Debby Mayne's "Sunshine Harvest" stands out in this anthology with a tale of deeply inspirational romance. She has painted a colorful backdrop with the citrus groves, migrant workers and tropical Florida locale. Her heroine takes us through a gamut of emotions after her father dies and she must summon the strength to hold his dream together while dealing with his loss. But what I liked best about this story was the hero! Daniel is a sensitive, intelligent, spiritual leading man, and I did some swooning along with Anna as I got to know him. Debby Mayne writes with a very visual stroke; "Sunshine Harvest" would make a stunning and romantic movie!

In the fourth novella of the Harvest Home Anthology, talented author, Janet Spaeth, weaves an emotional romance filled with love for God, family, and the Dakota Territory of 1879. ONLY BELIEVE shows the hard work and faith of two people, Catherine and Micah, who fall in love in the midst of trials they both face as they harvest the wheat crop. Woven into the story are touches of the humorous talent of this endearing author. Janet uses the embroidery of the bible verse, 'Be not afraid, only believe,'(Mark 5:36), as a memorable setting, along with that of the beautiful prairie of the Dakota Territory, for this wonderful, heartwarming harvest story of true love. I could not put down the Harvest Home Anthology from Barbour until I finished Janet Spaeth's novella, ONLY BELIEVE. I know you will enjoy Catherine and Micah's love story as much as I did. And that like me, you will remember to -- be not afraid and only believe -- for miracles in your life.

A very well-written decent story for everyone of any age. It was easy to read and to relax with. I would recommend this story to everyone. It takes you back to days of the American Settlers when times were simple. It is refreshing to read and to escape the confusing, busy, and complicated days of today.

Absolutely necessary for anyone who teches reading and phonics to children of any age. This book will give a list of words that contain any phonic combination in the English Language. I highly suggest every teacher own this book. Give them as gifts to new teachers joining your school. Nothing will be appreciated more by any teacher.

As an elementary ed student (I student teach next semester) this book is everything that I have been looking for to help me be a better reading/language arts teacher. I love this book! I liked it so much I took it to school and shared it with my fellow elementary ed students and instructor, and they ALL bought the book too! This is a must-have for any elementary teacher. You won't be sorry.

I use it endlessly even with Kindergartners. Parents ask to borrow it regularly. A must-have!

With all of the recent information floating around about "High-Speed" internet connections, one can literally go insane trying to decipher fact from fiction, not to mention attempting to figure out which service is right for YOU. When I came across this book, which I did here on amazon, I was very excited, but still unsure of what I would be getting my hands on. I thought that perhaps it would assist me a little here or there, and help out with the most basic information possible.

To my surprise, and delight, this book was truly AWESOME. So much so that I just received it a couple of weeks ago, and I'm now on my second reading. The book is packed with information. It not only delves into the aspects of Cable Modems and DSL(which is does so very intensely), but also tells you how you can optimize your standard dial-up modem connection to the internet. You can't lose with this book--if you already have an internet connection, the knowledge on getting the most out of THAT hook-up is worth the price of the book. In addition, the author definitely has a sense of humor, and that REALLY helps when you sit down to read a book, and along with educating you, you're also given a dose of humor that's JUST ENOUGH to make the education FUN.

The book also gives the reader information on what to do in order to have your computer completely in order BEFORE the installation of a broadband hook-up takes place, whether you do it yourself, or somebody's going to be installing it for you. This book even delves into how computers work, and the processes of computers connecting to one another to put the wheels of the internet into motion. The reader won't be BOGGED down with this, however, as the book is written in a very clear, concise manner. You'll also learn little tricks here and there throughout the book on how to maintain your computer for overall optimal performace. What a great book--I couldn't recommend it more highly!

DSL? Cable Modem? Satellite? Wireless? These are among the choices you will have to make if you decide to "upgrade" to high speed Internet access. It's difficult to know which one will work best for you. This book helps to explain the differences between each of them. The introductory part explains ways to get higher speeds from your current analog modem before diving into the different kinds of high speed Internet options you have.

The second part of the book is divided into chapters explaining ISDN, DSL, satellite, and wireless Internet and how each one works. It also gives you an idea of which specific type might work best for your individual needs. The next part of the book is divided into chapters explaining how to install whichever service you've decided on, complete with "installation checklists" at the end of these chapters.

