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Book reviews for "Hoffeld,_Laura" sorted by average review score:

Surrendered Single: A Practical Guide to Attracting and Marrying the Man Who's Right for You
Published in Paperback by Fireside (2002)
Author: Laura Doyle
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Every woman should own this book
Did you read that book, "The Rules" that was so popular a few years ago? If you did, you may wish to use it for something useful, like kindling for your firewood...and replace it with this book instead.

Surrendered Single is nothing short of the best source of information for single women. Even if you've decided that you're content with remaining single, read it anyway. If you read Laura Doyle's approach, and truly try her methods, then your dating life *will* change, I promise!

Definitely worth a try
I have read and browsed quite a few self-help books for single women trying to find mr. right. After hearing about this book from a friend, I browsed it a bit at a bookstore and decided to buy it. I read it over a few days and found that while I didn't agree with everything, I think it's a refreshing way to look at dating and relationships. The biggest lesson I've learned is that I essentially teach men how to treat me. I have been following some of her tips and have found many of the things she says to be true. This books doesn't just stop once you have found that person but it also has plenty of information on how to stay happy in your relationship and deciding whether or not you need to leave it. Most of her suggestions seem like common sense but may take a little bit of practice to follow. I would recommend this book to all single women who have problems finding a relationship or keeping one.

Single Woman's Bible to Dating
Laura Doyle has such an amazing, gentle and honest way to help you along the road of dating blissfully. Since I started to follow the surrendered single way of dating I am attracting a much higher quality of man. I have learned that I can still be a strong independent woman, while being feminine and adored by a man at the same time.

While it is a growing process, sometimes one that is uncomfortable. I am learning so much about myself and what I want in a relationship. I am learning to let men treat me like a real lady and I am not settling for any less than I deserve. I have also learned that things are not always what they appear to be so if I think a man is half way decent I will give him a chance to take me out. I have been pleasantly surprised now that I have learned to put away my "check list" in what I want in a man. I actually enjoy dating now. Sometimes it is still uncomfortable but the book has given me so many new tools to use to help me along the way.

I recommend Laura's books to all woman I know, married and single.


The Memory Keeper
Published in Paperback by d'Arcy Liat (1999)
Author: Laura Nadworny
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This book delivers on racial, cultural, mythological levels.
Native American mythology has always interested me, particularly the coyote archetype. I was pleased that the narrative of The Memory Keeper stayed true to a particular myth, in many ways the characters reenacting certain aspects of the myth. Throughout the story, many of the characters seemed to be responding to the superficiality of contemporary life. It was also interesting that many of the characters were artists. Joseph Campbell once made the remark that psychologists were the modern day version of priests, while artists were the shamans-the artist always seeking to step outside, to question. It is through the work of the artist, such as Jesse (the protagonist of this book) that we find ourselves redirected back to mythology, to the world beyond appearance. This story illustrates this well even through its minor characters, such as the winos in the supermarket who were, in reality, sources of great wisdom. Even Tiffany's character interested me because her shallowness seemed forced, an armor she wore to shield herself from the pain of experience. The author's attraction to myth, as well as to Native American culture, reminded me of the work of José Bedia, a Cuban artist who has spent time among the Navajo.

Many of us are caught in the bind of being tagged with a cultural identity at birth and go through life feeling separated from people of different cultures. Jesse's march into seemingly altogether different cultures, even at the risk of being ostracized (which is reflected in her artwork of discarded objects and shattered mirrors), revealed her deep-rooted desire to break through cultural and racial differences and to find something that bonds everyone together-her identity no longer something that was given to her as much as it was earned. The Memory Keeper is very good.

A book I would highly recommend
The Memory Keeper was well written and easy to read. The author captured my attention quickly and painted a vivid picture of the characters and their surroundings. It would make a great movie. It is a story everyone can relate to. It made me realize how little I know about my own family background and how important it is to share with my children. I'm looking forward to giving this book to my family and friends for the holidays.

An exhilarating book full of history and life's lessons.
The Memory Keeper is a fun, exhilarating book that's full of history and life's lessons. It will leave you turning each page saying "Oh my gosh. I can't believe this is happening!" If you want a suspenseful, yet kind-hearted book, read The Memory Keeper.


