Elizabeth is a wonderful book. The story is moving and real, the art is memorable. And it teaches real truths from and to the heart and mind.

My daughter brings home a library book every Wednesday from her school. On one occasion, she brought home ELISABETH, by Claire Nivola. I read it to her that night and was moved by the story. The next night, Thursday, my husband also read her the story. On Saturday, my husband, a physician, received a call from the emergency room where a woman who was from out of town, was experiencing pain from a previous fracture. He accepted the case and when he began taking her history, he was struck by the similarity it bore to the book he had just read. He mentioned it to her and she said she also knew the story as SHE WAS RUTH, the child in the book. My husband immediately took our daughter to meet her. Just to let you know - the book is a true story.

I came upon this book by accident and bought it for my granddaughter a year and a half ago when she was 4 1/2. We felt that she was too young to deal with the Holocaust aspect of the story, but will eventually reveal it to her. It is a favorite with her, for the story of loss and recovery is touching in its own right. As an American-Jewish contemporary of the doll's first owner, I get chills just reading the synopsis, and a catch in my throat when I tell people about it. The illustrations are beautiful, in their poignant detail and rich colors. This wonderful book deserves to be much more widely read than the sales ranking here would indicate.

When Avenley married Jake Lawrence she was launched into a fairy tale life of luxury, wealth, comfort, security, and unlimited promise for the future. But then this picture-perfect world suddenly crashes around them all. Highly recommended reading, Elisabeth Schilling's Forever Avenley is a compelling and deftly written novel of a proud family dynasty that blends romantic entanglements with intrigue, rage, and passion.

This was the best book I have read in years. It grabs your attention on the first page and keeps your interest to the last page. The author touches all emotions and you feel you know the characters personally. I enjoyed it and would even allow my teenage daughter to read it. It is a wonderful, well written story and I would highly recommend it to anyone. I look forward to the next one.

This author does a tremendous job of bringing you into the story. She uses phrases and wonderfully descriptive words to draw a reader into the characters lives, so that you see in your mind the beauty of the story. I especially like the poetry written to introduce some of the chapters. It's evident that this girl can write! It's a happily ever after story and a good read.

I know a bargain when I see one. Sussman's book juxtaposes Keith's drawings and paintings alongside interviews with Keith's contemporaries (they even bring in Junior Vasquez), without any attempt at being complete. The price is lowered because of a black Sharpie line on the top of the pages. That's it! If you have any interest in Keith Haring or even art in general, this is a great way to look at a great artist.

a collection of keiths works, from the beginning to the very end. installations, sculptures, as well as his paintings on buildings and objects grace the pages of this large format book. a definite for every fan of this kutztown boy. describes keiths life through letters and stories from friends, photos, and many beautiful full color works by the artist. bright and bold, just like his life.

This is a book I picked up at the Whitney exhibit in 1997 - it's a great variety of all Keith's work. His style has varied over the years and this book does a great job showing his evolution. My favorite part is the fact that many of his pieces from his youngest years are included. It's always interesting to see where your favorite artist started.

I bought and read this book in preparation for moving from San Diego to Norfolk...I wanted to get a flavor of the area. What a pleasant surprise! A fascinating read and one that will make you want to visit the area to see where ESB lived, and where she had such influence in preserving historical Richmond.

Knowing a bona fide eccentric, especially a benevolent one, is simultaneously an entertaining and exasperating experience. Sharing that experience with others is usually daunting. Either the essence of the person being described becomes lost in a jumble of amusing but disjointed anecdotes or eccentricity overwhelms the eccentric, rendering a flat, one-dimensional cartoon in place of a complex, multi-faceted portrait.

In Never Ask Permission, Mary Buford Hitz tackles this daunting task head on, the subject of this memoir being her mother, Elizabeth Scott Bocock or, as she often signed herself, ESB. Rather than take a sequential, "I-am-born" approach, the author chooses to devote separate chapters to different aspects of her mother's personality, each chapter a self-contained essay, overflowing with anecdotes, quotes, and, perhaps most illuminating of all, snippets of ESB's autobiographical sketches. (Most of these autobiographical excerpts, by the way, come from essays ESB wrote during her college years, which began after her sixty-seventh birthday.) Just as a puzzle becomes a picture as each piece falls into place, so does ESB's complex character come into focus, chapter by chapter, with a poignant, but essential clue to this charming, but undeniably complex Virginian saved until the very end.

