C.S. Lewis is one of the most prolific writers of the 20th century. Not only gifted in the writing of fiction (as in "The Chronicles of Narnia"), Mr. Lewis is also admired as a Christian writer. This book, a compilation of excerpts from such books as "The Screwtape Letters", "Mere Christianity", and "The Problem of Pain", is an incredible lesson in wisdom, patience and forebearance. Anyone who reads this book will be blessed by the candid honesty of Mr. Lewis and his experiences.

I received this book as a gift in elementary school and at the time found it much to deep even though I thoroughly enjoyed the books. However re-reading it several years later it gave me a lot of insight into the Narnia series and made me enjoy them more as I got older. I would recommend this book for anyone who loves the books.

The Chronicles Of Narnia carry you off into a new, magical world full of interesting characters, enthralling storylines and fantastic places. Although they are recommended for children, anyone with a vivid imagination who loves fantasy will probably like these. One must wonder about the genius of Lewis - to create a whole world is unusual, to say the least. Narnia is a brand new world at the beginning of the first book, The Magician's Nephew. In the course of the chronicles the country is saved numerous times by a group of children from our world - England from about 1900 to 1950 to be precise. Lewis' writing is subtly witty and at times profoundly moving (especially in the first and last two books). Well worth a read - or several. The one bad thing about these books is that they instill a sense of wistful nostalgia in anyone who believes in the ability of people to destroy our world.

The Land of Narnia is a good book that tells about C.S. Lewis' life and how he came to write the Chronicles of Narnia. This book tells who Aslan and the Witches are and tells what gave C.S. Lewis the idea for Reepicheep, the warrior mouse. This book contains summaries for the seven books as well. This is an excellent book to read if you have just finished reading the Chronicles of Narnia. It helps you to understand the books and the characters a little better if you don't know what they mean. You also learn about C.S. Lewis' childhood and how this was a major factor in creating the Narnia books. Reviewed by Joshua Bixler *****stars

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is one of the most clever and entertaining books yet written. The author's use of language is extremely appealing to the younger readers. These young readers are attracted to this book because of the author's use of many songs. For instance the lullaby sung by the duchess to her child. The Mock Turtle also sang to Alice and the Gryphon a song about the Lobster Quadrille. The author also uses poems that are entertaining and fun to listen to. "You are Old Father William" is one of the many poems. Not only does the author use poems but she also uses commonly known poems and changes the words to fit the character saying them. For instance the Mad-Hatter sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in different words saying "Up above the world you fly, Like a tea-tray in the sky." If this isn't a unique way of writing I dont know what is. Another style of her writingthat is appealing is when she creates a picture, using words in a poem, about the poem. Yhis is used on page 37. The words in the book are nbot hard so the book can be enjoyable when it is being read, not stressful. The author brings animals to life which is an interesting style of writing. This is Lewis Carroll's style of writing. The main character in this book is a little girl with blonde hair named Alice. This child is full of fantasies and dreams, which is what the book is about. Alice is very curious and likes to know every little detail. She thinks she is very smart. For example, when Alice is listening to the Dormouse's story she asks questions like "What did they live on," and makes smart comments such as "They could'nt have done that you know, they'd have been ill." She is also a little bit bratty, especially to the Dormouse when she says: "Nobody asked your opinion." These characteristics pull together to make an interesting main character and to create a fabulous story. The theme of the story is sometimes you need to take a break out of every day life and dream of fantasize. This makes your life more interesting even if you dream about things that will never come true. Alice does this when she dreams about changing sizes and listening to talking animals. Dreaming doesn't hurt anyone except the people who don't do it. If nobody ever had dreams life would be extremely stressful and boring. The plot of the story is all about Alice trying to find the white rabbit, which of course is in her dream. Following the white rabbit takes ALice to interesting places, such as the Courtroom filled with animals, and the Duchess' house, along with meeting interestingpeople such as the Cheshire-Cat and the Queen. This amazing cat hes the ability to disappear whenever it wants to and it always smiles. In the end Alice finds the white rabbit and then wakes up from her dream. This is the plot of the story. The story is effective to the reader. This is so because after listening to such acreative dream and fantasy, it inspires people to take a little time out of the day and be creative and dream once in a while. All the parts of this five star story; the writer's style, the main character, the theme, and the plot; come together to create the overall effectiveness of the story. This is why I rated this book five stars.

