The Winter of Enchantment was the first book I can recall reading, and that was 20 years ago - the book has had me captivated for that long. It is a book that all children, and adults, should read at least twice!

In common with other readers I first read this book towards the end of my childhood. I bought it in 1977 secondhand in a bookshop attic in St. Ives, Cambridgeshire. I still have it although it is much loved and so very battered. It is wonderful. Lyrical and magical it enchants. It's hero Sebastian is gentle and yet so very courageous. This book deserves to be re-published.

I too read this book when I was about 11. The story kept me riveted and I could not put the book down. Unfortunately, the moment I finished reading it I promptly forgot both the title of the book and the name of the author and it was only last week that by pure coincidence I was telling a friend about it and it turned out that she too has been searching for this book for over ten years. Therefore I have an appeal to make to any publisher who may read this - PLEASE reprint the book!!!! I'd recommend it to any reader, young or old!

This book is by far the absolute best book that will ever be written about Elvis. The authors are sincere Elvis fans who have done their homework, and it truly shows in this masterpiece. Whether you are a lifelong Elvis fan, or an "outsider looking in", this book is a must read. If you are an Elvis skeptic, read this book and you will be smitten for good. Kudos to the authors!!!

I JUST RECEIVED MY COPY OF ELVIS & YOU AND I ALREADY LOVE IT! I GIVE THESE AUTHORS (5) STARS! I HAVE AN ELVIS KING CREOLE FAN CLUB OF MY OWN AN I LOVE IT! THIS BOOK TO ME IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS ABOUT ELVIS' FANS! THANK YOU LAURA & JOHN & ALL THE PEOPLE THAT HELPED THEM OUT WITH THIS GREAT BOOK! I CAN'T WAIT TO FINISH IT!

At last, a book written with love and respect, like Elvis deserved. The authors know and love their subject and it shows... they're not trying to make us believe that Elvis was perfect but that he was a very human being with all the good and bad that come with it. Great suggestions of books, CD's, videos and web sites. You'll know Elvis more intimately after reading this book... and that's a very enjoyable way to know him, isn't it?

Creating a Charmed Life is a series of 75 essays, each exploring an idea that will pave the way to a positive, life-affirming habit. Each essay is about 3 pages long, starts with a catchy title and a quote. Examples: "Get Ample Shine Time", "Practice the Vacation Principle", "Stop to Realize", "Honor Your Cycles" and "Breathe"!
I enjoy Victoria Moran's style; it is beautiful, fresh and very friendly. The book is full of insights and wisdom, and will direct you to many positive habits that will make your life happier, easygoing and fulfilled.
Victoria Moran gave us, busy women, a gift by writing this very useful book. Reading it is obviously not enough. Put these "sensible spiritual secrets" into practical use, and enjoy a charmed life.

This volume is a treat for women and men of all ages. Victoria Moran gently challenges you to look inside yourself and to find out who is at home. Hopefully you will love the person you find inside yourself. In this book, you are offered the opportunity to expand your horizons and find the "fun" that you may have been overlooking while "caring for everyone else". The segments are manageable so that even with the busiest schedule, you can take 2-3 minutes at the start and at the close of your day to TREAT yourself.

Victoria Moran is a delightful person, as well as talented writer. This book is a wonderful gift to give your best friend, hopefully yourself or your spouse, as well as your other friends and family members.

Don't miss out on the opportunity to create your own "Charmed Life".

Life is what you make of it and most of our lives look like a great big 'To Dos' list, not exactly what makes a charming life. This author is gifted with words and delicately points out areas where small changes can greatly enhance the quality of day-to-day living. The book is not short on suggestions either, just pick up the thick tome. Definitely a worthy book for women who want to find charms in their lives. The treats are there; it's up to you to pull them out from the muck of everyday and let them shine. Share this book with your friends; they'll thank you.

Victoria Holt truly lived up to her reputation as the queen of romantic suspense. This story combines nicely a romance with political intrigues and murders. What i like about a VH book is that the setting is always done so well i can even feel the real world in the book.
Some complaints about the story, though.(1) Conrad professes to love Philippa, yet never shows any hint of trust in her in the matter of her sister's marriage. (2)Only after seducing her does he let her know he can only keep her as his mistress and never even ask how she feels about it. That looks like cheating to me.(3)The story gets very redundant and repetitive halfway through. Whenever they meet, Conrad is forever whining that he loves Philippa, that he can't live without her; and Philippa is always busy thinking of how she is affected by him and whether she should stay with him or not.
Despite those problems, overall this book is still very enjoyable.