Many CEO's could learn from ESB's capacity to set goals and achieve them. As ESB emerges from the pages of this lovingly crafted book, the reader meets a determined and creative thinker who probably would not have been impressed with "left-brain/right-brain, lateral thinking, creative problem-solving, if you aren't part of the solution, you're part of the problem" lingo, but who embodied the positive persona such jargon seeks to describe. With one foot firmly planted in late Victorian America and the other constantly, restlessly forcing her into the future, she was a visionary with an astonishing ability to get things done.

If you enjoy biography, if you are fascinated by Virginia, if you want some side-splitting laughs, or if you are just interested in a good read, this is the book for you.

If the moral of Never ask permission lies in the title, I will jump to the front of the line to praise it. The narrative careens around corners and bounces over bumps so merrily that the reader has only fleeting moments to enjoy the insiights and hoot at the comedy while holding on tightly to that pale yellow tailgate.

I love this book. It has recipes from all over Europe. This book is very large containing about 300+ recipes. Broken down into 14 different sections this book is likely to have just what you are looking for. Each section has several different areas of recipes. For example the vegetable section is broken down into hot soups, cold soups, stews, fried and roast vegetables, boiled, stuffed, salads, mushrooms, olive snd olive oil dishes, seaweed. She takes her time with each recipe stating where it comes from, the approximate year, and sometimes additional hints and tips on the recipes.
This book is wonderful because you get to learn a bit about each culture, sometimes what they ate with a particular recipes, or when it was served. It is also nice because many of the dishes are inexpensive to prepare and make great quanities. Perfect if you are cooking for a good deal of people. While this book is currently not in print, I would urge anyone looking for recipes from the Old World to take a chance on this book.

Elisabeth Luard has written a captivating book. If you read cookbooks for pleasure, this book is simply a must-have. Ms. Luard takes both a scholarly and a very practical approach to the subject. She describes in detail the development of peasant cooking, and each recipe is prefaced with an interesting aside or personal story. Reading this book, you will learn how a foie gras is judged while still in the duck, how a pig filled a winter larder and how to choose a perfect earthenware dish for Romanian Tocana de pui (chicken pot roast).

As a practical cookbook, it is wonderful. Each recipe is clear, concise and easy to follow. Ms. Luard gives suggestions for compatible side dishes and wine, as well as what to do with leftovers. (Did I mention most recipes are meant to serve 6 or more strapping farmers?) Each recipe is followed with suggested substitions, which comes in handy when you do not have sorrel or you don't care for prunes. More than 300 recipes are included, and they come from all over Europe, from Iceland east to Scandinavia, and south to Italy, not skipping a country in between. The book is divided into sections by ingredients, which I find extremely useful. The sections are: vegetable dishes; potato dishes; corner cupboard dishes (beans and grains); pasta, noodles and dough-based dishes; barnyard and dairy; fish and food from the sea; poultry; small game; pork; shepard's meats; beef, reindeer and grilled meats; bread and pastry dishes; sweet dishes; and the rustic kitchen. The last section is a great resource on herbs, mushrooms, oils and cheeses, and how to preserve meats.

There isn't space enough to tell you how great this book is. This is, without a doubt, my all-time favorite cookbook.

I like to read history, cookbooks, and about other cultures. Because of these interests, The Old World Kitchen is my cup of tea. The recipes are examples of peasant cooking in different countries and regions. There are lots of stews and soups. I never dreamed there were so many ways to cook potatoes. Having read most of them, it appears that they can be duplicated in western kitchens. The introductions at the beginning of each recipe are informative and interesting. The directions are clear and concise. They begin by telling what equipment you will need and what would be handy. At the end are suggestions about what can be substituted for recipe ingredients. These recipes are not diet food, but then peasants worked too hard to need to be on diets.

Hey, i'm looking for some contact with Fernando del Paso, 'cos i wonder if he could give us a speech, or something in the Medicine School at Cuernavaca, Mexico, may you please helpe me?

Palinuro of Mexico is a long surreal voyage throughout everything, full of obscure refrences, and quotations, Palinuro takes you on a trip were Mexico and all of its small surrealistic features come to light, were the abnormal is the commonplace and were Palinuro sets out on a journey of self-universal-discovery. Once you have read it you will be the same

so you think 100 years of solitude was the ultimate latinamerican novel? Not at all .Very well misbegotten, Palinuro de México has remained for a long time in the dark, almost surrepticiously. This is a very "natural" combo of baroque, enciclopedia and just mad characters . Of course it is political, but it is also very funny, almost overwhelmingly so. If you are looking for a taste of surrealism, a little of violence (just a little),a beguiling antihero (who happens to be a medical student and a"nice" member of mexican society) and anything else from ridiculous advertisements to a wonderful reflection on death -a-la-mexicana- involving bones and dead bodies(what do you know!) Palinuro of México is a must read for everyone who wants to taste life at its full , in all its fleshliness and with mundane curiosity, do drink it slowly for this is a book that really gets through you,it is a climax, sort of speak. And yes, it happens to be more compelling and more refined than any of Isabel Allende's novels.