I really like Alice in Wonderland and its sequel because it is so whimsical. The way Dodgson made fun of Alice so much makes one laugh until tears come pouring down. He based the character Alice, on his friend; a real life Alice. Throughout the book, he constantly makes references to her, or something related to her. For example, when a character asks her the exact day Alice replies May 4th. May 4th is the real life Alice's birthday. Alice walks through Wonderland, and she sees many strange things, but thinks otherwise. If you like poems, you will certainly like Alice in Wonderland and its sequel, for both books contain numerous poems. However, in the book Carroll takes the original poems and creates a parody out of them. Something interesting to know is that all the poems relate to the chapters. These are all minor details, but something to muse over. On the surface, Alice in Wonderland is a book where she meets weird creatures and walks away from them always feeling humiliated, as she thinks she is smarter than she really is. That is most of Alice in Wonderland.

Alice through the Looking Glass is similar to the prequel, yet glaringly different. The whole book revolves around a chess game, and so the character's actions correspond to moves on the chessboard. Alice joins in the game, starts out as a white pawn, and proceeds to move until she becomes a queen. At each square, she meets a new character, but in one chapter, characters from the previous book are in this one too. An important thing to know in this famous classic is that everything is backwards. It makes sense since Alice is on the other side of a mirror, yet she encounters difficulty sometimes in understanding this. But in the end, she manages to become a queen and to checkmate the red king. Both books are very enjoyable, and I strongly advocate both children and adults to read it. Enjoy!! Cheers!!!!! : )

When I was assigned Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass to read for my Victorian Literature class, I was excited. Even though I had heard Alice's Adventures in Wonderland referred to countless times throughout my youth, I had never read the story or seen the movie. I had never heard of Through the Looking Glass, but while reading, I realized that many people who think they are talking about AAIW are actually referring to TTLG. The two texts seem to be conflated in a way that makes them indistinguishable from each other. It is for this reason that I enjoyed reading this edition of the texts. There is only a page separating the two stories, which allows the reader to easily make the transition between them. This small separation also allows the reader to recognize the undeniable connection between the texts and to understand why many people combine them in their minds.
AAIW is about a young girl named Alice whose boring day with her sister is interrupted when a white rabbit runs by her saying, "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" Alice's curiosity is aroused, but surprisingly not to a great degree. This is the first hint to the reader that Alice is not an average child, as she seems to believe that a talking rabbit is quite normal. She does become intrigued, though, when the rabbit produces a clock from his pocket, so she follows it down its hole and enters a world of wonder. I loved the story from this point on. It is filled with such unbelievable creatures and situations, but Carroll's writing style made me want to believe in a world that could be filled with so much magic and splendor. There was never a dull moment in the story, and each page was filled with more excitement. I will offer a warning, though. This story is not for those who like a neatly packaged plotline. It is written in a somewhat discontinuous nature and seems to follow some sort of dream logic where there are no rules. However, I enjoyed the nonsensical pattern. Without it, a dimension of the story would be lost. It offers some insight into the mind of a young, adventurous, fearless girl, and Carroll seems to be challenging his readers to be more like Alice.
The second text in this book, TTLG, is again a story about Alice. In this adventure, Alice travels through a wondrous world on the other side of her looking glass. As in AAIW, Alice again encounters absurd creatures, such as live chess pieces and talking flowers. The land she travels through is an oversized chessboard, which gives this story a more structured plot than AAIW. The chess theme provides Alice with sense of what she must accomplish in the looking- glass world, and it provides the reader with a sense of direction throughout the story. Alice's goal is to become a chess queen, so the reader knows that when she becomes queen, the story will be over. However, just because the story has some structure does not mean that it is not just as wild and marvelous as its predecessor. I enjoyed all of the characters. They seem to have an endless supply of advice that people in the 21st century can still learn from. My favorite example is when the Red Queen says, "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!" Maybe what Carroll is suggesting is that if we read more nonsensical, unbelievable stories like his, we won't be so afraid to be adventurous and fearless like Alice; so that the next time a white rabbit runs by us, we might just see where it leads us.

