A Woman's Voice is a lucid and thought-provoking portrait of more than a dozen leading women of the Hebrew Bible. The style is clear and vivid, and brings these important figures to contemporary life. The authors speak with spiritual and psychological wisdom.

This book gives detailed facts about the lives and careers of women in various sports. This book is good if the reader is looking for specific facts about a particular sport or female athlete, and it is also an excellent, historical "story".

Looking for Alibrandi, written by Melina Marcheta, is a book about Josephine Alibrandi, a seventeen year-old Australian girl of Italian descent. The book describes how Josephine tries to find herself in the midst of many personal problems and teenage challenges.
Josephine comes from a non-traditional family. She does not know who her father is, and she has been raised by a hard working, loving mom who has had a difficult life. Josephine's grandmother is the other important person in her life. The grandmother drives Josehine crazy because she is always in everyone's business, and is very old-fashioned and strict. Josephine attends a private, Catholic high school, and is often in trouble with the nuns because of her "smart mouth". She gets in fights with some of the girls at school because they constantly make fun of her Italian heritage. Josephine likes a rich, smart boy named John Barton, until she meets a middle class, trouble maker named Jacob Coote. She has a difficult time deciding who is right for her, and everyone else in the book has an opinion of their own.
Things get more complicated for Josephine when she finally meets her biological father. She is not sure whether she should have him in her life. She always wanted to meet him, but now she is not sure if she wants to even talk to him.
Will things ever get easy for Josephine? Will she find out who she is and what is most important in life? You need to read this incredible book to find out.
Looking for Alibrandi is one of the best books I have ever read. I could not put the book down. It perfectly captures the life and mind of Josephine. This book is the first one that I have read that describes a teenager's life. Even though I have read a lot of good books, I have never related to the main character as I did with Josephine. Her sense of humor is very much like mine. I admire that Josephine is able to stand up for herself and her family. Although she shouldn't hit people, I cheered for her when she caused a nasty girl to have a bloody nose.
The author, Melina Marchetta, writes about difficult and sometimes sad topics in a very humorous way. When It seems as if Ms. Marcetta is speaking for all teenagers when she portrays the lives of Josephine and friends. Although Looking for Alibrandi may appeal more to girls that to boys, reading this book would show boys all of the pressures that teenage girls face every day. I would strongly recommend this fabulous book to anyone. However, the subject matter is probably not appropriate for children younger than 12.

Looking for Alibrandi was a very good novel. I really enjoyed it because it hade a very nice plot. Three new people where coming into Josephine Alibrandi life. One, her never before seen father, John Barton, rich and going to law school, and Jacob Coote, Josephine's boy friend and working class and not that rich. The story takes place in Sydney, Australia. It is mainly about Josephine's relationships with the three new men that where introduced in her life. The book talks about what Josephine does with her dad, John, Jacob, and her parent, and friends. There wasn't anything that I didn't like about this novel. It is the type of book I like to read. I choose this novel to write about because it was the most interesting than the other two novels I read this summer. This was an excellent novel and I would recommend it to people. I think people would like it because of how the story goes and it is very interesting.

Looking for Alibrandi is a realistic book about the powerful struggles of a seventeen-year-old girl of Italian descent living in Australia. It talks about the conflicts she has between her grandmother, mother, schoolwork, and, of course, boys. Josephine Alibrandi is trying to find her true identity while learning the twisted reality of her family's past. She experiences anger, frustration, embarrassment, surprise and other emotions that affect the way she goes on living her life. She makes trouble a lot in school. Because of this, she loses an honorary position that is rightfully hers, and is greatly disappointed. At the end, she has to decide who she really is and what she really wants from her life.

Looking for Alibrandi is one of the best books I have ever read. Even though it is told from Josephine's point of view, it seems to really show everyone's true emotion and feeling of the subject. I could really relate to Josephine's problems and understood her very well. I was, however, kind of disappointed about the ending, unless the author is planning a sequel. When I read this I became very drawn to it. I felt like I was really experiencing her life, through her eyes. I would laugh with her and cry with her out loud.

