I discovered this book at a Conference on a subject far removed from the grieving process. This book has been very helpful to me and my family in recovering from the very sudden death of my mother. I would recommend it to anyone (in fact, recommended it to the local funeral director). I found it to be true to the grieving process. Not only are the illustrations wonderful, but the description of loss and grief is right on target.

Tear soup is a wonderfully illustrated children's book for adults written about how we each individually grieve loss in our lives.

The story is about "Grandy," but she could just as easily be me or you, and Grandy has suffered a loss, so Grandy begins to make tear soup. Tear soup cannot be made just out of a can, but is an individual process, as unique as each chef; and only through the soup making can we fully heal and move on.

The full page illustrations through which the text of the story run show an even richer tale of the other people and pets in Grandy's life who interact with her recipe and add a powerful depth to an already touching story which you can't help but relate to your own life.

My dad died suddenly in June, 2002; my mom died, after living with cancer,in January 2003. Someone sent me this book and it was the best piece I have read on grief. I am ordering multiple copies in memory of my parents. I will distribute them to elementary and secondary schools, hospice facilities and chaplains. Anyone who works with grieving people will want this book!

I knew nothing about Mary Bunyan before I read Wendy Lawton's inspiring book, The Tinker's Daughter. Of course I knew of John Bunyan and Pilgrim's Progress, and I knew it had been written in prison, but that's where my knowledge ended.

As writers we are told to make the reader hear, see, smell, and touch what's in the story, and Wendy has done just that. She has brought history to life with all the senses and the reader is the beneficiary. I've never really thought about what it must be like to be sight impaired, but Wendy painted such an excellent picture of Mary, who was born blind, that I felt as if I had at one time been blind so I knew exactly what Mary was feeling. How powerful.

Wendy has a delightful way of telling a story bursting with characters and color. In this book she made me understand the myriad of emotions felt, not just by Mary, but by her siblings, father, step mother, and her new gypsy friends.

Mary's struggle to feel like she can do all things herself and not depend on anyone else is one that I have struggled with. If the truth be told, I still struggle with it. I learned much from Mary Bunyan, and was just as thrilled with her acceptance of the Lord as if she was someone dear to me here in 2002.

I read The Tinker's Daughter because Wendy is my friend. I came away from this book a better person and a fan as well as a friend. This is a must read for children and a double must read for adults.

I'm not sure why we've stopped caring about history, but as evidenced in recent polls, it is clear that many of us are unfamiliar with the people and events that shaped our nation and the world.

Along comes Wendy Lawton with books like "The Tinker's Daughter" in her "Daughters of Faith Series." I'm excited about this series and about this book. Most people have probably heard of John Bunyan, author of "Pilgrim's Progress," but how many people know that he had a blind daughter named Mary who brought food to him daily while he was imprisoned in England for "unlawful preaching" during the 17th century? I certainly didn't.

As with the other books in this series, Lawton brings history to life in "The Tinker's Daughter" and she gives us a glimpse into what life would have been like in the Bunyan household as John is persecuted for his faith. From struggling to put food on the table, to Mary's struggle to place her faith in Christ, Lawton gives us rich details about John's life through the eyes of his beloved daughter Mary.

Pick this book up for the child(ren) in your life. My copy is going to my niece.

In "The Tinker's Daughter," Wendy Lawton does an excellent job of capturing both the experiences and feelings a visually impaired person faces. Her descriptions look at life from a blind girl's point of view and instead of focusing only on the cliche auditory signals most people think of for a blind person, she focuses on Mary's identification of her world by smell as well, even the disgusting smells! Even more so,she nails the two major emotions a visually impaired person struggles with: fear and determination to overcome. She shows the pitfalls of the fierce independence many physically challenged people cling to, yet balances it with the necessity, that it isn't always a bad thing. Mary's ultimate solution is found in the source all of us need to depend on - Jesus Christ. All of these profound thoughts are tucked neatly into a sweet story about the daughter of the historical religious giant, John Bunyon. This book is powerful writing!