"Lord of the Far Island" is deffinatly the most suscpencful novel by Victoria Holt. She doesn't give away the ending at all. Just when you think you have the mystery solved, she'll prove you wrong. This is a must read book!

Victoria Holt is my Favorite Author. This book is my favorite. I have read all her and philippa Carrs books! Philippa Ewell's siter runs away with a Baron to his land. Phillipa gets 2 letters and then they stop. SHe finds an old new-paper clipping from the year before talking about the Baron and her sister. They had been murdered. She goes off to find the truth about her sisters death and falls in love, almost gets killed and finds the truth.

THE BOOK IS AS GREAT AS THE REVIEWS! I am happy to say that it was a pleasure to read a romance that fulfills everything I look for in a novel.... Characters you care about who have a depth and intelligence...A good story line ... interesting conversations...realistic feelings ... pleasently descriptive ....a sound ending! This book was my first by this author but I will by all means be looking for more!

All summer long, I have read one disappointing romance read after another, but when I read With This Kiss, I was pleasantly surprised. I had never heard of this author. Well, I couldn't put the book down. I read every single word, and loved every moment. What really touched my heart was the relationship between the hero and heroine. Their conversations were wonderful, talky, fresh, and yes, romantic -- Not the normal yeah-yeah you find in many romances. There were also other elements of interest -- a generous subplot, nice prose, and intelligent writing all around. Check it out. You won't be sorry. The only thing you will hate about this story is that it had to end.

A strong, intelligent, independent-minded, scandal-touched, reformist heroine needs to avoid some seriously skanky suitors being pressed upon her by her stingy, selfish uncle. Her chosen candidate for a husband: A fire-scarred hunk of a peer, a previous rake, a bit of a snob, but a man in need of a good woman, a man whose fiance dumped him for the hero's best friend after the hero nearly lost his life--and a good portion of his epidermis-- in a fatal blaze. The who-done-it is great fun and the romance certainly satisfies. I only have minor quibbles with some story details, which I won't even bother to list. Trust me: A fun read for lovers of romance, and CERTAINLY for lovers of the Beauty/Beast type story (which *I* am).This is the only book of Ms. Lynne's that I've read, but based on my enjoyment of this romance novel, I shall surely seek more.*Mir*

"Barchester Towers" has proven to be the most popular novel Anthony Trollope ever wrote-despite the fact that most critics would rank higher his later work such as "The Last Chronicle of Barset","He Knew He Was Right" and "The Way We Live Now".While containing much satire those great novels are very powerful and disturbing, and have little of the genial good humor that pervades "Barchester Towers".Indeed after "Barchester Towers",Trollope would never write anything so funny again-as if comedy was something to be eschewed.That is too bad,because the book along with its predecessor "The Warden" are the closest a Victorian novelist ever came to approximating Jane Austen."Barchester Towers" presents many unforgettable characters caught in a storm of religious controversy,political and social power struggles and romantic and sexual imbroglios.All of this done with a light but deft hand that blends realism,idealism and some irresistible comedy.It has one of the greatest endings in all of literature-a long,elaborate party at a country manor(which transpires for about a hundred pages)where all of the plot's threads are inwoven and all of the character's intrigues come to fruition."Barchester Towers" has none of the faults common to Trollope's later works -(such as repetiveness)it is enjoyable from beginning to end.Henry James(one of our best novelists,but not one of our best critics) believed that Trollope peaked with "The Warden"and that the subsequent work showed a falling off as well as proof that Trollope was no more than a second rate Thackeray.For the last fifty years critics have been trying to undo the damage that was done to Trollope's critical reputation."Barchester Towers"proves not only to be a first rate novel but probably the most humorous Victorian novel ever written.

I rushed home every day after work to read a little more of this Trollope comedy. The book starts out with the death of a bishop during a change in political power. The new bishop is a puppet to his wife Mrs. Proudie and her protégé Mr. Slope. Along the way we meet outrageous clergymen, a seductive invalid from Italy, and a whole host of delightfully ridiculous characters. Trollope has designed most of these characters to be "over the top". I kept wondering what a film version starring the Monty Python characters would look like. He wrote an equivalent of a soap opera, only it doesn't take place at the "hospital", it takes place with the bishops. Some of the characters you love, some of the characters you hate, and then there are those you love to hate. Trollope speaks to the reader throughout the novel using the mimetic voice, so we feel like we are at a cocktail party and these 19th century characters are our friends (or at least the people we're avoiding at the party!). The themes and characters are timeless. The book deals with power, especially power struggles between the sexes. We encounter greed, love, desperation, seductive sirens, and generosity. Like many books of this time period however, the modern reader has to give it a chance. No one is murdered on the first page, and it takes quite a few chapters for the action to pick up. But pick up it does by page 70, and accelerates into a raucously funny novel from there. Although I didn't read the Warden, I didn't feel lost and I'm curious to read the rest of this series after finishing this book. Enjoy!

