This volume is one of several (about 10)that will make up a complete Flora of Illinois. Many volumes are available now, and a few wait to be published. The complete flora will include something nearing 3000 entries for individual species of this surprisingly diverse area of the county, with distribution maps specific to IL. Its entries are very readable, while including much information for characteristics and distribution, in addition to many line drawings that make it valuable for ID too.

GEORGIA O'KEEFFE AND THE CALLA LILY IN AMERICAN ART, 1860-1940 has more than 50 calla images by 33 artists and photographers. The driving force behind the exhibition, catalogue and book is Barbara Buhler Lynes, Georgia O'Keeffe Museum curator. In one beautifully illustrated, clearly written and nicely organized source, she traces the plant's history, from the limited written record and through art.

Europeans imported the calla in 1731. The name was already in place, from Pliny, according to botanist Jacques Dalechamps. William Wood said the word meant beautiful in Greek. Carolus von Linnaeus, Swedish plant classifier, accepted the name for his "Species plantarum."

But calla palustris already named a northern water plant. So it became richardia. But that was already a rubiaeceae family member. So it became, and stayed, zantedeschia, after Italian botanist and physician Francesco Zantedeschi.

Art has left a better record than writing. For classifying plants encouraged drawing flowers. Especially after the calla was imported from South Africa into the United States, American artists took to its white blooms, spear-headed leaves and elegant silhouette. It became grown, known and painted coast to coast.

Traditionally, it was painted into women's portraits. As recently as 1951, Mexican artist Diego Rivera put the calla into his portrait of Helen N. Starr. A female bullfighter, Starr faced death many times. The calla was also called the perfect mourning flowers, along with azalea, rose and violets. In fact, it was scattered over President Lincoln's casket and Queen Victoria's deathbed.

It was also seen as symbol, and cause, of death. Some scientists believed them to be dangerously poisonous. But that didn't keep southern Californians from growing them outdoors, year-round, as potato-like tasty good in looks and cooking. It was the same with missionaries who had seen pygmies and elephants eating the corms in the Congo.

With all the hype, how could the calla become other than the best known subject in American art? Marsden Hartley and Georgia O'Keeffe were particularly responsible for, but not alone in, that. Not surprisingly, shortly afterwards the calla also became a favorite with advertisers, designers, film-makers and marriage planners. The book perfectly traces this fascinating surge, from our gardens and into almost all of our arts. It reads especially well with Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser's MARSDEN HARTLEY.

This novel is a gripping and fascinating view of the life of a woman rebel who refuses to be kept in the gilded cage crowded with the other privilged women of her time. Nina De Bonnard is the heroine who although at first goes along with the patterns decreed by her set--going to party after party, finally realizes there should be more in her life than clothes, jewels and social dictums. She turns down marriage proposal after marriage proposal until she is near to being named 'a jilt.' The young American men seek the aid of a slightly older rake who has a few years of living in Europe and returned with a sophisticated veneer they admire. He agrees to revenge them by teaching the beautiful Nina a lesson. But she is more of a challenge than he expected, because she is not playing games. She is seeking a way of life that has meaning. There is fun and romance in the duel of wits between the hero and heroine, but there is more to this novel than just romance. For the writing raises the novel to the level of Jane Austen and Edith Wharton. Helen Argers has been compared to both those authors by reviewers and academia. The writing is rich with epigrams, nuance and sentences that suddenly reveal the inner soul of the characters. And then there is the author's use of humor. She captures her characters' inner selves in comic scenes such as depicting the reactions of different characters attending the grand opening of the Centennial Exhibition of Americana in Philadephia of 1876. The upper class women are shocked by the new inventions, critizing them for the noise and preferring the much more silent servants who already do those tasks without making such a fuss. When one of the young ladies, determined to outdo Nina De Bonnard in smashing appearance, appears wearing her corset laced to such a punishing degree that she faints--the women are shocked by her lack of protocol. One of them, known as the arbiter of taste, exclaims, "We're causing comment on the promenade!" and the young woman is quickly removed to the Ladies' Comfort Station, where the torturous corset is unlaced so she can breathe again. But Argers captures not only the mores of the time but the politics when she has Nina De Bonnard joining Susan B. Anthony in a protest at the conclusion of the Centennial Ceremonies. As well as opening the portholes to the past, Argers also reveals characters that believed in romance--a love that will not be denied despite the difference between the hero and heroine and Nina's determination to live a life free of the restrictions of marriage. Here is a novel that gives us a heroine for all time, for Nina De Bonnard is the first of today's women who want love, but also want respect for themselves and in addition for the rest of the people.
Reading this novel is like stepping back into the past and yet discovering that the past is a mirror to our own times--as we are slowly sinking into a new Gilded Era today. Just as the people then, even those in conditions of extreme poverty, spent of their little to buy newspapers to read about the extravagant parties of the upper class and bought pictures of the heiresses, we today are also celebrity followers. Nina De Bonnard's escapades, changing gowns as often as she did beaus, would make her an object of attack today as she was then. THE GILDED LILY is a must read on several levels. For those who love great romances and the extravagant lives of the super rich, this is for them. For those who want to understand how this country has veered dangerously close to becoming a second Gilded Era, this novel will show them the seeds. For those who value beautiful writing, impressive descriptions, humorous dialogue and comic events, plus overall intelligence and talent, this novel is for them. It is a rare novel that is both fun to read and worth rereading.