What an ideal gift for WW II buffs and for friends and relatives who lived during this time! This book encouraged me to record our family's history before it is too late. Several features make this book ideal for lovers of history - maps, pictures, chronology, resources for further reading, glossary, and index. The individual contributions, arranged around six holidays, are straightforward and compelling. These narratives describe the impact WWII had upon their lives, how they responded, and gives us a glimpse into their spirit and character. As I read this book, I was reminded that "each one serves the best he can." This book serves to keep history alive.

*"What made us who we are today" is a fitting title for this skillful collage of World War II experiences. This book is a tribute to those who lived through that war and those who fought in it, both at home and abroad. The sacrifices made ranged from small to the ultimate and no one was untouched. Each of us learned a lesson from it all and those lessons were passed down to our descendants, truly making us who we are today.
The author has skillfully pieced together a cross-section of memories of those trying days when we all pitched in to do our part in ending that terrifying era of world history. Each story gives us an honest point of view through the eyes of those who experienced those trying times.
These individual oral histories are memories that made the greatest impressions during the war, some in the form of adventure, some in the form of horror, some in sorrow and some in thankful relief. This was the every-day life of common folk, the grass roots of America. All of them appear to communicate the important things in life; that material things are transient and it is friends, families and decent human beings who count in a crisis.
I heartily recommend this book for readers of all ages. It exudes the real values of our society. Not only is it part of this country's history but more importantly it is part of us, the real people of the United States.
--Gerald H. Lufkin

This is a wonderful insight into the lives of those who lived
through World War II. I've read many books on World War II and
have been working on oral histories of the men and women who served in the military, but Mary's book goes into the detail of
how the war touched all lives and the continuing effects it has
had on us. It's a very good book to share with young people and middle aged adults who want to better understand why their parents and grandparents feel the way they do about so many things. Those of us who grew up during the '40s and '50s were
forever changed by how our lives were affected.

I adore this deck! The personality of it is so gentle and warm, not foreboding like some decks. The story-pictures make it so easy to relate to the cards and very enjoyable to read. If a deck can be friendly, this one is. While this deck is not serious, I've come to trust it at least as much as any other deck I own. It's honest and so fun to look at!

This deck is very different from most of the other decks, specially when it comes to the imaginery which comes with it.

I own many tarot decks, and sometimes I get a bit uncomfortable with the images on some of the cards, specially "The Tower", "The Devil" and "The Death"; why to these cards always have to show people dying or even being chopped to pieces?. However, when I met this deck, I just found it to be wonderful.

Who wouldn't remember the stories that we've heard and read so many times? (even now as adults). This cute deck helped me to get tuned with it immediately, the readings just pop into my mind because the messages that the stories enclose in every card are simple to understand, but at the same time they give you an image to focus into and lot of wise thoughts.

Remember that we learn about life (its dangers and rewards) when we were children because of these stories.

I'm not a professional by any stretch of the imagination nor do I ever plan to do readings for a living. In fact, I was just introduced to Tarot cards three months ago and am still struggling with the main meanings of each card much less the underlying meanings.

This deck makes it very easy on me! All the pictures have little stories behind them that make their meanings easy to recall. Especially the suit cards! My other tarot deck just has pictures of two swords or three cups and whatnot. It had nothing on them to help the beginner guess at what they meant.

The benefits of this deck are that it helps you remember the significance of each card, the pictures are colorfully and wonderfully drawn with much detail. It is an all around beautiful deck and the images are very light and happy.

The down sides to this deck are that it is almost TOO optimistic at times. The three little pigs having their house blown down just doesn't quite capture the essence of The Tower to me. Also, the cards have a thin width and long height which kind of makes for uncomfortable shuffling if you've got small hands.

This deck is wonderful for me though. I like it's optimistic outlook and it's innocence.

