Although this "The Last Hero" still has the shortcoming that the style is rather long-winded, I bet it is the best of the Saint stories. I really enjoyed adventure after adventure of young Simon Templar and his jolly friends. Anyway it is much better than its continuation. In "Knight Templar", the enemy's plan was rather vague that made the whole story less thrilling. But in "The Last Hero", the subject is plain and simple; a fight for a devilish invention of a mad scientist. The story is much more thrilling and full of actions and wits. And the characters are much more vivid; Simon is so youthful and dynamic, his friends are so amiable, Marius is so ferocious and formidable, and Prince Rudolf's inhuman calmness heightened the tension of the climax.

If possible, this should be read before The Avenging Saint (a.k.a. Knight Templar), which is a continuation of the story begun by The Last Hero. Both books are part of The Saint: Five Complete Novels (Avenel, 1983), if you can find a copy.

Most cookbooks, even the ones that sound like they should have exotic recipes, have the same old stuff, based on boring ingredients that produce ho-hum meals. Not this book! The author clearly knows about good food, and the recipes are a breath of fresh air. They're not terribly hard to make, either.

Visiting my folks over Christmas, the whole family decided to have a Lewis+Clark dinner, just for fun. Everyone helped, and we had: Parsnip Fritters, Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage, Shrimp Bisque, and since we couldn't decide between the Rack of Venison with Rosemary-Dijon Crust and Roast Duck with Blackberry Sauce, we had both of them! For dessert, it was Mocha Creme Pie. All were outstanding.

This book is a class act; I just wish there were a hardcover version.

Hopkins selected these poems, arranged them, and the result is a true book. Books these days tend to be thrown together and not very interesting. You'll love poems about Martin Luther King with the lines, "Now ten-ton bells together swing: Remember / Martin /Luther/ King. The simple beauty of the rhyme "swing" and "King" with its heaviness and that optimistic preacher's name.

Lee Bennett Hopkins, who loves Hughes' poetry became a scholar on Hughes (See his book of Hughes' poetry "The Dream Keeper" and "Don't You Turn Back" if you can find it). He wrote "Dreamer"--it begins, "He let us kiss the the April rain." Later this wonderful rhyme: "He syncopated beats/ of Harlem blues. / O! /The might/ of / Langston Hughes." There are poems on Whitman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sacagawea, Rosa Parks and more.

Many of these Americans have never had a poem written of them. I looked at this book critically. After all, we are critics. It's worthwhile. As I see it, Lee Bennett Hopkins is an American treasure.

The librarians of this nation are his greatest fans. What better recommendation for any author. America, let's value what we should value--you can begin at these "Lives Poems About Famous Americans."

Once a day find something that makes you both laugh.
Once a week boost your partner's self-esteem.

Along with the items on the list, the Parrotts include personal anecdotes and encouragement about how to re-vitalize a tired marriage or improve an already good one.

The Parrotts also do marriage conferences called "Becoming Soulmates" (look for the book by the same name). Pillow Talk for Couples: Drawing Closer Before the Lights Go Out" is the title of their newest book, a devotional that looks like a must-buy!

The Love List would be a great book for any married couple, newlyweds or golden-agers. The authors are Christians and the book is written from that perspective, but I believe all married couples would benefit greatly!

Thank you, Les and Leslie!

I ran across this book by accident and was instantly hooked. Unlike many relationship books, the author talks sense rather than nonsense.

The idea is truely simple - a list of eight behaviours to practice. Some per day, some per week, per month, per year. There is nothing fancy here, nothing that costs money. Nothing that requires elaborate preparation. The main idea is that husband and wife need to be intenttional about nurturing the marriage and they probably need to talk about important stuff a lot more than they are probably doing now. For example, item no. 1 on the list is touch each other each day.

The ideas here speak to me. I can see my wife and I putting this into practice over the long run. I believe that these 8 simple ideas will work change in our relationship.

Skinny book, and a fast read. Take your time, read it two or three times, give it to your spouse to read and then talk, talk, talk about the ideas.

Although published by a Christian publisher, and written from a Christian perspective, don't let that scare you off if you are of a different/no religious persuasion. The religious themes are minor and almost incidental. No preaching here.

I'd say this is for folks like us - good marriages that could be better. This is probably not the recipe for repairing a damaged relationship.

Have you ever had been in a situation and had that horrid little deja vu feeling of, 'I've been here before, and I didn't like it then. Why on earth would I like it now? Oh dear God please make it stop'? Yeah, me too. Have you ever noticied that those horrid little deja vu feelings seem to repeat themselves like you were in some sort of cosmic feedback loop? Maybe you always have the same kind of miserable dating relationships that end the same rotten way or maybe you always end up in a job where you feel like a victim or prostitute. Or maybe it's not work or relationships but something else, perhaps many things, but the KEY THEME is that you ALWAYS feel like you've been there before. Welcome to the wacky and wild world of your EGO, where history is destined to repeat itself unless you process it so it won't. Leslie calls these cycles energy patterns, and I tend to agree with her mostly because when I'm in one of these deja vu hideous moments I feel like there's a vortex that I'm getting pulled into. (You know that feeling, don't you? We all do!)

This book will show you how to process these energy patterns so that one day you'll be at the great precipice of one of those deja vu moments, and you'll look down into this canyon, knowing that you've taken that leap oh so many times before and it never ends well... AND you'll say 'NO THANKS! Not this time!' Then you'll hear your thoughts bouncing around your mind as if you had actually taken the dive, but you're in an ascended state of consciousness where you are peaceful and even amused at your (ego) thoughts though you aren't reacting like you usually do. Instead, you're watching everything around you like you have fallen into the parallel universe of 'what ifs.' Yes, I've been to this place. It's amazing. And yes, you can make a choice to not repeat those deja vu moments that suck you in like a black hole! We don't have to live a deja vu life. We can process and choose to NOT go to those ugly places ever again. Really!

This book will give you the key!

Leslie Temple-Thurston has added something new - and in my opinion much needed - to the spiritual literature, a manual for dissolving the samskaras. Samskara is a sankrit word that refers to all those tendencies and bad habits that sabotage any efforts at achieving anything, such as losing weight or becoming enlightened. It is otherwise known as our patterns, and makes up our conditioning, or patterned behavior.

By thoroughly eluclidating on the subject of polarities and their effects on us personally - and she is working on the level of clearing the personality or ego throughout this book - you first begin to understand how energy has been routed and patterned throughout your system over the years (and lifetimes.) Once you clearly see the problem, you can begin to do something about it. But it all begins with being aware of the problem first, and Leslie gently brings our awareness to this, beautifully.

Then she has a series of exercises designed to bring out the polarities in any situation - again, to become aware of the problem further - and other exercises to help you to neutralize them so that the energy they have been using up for so long can be freed and reclaimed for your own use. Do this long enough, and you are completely free of any energy stealing habits, patterns and conditioning. Voila - liberation!

Sound good? It is. But this is not your father's Jonathan Livingston Seagull. You gotta work at it. I myself have shied away from the material, only to come back to it again and again. Each time I work with it, I come away with a greater awareness of my own conditioning, via the polarities they use. Little by little, I think I am getting it. It is a work that demands your full attention and whole-hearted devotion, but you will easily see rewards comensurate with the time you put in. Even your first little "ahas" of recognition will be very exciting. By then, you'll want more, and it won't seem like work anymore, just thoroughly satisfying self-discovery.