Marcella's opinionated and sometimes arrogant statements sometimes get in the way of making a good recipe a great recipe. For example, she frowns upon roasting beef bones before making broth claiming that this is far too strong a flavor for use in Italian cooking. While that may be true for a rissotto, for soup you need the rich color as well as the robust flavor. Mrs. Hazan, from one Italian cook to another - that is too broad of a statement. Unfortunately, it isn't the only one. I received this book as a gift, and I have found only about 50% of it's recipes that I've tried so far (out of about 12) to be better than average. If more people truly studied the art of cooking (Italian or otherwise) rather than just reading instructions, they would find that like beauty, taste is also in the eye (er...tongue) of the beholder. If you are interested in a book that I have found to be not only more flavorful but more interesting overall, I would suggest the outstanding cookbook "La Cucina Siciliana di Gangivecchio" which I have found to be excellent reading for anyone who considers themselves a lover of Mediterranean cuisine.

Marcella fans the world over have almost certainly already added this new book to their kitchen bookshelf with the other oil and tomato sauce-splattered volumes from the deliciously intolerant queen of the Italian kitchen. Fame and glory have clearly had an effect on Marcella. Scorn for food fads, French cooking, vegetarians, or even people vaguely concerned about eating too much salt, have always made her the most entertaining and politically incorrect food writer in the world. But here she goes even further. Marcella Cucina reveals the Marcella id in all its glory and introduces the previously shadowy figure of her husband Victor as a key figure in an Italian culinary psychodrama. The book begins in the usual way with a little essay about the basic ingredients of Italian cooking which is full of the trademark Marcella irritation with ignorant oafs and their idiotic ideas. Take this delightful running kick aimed squarely at anti-butter health nuts, "I am dismayed by the misguided attitude of those who champion olive oil over butter as though it were a cause. How do they make the sauces for their homemade pasta, I'd like to know, or the bases for most risottos? How indeed. Or this head butt to American and English bread eaters "(In America and England)...one slathers it with butter or, in the current lamentable fashion, dunks it in olive oil...We would find it grotesque to waste good olive oil by pouring it into saucers for dipping bread". You go girl! Marcella Cucina contains more recipes in the style of all her previous books. This is one of the wonderful things about the world of Marcella Hazan - its constancy. She is, by her own admission, not interested in "fusion of cross-cultural culinary hybrids" but rather in communicating a clear sense of place. Hers is regional cooking by definition and as such there are few surprises. However, I am glad to see some more rabbit dishes. There is only one other rabbit recipe in any of her books (stewed rabbit with white wine from her first book) and, the few times I have tried it, it was uncharacteristically mediocre. There is an amazing selection of salads and soups here and most of them - like the swiss chard, cannellini bean and barley soup that is simmering as I write - sound wonderful. But what of Victor "for and because of" whom these recipes were created? He crops up unexpectedly all over the place as a dark Svengali figure; the demiurge behind the Marcella experience. Marcella cucina but Victor wears the pants. Readers of her previous books will be familiar with the story of how Marcella learned to cook. A young wife in a foreign city with an important husband out at work all day on lofty missions, she didn't know how to cook and felt inadequate. Not that she hadn't been a career woman mind you, but she had given all that up to please Victor. But if she couldn't cook, how was she going to keep her man happy? Why, by spending countless hours in the kitchen trying to recreate the tastes of her childhood. This oft-told story has always seemed charming in a retro kind of way, but here it is expanded and begins to take on darker overtones: "After (Victor) left in the morning, the days were long and lonely and often I was desperate". She tells us how she planned and cooked a complete Italian meal every day to please Victor when he returned from work. "I described how I made each dish and my husband complimented me on the ones that were successful and, happily less often, consoled me when they were not, suggesting how they might be improved." Victor is a formidable taskmaster who knows how to treat a woman. A recipe for Tuscan beans is attributed to a former housekeeper of his who clearly enjoyed his dominant ways. Marcella tells us that when Victor asked the submissive servant to clean his apartment and cook for him "her face shone as though she had just been awakened from a bad dream by the good prince". But clearly Marcella herself is not always so charmed by his peremptory arrogance. The same recipe opens with the following exchange between Marcella and Victor: ""What do you want to eat today?" I ask my husband. It seems to me a very sweet, solicitous question for a wife to pose, but it never fails to irritate Victor. "I can't think about it now," he usually snaps." Poor Marcella.

I received this book in error because I didn't send back the card to my book club (sorry Amazon) in time. Well, I couldn't be happier. Being an Italian (and an italian cook), I am always looking for new and exciting recipes. Generally, I buy a cookbook, find recipes and modify them for improvement. Mrs. Hazan's recipes are wonderful. No modification necessary. The recipes are simple with few ingredients that are key for incredible flavor. Her writing is both intelligent and eloquent, a rarity for cookbooks. I have many italian cookbooks and they pale in comparison. Last night I prepared her pasta with cherry tomatoes, scallions and chili peppers. It was sooo good. Who would think that 24 scallions can be so subtle and delicious. Molto bene. I am about to order her other books. Mangiare!! .

