I had only vague knowledge of the history of the Chiapas region of Mexico before I read this novel, which tells the story of a fictional uprising (based on a couple of real ones) with many stunning similarities to the Zapatista uprising of 1994. But you don't need to be interested in the social and political history of Chiapas to appreciate this novel -- indeed, too much awareness may cause you to miss the book's many fine qualities beyond its political prescience.

Castellanos masterfully weaves the lives of numerous people together in a narrative which is often captivating. Keeping the characters straight is only a problem at first, for soon you have in your head a remarkably clear picture of them all. I found myself caring equally for the fates of characters I knew would clash with each other, and this is one of the great accomplishments of the novel.

Some of the language and imagery, based on Mayan mythology, gets obscure and occasionally tedious, but this is a minor complaint, for the majority of the tale is stunningly clear and suspenseful. The book is filled with Mexican and Mayan words, which may seem off-putting at first, but their sense can usually be discovered through the context and a glossary of the most obscure words is provided at the end of the book. I found myself enjoying having some of the words left untranslated, for it strengthened the immediate poetry in the writing, and the sense of place inherent throughout. There are also an introduction and an afterword which provide useful information about Castellanos and the history of Chiapas.

Those who did not learn from the cenruries-old history of the Chiapas are now repeating it.The book is depressing and disturbing, because the outcome will not change - especially since the latest revolt has been preempted by socialist/communist rebels. The case for the Chiapas Indios seems hopeless, now and in the future. The poetry brought to this account is overwhelming. Everything comes alive, stark and brilliant. It is sad that the author had to die so young. In reading the book, it helps to know some Spanish. A glossary at its end could be helpful.

I have just had the pleasure of reading one of the most exciting and challenging books that I will read this year, and it's only January. The book is titled The Book of Lamentations and it was written in 1962 by the now deceased Rosario Castellanos. It has only recently been translated by Esther Allen, for reasons that are now completely obscure to me, since after reading it, you'll wish you could have read it years ago.
This book is ostensibly about a fictional uprising in Chiapas that took place shortly after the land redistribution attempts by the PRI were begun in the 1930s. But to see it as only that is to miss the deeper levels of the book. It is also about the inherent inequalities of perception that challenge us, both from within and without our social groupings.
The main conflict is over the role of the government in overseeing the destruction of the fincas in Chiapas. When the agent of the government arrives to redistribute the land back to the peasants and destroy the system that always left the Tzotzils of the region overworked and permanently impoverished in their villages, he encounters the entrenched resistance of the landed Ladino gentry.
Meanwhile, in the villages of the countryside, where the Indians live, there is a religious revival, and not of Catholicism, but of the pagan religion that has never been fully destroyed in the area. This part of the book appears to be based on an episode in the Yucatan uprising of the 1850's, but is actually a deeper analysis of the role of the directly inspired mystic as a critique of the established traditions.
When the Indians finally begin their revolution, it is started by one of the most shocking events in the book. Yet, with the author's skill and courage at facing the event, one does not cringe or turn away from it, but acknowledges it in the same way that the engineer who witnesses it does: "more out of fascination than of fear."
The book examines closely the role of religion in fostering and in destroying revolution. Near the end, the book contains a conversation between the atheist governor of the region and the archbishop. While one might hope for a longer, and more full description of their conversation, the episode rings true, as we always wish for more answers in these areas than we can get.
The book holds no character up for esteem, all are there for your perusal as they are. If you are looking for a hero you will not find one here, it is populated by real people with the real faults and weaknesses that we all have.
If, on the other hand, you want to read a book that carries with it a timeless quality, one that will challenge you and force you to come to terms with the ethical ambiguities that plague us all, this book will dominate your thoughts for some time after you have put it down

A highly useful reference covering virtually every aspect of desktop publishing layout, design, and style. The book provides a broad foundation for the procedures and methods employed in contemporary electronic publishing. Numerous illustrations and examples are provided. Sample chapters include: Establishing a Process, Living with the Software, Type Formatting Information, Typefaces and Their Uses, Quality Control Methods, and Web Design Packages.

