking of writing in the book's introduction-"the closest a human can get to the experirence of levitation." Highly recommended.

As I read "Strange Pilgrims," the collection of short stories by Colombian-born Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I was reminded of the classic television series "The Twilight Zone." Like some of the best episodes in that series, many of the stories in "Strange Pilgrims" are rich in irony and psychological intrigue, and incorporate elements of the macabre and the fantastic. And many of the stories have twist endings. This collection has been translated into English by Edith Grossman.

These stories deal with Latin Americans on voyages, for various reasons, to Europe. The book thus has a trans-Atlantic, international feel. Highlights of the collection include "Bon Voyage, Mr. President," about a deposed head of state seeking medical attention in Switzerland; "The Saint," a supernatural tale of a father seeking canonization of his daughter from the Pope; the creepy "The Ghosts of August"; and the grotesque "Seventeen Poisoned Englishmen."

Throughout the book Garcia Marquez presents many images that are beautiful or disturbing, but often memorable: a drowned man floating with "a fresh gardenia in his lapel," a moray eel nailed to a door, a bedspread stiff with the dried blood from a murder. An added bonus is the appearance of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda as a fictional character in one of the tales. "Strange Pilgrims" is a varied collection of weird treats from a master storyteller.

In twelve short stories, Garcia Marquez proves that he is not only capable of writing deeply, he is capable of writing concisely. The stories in this book are extremely thought provoking, relating to the human spirit and little oddities about people.

There is one story in particular that I will not forget. It is about a woman who gets stranded with a flat tire, and hitches a ride with a bus to a mental institution. The story unfolds from there, and I don't think I have ever felt so deeply troubled by a single story like I was in this case. Of the twelve stories, I liked 8 or 9, the others were a little boring (or maybe I did not get them). I highly recommend it, especially for those who do not have the patience to read GM's "One Hundred Years of SOlitude" and would like an intro to the author.

I bought this book years ago and foolishly gave it away. I recently repurchased it and am glad to have it back. I give it four stars instead of five because I figure five stars should be reserved for John James Audubon.

For the most part I like the older edition (ISBN 0-03-021026-7) better. It is printed on yellowish paper with darkened edges, purposely made to look a bit aged. The colors are darker and the detail on the illustrations shows up better. But this 2001 edition has its good points too. It's printed on pure white paper so even though some of the pictures look a little washed out, the colors look clearer and brighter, not so muddy. So some people might prefer this new edition.

There's a biography of Edith Holden, out of print, that I'd be interested to read. (Edwardian Lady: The Story of Edith Holden, by Ina Taylor.)

When i found out that the Country diary of an Edwardian Lady was to come back in print after more than five years in the wilderness, i remembered feeling elated, why, because Ms Holden and her talents was the best thing ever to have happened to the book world,and this new edition showing what the diary looked like at the time it was written is the best ever, she put rural warwickshire on the map in a way no other author could have or will do, the book is not only a teaching of nature (remembering that Edith was a teacher) but also a portable art gallery of in my opinion some of the best surviving examples of her artwork, i have long been a holden devotee (the word fan is reserved for rowdy pop stars)i have and always will treasure this beautiful book and its sister publication the nature notes of an edwardian lady, we love this book perhaps for its nostalgic charm for all things turn of the century, but more importantly because most of ediths beloved nature trails around her home in Olton Hollow, solihull now no longer exist, so my advice, buy this book and give it pride of place in the cabinet

I purchased this book as part of our home school lesson. I wanted to teach the children about nature journaling. We live in a fabulous area with many of opportunities to observe nature.

The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady looks exactly as she had written it, beautiful drawings with proper name labels as well as her observances of the mother nature.

This was a joy to look through and read. Very inspirational and it goes well with my growing collection of Edwardian, Georgian and Victorian books.