Remember Me
Published in Paperback by St. Martin's Press (2000)
Author: Laura Hendrie
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Charming and Engaging
"Remember Me" grabs you and doesn't let go. Hendrie's voice for Rose is defiant, but her core is one of warmth, tenderness and vulnerability. You'll be engrossed by the story of Rose and her hometown of Quedero, New Mexico. You'll laugh, cry, and perhaps recognize yourself in the struggles of Rose, Frank, Birdie, Alice, and the rest of the bunch. The best book I've read in a long time. Hendrie is quite a talent and a valued find!

A story written with consummate grace
What remains sacred when everything is for sale? What happens to a tightly-knit community when heritage is traded for an illusory economic security?

Laura Hendrie sets "Remember Me" in the forgotten New Mexico town of Queduro. The residents, once miners and shepherds, now rely on tourists for economic survival. Queduro is the most isolated of mountain towns, cut off from the rest of the world in October through May by impassible snows. The town has long spent its winters bent to embroidery, but only in recent years has the outside world developed a taste for their intricately worked crafts.

Into this picture of a town struggling to create and maintain the perfect tourist enviroment are set some fairly eccentric characters. Rose Devonic, a twenty-nine year old woman who's been an orphan for the last thirteen years, is in Queduro because it's the only home she's ever known. Rose is as stubborn as she is strong, and she's determined to chart her own course in spite of the town elder's wanting her to spout the tourist line. Already teetering on the far edge of acceptance, Rose crosses the invisible line when she challenges Alice, the sister of a local motel owner, who has returned to this town she'd rather forget to sell her brother's business.

Queduro residents, sharply attuned to the business damage eccentrics could wreak, have had it with Rose. Alice presents a different, but fully equal challenge. Though she comes across as a strong and determined seventy-year-old, her mind has started to wander. It is only a matter of time before the town begins to turn on her as well.

Laura Hendrie crafts an incredibly lovely and moving tale in this first novel. Though set in the west, her themes are universal. Rose's loss of her home is paralleled by Alice's struggle to hold on to her memory. It's a conflict which unites some very unlikely allies.

It would be easy, and unfair, to characterize this work as a book which would appeal only to women. The main characters are women, but the issues raised by this work cross gender lines as easily as they do geographic ones. It is a book that looks at what makes a hero, and how does one make a home. It seems, in Hendrie's vision, home has very little to do with physical grandeur, and a whole lot to do with what you love.

This is a wonderful story, beautifully told, and a total immersion experience that should not be missed.

Of memory, belonging, and difference
Memory -- its presence and its absence, its wonder and its terror, its helpfulness and its harm -- weaves its way through Laura Hendrie's REMEMBER ME like a minor-key musical leitmotif. Rose Devonic, lifelong resident of tiny Queduro, New Mexico, struggles against the memories of the townspeople; the failing memory of her sometime-nemesis, Alice Pinkston; the bittersweet memory of a family killed in a car accident when Rose was just 16.

This is a novel about belonging and difference, remembering and forgetting, acceptance and rejection. Hendrie makes you care about Rose, seeing the world through her slightly offbeat, but clear and decisive eyes.

I opened REMEMBER ME at bedtime and turned the last page at 5:00 AM. I couldn't rest without knowing how Rose's life turned out.

Read this book. Now.


Little House the Laura Years Boxed Set: The Early Years Collection
Published in Paperback by HarperTrophy (1993)
Authors: Laura Ingalls Wilder and Garth Williams
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Never to late to enjoy these great books.
This one will be short and sweet. I just completed reading all five of the boxed set. I feel I knew the Ingalls family as I shared their lives, dangers, joys, and challenges. But, why, oh why, did I wait over fifty years to discover these wonderful stories. Laura waited until she was 65 years old to start writing them, so I think it safe to say that 65(my age) is not too late for me to read them.

To say this is about a pioneer family moving west, or about a little girl who lived in the big woods, on the prairie, near a creek, on the shores of a lake, and in various structures including a sod house dug into the side of a hill - misses the point. These stories are about adventures and goodness and have successfully warmth the hearts of generations of all ages since they were written.

I recommend anyone of any age read Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House Series. The best part of all is that the stories are based on her family and her life and capture the time and a spirit of those strong and determined folks who moved west in the 19th Century.