A very readable and well-done book which highlights the fascinating relationship between two people who would seem to have little in common. Even better than the movie!

I loved this book!
It tells the famous expedition of Lewis and Clark from the perspectives of the participants, particularly Lewis, Clark and Sacagawea. Their voices form competing versions of the expedition; together they weave a narrative like glimpses of a river seen through branches. I was left with the sense that I had explored much more than just the blank space of the unknown on the map.

The mysteries in the hearts and minds of the characters unfolded inside of me. By the end of the book they had filled in a map of memories and desires that kept speaking to me long after I had closed the book.

This is a lyrical and rewarding book that will change the way you view the opening of the west and the history of America in general, along with what it means to explore the unknown, both up a river and through someone's heart.

THIS BOOK IS A SHEER JOY!
The adventures of William Clark and Merriweather Lewis have long been ample fodder for historical prose. Their expedition is probably the most memorable story of "See America First" type travel, and their triumph in exploring an unknown America has been well documented since the Jefferson era. But never has the story been so personal, nor as involving, as Brian Hall's take on their trek.
"I Should Be..." gets its title from Lewis's actual invitation to Clark to join the Corps of Discovery in exploring an uncharted Western America. The novel imagines the dialogue between the men, along with their native guide Sacagawea and Sacagewea's husband Toussaint Charbonneau, and uses the words of the foursome to propel the story from Washington DC to St. Louis, and then through the great Northwest. It removes the tale from the traditional dry narrative type of historical novel, and gives the characters rich, imagined lives that make the expedition almost personal to the reader.
All books of this type rise and fall on the strength of the cast, and Hall has populated his players with the necessary hopes, despairs and neuroses that would go hand in hand with creating a legendary tale. Lewis's grandeur in his mission and Clark's seeming envy at playing #2 in what was described to him as a mission led by equals are among the many plot devices used by Hall to make allready known charecters take on human form. A hysterical and well imagined portion of the book describing the naming of rivers after Lewis and Clark (where Clark gets the short end of the stick) is only one example of how well this story plays out.
Since the book is told in dialogue form, the chapters were Sacagawea describes the journey are difficult (Hall uses a device that blends English and Shoshone that is slightly confusing) but essential to the plot. This is a minor gripe for a book that is revolutionary in its retelling of history.
While everyone is familiar with how the story plays out and ends, there is a coda to the novel that describes Lewis and Clark's lives following the expedition that was new to me. Lewis's post-expedition live was tragic, while Clark became a mainstay of St. Louis society. Taking the book through their post-expedition lives gives Hall a great opportunity to expand on the price of fame and the fall of legends. He hits the mark with eloquence and sincerity.
I had never read anything by Hall prior to this book, so I don't know if the richness of this story could have been foreseen, or if he just got lucky. I will be looking forward to reading some of his other works now, for his talent in bringing character and emotion to one of history's greatest duo was incredibly impressive.

This beautifully written historical novel about Lewis and Clark and their extraordinary expedition conveys not just the historical facts of the tale, but also an artist's sense of the emotional and psychological workings of the minds of the main participants in this astounding journey. The author made me realize how a fine novelist is somewhat like an actor who is able to inhabit the mind of a character and convey that character's essence to his audience. To read this book is therefore like making the journey as if the reader were each of the main participants in it. An additional pleasure for me was learning a great deal about the history of this country in this well researched book.

Having been in abusive relationships, I couldn't wait to read this although I rarely real Steel. The 1st thing I noticed, from page one, is that Steel starts off every other sentence with the word And. She uses run-on sentence (4 sentences in one, all separated by the word And) one after another. I'm also a writer & there is no possible way this book was edited or went through a second draft. It is written at the level of an 6th grader at best.

The story would have been great if it had been realistic, as other reviewers have noted. I applaud that someone finally wrote about the more subtle forms of abuse. The problem is Steel repeated herself for about 1/3rd of the book! Then Maddy only breaks free by using another man! If only Steel had consulted with a psychologist about the sickness of ending this book that way & the message that gives to the public, this book COULD have been great. Unfortunately, it tells abused women that they NEED a man in order to break free. Also Maddy was supposedly seeing an experienced psychologist about her abusive marriage, yet Maddy's excuse for not getting out was not knowing how. Excuse me Ms. Steel, next time call a hotline from any phone book or at least consult a professional. First of all, ANY woman in an abusive relationship of ANY kind if urged to get out immediately, while Maddy was encouraged to STAY WITH her abuser while trying to figure it all out, with her life at risk on a daily basis! The first thing a psychologist must do in this situation is provide resources for an abused client to get out of harms way!