This is the second of the six Barsetshire novels, and the first great novel in that series. THE WARDEN, while pleasant, primarily serves as a prequel to this novel. To be honest, if Trollope had not gone on to write BARCHESTER TOWERS, there would not be any real reason to read THE WARDEN. But because it introduces us to characters and situations that are crucial to BARCHESTER TOWERS, one really ought to have read THE WARDEN before reading this novel.

Trollope presents a dilemma for most readers. On the one hand, he wrote an enormous number of very good novels. On the other hand, he wrote no masterpieces. None of Trollope's books can stand comparison with the best work of Jane Austen, Flaubert, Dickens, George Eliot, Tolstoy, or Dostoevsky. On the other hand, none of those writers wrote anywhere near as many excellent as Trollope did. He may not have been a very great writer, but he was a very good one, and perhaps the most prolific good novelist who ever lived. Conservatively assessing his output, Trollope wrote at least 20 good novels. Trollope may not have been a genius, but he did possess a genius for consistency.

So, what to read? Trollope's wrote two very good series, two other novels that could be considered minor classics, and several other first rate novels. I recommend to friends that they try the Barsetshire novels, and then, if they find themselves hooked, to go on to read the Political series of novels (sometimes called the Palliser novels, which I feel uncomfortable with, since it exaggerates the role of that family in most of the novels). The two "minor classics" are THE WAY WE LIVE NOW and HE KNEW HE WAS RIGHT. The former is a marvelous portrait of Victorian social life, and the latter is perhaps the finest study of human jealousy since Shakespeare's OTHELLO. BARSETSHIRE TOWERS is, therefore, coupled with THE WARDEN, a magnificent place, and perhaps the best place to enter Trollope's world.

There are many, many reasons to read Trollope. He probably is the great spokesperson for the Victorian Mind. Like most Victorians, he is a bit parochial, with no interest in Europe, and very little interest in the rest of the world. Despite THE AMERICAN SENATOR, he has few American's or colonials in his novels, and close to no foreigners of any type. He is politically liberal in a conservative way, and is focussed almost exclusively on the upper middle class and gentry. He writes a good deal about young men and women needing and hoping to marry, but with a far more complex approach than we find in Jane Austen. His characters are often compelling, with very human problems, subject to morally complex situations that we would not find unfamiliar. Trollope is especially good with female characters, and in his sympathy for and liking of very independent, strong females he is somewhat an exception of the Victorian stereotype.

Anyone wanting to read Trollope, and I heartily believe that anyone who loves Dickens, Austen, Eliot, Hardy, and Thackery will want to, could find no better place to start than with reading the first two books in the Barsetshire Chronicles, beginning first with the rather short THE WARDEN and then progressing to this very, very fun and enjoyable novel.

Victoria Holt was one of my favorite authors when I was younger. A master storyteller, she would consistently weave a story that would have the reader turning the pages. This work of historical fiction is one of her best. Riveting from beginning to end, this fictional autobiographical account of the life of Marie Antoinette is superb. Written in the first person, with little dialogue, it is the rumination of a life that was to end tragically. Pampered, spoiled, and fun loving, the beautiful Maria Antonia of Austria metamorphosed into Marie Antoinette of France upon her marriage to the Dauphin, who would eventually become King of France, the ineffectual, but benign, Louis XVI.

This is her story, grounded in historical fact and set within the framework of history. This work of fiction about the life of Marie Antoinette, as seen through her own eyes, is fascinating, as it captures the flavor of those uncertain times and the events that led to the French Revolution and the end of the monarchy in France. It is a reflection on how Marie Antoinette's own behavior influenced the fate of France. Indulging in the excesses of the day, she initially gave little thought as to how her actions might affect the people of France or the monarchy. By the time she realized that her actions and excesses had wide spread political ramifications, it was too late, and the fate of her and her husband was sealed. No amount of personal regret could change it.