This is an excellent reference manual that supports both the beginner and the more advanced desktop publisher. The layout of the book is particularly helpful in locating materials for specific projects. I can easily find examples of a publication type to use for a reference. I also never realized the importance of choosing the correct paper. This chapter was very enlightening. As a new web designer, I found the information regarding design levels especially useful. This book will be on my reference shelf for a long time.

As a student of desktop publishing I can only say I wish I had found this book sooner; it would have made things a lot easier. With this book, you will need no other on this subject.

Eighteen stories of warrior women who come to men in distress. The tables have been turned! This is the second in, what I hope will be, a series. These women may look like "babes" in very little chain mail, but they show themselves to be able to take care of themselves...and other men. My husband and I enjoyed it thoroughly!

Eighteen stories of warrior women who come to men in distress. The tables have been turned! This is the second in, what I hope will be, a series. These women may look like "babes" in very little chain mail, but they show themselves to be able to take care of themselves...and other men. My husband and I enjoyed it thoroughly!

Despite the title, not every story in this book is full of puns. Not every story is laugh-out-loud funny. Every story IS worth reading, which is not the case with every anthology you might pick up, especially a "theme" anthology. The only mild complaint I would have was there was no Mathemagics story by Margaret Ball. Despite that slight disappointment, I would recommend this installment in what I really hope will be a continuing series.

This book is extemely boring in the beginning just talking about the genie but some how this arabic book had some sense in it. This book is not for everyone since to some people it's not interesting. But this book is worth buying

This is the best book I have ever read. I think the very beginning of the book was a little boring though.

This hilarious book has the same great kind of humor that peppers Patricia C Wrede's "Dealing with Dragons" series.

I picked up the book one lazy Sunday evening, and was pleasantly surprised to find myself totally engrossed in the story and turning the pages avidly. The author turns out fine alliterative phrases and succeeded in creating a vivid tropical world of colors, sounds and smells which I could relate to being from a tropical country myself. There is a strong moral undertone to the story of Ayla's life which however does not overwhelm the central theme -- that one can overcome any adversity. From the early death of her mother, through Ayla's struggles to complete her education, find a lasting love; and later raise a family as a single parent -- one learns that with inner strenght founded on a deep spiritual belief one can overcome these challenges and achieve any goals. Still, this novel is recommended reading for a relaxing evening.

Ayla's Paradise is a short wonderful story. The island of St. Croix is surely Paradise, the beautiful ocean and scenery brings back pleasant memories, especially if one is from that island and has not being back for years. Even if one is not from the island it makes you want to visit. The lost of her mother at such a tender probably left her wondering "why", but even so Ayla dedicated her life to the Lord. There were struggles along the way but Ayla remained strong and steadfast in her faith. She had a few tests to endure: a college love who blew her off, a shortage of money and later on when she finds the man of her dreams, and he is taken away from her and the kids. She came out of that ordeal strong and victorious.

Ayla's Paradise is a book I'm proud to have read. Being of Jamaican descent I can relate to some of it's contents and having been raised in the U.S. I also connect. It's a novel for everyone, but most importantly for young women who think they need a male figure to survive and for older women who believe they should raise their children the way they were. It's also fascinating how she never forgets her spiritual father through trying times. I also enjoy the traumatic surprise she had to face.

Esther de Waal provides readers with a very good overview of Celtic Christian spirituality by examining the subjects of their prayers. Wisely, she lets the prayers themselves do most of the talking; she refrains from long explications of them, a practice that allows the reader to project himself or herself into the situation and make personal applications more easily. This book particularly serves as a good introduction to Celtic Christianity for those unfamiliar with it.

