"The Feast of July," although recently filmed (the book is so much better than the movie!) doesn't draw much attention to itself nowadays. H. E. Bates, one the most talented novelists in the English language, is undeservedly forgotten. This short novella is Bates's masterfully written exploration of the "life-within," of the interior struggle. Commencing with an excruciatingly beautiful scene that depicts the protagonist's inner loneliness, the book introduces us to Bella, a young seduced girl, who is looking for the man who dishonored and left her. As she is harbored by a family of shoemakers, Bella finds herself attracted to three young men who fall under her charm: the handsome Jedd, the soft-hearted Matty, and the hot-temprered Con. She flirts, not to say toys, with at least two of them, yet the third, for whom she feels nothing, becomes her paramour. Things develop from there, and the novella climaxes in the return of Bella's former lover, a man she once loved and suffered over, the "seducer." His arrival is rather predictable, but the reader is somewhat stunned by his decease, which ensues after Bella and her lover/accomplice meet the unfortunate fellow on their nature-ramble (the "deflowerer" came to town to take a break from work and went fishing to rest his soul- how ironic). After that there's an absolutely gripping sequence of gorgeous scenes, "the runaway" scenes, I might call them, which culminate in a death. "The Feast of July" has one of the most memorable and haunting last lines ever written! Highly recommended.

This book is an invaluable tool for those of us who have the responsibility of all aspects of handling federal employees workers compensation. I have not found any publication directly from OWCP containing the information that is available in this book and to the extent that is in this book that does not take up a large amount of time just to research. Any information you may need is at your fingertips, and this book is totally up to date. The preface states that it may not have been published due to the many updates and changes of OWCP regulations, thank you to the editor who decided to"resuscitate" the new manuscript. Again, I can't express the value of the information, especially knowing how difficult it is getting information directly from OWCP. I strongly recommend this publication for all federal agencies.

The instructions are clear and easy and the patterns are also not difficult. I would recommend this book to beginning quilters, or to people who love simple designs.

Frazetta's work is always enjoyable, and even more so in this great book. His pen and ink works are just as great as his paintings. Any collector of fantasy art, or just great work will love this book.

Eleanor Shipley Duckett is one of a handful of medieval scholars whose works are always both amusing and informative. This one is no exception. After introductory chapters on early trends in Roman and Celtic monasticism, she launches into two jewel-like portraits -- of St Benedict of Nursia, founder of the Benedictine Order, and St Gregory the Great, a monk turned pope.

Duckett's Dark Ages are illuminated with the warmth of her monk-saints who strove to protect their fledgeling communities in the face of turmoil and rapine. At the same time, they sought to burnish their souls so that they would be pleasing to the all-merciful God who cast so much adversity their way.

Yet these spiritual heroes just tightened their belts and leaned ever harder into the wind. The simple things that we have lost!

this was a very good account of robert dudley's life. i found his relationships with queen elizabeth and lettice knollys to be rather fascinating. if you love the elizabethan era, this one will charm you.

I liked this book because of the way that Ghost Dog helped his friend to find his card that the bad man took by telling Arttie that he was a reporter and Ghost Dog came to help it was great!

I have lived with a Catholic husband for 32 years and NEVER understood the reason why any woman would want to be a nun let alone a cloistered nun. Thanks to Eleanor LaBerge, I have a small inkling why someone would choose that life. Her characters are absolutely believable. The trials of faith of each of them are wonderfully told. The compassion and love and even the difficulties and conflicts in the community are very well drawn. She makes me want to believe that the monastery at Our Lady of Snows is there when I need to go on a retreat. I adored the book and can hardly wait for the next one. I recommend that you don't start this book until you have an absolutely free day and night, because you will not be able to put it down.

What a marvellous story. From the cradle to the grave, we follow a woman who has the (mis)fortune to win the heart of the King. And Plaidy, true to form, plops the story right into the middle of history-in-the-making, where Jane Shore is driven by her passion to love first Edward IV and then finds herself in quite a bind, again and again. Jane could choose a simple, easy life with her betrothed - or she can risk everything for the love and heart of a King. I really enjoy how Plaidy doesn't gloss over anything in her novels about the lives her characters live. From the simplest acts such as cooking and riding and everyday life, to the massive banquets and the punishments for criminals of the day, Plaidy gives her readers an "inside view" into what life was really like in Medeival times -- and you don't realize that you are learning until you've finished the book!

Some days, you simply don't have the attention span required of you for reading good books. Sometimes, I find even short stories too taxing and poetry much too dense to absorb properly. That's when Good Bones will come in handy, for it will provide doses of short, potent prose.

It's a tiny little book, with tiny short stories (three or four pages on average) that are clever, intriguing and shot through with Margaret Atwood's luscious style. Despite the lengths of the stories, they are in no way lacking in emotion or intensity. They are snippets of random musings, of well-known stories told from somebody else's point of view, of sci-fi fantasies that reflect upon our own humanity...

The stories do not link to each other. As far as I can see, they are writing experiments, little flashes of inspiration that do not fit somewhere in a greater whole (such as a novel). They are ideas, brief contemplation of how the world is, snapshots of human behaviour.

Atwood has a particularly cutting insight into the way things are. I cried at certain stories, not because they were formulated with particular tragic scenes, but because they moved me. Forlorn beauty, half-remembered sensations, the things she could say with a stroke of a pen are those dark, shadowy feelings we sometimes find in ourselves, yet could never describe. Now she has done it for us, and it makes for cathartic reading.

Through Good Bones we are given a glimpse of Atwood's world: usually bleak, sometimes spine-chilling with its prediction of how the world just might turn out, but always haunting and always beautiful. If you have not read any of her works before, this is a great place to start. If you have read and enjoyed her other works, this one will definitely be worth your while.