In this book Schaberg skillfully and insightfully sifts through the layers of legends that have accrued to the figure of Mary Magdalene in order to "resurrect" this important figure in Christian history. In contrast to other books which simply recount the many legends associated with the Magdalene, Schaberg undertakes a critical analysis of these legends, demonstrating ways in which the legends have been used to both empower and depower the Magdalene. In successive chapters, Schaberg examines archaeological remains, depictions of the Magdalene in film and literature, the transformation of the Magdalene from "apostolic witness" to "whore", and gnostic/apocryphal traditions associated with the Magdalene. In concluding chapters Schaberg points to Mary Magdalene and the discovery of the empty tomb as the source of resurrection faith, and makes a bold and persuasive argument for Mary Magdalene as the prophetic successor of Jesus, similar to the way in which Elisha succeeded Elijah. Schaberg's proposition for "Magdalene Christianity" invites serious reconsideration of previous reconstructions of Christian origins. This is a book that will be of interest to students of the Bible and early Christianity, as well as those engaged in women's studies. It is a challenging and worthwhile read.

This is a masterful book. The scholarship is impressive, but it is the combination of solid learning with the personal that is unusual and engaging. Schaberg is fearlessly feminist, but this is not a polemic. She is persuasive and at times even poetic. For those interested in Mary Magdalene or Virginia Woolf this book is a must-read, but everyone interested in the origins of Christianity and the impact of patriarchy on human institutions will find a great deal of interest here.

Interesting possibilities emerge in a reader's mind as one sees Mary Magdalene's interaction with Jesus and the apostles. This book examines all sides of the biblical stories and raises provoking thought of her role in the life of Jesus. The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene is done with careful research and it encourages thought and discussion.
I consider the controversies here a challenge to the curious reader and ones to fire the imagination of the poorly informed. I give the book five stars.

Anyone who is a fan of "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams will find SEARCHING FOR BLANCHE a must read. Long after putting the book away, Belle and Art will stay on your mind. Enjoy the read. Enjoy the ride.

I grew up with the author, Mary Kay Remick. She was born a Southerner who got transplanted to the North when young. We attended elementary school, junior high school and high school together. She was not only a pretty, vivacious girl but a very perceptive one as well. She was always saying she wanted to become a writer. I lost track of her after high school graduation and didn't see her again until our 45th class reunion when she threw herself into my arms and gushed, "Oh, Dennis, I finally got to be a writer!" And I am here to tell you that she became a very good writer. Belle, the protagonist of her first novel, 'Searching For Blanche', is a true to life character with whom I can identify, sometimes reluctantly. As a member of AA for twenty-six years I have seen her in myself and in many women who have worked out their problems. And some have stories far more bizarre than Belle's. Then there's the taxicab driver, Art, a man who has discovered his anima in Belle and becomes completely entranced with her. I can honestly say that once I picked up the book I could not put it down - not just because I know the author but because I just had to know what happened next! As the story unfolded I found myself identifying with Belle more and more, sometimes painfully. Mary Kay skillfully discloses the true Belle - slowly, which of course is the way we discover ourselves. And as in self-discovery, the journey never really ends, it just twists into a different direction. This book is a search of discovery, one in which we the readers participate.

The other night on 'Masterpiece Theater' in the performance of 'Prince of Hearts', a professor was made to say, "You do not study literature to learn about literature, you study it to learn about yourself." If that statement is true, and I believe it is, then Mary Kay has not only written a smashing first novel but has also produced literature.