If I have one major complaint with the book, it concerns de Waal's style: she responds to the prayers more from her head than her heart. Also, it might have been helpful to include a historical overview at times, but that's not the purpose of this book. (For a good historical overview, see Oliver Davies' introduction to Celtic Spirituality in Paulist Press' Classics of Western Spirituality series.) These are minor complaints, however, for a book that contains so many Celtic Christian prayers from down through the centuries.

Wow! This book is not what I expected. I was looking for a "how to" on prayer the "celtic way." What I got was a deep, and sometimes profound, look at prayer as a way of life. This book is not about sitting down to pray. It is about praying - morning, noon and night.

I was especially moved by the focus on the trinity and the cross in the prayer of the celtic people. De Waal devotes a chapter to each of these topics. She thoroughly demonstrates what she has to say, what she has come to practice in her own prayer life, with excellent examples from the prayers and poetry of celtic Christians and monks.

Another aspect, the one that took me deeper and farther than I expected to go, is the celtic idea of journeying. We journey through life (we all know this), and prayer is a living part of that journey (we often forget this). So true is her statement, "I shall not find Christ at the end of the journey unless he is with me along the way."

The final chapter on praise in the celtic prayerlife was wonderful. I found myself longing to hear the examples of praise put to music today. I think it would enrich the worship at my own church.

I enjoyed The Celtic Way of Prayer tremendously. Coming from a Protestant background I disagreed with the celtic worship of Mary that is sometimes revealed in De Waal's examples. However, anyone should be able to read beyond such a disagreement and be edified in their spiritual growth by applying the rich ideas from the celtic way of prayer in their own life. There is much to be gleaned from this book.

While guiding us through the beauty of Celtic prayers, Esther De Waal reveals the path to making faith and prayer a part of every part of our day. This book will renew your sense of wonder and celebration of God's presence in all things.

I love Abraham! I do! But this calendar is essentially a 365 page pad that has 'some' abraham quotes which are used over and over again. Honestly, listen to a few of their tapes or CDs instead and buy a pad at staples. It's the placemat process on a 365 page pad and not worth more than [$$] if that. If you don't know what the placemat process is, go to the abraham-hicks site and look under the newsletters. It's in one of the oldest newsletters posted. You just write what you intend for the universe to do for you on this pad. It's a 'to do' pad. I'm not kidding! Really!

"There is nothing you cannot be, do or have" pretty much sums up the Abraham teachings perfectly.

For years, I thought life had to be a struggle, the world was full of wrongs to be righted and that we had to prove ourselves worthy in some way in our lives to something or someone - whether physical or non-physical.

The non-dogmatic, non-preachy Abraham teachings changed my view of the world completely.

Now I sit back and relax, let my thoughts and desires flow and life just gets better and better. I pretty much get everything I want these days and things I don't quite have in the bag yet are well on the way.

Even after just a year of playing with the Abraham ideas, I find myself looking at other people in the world and wondering why they make things so hard on themselves.

You see, life is a choice - and it is much more of a choice than many of us dare believe. And we can choose to live life the "hard" way with lots of suffering or we can live it the "easy" way with ever-increasing freedom, growth and joy.

I now know that every single little thing that every occurs in my day-to-day existence is something that I have deliberately created and I now know exactly how to control all those things.

Do yourself a favour - forget all the emotional/religious/psychological baggage you've been carrying all your life and just learn how the natural laws of the Universe really work.

One thing is for sure...you'll never go back!

The work of Abraham is truly unlike anything I have encountered. It is not only uplifting and empowering, but realistically attainable with "deliberate thought."

The 365 Day Calendar allows you to organize and prioritize your daily goals and objectives while leaving space for you to stay focused on wishes & desires that have been milling around in your mind for much of your lifetime. The words of Abraham on the back of each day only add to the power that your own wanting can bring to you.

Because writing is such a powerful point of focus, deliberately writing down on a consistent basis what you want and why you want it simply opens your channles for deliberate positive manifestation & funnels the awesome energy & power of the universe into the very personal life experience that you are living.

