This book was written by Doctor Pashkow and Charlotte Libov who is a journalist who underwent open heart surgery. I happened upon this book by accident while I was mentally preparing for open heart surgery myself. Ms. Libov provided some of the best advice I'd found. She explains in great depth many heart conditions and provides practical tips as well. This book greatly allayed my fears and answered a lot of questions. I read it from cover to cover twice and thanked my lucky stars that I'd found it. This is "must" reading for anyone facing this operation and his/her family.

1998 is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Maine and the Spanish-American War, instigated, many still say, by William Randolph Hearst. "Yellow" (for yellow journalism) recounts the period leading to the Maine's sinking through the first-person fictional account of Ambrose Bierce, the legendary American artist and writer, as he traveled to Cuba on Hearst's payroll. Fascinating for fans of true Americana. Lynch is a gifted storyteller.

"Raw Secrets" is the book to read if you've been researching optimal health and/or raw food and are confused by all the conflicting information. Based on sound principles that are logical and self-evident, this book dispels myths that even long term raw fooders are subject to. Beginners will love the definitive tone the author uses on rarely discussed topics like how to tell the difference between "real" and "false" hunger, the futility of "superfoods" and supplements, and how to deal with cravings (among other transitional issues). Experienced raw fooders will find lots of valuable, insightful information, including some that has recently been discovered.

This book belongs on the bookshelf of every person interested in taking charge of his/her own health, right next to Art Baker's "Awakening Our Self-Healing Body". The information in these two books will allow you to free yourself from the fear of disease, forever. Based on the guiding principle that cause and effect govern the universe, including human health, these two books will give you an overall understanding about the cause of disease, and will tell you where to look if you want a more comprehensive approach. Disease is not a malevolent entity waiting to pounce on unwitting victims! It is a process the human body undertakes to preserve life, and its causes are not mysterious. Arm yourself with information, don't put your health into the hands of those who haven't the faintest clue (nor interest in) what the real causes of disease are.

If you're into the raw-vegan diet, this book will find its place on your shelf. Raw Secrets is vital for beginners because it exposes all of the common pitfalls of the diet. Frederic's first-hand experiences take you through all of the of the myths, concerns, and major areas of this great lifestyle. Most of the 28 chapters are short and to the point, with personal input from Frederic. The book's forward is an introduction by Patenaude describing his rollercoaster health. After spending years having raw/cooked diet swings, he found it in his heart to write this book. It's purpose: to inform others so they don't have to learn things the hard way.

The first chapter delves into human anatomy and our "natural" diet. It takes us through our instincts and physical characteristics that call us to raw foods. Most of the chapters that follow deal specifically with the diet. Some of the headings include: "Fat," "Protein," "Detoxification," "Teeth," "Sleep," "Giving Up Bad Habits," and "Digestion." From Chapter 16, "Food Combining," Patenaude says, "We should be eating one food at a time and never mixing together anything." He continues, "With a simple, mainly raw diet, we automatically avoid most bad food combining." He then goes into the properties of certain foods and how they will react when eaten with others. Important tips such as these are extremely valuable to even experts!

The closing appendices of the book have daily menu ideas, testimonials, and comments on certain foods. I particularily enjoyed this book because Frederic's voice is felt throughout the entire thing. All of his words show sympathy toward us because he's interested in our well-being. For everyone new to the diet or long-time gurus, check this book out! ...

What I like best about this book is that from his own journey, the author seems to have come full circle - making him very human and approachable rather than dogmatic and preachy as many raw food authors tend to be. I have been a raw foodist for many years - and have heard from people who were on their path in that direction but stopped because the information they were getting was an "all or nothing" approach. Reading this book allows you to be human. To make mistakes, to long for your favorite foods and to even allow them into your bodies if that is what your bodies are calling for. His message seems to be that feeding the spirit is equally important as feeding the body and that stressing about the diet may wreck more havoc in your being than actually eating the cooked food!

Don't get me wrong - this is not a "so-so" raw foods book... It is very pro raw food and active - but with human understanding and compassion which is lacking in many of the newer books on the market. He refers to the various movements popping up all over the states and shares his own personal quest for truth and how on his journey he found his way back to the most basic core principles and ideology of the raw foods movement. This book is not written from his ego, but rather from his heart - exposing his own pitfalls and sharing what he has learned from them.