I enjoyed this story which had romance and mystery.

Riva was determined to divorce her husband, Lance because of his occupation. Lance was still in love with Riva and he loved his job.

Riva's love for Lance overshadowed what he did for a living and she had to learn to live with it.

There are some very funny as well as sad events that Riva and Lance find themselves involved in.

A good read.

Lance Caine is a policeman turn P.I. Riva Cain his wife doesn't like her husbands line of work. She is so afaird he is going to get killed. When they are run off the road and almost killed by some one Lance put in jail a few years ago, Riva panics and files for a divorce. (A divorce she really doesn't want.) After some time passes she realizes that she loves her husband, but pride won't let her go to him and say I love you, I don't want a divorce.(Lance never wanted a divorce but he loves her enough to do what he thought would make her happy.) Riva is framed for shooting a co-wrker, her home is vandalized, she is followed, and her father is poisoned. Who is there for her and who does she turn to? Her P.I. husband and his firm. To make sure she is safe Lance insist she move in with him and his housemates, as well as into his bed room. The mystery of who is trying to frame her and kill her father pulls Lance and Riva closer together. As danger once again finds them together they fight for their lives as well as their love.

I enjoyed the majority of this book, and Marcella certainly has some personal recollections to relate. It is easy reading and enjoyable.

Marcella Rabwin has appeared in several documentaries on the making of Gone With the Wind and the late Jean Harlow. I was always impressed with her intelligence and honesty. In the two documentaries on Jean Harlow,I could tell she liked the young actress and Marcella had a keen memory of the those things about Jean Harlow that revealed her inner self. "Yes,Mr.Selznick" is a series of vignettes of those great stars whom Marcella knew. These are her keen observances of them.They are, for the most part, short chapters, but what wonderful chapters they are! The author is an honest woman but never vindictive. These are her own recollections and that makes this book a gem of a read! Read her impressions about Harlow and Lombard, Dietrich and Garbo, W.C.Fields, Charles Boyer,Lucille Ball, Irene Mayer Selznick, and others. The great stars are shown as people. Some were vain. Some were eccentric. Some were delightful. Some were complex. So what if there were some factual errors in the chapter on Harlow! What is important is what Miss Rabwin remembers about personalities. This is not a mammoth autobiography by any means. It is a gift from Selznick's Assistant (NOT to be confused with secretary). Marcella was far more important than a secretary. And this book is a wonderful gift. I really felt as if I was having coffee and pastries with the author and she was telling me about her days in Hollywood. She tells it as she saw it and anyone looking for mud slinging, look elsewhere. Marcella Rabwin is above that sort of style. The author has class,brains, integrity,and style. It is not a big work; but that does not lessen its importance. I'd keep this one in mind for anyone who likes sitting outside a cafe sharing the memories with a delightful lady of all the stars she knew in Hollywood. May I emphasize having coffee with a delightful lady? She was and this book is her fine gift. I am so glad to have it. I am certain you will agree. I thank you Miss Rabwin!

The author happens to be my mother and I am incredibly prejudiced. I have to admit that reading it for the first time gave me a wonderful insight as to the truly incredible life of my mother and the people with whom she came in contact. Some of the stories I knew, others were new to me. It is fun, light reading and is 100% the truth from my mothers heart. I, as her son, truly hope that those of you who read it get a sense of my wonderful mother and her very full life. Though she is gone from us, she remains very alive and influential in all the lives that she touched. Trust me, she was one hell of lady ! Sincerely, Mark J Rabwin(mrabwin@hotmail.com)

Brierley Mcfell is a witch, descended from the all-but extinct shari'a and still living under the absolute prohibition of all witches. Yet, her healing gift is a calling that Brierley cannot deny no matter how much danger it puts her in. When the pregnant wife of the local Earl, Melfallan Courtray lies dying in an assassination attempt, Brierley brings her powers to bear, healing the woman and exposing her fatal secret to the world.

Melfallan would just as soon reward Brierley as punish her, but he is only an Earl and the Duke has other plans--plans that include using protecting a witch to overthrow Melfallan and replacing him with someone more compliant. It would suit the Duke just fine if Brierley confesses, then conveniently vanishes, leaving Melfallan completely exposed and without the venu of a trial to attempt to bring down the Duke. Somehow Melfallan has to protect herself and also the unique successor she finds in the Duke's capital--a shari'a witch almost overwhelmed by her secret.