There are also a couple chapters devoted to keeping your PC secure from "hacker attacks," which is always a problem, but even more so if you have this kind of Internet connection. Finally, there's a section devoted to troubleshooting problems, even a glossary at the book's end so you can familiarize yourself with related terms, and if nothing else amaze your friends with your knowledge of this technology!

This book provides an excellent overview of the high speed Internt technology available today.

I have read some of Mark Soper's work before (Upgrading and Repairing PCs, SmartComputing, etc.) and have always found it to informative and relevant to what I needed. This book is no exception. Incredibly readable and humorous for a computer book, it provides an excellent balance between technical detail and practical knowledge. Easy to understand and yet packed with information, this is a must have book for anyone even slightly interested in high-speed Internet access. I recommend this book to anyone who is considering broadband, anyone who already has it, or just anyone who enjoys emerging technologies.

I was turned on to this book after hearing the latest Richard Buckner release "The Hill", in which the musician uses the Spoon River Anthology as the basis for his conceptual music. After listening to this wonderful disc, I was compelled to read the actual work by Edgar Lee Masters. What I found was a book that was written in 1915, but that brings to life the voices of humanity louder than anything I've read in recent years. This book is more poetry than literature, but the stories of the residents of Spoon River that are collected within the pages are stories that are not soon forgotten.

This book has moved me more than anything else I've read in recent years, and I highly recommend that othes read this outstanding work of art.

There is no Spoon River, IL. Check your map. Several towns argue that they stake their claim in being what Masters asserted to be this mythical town. Petersburg and Lewistown, two towns of otherwise minor repute seem closest... but it is so much better we haven't an actual town... Spoon River's residents are our next door neighbors, whether we live in Central Illinois or Central Florida, or southern Alaska.

Masters has written not fables, but the essence of American life. He hasn't captured the life and times of 1915, but has instead recorded in 1915 the life and times of our present day America.

The same reason the paintings of Norman Rockwell makes sense is why Edgar Lee Masters poetry makes sense. To read the quick messages on the gravestone of one man, learning a little bit him, and something about a neighbor or two, we can learn a little about how we live in communities today.

Our lives, like Jimmy Stewart's character in "It's a Wonderful Life" found out, interact and impact everyone we meet. Who we love, who we should love and who we reject. And when we die, others feel the loss. Masters has aptly put this in a humorous, yet insightful way into short verses.

The poems don't rhyme. The meter is not solid, and the poetics aren't intricate. They aren't poems like Poe's or Dickinson, not in the way they wrote American poems. Don't expect iambic pentameter-based sonnets or villanelles. Expect a conversation, and listen in.

The poetry here is in the subtle use of social nuance. In the nuances are his insight and wit. Two readings will bring to light what you miss in the first.

Buy this book, read it slow. It reads faster than most poetry book, but don't get caught in the temptation to zoom through each poem just because you can.

After you read it, see the play if it happens to be performed in your town.

I fully recommend it.

Anthony Trendl

Inspired by The Greek Anthology, a collection of brief poems from the Hellenistic World including epitaphs written from the perspective of the deceased, Edgar Lee Masters wrote a series of monologues spoken by dead townspeople (some more fictional than others) who inhabited Spoon River, the area in Illinois where Abe Lincoln once lived. Real people include Anne Rutledge (Abe's first girlfriend) and Fiddler Jones, who worked in Lincoln's general store as a boy.

But this book isn't about Abraham Lincoln. It's about the trait that we will all, both saints and sinners, one day have in common: death. And it is about the small triumphs of life that the dead remember. Just as William Carlos Williams was a doctor, and his poetry was informed by his contact with everyday people, so too Masters. He was a lawyer and a keen observationist. He writes directly and frankly, especially about male-female relations, which earned this book a bit of a scandalous reputation in its time. Of course, it is mild enough today that the book is assigned reading in junior highs, even in the South.