A wonderful bonus is that he often refers to important hygienic materials published in other countries and languages. This wonderful inclusion opens the readers mind to information from many new sources, previously undiscovered in this country. I found his work to be easy to read and well documented. AS a mother, I found his inclusion and mention of pregnancy and children's dietary needs a very valuable and a welcome surprise. His list of TRULY raw foods will surprise even many long term raw foodists and his thoughts on un-cooked recipes, nut loafs and massive avocados will be a wake-up call for many raw foodists who have wondered why they have not yet achieved their "perfect health".

If you will be buying one book on the living and raw foods dietary lifestyle - this is the book!

Queen Lucia is the first in the series of novels that invite us in to Riseholm and the lives of it's residents. Lucia is the snobbish self appointed but undisputed Queen of everything cultural in this small rural english village. However she finds herself challenged unintentionally by Olga Bracely a famous opera singer who takes up residence in the village. As she fights for her throne the reader is witness to the malice, manipulation and backstabbing that is just under the surface in village life. As in all good stories Lucia is all but dethrowned and then regains the upper hand once again. The book is witty, full of interesting if somewhat strange characters and entertaining. After first reading Queen Lucia I felt a little disapointed having heard Bentley described as being on a par with Wilde, Wodehouse and Coward. I do not find this claimed level of wit and word smithing in Queen Lucia myself, however once I got past this disappointment I found myself both entertained by and fond of this novel.

If you can imagine TV's Aaron Spelling writing his brand of witty and campy fun in an English town in the 1920s & 30s, then you can imagine Benson's Lucia series. I'd often heard how great the series was, and finally got around to reading the first book. What a delight! It's been ages since I've read a book that simply glided off the page. Lucia is the center of Riseholme's cultural life, and without her, life just couldn't be the same, right? With her husband Peppino, and her sidekick Georgie (so repressed he's nearly an origami flamingo), Lucia controls the fads and fashions of Riseholme. When a diva opera singer moves into town, Lucia finds herself knocked off her throne, and all but declares war on the upstart. Full of devious gossip and fascinating characters, this story is wonderfully enjoyable, as well as incredibly intelligent in its rendering of small town life. I can hardly wait to read the entire series, or see the "Mapp and Lucia" miniseries.

And the other 2 are also by Benson ... well, tied with Toole's "Confedearcy of Dunces" and Keenan's "Blue Heaven."

There's a slow start with the first chapter--Benson's humour is entirely character-based, so you needs must meet the character before the jokes can begin--but once they begin, they don't let up.

Luckily (because you'll want more, more more after this book) there are others in the series. This first book sets the pattern: wealthy, intellectually-pretentious, English housewife Lucia wants to be thought of as the exemplar of good/interesting taste, and will stop at nothing to achieve her goal. The characters are all frightfully interested in the most trivial things, and it's screamingly funny.

If you like Benson, try Beverley Nichols (oh, and do read the other two funniest novels ever written, mentioned above--you owe it to yourself.)

Note: a 3 star ranking from me is actually pretty good; I reserve 4 stars for tremendously good works, and 5 only for the rare few that are or ought to be classic; unfortunately most books published are 2 or less.

I liked this film alot. The scenery and costumes were beautiful, and the acting was brilliant. I especially enjoyed the presence of Ermengarde and Lottie, two wonderful characters from the book who were not in the previous Shirely Temple version. However, I've noticed that the filmmakers borrowed some scenes from Shirley's film, especially toward the end. The climax of the film is very similar to Shirley's: The Indian servant sneaks into their room at night, decorates it all up nicely, and then later Miss Minchin comes in and blames the girls for stealing the stuff. She locks them in their rooms and calls the police. The girls attempt escape by going out on the ledge and into the window of the house next door. Sara makes it but Becky gets caught. Sara hides in the house (in the ST version she manages to get to the hospital) and, while still on the run, happens to find her father, who doesn't remember her. Just as she's about to be caught by the police, her father remembers her and comes to her rescue -- and all is happily ever after.
The original story ends differently. In the book, the Indian servant comes back night after night with new additions and good food, and the girls' newly decorated attic room is never discovered by anyone else. The old man who lives next door is actually a very kindhearted gentleman, as opposed to the bitter, cold man in the film who hardly gives Sara a second glance. He secretly sends Sara some fine, new clothing and Miss Minchin, who believes Sara has some wealthy, distant relative, allows her to wear them and begins treating her more decently, even allowing her to resume her lessons in the classroom. One night, the Indian servant's monkey escapes into Sara's room. She goes over to the house next door to return it, and starts a conversation with the old man. Upon telling him her name, she finds that he is a friend of her father's who has been looking for her for two years. Although Sara's father really does die in the book, the ending is still very happy. While I enjoyed this film, I think the directors should have stuck closer to the original story than the previous film version. Otherwise, great movie.