Author Diana Marcellas's world-building skills are everywhere evident in MOTHER OCEAN, DAUGHTER SEA. The genocidal history of the peoples who populate her world, the powers of the witches, and the strange technical/magical beings who supplement the purely magical powers of the witches, make for interesting reading and set the stage for more books in this series. At times, Marcellas's narrative becomes lost in retrospectives about the history of her land.

Perhaps it is this reviewer's flaw rather than that of the novel, but I found the romantic development between the Brierley and the married Melfallan to be disturbing, especially as neither seemed much concerned about the impact that their relationship would have on Melfallan's wife. I would also have enjoyed the book more if Brierley had succeeded more through her own actions rather than through luck or through the efforts of others.

definitely a new twist on the idea of all powerful witches and wizards; the plot is well done and the ideas are fresh. i would recommend it to anyone who reads fantasy, especially those interested in strong women protagonists. i absolutely loved this book and i can't wait for the second one to come out!

Diana Marcellas has created a masterpiece. Brierley, a witch healer, represents the lost feminine of our society, a component we so desperately need at this time in our history. More than just a story, this book expands the reader because it touches that timeless place inside us where we still dare to dream. This book will change the reader forever.

This was a slow read for me basically because there was too much time spent on Monique's difficulty with being adopted. She allowed her ex-fiance to feed in her mind that because she was adopted that she was not good enough for him. In allowing this to weigh her down she permitted to not let Nick know the truth at the very beginning of their initial relationship. So here Monique proceeds everyday with building this wall between her and Nick because she placed him in a category like her ex-fiance. To top it off, both Nick and Monique really loved each other and just did not take the necessary steps by just being honest with one another from the very beginning. I would have preferred at least earlier in the book for Monique to just come clean with Nick, the same as he should have about the land matter. It really disturbs me anyway that the grandmother would put a condition as to the first one who gets married gets the land. The grandmother is to blame for putting the two cousins at odds with each other in the first place. I don't necessarily prefer that the instituion of marriage had to be used to one, save Monique's business and secondly allow Nick with the opportunity to obtain the family land. I enjoyed the overall plot but just felt that too much time was spent addressing the adoption part. I enjoyed the re-visit of Nick's brother Parker and his wife Daniella who were introduced in their story, "Love By Design"

Real Love is the story of Monique and Nick. MOnique tries to fight her love for Nick, for fear he want want her when find out about her past, but Nick is determined to make her love him like he does her. Nick needs to get marry quick to get some land from a older relative, and Monique agree's to pay off a debt she owe's him. A great love story.

Nice come back!! I loved this book. I love it when friends become more then "just friends." Even though it seemed that they were lovers before it was still a great read! Who in their right mind would not want Nick Parker, at first I thought Monique needed her head examined!! Great stroy, a must read. Job well done Sanders!!

It has excellent, very detailed section on ingredients and general rules of Italian cooking methods. I wish this section had been included in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking to make the book more detailed reference. My suggestion is to buy Essential (probably you already have one if you are reading this comment) and read Kitchen at your local bookstore.

My very first impression as I opened the book was that the lettering was too small and very light. When you're cooking and are referring to recipes as you go along, big, bold, dark print is a lot easier to the eye especially as one gets older.

Just wondering why -- this point was not taken into consideration when the print was chosen. There was even a write-up on the special print that was used, though I found it to be inappropriate and rather impractical.

Also, I was about to make her pot roast recipe -- why does Marcella require us to use "chopped,canned,imported,plum Italian tomatoes" -- all 1-1/2 tablespoons of it? Why so little? Is it really worth opening up a whole can for that little amount? Why not just use the plain fresh plum tomatoes then?

Just wondering -- if it was a typo or incorrect, unedited material.

So far that was the only recipe I've checked. Thanks for listening to my comment.

This is an excellent and wonderful book! While other Italian cookbooks tend toward fanfare and no substance this book is full of great recipes (I have tried about 20 of them and recipes were easy to follow and dishes are full of flavor. Each name of the recipe is listed in Italian and a American name is given (e.g. Fileto col Pamigiano, Tenderloine Fillet with Parmesan Cheese, hot red pepper and parsley). If you are looking for a good Italian cookbook easy follow with great recipes this is it. I have 60 cookbooks and this is one of my best.