I've read this book three times through, and often re-read individual favorites. And I have it in easy reach on my shelf because I plan to keep re-reading it. There is something about the people of Spoon River and their sentiments that keeps me coming back. As May Swenson says, in her introduction to this edition, Masters "bequeathed to us a world in microcosm." A world, in my opinion, worth exploring again and again.

found this book to be a good guide in fudge making. the only problem (if there is one) is that is takes quite a bit of time to get the nack of it. been working on hte seashore fudge for the past three weeks with limited success although improvemtn each time. well worth the book but be prepared to try and try again. pictures would have been a plus, as in what soft ball vs hard ball looks like and different colors of caramelization. think I need another reference for comparison though. all in all a good investment

Years ago, I picked up _Oh Fudge!_ from the local library, and it is still one of the best cookbooks I have ever seen. Detailed, fun to read, and correct, _Oh Fudge!_ is truly everything you will ever need to know on the topic; it goes into full detail on the various factors, ingredients, and processes that are required to make truly wonderful fudge.

Check it out, if only to see what a great cookbook is like!

Enjoyable book that will help any fudge lover to put on the pounds. I tried six different formulas so far and have enjoy every bite. Make sure you have a health club membership or a NordicTrack if you plan to buy this book and make many of the recipes inside.

Anyone who is interested in knowing more about the personal side of Gen. Robert E. Lee and the people who stood behind him and allowed him to become great (his family) will enjoy this insight into their everyday lives and the heritage the author (Lee's great-granddaughter) has had to live up to throughout her life.

I would strongly recommend this.

This book is a great one for providing us a glimpse into life over 100 years ago. It is hard to imagine what a woman had to do back then to create the genteel life. Every household had to be self-sufficient, as this remarkable volume shows, making its own foodstuff, soap and cleansers. I loved this book and have shared it with good friends.

Mix together some spicy ingredients of Southern history, add "receipts" (aka recipes) for food, plus personal memoir, and a fascinating book is ready for you to devour or to send to friends as a gift.
What a marvelous, brilliant weaving together of the family history of the Robert E. Lee family, along with insider Civil War history, social history, food history, family characters and so on, have been put together by Anne Carter Zimmer, who gives us recipes one longs to try. I definitely want to attempt the Charlotte Russe and certainly the Sally Lunn. (Wish I had the courage for the oyster dish where, halfway throughout, you throw out one batch of oysters and add a fresh batch.) When I read the book's first line, "We didn't make much of ancestors when I was growing up," (this from the great-grandaughter of Robert E. Lee), I knew I was in touch with an authentic voice and that I would love this book. And love it I did.

wo side effects from reading "Inside the Works" are blindness, resulting from the weird font, and nausea, resulting from horror so hardcore that you want to wash your hands after putting the book down. Edward Lee along with Tom Piccirilli and Gerard Daniel Houarner, are the writers featured in this "3-way collection of hard core horror". All three have a kind of genius for writing almost pornographic horror that is intense, gut-wrenching, and scary, yet strangely compelling. Although these stories are like skinny dipping in a pool of blood and other bodily fluids, I kept getting the sensation that I was reading something NEW and FRESH. Edward Lee's novella The Pig was drenched in torture and mutilation but amazingly enough these elements were used in service of a great story rather than the other way around! Also worthy of mention i! s that many of the situations in the story had me laughing out loud! Counterbalancing Lee is Tom Piccirilli, whose five short stories were grim little journeys into hellish back alleys of New York. At this time, I have yet to read all of Gerard Daniel Houarner's contribution but I will soon! If he's as good as the company he keeps than I am in for a ride!

The Pig was one of the most disgusting stories ever. Buy it. The "Plugger" scene in this story is unmatched to date.

Two side effects from reading "Inside the Works" are blindness, resulting from the weird font, and nausea, resulting from horror so hardcore that you want to wash your hands after putting the book down. Edward Lee along with Tom Piccirilli and Gerard Daniel Houarner, are the writers featured in this "3-way collection of hard core horror". All three have a kind of genius for writing almost pornographic horror that is intense, gut-wrenching, and scary, yet strangely compelling. Although these stories are like skinny dipping in a pool of blood and other bodily fluids, I kept getting the sensation that I was reading something NEW and FRESH. Edward Lee's novella The Pig was drenched in torture and mutilation but amazingly enough these elements were used in service of a great story rather than the other way around! Also worthy of mention is that ! many of the situations in the story had me laughing out loud! Counterbalancing Lee is Tom Piccirilli, whose five short stories were grim little journeys into hellish back alleys of New York. At this time, I have yet to read any all of Gerard Daniel Houarner's contributions but I will soon! If he's as good as the company he keeps than I am in for a ride!