While at her friend Suzy's birthday party, Lily discovers how much she likes horses. But before the party is over, Lily finds herself on her way home to meet her new sister Tessa. But Tessa is a far cry from what Lily hopes. When Lily first meets Tessa, Tessa is beating up her brother Joe and making threats against the rest of the family. Tessa hates everything and has a name for everyone in Lily's life. All of Lily's plans to get away from her fail. Lily ends up missing her Girlz Only meetings to baby-sit,since Tessa hates Lily's youngest brother. Things get worse for Lily when Tessa takes China, Lily's panda, and makes a threat on Lily's dog Otto. Lily is even more angry to discover that her parents don't have the money to buy her a horse or to even get her lessons. Lily ends up working for her teacher, cleaning stables in exchange for lessons. And just when things couldn't get more hectic or bad, the Girlz and Shad come up with a plan to help Tessa with her homework that actually works. When the girlz and Shad tell Lily that they like Tessa, Lily is upset at the prospect of even sharing her friends. Suddenly, Lily feels that she has nothing to herself. Lily discovers that to take lessons she'll have to take Tessa with her. When Tessa discovers a love of horses and Lily's parents don't want her to come with Lily, something goes terribly wrong and forces Lily to learn a lesson about faith and family. This book is another winner in the Lily series from Nancy Rue, and is the 11th book in the series.

Discover the timeless wisdom of ancient China through these classic proverbs.

Margaret Sams has done it again. This wonderfully inspiring book tells the tale of women and their struggles during WWII. I highly recomend this touching book and Forbidden Family by Margaret Sams.

The heroine is a jewish woman, 2nd generation of the holochaust, kind of overanalyzed by herself and her therapists. The story is written from her perspective. Nothing spectacular happens in the everyday life of a New Yorker, emigrated from Australia, but an awsome reflection of the history of the 20th century makes the book thrilling and interesting. The contrast between this ordinary life and the inner world of a woman born one year after her parents escaped Auschwitz is dramatic. Married to a painter, she writes obituaries. She has three children. Her parents emigrated with her to Australia. Her life seems mainly balanced and secure on the outside, but internally this woman is haunted by the past, which is in most parts not hers but her parents'.

The flow of language is easy but the words are amazingly precisely chosen. Though the heroine's biography is in main points the same as the author's, the book to me never seems like a 'confession'. Perhaps that is why the characters are so believable. The perspective is loving but with the distance of someone who can not take the momentary easiness of life as granted. I liked the emotional depth, the humor. The topics are nothing new but amazingly the perspective did not once make it boring for me. ( -And I can be easily bored!)

The inner state of mind of the protagonist is psychologically believable and seems to me very precise described.

A girlfriend of mine gave me the book. She found the psychology as convincing as I do. I think it will be easier to read for women. I would not recommend that book for people who may seek mere entertainment and action in a book. For us other folks, neurotic, insecure, contemplating, 2nd or third generation: highly recommended. Reads like a biography and though giving insight in an historic process and new aspects towards pychology, it is entertaining.

This was truly an uplifting, heartwarming book. It made me laugh and cry as I could relate the author's true stories to my own life and marriage. This book is not just for couples struggling with infertility problems, but a must read for every woman. It was highly inspirational and rejuvenated my Faith-definitely a lily to me.

Lily Robbins and Shad Shifferdecker are at it again. Except this time their fighting gets the attention of Mrs. Reinhold, Lily's English teacher, who decides to cast them in a production of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, with Shad as Petruchio and Lily as Katharina. Before long, both Shad and Lily are having fun with the play...but Shad's girlfriend Ashley Adamson sure isn't.
Ashley threatens Lily by taunting her at school and by pulling pranks when Lily is at home. She even tries to get Shad suspended in her efforts.
Lily gets fed up with Ashley's antics but tries to blow Ashley off. When Lily hears two people in her drama group talking about how weird they think Lily is, Lily gets upset and decides to talk to her mother about all of her "enemies." Lily decides to pray about the problem, but feels that her efforts aren't doing any good. When Lily is forced to sit out the festival, she learns about relationships and makes new friends in the process.

This new "coffee table" book is stunningly BEAUTIFUL. Whether you are an admirer of lilies, of flowers in general, of nature photography, of great design, and/or of beauty, this book will surely please your finer sensibilities. The photography is magnificent ... tight close-ups ... the tightest close-up revealing pollen both scattered and in a clump. The lilies are, by nature, beautiful in themselves. But this book presents them to you in a way that makes them compelling and unforgettable.