This book will be enjoyed by those who enjoy good, well written historical fiction. It is little wonder that this book spent two months on the New York Times Best Seller List. It is simply historical fiction at its best.

If you are intersted in the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, or just want a good read, this book is the one to read. If you like this book and become interested in royalty, or you already are, Victoria holt wrote tons of other books on British and some Spanish, French, and Italian royalty under the pseudonym Jean Plaidy, so try those.
This book is a fictional memoir written by Marie Antoinette between 1789 and her death in 1793. It covers her whole life (sympathetically) and dispells the rumor that she said "Let them eat cake". Read this!

I read this book in 1973!? It was so wonderful that I planned my trip to Paris around Marie Antoinette's homes - the Grand and Petit Trianon at Versailles for one stop. The author writes historical fiction so beautifully that you can't help wishing to run to Europe and experience the lives of the queens you've read about!! I'll never orget this book - and others by Victoria Holt!

while reading this book. My Niece and i love to spot the pigeons in this book. Check on every page! It's a great story activity. I adore the funny situations that spike gets himself into on all his adventures, and the illustrations are clever and humorous. I love Spike's face when he get's stuck in a big mob of dogs being walked by a "city dog walker". Spike in the City is a great bed time book-it's just the right length. If you like this book, you're sure to like the first book: "Spike".

We thing Spike In The City is a very good book for kids because all kids like adventures and this book is one big one. Ms. Bogan put a lot of detail in to this book and she put a lot of time into her pictures. Spike In The City is written so well that it makes you want to read on and on. So, check out your local library and read this and the rest of the series.

The sequel to "Spike" is just as wonderful as the author's first book. This time Spike goes to the city with Shannon for a look see. He is experiencing new sights and new sounds and even a few new smells. He is not quite sure if he likes the city. A skateboarder zooming past him, a car splashing mud on him, and even an uppity city dog confuse Spike. Only when he and Shannon go to play in the park does he realize how happy he is to be doing what he loves. The books allows readers rto realize that they can be at home anywhere where there is love. again I loved it. My kids love Spike because he is as curious as they are, and can relate to his innocence and his unconditional love for Shannon. I hope Ms. Bogan continues to enchant readers with her Spike books for many years to come.

Several decks have passed my way over the years, and it is always exciting to find one that is both original and friendly to use. The Victoria Regina Tarot package is a beautiful set. Cards are decorated with nineteenth-century illustrations and engravings, the black and white printing makes them look mysterious. The decks are printed in Belgium. There is a lot to say for first impressions, and the first words to come from my mouth when I opened the box were, "oh my." Finally, a set that comes with a beautiful royal purplish-blue velvet bag. No need to ask friends for Crown Royal bags anymore, this is the first set I've seen yet to come so complete, thus making it a great gift idea. In this Victorian tarot land, cups have become Mason jars, wands are now fountain pens, coins are pocket watched, and swords become guns. The Magician looks like a snake-oil salesman. Step into the Wild West, and see what your fortune reads once the gun smoke clears!

This has instantly become my favorite Tarot deck. I would give it five stars instead of four if the symbols/imagery on some cards was richer (the flowing bounty of the Ace of Cups, for example, just doesn't come across in this deck's solitary Mason jar). Also, the lack of color removes an important level of meaning. That said, I would recommend it to anyone who is already familiar with the imagery of the Rider Waite deck. (Personally, I detest the bad artwork of the Waite deck but have to admit the meanings of the cards are well conveyed by its images and symbols.)

With images derived from Victorian graphics, these cards are beautiful to behold. The commentary in the accompanying book about both Victorian life and history and the meanings of the cards is interesting, although some of the interpretations of the cards are a bit unusual and/or lackluster. For card interpretations, I'd recommend Joan Bunning's Tarot for Beginners and Mary Greer's book on Tarot reversals.

The cards are a bit large for my hands but I found that I simply had to shuffle them somewhat differently. An added bonus: It comes with a lovely velvet bag.

I am amazed at how beautiful this black & white deck is...the collage pictures on each card are very well done and quite thought-provoking. My favorite is the Moon card with the lovely lady in Victorian dress sitting in the crook of a crescent moon. The suits are Mason Jars (cups), Pens (wands), Guns (swords) and Watches (coins/pentacles), each of these items having been invented during the Victorian era...a bit of history to add to your tarot knowledge. The black velvet bag with a blue silk lining is a nice added bonus.