I highly recommend this tool as a creative means for continually reminding yourself of what is most important to you and why.

I loved this book! It completely blew just about every stereotype against women out of the water. While I was reading it, I constantly chuckled to myself, and occasionally laughed out loud, hard enough to bring tears to my eyes! I've never read the first book in the series, but I always wanted to, and now I do more than ever!!!!

This is a thoroughly enjoyable addition to the sub-genre known as "Humorous Tongue-in-Cheek Satirical Feminist Sword and Sorcery."

Okay, there really isn't a sub-genre by that name. Maybe there should be. Sure, it might be a short-lived sub-genre (such as the brief flurry of category romance novels featuring sexy, deeply conflicted but ultimately redeemable vampires...) but it would be fun while it lasted. I'm all for a third and fourth anthology, at the very least.

Humor is, of course, subjective, but there is enough variety among the stories to appeal to the most deeply warped sense of humor. Which is a good thing.

The "Ode to Xena" dedication was marvelous, and summed up the tone of the book to follow with the closing "quote:" "Bad doggerel. No biscuit."

Summary: Bring your sense of the absurd, check all baggage marked "quivering moral outrage" and "free-floating political correctness" at the door, lighten up for an hour or so, and enjoy.

I loved almost all the stories in this anthology. However, I especially enjoyed the return of Barbara Hambly's wonderfully complex ex-nun-turned-mercenary Starhawk (of "The Unschooled Wizard" and "The Dark Hand of Magic" fame)

"A Night with the Ladies" proves that the 'Hawk doesn't need her wizardly boyfriend Sun Wolf backing her up--although a few gal-pals don't go unappreciated...

A little bit of THE OX-BOW INCIDENT, a little bit of A SCARLET LETTER..and even a little bit of THE LOTTERY--this first novel by Marlin Fitzawater occasionally conjurs up characters and moments that aren't exactly original, but still, this is a very compelling book. And for anyone who has been to North Central Kansas--hell, for anyone who has NOT been to NCK--this is a perfect description of the world of Post-Rock. And good for him for doing all this research! Ol' Marlin must have some time on his hands!

As a resident of a small town near the setting of the story, it was very moving to read about something that really happened and shaped the future in this area. Not only is Marlin an excellent writer, but as i found out at a local booksigning, he is also very friendly. Any fan of non-fiction and fiction alike should find a copy of this book.

I can only say that this book was very good--for a novel. I read very little fiction since truth is always stranger--and more interesting and amazing--than fition. But I bought this book because it is based on a true story of a small town's reaction to a beautiful independent-thinking woman in the early 1900s. Shame on the townspeople! Fitzwater is a very good writer and I hope he has more ideas for books and that this wasn't just a fluke because of his father's deathbed statements. Recommended to all readers of non-fiction and contemporary American history.

When I bought this cookbook, I was hoping for old-fashioned traditional Mennonite recipies. I wanted recipies that called for natural ingredents, not cans of cream of muchroom soup.

This is more along the lines of something your grandmother's church group would have put together for a fundraiser back in the 60's. For what it is, it's very thorough; it just is not what I wanted.

This is a very helpful and resourceful book, that must be in every kictchen. I received this book as a gift from my mother-in-law, and have used it constantly over the years.
There are excellent recipes, hints and tips. I would highly recommend this book to all those who are in the kitchen. Everyone can learn something from this book, young or old, new cook or experienced. You will not be sorry you've purchased it. I would not be without mine.

I was given this cookbook as a gift while living in the Shenandoah Valley. Little did I know that it would become not only my most favorite cookbook, but really the kitchen bible. I am a cookbook collector but this one is hardly ever put away. It has helpful information for beginner cooks as well as the more experienced ones. The recipes use basic foods but make wonderful meals. I love her recipe "Clothes Stain Remover". Anyone with children need that one! She covers gardening, canning, butchering, substitutes, entertaining, etc. It is a wonderful gift idea that your friends will thank you for years to come.