Title: A Little Princess
By: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Reviewed By: ...
Period: 4

There is a young girl named Sara. She is a very smart, kind and clever girl. Sara likes to read books and imagine things. Her father had to go off in India for a job so he left Sara at a school. They were a very rich family. Sara always wore the fancy clothes and she got everything she desired. At the school, everyone always looked at her. She made some friends but very few. A few Years later, her father dies. She becomes a poor, dirty maid who cleans at the school. She still has contact with her friends but very few. She met a neighbor that just moved in. It turns out that he is looking for her because he was a close friend of her dad. The neighbor doesn't know that Sara is the girl at the school next door.
Later on they meet, and Sara's life becomes a lot better.
I liked this book because it kept making me want to read on. I didn't want to stop. It was such a interesting book. I've never read a book like this one. It's so fun how she is very happy at first and then sad later on. " Nobody but Sara herself ever knew what had happened in her room after she had ran upstairs and locked the door. In fact, she herself scarcely remembered anything but that she walked up and down, saying over and over again to herself in a voice which did not seem her own: 'My Papa is dead! My papa is dead!'" That was the sad part.
This book always made me think about how nice of a girl Sara was and what a kind heart she had. I was crying when she had become a poor, maid after her father died and left no money. She always cared for others and was an excellent student at school. "'Ah, Madam, ' he said, ' there is not much I can teach her. She has not learned french; she IS french. He accent is exquisite." That is what her french teacher told The head mistress.(She is very smart)
My favorite part of the book is when she meets friends. Although she had kind ways to talk to people, she always met people in a strange way. For instance, when she met one of her friends, Lottie,it was when Lottie was crying. Lottie was screaming out that she had no mother. Sara never really met her mother. Then, Sara offered to be her adopted mother.I thought that was strange but nice of her. It stopped Lottie from crying so hard and she became very close friends with her. That is what I liked about the book.

I first read this book when I was ten years old. I still remember being transported from my Boise, Idaho sunroom, circa summer vacation 1976, back to the foggy gaslit streets of Victorian London. I don't believe that I moved off that sunroom couch until I had devoured this entire book. I loved the whole idea of A Little Princess -- the beautiful clothes (watered silk and petticoats!), the food (gruel!), and Sara's suffering in the garrett. Sara's life was so different from mine. Reading this book was like travelling to a different continent.

In some ways, this is a formula book for girls -- although it might be fair to say that this book invented the formula: plucky, mistreated orphan (mysteriously stripped of her fortune), who never loses hope and remains truly good transformed through a mysterious benefactor into a girl rich beyond her wildest dreams (see also: the Boxcar Children; Little Orphan Annie, etc).

Sara is an extremely engaging character. She is almost too good to be true -- kind to the servants, smarter than the headmistress, and able to tell stories that ensnare her listeners. Sara's stories enable her, first to make friends, and then later, to cope with the rather significant blows that life (and the author) deal her.

And, in the best of tradition of this type of story, Sara is rescued, her wealth is restored, she remains a perfectly lovely little girl, and the horrible headmistress who mistreated her gets her comeuppance. All is right with the world once again.

For years I've been looking for the perfect diet--a diet that would allow me to lose weight and be healthy. I tried a number of diets only to find myself falling off the wagon here and there and then finally giving up. After reading this book (and I've read it at least twice by now) I am convinced that this is the perfect way of life for me. The Hellers and Mr. Vagnini have done their homework and provided us with a foolproof means of getting the weight off and preventing heart disease. I recommend it for everyone but especially for women who like me (in their early 50s) are entering those years when we are most prone to heart disease and diabetes. IT'S A MUST READ!!