This book was a very good source of information for me being an advanced bracelet maker. The only down side was that the instructions were hard to follow.

This book is great it has great instructions to follow and beautiful designs. It has from beads to threads, by far is the best book I've seen on how to make friendship bracelets. I'm a 15 year old girl and I've been making this bracelts for a long time now and this book has help me devoped new techniques on how to make this braceltes. I would definetly recommended to everyone!!!!

This a good book for beginners who want to learn how to braid or bead. And also good for the more experienced who want to learn different types/styles of beading and braiding!!

...I found these short Evangelical essays to be based in Biblical truths and geared toward the problems of human life and the human condition and, in some instances, prophetic messages about the particular evils of our time and society.
The little essays may be read as daily devotional pieces or, as I did, the book may be approached and read through in several settings.

I found this book about 7 years ago and have continually turned to it for comfort. I have given it as a gift over a dozen times and each reciever has found the same comfort. Perfect for a friend who cannot seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Elisabeth Elliot's approach is one of no nonsense.
She tells it like it is, yet gives hope.

Elisabeth Elliot holds true to her style of communicating God's Word with extraordinary practicality and love. The articles are small, (perfect for devotional reading) and packed with truth. Will give you lots to think and pray about during the day.

As a first-time author of a non-fiction book
myself, I was starting to doubt my own
ideas and plans as a writer. Then this simple,
bright little book popped out at me.

This is not a "how-to" kind of book. This is
more of a "why-have-you-waited-so-long?" book.
It's a little friend who always loves and
believes in you! And who the heck doesn't
need that?

And hey... that metallic-winged guy on the
cover is irrestible! (I guess you could tell
that I really loved this book.)

This reader-friendly goal-setting and achieving book really delivers... Get Happy NOW !

I loved this book. I got a lot out of it. I wish I had read a book like this one when I was growing up : maybe I would've had a happier life. Every line is a word of wisdom and should be read and reread : a wonderful reminder about the important things in life. I've read it many many times. Shared it with so many many friends. I highly recommend this book to everyone - young and old. A great little gift.

Such sad lives were led by the the Bronte's, loneliness, loss, despair, all were experienced and fed into the imaginations on charlotte, emily and anne. This book is a brilliant book by E C Gaskell (who i normally dont really like), it is basically a collection of letters by charlotte and a great narrative, when speaking of the deaths of emily, anne and charlotte, i actually felt tears in my eyes!

Mrs. Gaskell understood a man's or woman's life to be lived within a social and natural context -- and her deployment of anecdotes and impressions of the North of England in the early pages of this book is captivating. But she also understood us to be souls, present to but distinct from God. Hence, even though in a few instances Gaskell's facts may been correctible (which the editor has done for us in this Penguin Classics edition), she is concerned with truth, and this gives readers the opportunity (rarely offered by modern entertainments) to escape from the trivial.

A very nicely written biography by Mrs. Gaskell about the life of her friend Charlotte Bronte, although most of the content was made up of letters written either by or to Charlotte Bronte rather than Mrs. Gaskell's own writings. Still this is a very concise book containing mostly everything that an ordinary reader, or well, a beginner of the Bronte novels, should know about this famous family. Nonetheless at some point of the book, I do find Mrs. Gaskell a bit too subjective, especially when it comes to the depiction of Charlotte's brother Branwell Bronte and his downfall. But consider the fact that this book was written only within one and a half year, with Mrs. Gaskell herself alone traveling all the way from Manchester to Haworth, and then to Brussel, doing all the necessary researches and interviews on her own, I must say that this is just an awesome piece of work!! And just as what Patrick Bronte himself had said about this biography, 'It is every way worthy of what one Great Woman, should have written of Another...it ought to stand, and will stand in the first rank, of Biographies, till the end of time'.

One more word though. From a more scholarly point of view, however, I think so far the 'best' biography on the Brontes should be Juliet Barker's 'The Brontes'. If, after reading this biography written by Mrs. Gaskell, you still want to know more about the Brontes, then I will say: go and buy this other book by Juliet Barker and you definitely will never regret it!