I read an Anne of Green Gables many, many years ago and immediatly fell in love. At once, I went out and bought the entire series, loving each book more than the one before. This is a line of books I would highly recommend to anyone, of any age. It is truly my favorite set of books. No matter how many times I have read it...and my first copy had fallen apart years ago...I laugh and cry just as hard as I did the first time. Anne of Green Gables 2, or Anne's House of Dreams, is a wonderful story of a couple just starting out in marriage. Moving from their friendly town of Avonlea, they started out anew, in a little cottage by the seashore. Gilbert, Anne's husband, is a young doctor, beginning his practice. They make many new friends, each more interesting than the last. There is even a mystery to unravel in their midst! Romance galore, love, friendship and dreams unfold before our eyes. Even when we read of their tragedies, we hurt along with them, feeling their pain. That is how well this book is written. Read it, enjoy it and buy the whole set. You will never regret it!

Anne of Green Gables is one of the first books to make me fall in love...with it. I mean, it was cute, it was lesson teaching (hehe, that sounds strange), and Anne was just such a good character. She sort of reminded me of me: bad temper (I've gotten much cooler now, haha), big words, amazing imagination, smart (haha, well, I was and am PRETTY SMART, at least, I think, haha). Gilbert reminded me of this guy at school...haha, well, I won't get into details there, but the book was charming, and I've already read it over four times in only like three years, which is sort of alot. I loved this book, and I believe that many other people will learn to appreciate its cuteness and truth and stuff over the years, hehe. Enjoy!

When I first read this book many years back, I loved it, and was sad for it to end when I finished reading it. I loved every single part of it...I simply couldn't put it down. Anne is such a character...you can't help liking her more and more, and wishing that she was your own "bosom friend" just as I did. While reading, I was transported back to that time, and I could just see Avonlea and Green Gables, the school which Anne studied in, and I could see Diana and Miss Stacy and Gilbert just as if they were my own friends.

I loved this book, and read it many times over again after I first picked it up, and it still delighted me. Lucy Maud Montgomery is a stunning writer, and I believe that she must have been like Anne, for no one could create such a realistic character and write everything that poured out of Anne's mouth...her made up stories, the things that she she thought of, her wild yet delightful imagination...all in all, Anne of Green Gables is one of the finest books I've ever read, and were ever written. I strongly recommend it to anyone, old or young. Everyone can relate to Anne and she could make you smile like she did for me.

I had heard about this book from somebody who had similary enjoyed the same speculative (not quite sci-fi) novels I like, and was sort of blown away by its oddity and fresh voice. Reality merges with time travel. Or is it all in the mind? What I like is the confusion of past and present, Civil War era with the 1960's. The author questions the nature of time itself, but isn't afraid to write paragraghs almost incongruously funny, especially when viewed against serious and rather tragic historical material. A strange and entertaining read.

Was in the authors G thru I section of my favorite used bookstore when the title of this book caught my eye. The description on the back seemed interesting, and it was certainly different from anything I had been reading, so I bought it with a, "Why not?" attitude. I absolutely love this book. I literally wept over Lee's last days in battle, and the book has kindled in me a desire to learn all about the Civil War. I am now deep into Shelby Foote's trilogy and have also purchased a dozen or so other Civil War books recommended by various experts on the net. Also, I bought two more copies of M.A. Harper's book from Amazon so that I could send one to a sister in N.C. and keep one extra to loan to friends. I am an uprooted Southerner (by choice), born the same year as the author, who identifies with so much she has written. This book has caused me to rethink so many things I had stopped thinking about, and has given me new pride in my birthplace and heritage. I may even go back to the South to wind up my days--I understand things differently, now; I no longer feel ashamed of where I'm from. I know I'm laying a lot at this book's door, but it affected me most profoundly, in many different ways. And I am always reading, I'm never without a book--I'm picky about what I'll spend my time reading, and I won't waste my time with junk. Harper's book just blew me away! I hope she keeps writing.

I think I need to retract the (very favorable) review I just wrote about this book yesterday. The author is a very close personal friend, and believes it unethical for me to submit it. Maybe she's right, because I am partial to her in many things, although my stated opinion of the work is true. In any case, she doesn't want to see her credibility questioned in any way, so please squelch my review, since she's pretty worried about this. Thank you.