This book is definitely not just a re-hash of their earlier books. Although it follows most of what they previously wrote, it contains MAJOR improvements and refinements over their old program. Some that I found particularly intereststing are as follows:

1) Artificial sweeteners are now identified as being culprits in raising blood insulin levels, which relate directly to weight gain and heart risk factors.

2) Sulfates contained in foods are similarly identified for the first time by the authors.

3) Many supplements are identified and assessed with extensive bibliographies as they relate to weight control and heart disease.

4) This book is co-authored by a Cardiologist for the first time, and he incorporates many heart health-related issues and suggestions to form a major difference in the Heller's original book.

This newest book by the Hellers takes the ball and runs way beyond their earlier publications. There have been many developments since 1993 when they published their original book, and they identify and extensively discuss these updates. I really did not find this to be a rehash at all, but an update.

There is nothing worse than being a fat, out-of-condition cardiologist! You know your patients are wondering how you can be giving advice when you look like you're going to have a heart attack yourself any minute.Until I found this book I had all but given up.My father and his two brothers suffered heart attacks by age 55. My mother's family had diabetes. I felt as if I was headed straight for a heart attack.My blood fat levels, blood pressure, blood sugar levels and weight were getting worse no matter I tried. I had seen this time and time again in my patients but, to tell the truth, low-fat diets just didn't work for me. I couldn't stay on them and they seemed to make my blood fat levels worse.In the two weeks after finding this book my life has turned around. My cravings are gone - gone - gone. My blood pressure, triglycerides, and blood sugar levels are normal! I'm losing weight even though I have a Reward Meal of my dreams every night.I knew this program made sense when I read it. It was built on good science and it was the first program I felt I could believe in. But living it is even better than I could have hoped for.I started giving copies of this book to my patients. The immediate results appear to be just a great for them. I just want everyone to know that this program not only makes good sense and is easy to follow but that it works, too!

The beginning of this book moves quite slowly, and when it picks up in pace, it picks up only a little. I even found the writing tedious at first, though it became quite wonderful by the end. It isn't a page turner for sure, but still I found myself slowly moving from bored to being very interested in the characters to being completely swallowed by the story and unaware of the world outside the novel.

The book is about a couple, Port and Kit, and their friend Tunner. They are travelling in the Sahara Desert, far from their familiar culture. Things happen to them which compose the story, but the novel is great because it captures the tension in the relationships between people. Nobody seems to be able to understand the others, and each of the three characters are in some ways as foreign to each other as they are to their surroundings. Eventually, Kit emerges as the main character, unable to comprehend her identity in a place that has stripped her of the sureness of her existence. In a sense, she loses her post-War American psychological angst, and becomes immersed in the more basic anguish of fear and surrender. Finishing the book is like waking from a bad dream.

"The Sheltering Sky" is ostensibly a book about the sojourn of three American travellers (Port, Kit & Tunner) in the Sahara desert. As alienation and a growing sense of incomprehension take hold of and tighten their grip on the travellers' psyche, they fall victim to the strange cruelty of the desert which takes on the role of the antagonist in this travellers' tale. It is tempting to imagine that the all-enveloping and terrifying vastness of the Sahara is the root cause of their troubled psychological state. If this reflects the conventional reading of the novel, I beg to differ. I found all three principal characters cold, edgy, unhappy and ultimately selfish. There is no genuine communication in their human contact. A pervading sense of alienation clouds their private thoughts and deliberation. The condescending attitude of the colonialists (including the Lyles and the French officials) towards the natives and outsiders is all the more ironical when it becomes apparant that the latter (eg, the old Jewish couple) is capable of basic human kindness which the colonialists cannot even begin to comprehend. Despite the long descriptive passages and occasional denseness of Bowles' prose, I found the novel a mesmerising read. It is a clearly a literary landmark and one that deserves to be read over and over again.