Helen M. Friese, Food and Travel Writer, Author of WHERE ATLANTANS DINEBLANCHE DU BOIS, STELLA, STANLEY, STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, BELLE REVE. Do all these names sound familiar? Do they perhaps bring back memories of Tennessee Williams?Mary Kay Remick's book is intended to do just that. For Belle Reve is searching for Blanche Du Bois in present day New Orleans and hooks up with a grumpy cab driver who gets caught up in her fantasy. These two opposite characters travel far beyond the boundaries of the "Big Easy" beforetheir saga is over.Belle is a troubled woman suffering from agoraphobia who meets Art Barkoff,the Checker taxi driver, a big rumply bearlike man who helps her with her impossible quest. The journey changes both of their lives forever.Author, Mary Kay Remick, maintains the pace with just enough mystery and involving plot to make it intriguing. Although dealing with phobias and depression, the book is also a tale of love and self-discovery. I enjoyed the fast-paced action, the humor and the warm undertones of this very southern novel

I picked up this volume in a bed and breafast on Prince Edward Island a few years ago. I ran out and bought it while I was there and ordered the next 2 volumes soon after. I've been a huge "Anne" fan since I was 12 years old. Montgomery's journals make the author seem as alive as the fictional character she created. They offer insight into the author's life, her work, and the time in which she lived. I was surprised about how frank she is about her own love life and about her feelings for "Anne." A great read which may inspire you to start a journal of your own.

Volume II is easily the best of Maud's journals; it is the one that I "dip" into whenever I have a few moments or need a bedtime book and consequently is starting to show some wear and tear. It covers the most dramatic points in her life--her marriage, birth of her sons, the discovery of her husband's mental illness, and the death of her best friend, as well as her most prolific years as a writer. She hasn't yet begun to hide as much in her journals, which makes the third and fourth volumes frustrating to read. Since anyone reading the second volume will probably go on to read them all, I should say here that third volume was rather tedious with the lawsuits and maid problems, and number four, though weirdly compelling, was painful to read as her imminent breakdown is all to evident--it is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. I wonder if the journals of her last years will ever be published-- I understand that there are problems with people still living, etc.

I am 40 years old and have kept a journal for 29 years, therefore, the journal format fascinates me. I adore Lucy Maud Montgomery's works and in 1992, I made a trip to Prince Edward Island to visit all her old haunts with my daugter and my girlfriend and her daughter. I purchased the first two journals while there. If you, dear reader, would like to know what went on in Lucy's (called Maud by everyone) mind and heart from the tender, turbulent age of 14 until her mid-thirties, I highly recommend this book. It will transport you to a simpler time, an era where people read more, pondered in greater depth, made visiting one another a social art. There was no television, computers, internet and telephones had just come into existence. The automobile was invented during these years. The book is fascinating in a historical realm as well as entering Maud's mind and gaining a perspective on her outlook of life and those around her. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and anyone who is a fan of Lucy Maud Montgomery will relish this book and treasure it greatly. It added dimension to my life because people have always intriged me and what their thoughts are, and where they get inspiration to write about their ideas. By reading this book, it added music and dimension to my soul. She freely discusses her love life and her miseries and joys. Read it! You will never forget it. The following journals that were published were just as compelling to read. I own them all in my personal library. My thanks to the publishers: Mary Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston.

America was the land of opportunity. The main character, Rose, seeks out that opportunity with her family in Ashes of Roses by Mary Jane Auch. Rose is known for her hard work and her stubbornness. This book shows the immigrants' struggles to survive in America. Rose's family has to learn to live in America from the different Ireland. Ashes of Roses lets the reader view an insight to the pressures of living in America.
In Ashes of Roses, Rose's family travels from Ireland to America for a new life. But at Ellis Island, tragedy strikes the family when Joseph, Rose's baby brother, has trachoma and cannot go into America. Roses' dad decides to take Joseph back to Ireland to stay with Grandma Nolan. While Rose's dad takes Joseph back, the family stays with Rose's uncle. However, Rose's mother hates to live for free, and Rose tries to find a job. A short while later, Rose's mother decides she does not want to live in America without her husband and Joseph. On the way to the boat, Rose asks her mother to let her stay in America with her younger sister.
Rose and her sister find a place to live in America with a father and his daughter, Gussie. Gussie helps Rose find a job at a cloth factory. BR> In Ashes of Roses, Rose and the readers learn not to take life for granted. The story line is easy to follow and keeps the readers hooked. The author did an impressive job bring the story to life. Ashes of Roses shows immigrants making their life in America by the trials they face.