Ulysses is great fun. It takes a bit more work to read than most books, just as it takes a bit more work to play tennis than it does to play catch. You shouldn't feel compelled to put the work in, any more than you should feel compelled to learn an unusually difficult sport. But people who do put the work in and who have a good time doing it shouldn't be made to feel guilty about it either. It's a pleasure to follow the interweaving lines of the Sirens chapter, for instance, and anyone who does it will see that the chapter is alive in a way that almost nothing else is in literature. Joyce is a terrific comic writer and a terrific creator of vivid, complicated characters. But he requires the reader to put in some extra effort to enjoy how good he is, and I can't blame anyone who gives up after a few pages and refuses to go any further. On the other hand, I've noticed that people who don't like Joyce's approach seem to want to attack people who do. This is silly. Again, it's like hating people for playing basketball just because you prefer skateboarding. Both the Joyce lovers and the Joyce haters should lighten up a bit.

There is not a book out there that is more frustrating than James Joyce's Ulysses...unless, of course, it is Joyce's Finnegan's Wake. The problem lies in the fact that this novel is such an amazing piece of art that the reader can feel like Joyce forgot all about him. It is almost impossible to read by oneself with it's seemingly garbled maze of words and phrases and madness. However, this is what makes it such a joy to read. Imagine that an author decided to do away with any and all rules concerning fiction and to write a book that was it's own entity, showing you what it wanted to show you, telling you what it wanted to tell you and acting like its own character. This is what Joyce has accomplished with Ulysses. I was fortunate enough to read this book in a class, four months of nothing but Ulysses, and I have to warn would be readers that I don't think I would have made it through without expert guidance. I would advise anyone wishing to tackle this literary giant to gather some book loving friends, and a guidebook or two for Ulysses, and to take it very slowly. Read a chapter a week and then meet up with you group to discuss and puzzle out what you have just read. I am willing to bet that your weekly conversations will be a greater work of art than any book out there, and I think that Joyce would have liked that, would have enjoyed sparking debates and conversation, its probably the main reason why anyone creates anything; for it to be enjoyed and shared. The story line is simple, you have two main characters, Stephen Dedalus, the brilliant but alienated loner. You have Leopold Bloom, a simple man who is as alienated as Stephen, but not for his mind, for his cultural background and meek manner. The entire book takes place over the course of one day in Dublin, and after the first three chapters the entire book simply follows Bloom around during a day when he knows that his wife is having a romantic meeting with her lover. It is hard to sum up such a giant book in a few sentences like this, but basically Bloom is trying to set his life back on track, trying to reconcile himself with his wife's betrayal, and trying to reach out to Stephen who he feels could use a loving family. Of course, you could read this book and not find any of what I am saying in there, but the beauty of Ulysses is that I would love to hear what it is that you found in this novel as much as I would love sharing what I found.

If you approach Joyce's Ulysses looking to be told a story worthy of the Modern Library's #1 book of the 20th Century, then you will most likely be disappointed. But if you throw aside your expectations of what makes a book great and just read the words as you would the people, places, sights and sounds that trigger your thoughts during the course of a normal day, then you will be amazed.

In Ulysses, James Joyce uses his superhuman vocabulary and literary knowledge to relate a day in the life of a couple Irishmen (Stephen Dedalus and his friend, Leopold Bloom) and the people with whom they interact. Joyce's words are abnormally sophisticated, yet one never gets the feeling he is simply showing off. While his writing style is often referred to as stream-of-consciousness, it is clear that every word is appropriately placed and deeply thought out. As Ulysses meanders along through its day, the objects that enter the periphery of the protagonists triggers emotions and thoughts that lead to: poems, songs, theological and political discussions, laughing, shouting, incoherent noises, etc. The novel ranges from sublime to aggravating, but that is only because it is so true to its form. How many times in a normal day, if we were to stop and ruminate upon what we were just thinking, would we then think, "What was that?" But then it's quickly on to the next interaction destined to spark different emotions, thoughts, ideas, etc...

It is impossible to sum this book up. It follows no plot or pattern other than that it is simply 1 day. A few people... 1 day.

Reading this book reminded me at times of the Simpsons episode where Homer is seen watching an episode of David Lynch's Twin Peaks. "Brilliant!" Homer remarks, but then quietly to himself, "I have no idea what is going on here." While I often found myself in Homer's predicament while reading Ulysses, I was always able to appreciate Joyce's writing, even if the individual words were all I understood. For that reason, I plan on reading this book again several years from now to see what life has taught me that might expand my understanding of Joyce's beautiful day.