In The Sheltering Sky, Paul Bowles has written a wonderfully evocative novel of Westerners in Africa in the years after World War II. My experience with Africa amounts to a day spent in Morocco at the turn of the century as a chaperone to a group of students. I loved the experience but many of the students were uncomfortable. I think this was because the culture there is so very different from anything most Americans ever experience in their lives. I am amazed at how well Bowles is able to bring to life this land and culture in his novel.

Interwoven with his portrait of this desert culture is the story of a couple, Port and Kit, who are traveling through the region with a friend named Tunner. Port and Kit are the main characters here. They are a pair of well-off Westerners who travel with no itinerary or time limit. They indulge themselves not only in the pleasures of the places they travel but also in their knowledge of the other's nature. They desire closeness with each other but create distance in their denial of their own knowledge and wants. They try to escape in their travels but they have arrived in a land that will force them by its harshness and beauty to look more closely at themselves. They are incredibly interesting characters who undergo very moving tragedies.

On top of that there are a number of wonderfully drawn minor characters in this novel. Besides Tunner, there is the horrible and yet comic mother/son pair, the Lyle's. There is the sick French commander, Lieutenant d'Armagnac, as an example of a man who has made his peace with Africa and enjoys it. There is the Jewish merchant, Daoud Zozeph, as well as Belqassim who adds Kit to his harem of three other wives. All of these, and more, populate the novel with intriguing takes on what it is to survive in this world. I recommend this novel to anyone.

A final note for fans of the band The Police and their album Synchronisity. The song "Tea on the Sahara" from this album is drawn from this novel. If you like the song, I suggest you read this novel. It will add to your experience of it.

Frederic Fekkai: coiffeur, artiste, homme. In this compendium, for no book could encapsulate the whole of the great man's knowledge and genius, Frederic imparts unto us his core
philosophy in a literary medium. Plato, Wittgenstein, Fekkai - the progression is seamless and the association inevitable.
There can't be a day goes by when I don't think of the Frenchman's "grand projet" of a New York salon and am not proud to be an Englishman.
The book addresses all of life's core issues that beleaguer the modern woman and, indeed, man. I've made a lot more friends since I learnt how to sip a citron presse in the manner
promoted by the book and I can practically feel the respect that emanates from the room towards me as a result. Thank-you, Frederic!
Hailing from Aix-en-Provence, France, Europe, Freddie proves that Aix HITS the spot. His gallic influences prove that sometimes it IS good to let your roots show with so many beauteous sirens adorning the pages freshly Fekkai'd up.

To summise, this doctrine is both objet d'art and manual for modern living. I proclaim it a gift to civilisation. Surely nobody with a wobbly coffee table on an uneven floor can afford to be without this book?

This handbook is a must in every woman's library, if she wants to look beautiful and more effortlessly chic. Frederic Fekkai shows you his point of view on the total beauty and style. By following his advises you will learn how to achieve a more simple, natural, and chic lifestyle. Mr. Fekkai encourages women to feel more confident and to discard unnecessary and expensive items that only make them look cheap (over bleached hair, excessive gold jewelry, artificial long nails, etc.) I would highly recommend this book!

I LOVE FRENCH! The title of Frederic Fekkai's "Year of Style" doesn't do justice to this reservoire of natural and inner beauty secrets. His basic message is "Simplify things." Then he fills the books with incredible make-overs and adjustments that allow you to spend less time in front of the mirror, but more time feeling classy, creative, confident, and chic. Have you ever wandered down the bath and beauty aisle and wondered, "Does this stuff really work or is it just more merchandizing to make us "feel good" about ourselves?" Frederic guides you to the basic beauty aids and accessories ESSENTIAL for real loveliness, beauty and style. For me the discovery of Shea butter soaps and shampoos, hand cut combs, apple cider vinegar and cold water hair rinses, natural application of makeup, and through the year guidelines on effortless chic make this book an invaluable beauty and health guide. It's through-the-year monthly format makes the contents fun and easy to read and remember. My sister now uses this as the textbook for the Personal Etiquette courses in teaching high school home economics classes.