Rose wants to stay in New York after arriving as an immigrant from Ireland, but she finds that it is much easier for a man to make the riches promised in America than it is for a woman. She ends up working in a sweatshop where the owner tries to take advantage of her. She leaves there and finally ends up getting a job at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company where she believes she has finally found a place where she can build a life for her and her sister. But tragedy will soon tear her new safe world apart.
Auch pulls you into the world of 1911 and creates an atmosphere that allows the reader to feel the desparation that accompanied the fight for women's rights in the workforce. The characters come alive and when many are lost in the Triangle shirtwaist company fire you grieve for them along with Rose. Ashes of Roses is a poignant book that will move the reader to a new, deeper understanding of the struggle for rights and the horror of the fire that took the lives of over 150 people in the Triangle Company fire in New York.

This book really moved me. The description of the city, characters and work conditions made me think about why something was not done about work conditions sooner. I see the character "Mary" as any immagrant coming into the city, or US for that matter, for the first time. This book really changed my perspective on what the world was really like for immigrants coming to this country. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a book that would make them think, enjoys the history of this country, or enjoys reading about courage that was in the heart of every immigrant who came to the United States the way the Nollans did. If their was one thing that disturbed me the most was how the owners of the triangle shirt waist factory got out of prison time, a conviction, and where able to continue running a company, caring little for the welfare of their workers. May all the workers who died in this disaster rest in peace.

This book is sets the standard for other books to follow in its detailed description, in text as well as photos, of the history of the Queen Mary from the years of 1936-1967, when it was retired in Long Beach, CA.

The only shortcoming of this book is that it tells little of the history of the ship after its arrival in Long Beach in 1967. Perhaps the author considers the ship to be a shell of its former self. Indeed the Queen Mary has had an exiting "life" as a tourist attraction since its last voyage in 1967.

Still, this book is a must for any fan of the Queen Mary. It is beautifully bound and the photos are priceless.

"Queen Mary" by James Steele was everything i hoped it would be - and more. Although the author goes into detail with the ship's interiors to some extent, I think he told the "Mary"s overall story well. The book is packed with technical data and historic info all the way back to 1930, when this beautiful liner was ordered, until she was delivered in Long Beach, California, in 1967. Great photographs, too!

By far one of the best books written on the Queen Mary. The detail and research that has gone into the writing of this book is outstanding. Hats off to Mr. Steele for an excelent history of this wonderful ship. A must have for anyone intrested in the history of RMS Queen Mary.

Highly recommended! I loved Mary Alice Kruesi's Second Star to the Right. Her tale is exquisitely endearing, making wonderful use of the Peter Pan story (I, too had a crush on Peter as I was growing up) and interweaving it with the lives of Jack Graham, the hero, Faye O'Neill, the heroine and her children, and of course, Wendy. The book makes you want to believe in the magic of happy endings, and has you listening for bells and watching for shooting stars. The last chapter was a bit blurred, as I had to read it through tears. Congratulations, Mary Alice: another tour de force!

A gorgeous novel. Mary is a superb writer, and I love the subtle way she has extended the Peter Pan story in this absolute gem.

While the original Peter Pan story revolved around Peter's attempt to delay Wendy's transition to womanhood (he took the children on her last night in the nursery), in Second Star we find Peter Pan (the Guardian of the Dead and the Lost Souls) is pivotal to the now aging Wendy's transition to the next life - which as the book suggests, may also be in the Never Land.

Mythology and quantum reality theory aside, this is also a beautiful love story, and the way in which Faye's relationship unfolds is just challenging enough to keep you guessing.

First class piece of writing. I'd love to see a sequel in which the ghost of Pan walks again.

This was one of the best romances I've read in years. I laughed and I cried and I felt like a kid again, experiencing the magic of an unforgettable love story. Mary Alice Kreusi has won a fan for life with this spectacular book.