Every city has women's shelters, safe houses for immediate escape. All phone books should include toll-free hot lines, if not, call a local hospital and ask for the number of a Domestic Violence/Abuse hot line. No one should read this book & take ANY of Maddy's actions to heart as a valid way to respond to this kind of abuse. Instead, call the hotline & get help NOW. Emotional & verbal abusers can turn physically violent at any time, as Maddy's husband Jack did when he bit her nipple til it bled--yet Maddy stayed with him for almost a year afterwards, suffering progressively worse abuse from her husband that was absolutely unnecesary! One aspect that was apparent from how Steel structured this book--she must believe having access to a plane, a weekend house, luxury and more is worthy of continuous abuse. Maddy was definitely addicted to her luxurious lifestyle, which she used as an excuse not to leave her abuser!

I hope Steel at least has an editor to do the work for her before she attempts writing another book on any serious subject such as this one. It is terrifying that someone as widely read & "famous" as Steel could write so dangerously bad--grammatically & ignorantly.

In "Journey", the 50th (!) of Danielle Steel's novels, the author takes on new territory by addressing the incredibly serious topic of domestic violence and psychological abuse. On the one hand Ms. Steel is to be commended for clearly having researched the matter and for steering away from stereotypes by having her heroine, Maddy Hunter, be a successful and well-known TV personality. But at the same time, Ms. Steel reverts to those very same stereotypes -- anyone who happens to be from Tennessee and reads this book is bound to be offended by these characters and their "white trash" image (her words, not mine). Why is it that whenever DS writes in a Southern character, their names are always Bobby Joe or Etta Lou or something similar? I would imagine that Southerners might find this book loaded with stereotypes.

That said, DS does an excellent job describing the psychological abuse that Maddy suffers during the course of the book at the hands of her husband, Jack. My main problem with this is that this couple have been married for SEVEN YEARS. When the book begins, she is happy and in love and things are described as having been heavenly for the course of her marriage. Well, it becomes obvious that Jack has always been domineering and controlling, but it seems very unconvincing to me that Maddy only now begins to feel suffocated by this relationship.

Lastly, I was extremely disappointed that Maddy did not emerge from her relationship with Jack until it was "a sure thing" with her new beau and close friend. I think DS could have provided a much stronger message by allowing Maddy to rescue HERSELF from the relationship, be alone for a while, and then realize that she was in love with Bill and have it be a conscious decision to go to him. As it was written, she moved right from one man to another, and you wonder if she is even remotely on the path to healing or not. If DS was concerned about lengthening the story to allow for Maddy to spend some time on her own, she could easily have reduced it by 50-75 pages by just being LESS REPETITIVE. This reptitive style of writing is getting worse with each book she writes and it's evident that churning out 2-3 books a year is adversely affecting the quality of the material.

In summary, I believe that fans of this author will enjoy this book, but I suspect will share some frustration at the convenience with which everything comes together at the end.

Journey is the story of Maddy Hunter, the victim of lifelong abuse. She witnesses her father being abusive to her mother and then is abused herself by her boyfriend-turned-husband Bobby Joe. After joining a commission on violence she discovers the husband who rescued her from Bobby Joe may not be the hero she thinks. Along Maddy's journey she meets a part of her past and her future.

Ms. Steel did a fantastic job of writing about abuse, and not just physical abuse but emotional abuse, or invisible abuse, because it is harder for everyone to see. I must say this book opened my eyes to the subject. Overall journey is a good book. I found parts to be repetitous. I guess that could be chalked up to the fact that during Maddy's journey she keeps thinking about incidents from the past. I just found some of these parts to be (and I hate to say this) a little boring.

I think every woman should read this book. It gets the messge of emotional and verbal abuse across very well. Towards the end the book is very good and reminds me of Ms. Steel's early work.

This is a history of the church. I found this outline to be really between satisfactory and good. Read this slowly, it's intense.