Wonderful Way to Look at Simpler Times
I remember devouring these books as a young girl, I'm 35 now and have begun reading the books with my 5 year old daughter. The first in the series is written so that she can read a great deal herself. Laura wrote such a wonderful recount of her life that you can really imagine, even if you are five, how much simpler life was . . . or complicated depending on how you look at it. We've had several discussions about the husstle and busstle of our life, brought on by the togetherness and importance of family that these books demonstrate.

Down Memory Lane
I remember reading the "Little House" books when I was a little girl. I am now 28 and looking forward to reading them with my 6 year old. We now live about 40 miles from Walnut Grove, MN and my daughter can't wait to read about that town and how life was in the pioneer days! I definitely recommend these books!


Promises, Promises
Published in Paperback by Skylark (1998)
Author: Laura Peyton Roberts
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Best Teen Series IN Ages*****
This series has me hooked on it!It gets better with eveery book.So,if you havent read any of the clearwater crossing books,I suggest you read them before reading this,or else you will have no idea what is going on!In this book,Secrets come out.And trust me y=they are interesting.IM interested myself in starting a fan club for this series so feel free to e mail me!(at the top)Ok,so lets talk about the book.Leah has just become a model(no suprise to me:),Peter and Melanie become closer than usual,and Jenna is bummed,over her life basically.leah and Miguel do not want to keep their realtionship a secret anymore.

Best book ever!
This is the first book in the series that I have read. I was looking for a good book to read at the library and decided to get this one. It was a good choice! Great book. I think Miguel and Leah are PERFECT for each other! I am now hooked on these books. Ms. Roberts you did an excellent job! read it!

Great
I really like this series! It's great! I can't believe it's ending at book 20! Book 19 just came out. Anyways. This is a great series. A thing I like most about it is how everyone in this book likes someone. Nicole likes Jesse. Jesse likes Melanie. Melanie likes Peter. Peter likes Jenna. Jenna likes Miguel. Miguel likes Leah. Leah likes Miguel. And, well, Ben, he's just out there, but that's ok. Ok, now about this book:

It's really good! Leah and Miguel want to tell Eight Prime about them but Miguel wimps out and refuses and they get into a big fight about it. Melanie and Peter start hanging out a lot, and Jenna gets majorly jealous. Ben's trying to fit in, and Nicoles just jealous of everything: Melanie, Leah...etc. Overall a very good book. Recommend you reading the whole series.


The Angel and the Prince
Published in Paperback by Kensington Pub Corp (Mass Market) (1996)
Authors: Laurel O'Donnell and Laura O'Donnell
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This book is by far the best book I've ever read!!!
I like to read historical romance books were women aren't always meek and defensless. This is absolutly what I was looking for! Ms.O'Donnell will have you wondering what happens after the end of the story.She should make a sequal.This is definetly a keeper for my book shelf!

My most beloved rainy day book
I adore this story -- the characters are so dimensional and developed. There is a poignacy to their scenes that I have not seen duplicated in other romance novels. I have read and re-read this book so many times its pathetic. I recommend this novel to anyone who wants to find out why we read this genre of books. Fan-bloody-tastic!

Wow.....
My roomate and I throughly enjoyed this book. The saddest thing I had ever heard was when i came online to order my own copy and saw it was out of print. Ryen and Bryce are both scitilating characters whose exploits are well worth following. Bryce is hot..and their romance is steamy and erotic. I would recomend this book to anyone who is looking for a good read. ( my boyfriend really liked it too)


Little House in the Ozarks
Published in Audio Cassette by Thomas Nelson (1992)
Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Thank you Hines!
As a fan of the Little House books, I've read Laura's stories many times. But before she wrote them, she wrote for the newspapers about farm life. This gives such an exciting peak at her adult life, her "what happened next" years, that any true fan should read it.

Timeless articles
This is a collection of newspaper articles Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about life in the Ozarks. Many of the articles are full insights into life that still apply today. She wrote about farmer's wives being equal in importance to their husbands, the frustration of dealing with "new technology" (in her case a new washing machine), and many other day to day activities on the farm.

The Commonsense of Yesteryear - very refreshing!
Laura Ingalls' writing for adults, through a newspaper column she did weekly from 1911-1925, is highly amusing, and very thought-provoking for those of us living now in Psychobabble, Let It All Hang Out, Complain and Whine and Blame and Brood California.

Her advice is to simply refrain from even commenting on one's troubles, and avoid thinking about the negative things, the things one can't do anything about.