This is the classic story by Wister (1860-1938) of the ranch foreman, known only as the Virginian, his courtship of Molly Starkwood, the "schoolmarm" from Vermont, and his conflicts with Trampas. In 1977, the Western Writers of America voted this novel as the top western novel of all time. It probably started the whole genre (even if one counts the pulp fiction popular in the late 19th century). Historians have always pointed out that there never really was a "Code of the West." This was just something thought up by writers, journalists, and film makers. The West was made up of both good and bad men, just as today. But, in my opinion, this book challenges that concept. Wister based his characters on real people he interacted with in the West a few years earlier. There really were men like the Virginian. There really were people who, unknowingly, followed a Code (just as there are today).

The book "The Virginian" being a western book, I was initially skeptical of it being any better then shoot em up giddyup types of books. However I was quickly taken aback by the fact that they never fully identified the background of the Virginian.
Throughout the entire book he remains a mystery, his whole life a mystique aside from what everyone knew which was he came from the eastern part of the country. With a persona that screams Mad Max "The Road Warrior" he is a modest person who goes for the gusto in his ventures during the book. Working in Wyoming his boss Judge Henry, is not very strong as far as standing up for himself is concerned. When a rival rancher hires some bandits to rob a couple of horses from Henry's ranch, it's the Virginian to the rescue. Eventually the book which includes many other swashbuckling adventures, waters down to a duel between the leader of the Bandits and the Virginian. He even has time for a lovelife in the craziness of the west when he hooks up with a school teacher by the name of Molly Stark. The wedding does not go quite as planned though and I suggest you read the novel to eventually find out what happens. A terific story that has been made into two motion pictures, the plot in Owen Wisters story has more twists then a hostess truckload of strudel. For the person that liked the "Lonesome Dove" mini series this book is for you.

The Virginian is a classic because of the superb characters who fill its pages. The protagonist, known only as the Virginian, embodies a code of manly virtue. He is unique. Without Mary's civilized purity or the Virginian's wild perfection, the book would be a dry, uninteresting Western, full of stereotypical cowboys swaggering around with their pistols on their hips. Instead of a Buffalo Bill, Wister gives us a young man who loves Shakespeare and Dostoevsky and who does unpleasant things because he must, not because he enjoys them. I really enjoyed this book.

This is one of the funniest books I've ever read. So why only 4 stars? Because it's not consistantly funny. The problem seems to be that Jerome started to write a travel story, with some serious thought on history and life, and added a few humorous bits as he went along. His editor got him to tone down the history and emphasize the humor, but we, the readers, are still stuck with some dreary Victorian romantic musings.
But then there are the funny bits. And there are a lot of them. I'd say 80% of this book is funny, and a good 10% is hysterically funny. Well worth the dull patches.
WARNING: Do not read this in a public place. You WILL embarrass yourself by laughing out loud. The pages on cheese are especially deadly. I still giggle uncontrolably each time I re-read them.

Like other reviewers, I first heard of this book after reading the wonderful novel by Connie Willis, To Say Nothing of the Dog. That wonderful book inspired me to read Three Men in a Boat. A simple story set in Victorian England of three young men taking a boat ride down the Thames, and yet I laughed so hard and so often that I actually had to stop reading to catch my breathe. The writing is wonderful, with characters that everybody can identify with. The story of uncle Podger hanging the picture is priceless.

I can't believe that this book was written over one hundred years ago. The story is timeless. But the humor is such that few readers will be able to come away without loving this book. Already, I am trying to get hold of the author's other books. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Whatever you do, READ THIS BOOK! If not, you are truly missing one of life's greatest pleasures!

I was given a copy of this book about 12 years ago. It has turned out to be one the best gifts I've ever received. Jerome's witty ramblings are the funniest I've ever read. Mark Twain, who I also love to read, comes close to Jerome's style but, in my opinion, is a poor second. Jerome finds humor in the commonplace and the every day occurrences which all of us, even a good 100 years later, can identify with. Starting with his self-diagnosis of every ailment, excepting house-maid's knee, to his singular insights into his friends, self, and surroundings; I never tire of rereading this book. It becomes clear quickly that the dog, Montmorency, is the only one with any sense. Three Men and a Boat always cheers me after a cold, bleak winter. It's the best Spring tonic--I highly recommend an annual dose. I shop now for gifts to give to friends so they can share my enjoyment in this wonderfully humorous and offbeat book. Read, enjoy, and laugh often.