This book is huge at 560 pgs; of course, i guess that's nothing compared to these past couple Harry Potters so perhaps i should just say, "substantial." It covers literally Woodhull's entire life (and a good deal of her sister's, Tennessee Claflin), as well as offering am in-depth view of the political and social climate at the time. It devotes a particular amount of time to the changing nuances of her "free love" doctrine and other participants in that movement (one which was, most certainly, ahead of its time--we don't generally think of Victorian times and Free Love in the same boat these days), and the Beecher-Tilton adultery trial.

I found the book to be facinating from a suffrage-history POV, contrasting events depicted/documented within with my memories of the "women's movement" from history classes. Goldsmith isn't afraid to throw stones (mostly by quoting their own less than tolerant words) at suffrage icons Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B Anthony, and others, in the course of depicting an unbiased view of the debate that raged for both women's and black men's suffrage at the time. She is both sympathetic to Victoria and Tennessee (she does a very good job in depicting the bizarre, abusive, nomadic carnival-like nature of their childhoods and family life while growing up), and willing to point out their flaws and transgressions (both women engaged in prostitution, blackmail, and other acts of "questionable ethics").

There's not as much focus on the Spiritualism movement, though the overview is thorough and the author depicts in great detail the ways in which Victoria and Tennessee were involved in it as trance speakers and predictors of the future, both from a very young age. She presents the oracles and visions and claims of spiritualists without passing judgement on them, though it's hard not to do so onesself as a modern skeptic reader--the descriptions of Victoria's frequent "possession" by spirit guides, particularly when speaking in public and in other stressful situations, coupled with her traumatic childhood, are reminiscent of depictions of modern dissociative identity disorders.

To read the book as a modern woman is somewhat horrific; one can't help but think along the lines of "what would I have done back then," when Anthony Comstock was arresting people for even discussing contraception and women were considered the property of their husbands. Goldsmith investigates a lot of related issues, giving brief synopses of cases of abortionists, midwives, spinsters-by-choice, servant-class mothers of illegitimate children who were imprisoned for "infanticide" when their babies died in childbirth...ugh. Horrible reading, but important.

All in all a facinating overview of activism, alternative spirituality, and the tumultuous political climate of post-civil-war America, centered around the life story of the country's first female Presidential candidate.

Goldsmith has done a real service with this book. It is more or less the history of the 19th-century women's suffrage movement, with special emphasis on the influence of Spiritualism and on the life of Victoria Woodhull (of whom I had never before heard, even though I regard myself as fairly well-versed in American history).

The book is full of fascinating characters and events, most of which are given unconscionably short shrift in our educational system. Goldsmith fleshes out the stories and personalities of many people who were previously just vague images in my mind, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Henry Ward Beecher. It seems from this book that female suffrage could have occurred as much as 50 years earlier than it did, if it hadn't been for a couple of missteps on the part of the supporters of suffrage. For one thing, there was a bitter division among the suffragettes about whether the female right to vote should be part of the movement for enfranchising the recently freed slaves. Sadly, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, despite her many wonderful and even heroic contributions to the movement, comes across as an out-and-out racist on this issue, and probably damaged the very cause to which she devoted her life. Secondly, some of the foremost spokespeople for female suffrage got caught up in unrelated, controversial issues, and even in personal sexual scandals.

If you have an interest in American history, you may very well have the same reaction I did while reading this book. Almost every other page, I found myself exclaiming, "Hey, I didn't know that! How come that's not in any of the history books?"

The only reason I gave this book four stars instead of five is that I think the organization and focus could be a little better. The book isn't organized strictly chronologically, and it jumps from one character to another without apparent reason.

But there's just too much really good stuff here to give anything less than four stars, and I have no quarrel with those who have given it five. You won't often pick up a book written for a general audience and learn so many interesting facts that you probably didn't know.

What an absolute joy of a book. Goldsmith seems to have found the perfect centerof the femininist storm in Victoria Woodhull, an outspoken advocate of women's rights, free love, and spiritualism. The telling of her tale (and this book reads like a plotted novel) involves the inclusion of tales and talk from Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Henry Ward Beecher, President Ulysses S. Grant, Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, and cameo appearances from a host of others (including the prudish New York City "in"fighter, Anthony Comstock). Much of the telling involves the infamous Tilton-Beecher scandal, a story whose recitation touches on much of the post-Civil War atmosphere of spiritualism,financial skullduggery, the new religious practices of revised Calvinism, and, of course, equal rights for women. This is a fascinating read and wonderfully written. You don't need to be a history buff to pick this up.