Try to be positive, try to see that work is necessary, and don't avoid one's job and chores, or you make yourself more miserable.

ARe these the commonsense things that today's adults or children ever hear, outside of a church sermon or Reader's Digest?

It reminds me of my early days in Germany, when slowly the meaning of the old folksongs began to penetrate as I learned the German vocabulary. I'd heard them, hummed with them, and played the kazoo and danced to them; but when I finally understood the lyrics, I realized what a completely different time and place they came from. They encourage people to stand up and enjoy their lives, the chance to walk in the flowers of springtime, to make friends, to have a drink with colleagues or family, to see one's beloved again, and to rejoice that God made you at all.

When I met older Germans, they seemed often to still embody such positive efforts and mentality, in contrast to the American-like cynicism of the young.

This will strike you - assuming you are an adult reading this - when you read Laura Ingalls' columns. I don't know what children would think, but I think they'd like them. They're straight and honest and true, just as she advises us to be.


Mentalpause : . . . and Other Midlife Laughs
Published in Paperback by Fleming H Revell Co (2001)
Author: Laura Jensen Walker
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THANK YOU, LAURA JENSEN WALKER!
I laughed til I cried! Not only does Laura Jensen Walker relate to those women who experience menopause at the medically correct age, she also speaks to those of us who have gone thru it early in life. AND...she somehow manages to hit every avenue of it without embarassing herself or her readers! The only red face comes from the age old hot flash one may suffer thru while reading the book! There's no reason to suffer thru menopause anymore! Laura has taken that which we dreaded and made it...well, ALMOST fun! Thank you, Laura Jensen Walker for putting into words what my hot flashes have been trying to say for so long!"

A Fly On the Wall. . .
I'm ashamed to admit that Laura Jensen Walker is a spy. Evidently she has peeped into my life, and the lives of thousands of other women who find themselves on the other side of forty. Thank God we can laugh about it together, and that is exactly what she accomplishes with "Mentalpause". "I'm normal!" I shouted, after reading Laura's hilarious first chapter. I guess I'm not going crazy after all. I'm simply a bright, maturing woman entering a new season of life called "Mentalpause". Thanks, Laura, for the laughs and an honest, humorous look at aging.

Great medicine for the soul!
Laura Jensen Walker tickles the funny bones of readers from page one on. This book empathizes, while reminding us to laugh at ourselves. A great read for women who've been through menapause, or those who are getting ready to go through it, and the men who are trying to understand them!


The Little House Cookbook : Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Classic Stories
Published in Paperback by HarperTrophy (1995)
Authors: Barbara M. Walker and Garth Williams
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If you love the little house books...
and food, you will love this book. Even if you never make any of the recipes in this book it is a joy to read Wilder's passages in this book and then read the cookbook author tell you about these old fashion foods.

FABULOUS!!!!
I've been a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan for practically my whole life and am now delighted to be reading the whole series aloud to my young daughter who loves the books as much as I. My friend told me about this cookbook and we purchased it - it is WONDERFUL!

I read the whole thing cover to cover - it is just fascinating. The author writes in a very readable, extremely interesting style. I love having all the recipes for the meals mentioned throughout the Little House books and I *love* reading the history included in this cookbook. It adds such depth and perspective to our readings of the LIW books. [This book is as much a history text as it is a cookbook - and it does great justice to both genres!]

My daughter and I have made several of the recipes from the book so far and they have all been delicious, if not exactly health conscious. :) I haven't been able to bring myself to buy Lard, but we have delighted in making some of the same foods Laura ate. My daughter is learning a HUGE amount about history through these experiences.

Buying this book is the best money I've spent in years!

Loved this book!
I hope that you will be as impressed with this book as I was. I was taken away with all of the background information on the preparing, cooking, and serving of food in this book. It has some very good recipes in this, as well as great documentation on the life during the time where Laura grew up. The book is also well illustrated. This has been the most impressive cookbook for children that I have seen to date in terms of extra information that goes with the cookbook. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a book for their favorite Little House on the Prarie fan. This book would also be excellent for a scout troup wanting to do something a little historical. A definate must!


Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul: Stories to Celebrate the Spirit of Courage, Caring and Community
Published in Paperback by Health Communications (2002)
Authors: Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Arline McGraw Oberst, John T. Boal, Tom Lagana, and Laura Lagana
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