I have struggled with severe upper back pain for over two years. I have been to see doctors, had x-rays (twice) and taken anti-inflammatory drugs off and on the entire time. It was extremely frustrating and led me to believe this was something I was simply going to have to live with. This book was an incredible revelation. The book not only gives you real practical help in identifying exactly what muscle is injured, but then goes on to give a detailed game plan for self rehabilitation, and beyond that how to strengthen the injured area so it won't become a problem again. I have only been using the techniques for a week or so now, but the change and relief I am starting to feel are amazing. I am so excited to know (and feel) that this problem will eventually be resolved 100%. I highly (or any muscle pain) recommend this book for anyone who struggles with back pain. This is not some kind of new age herbal nonsense. This is more like learning to perform physical therapy on yourself.

This book is a dictionary that will help you communicate with your body, understand its pains, and find relief in a natural, healthy way. It's written in a lively, candid style and many examples draw on the author's personal experiences. It will show you how to identify your muscles, stretch them, and strengthen them - the key steps not just for healing pain, but for preventing it in the first place. Whether you work in an office, have a construction job, or do anything in between, this book belongs in your library.

What a great book! I'm giving it to my friends and family for Christmas. Everyone whines about muscle pain. "How's your knee?" or "Is your neck better?" It's time we stop whining and start having more fun. I've had bad low back pain for two years. I thought muscle pain is inevitable as we age. Certainly the doctors I saw were happy to give me expensive prescription pain relief drugs. But these didn't fix anything. I needed to understand the causes and effects. This book has changed my expectations. I don't have to hurt. Using this book, I have reduced my muscle pain drastically. I actually slept pain free last night for the first time in months. Now I understand how the back and front of the body are one system. No wonder the McKenzie method isn't enough.

I expected this book to be an entertaining bit of Christmas fluff. I was surprised to find that the book wasn't particularly merry for the most part, but actually dealt very realistically with issues of bereavement, loneliness, betrayal, and rejection, which contrast with the outward happiness of the holiday season. This book really took you inside the minds and hearts of the two main characters. When though Lord "Thorn" does a dishonorable thing, you are privy to his inner struggles and feelings of guilt. You know that he just wants someone to keep him from his lonliness. This was a very thought-provoking book that touches upon what love really means.

I confess I rarely read romance novels, but Ms Fairchild's deft descriptions and beautifully embroidered characters pull me in to her regency world, and I find myself wanting to turn off the phone and languish in the sights and smells of a long-ago Christmas. Best of all, though, are her characters--exquisitely layered, complex, and yet touching and real. Roll over, Jane Austen! Ms. Fairchild has a gift for writing, and it's a gift you'll savor unwrapping, even after the holidays are over.

Ms. Fairchild has done it again--provided us with a wonderful story written in her uniquely lyrical style. Merry Mary is my kind of heroine--stromg yet vulnerable and "Lord Thorn" is eminently worthy of love and a lustful thought or two. If you're a Regency fan, you'll want to treat yourself to this Christmas gift.

Great read packed with info. I've always wanted to know more about her, not just the vague references made in books about Keller and Sullivan.

The long-forgotten story of Laura Bridgman is riveting: She was the first deaf, blind and mute American to learn English and she did so through the ingenious efforts of Samuel Howe. If author Elisabeth Gitter had done nothing more than reintroduce this story to the world, her book would have been worthwhile. But Gitter does much more. Both Bridgman and Howe were enormously complicated, infinitely fascinating characters and their relationship was unprecedented in human experience (quite a statement, but it's true!). It is incredible, and in many ways, heart-wrenching, to watch their storybook relationship develop and devolve. Gitter wisely tells the story without literary flourishes; it's so remarkable, it doesn't need any. The author is also scrupulously fair to her subjects (few characters in history go from appealling to detestable, and back again, more quickly than Howe) and provides just the right degree of historical background--enough to inform the reader, but not enough to slow down the narrative. A nearly perfect book!

Elisabeth Gitter has introduced the 21st Century reader to Laura Bridgman, "the original deaf-blind girl" in her well written and sensitive portrayal of "this pitiful little girl" who "became the most celebrated child in (19th Century) America." Along with her teacher and mentor, Samuel Howe, founder of the first school for the blind in America, Laura became an inspiration for the indominability of the human spirit. Yet, as Gitter wisely and perceptively shows, the multi-faceted character behind Laura's public persona was often overlooked by Howe in his zeal to show the world that, in his words, "obstacles are things to be overcome", and that Laura Bridgman was the prime example of the veracity of his statement. With her extraordinary knowledge of the Victorian era in which the story takes place, and her exceptional command of the written word, Gitter has brought Laura Bridgman the honor and dignity she was often denied her life.

Miss Fairchild does not fear tackling hard issues in her books and this one, dealing as it does with the subject of acute bereavement, is excellent. As with the themes in Miss Dornton's Hero and Captain Cupid Calls the Shots, the author is not shy of making the reader confront some of our inner most fears - particularly those fears we face when we don't know how to talk to and help those suffering with suicidal thoughts, depression or bereavement. I have been so pleased with her careful and empathetical treatment. Very well done indeed!

She is also to be congratulated for the excellence of her research and the quality of her language. Thank you!

This is a book I take out and reread. Lots of detail of domestic life in a country house especially the servants hierarchy. Lord Endicott has a manipulating sister, just to add in complexity, who comes to visit, I think the other reviews carry more details. An interesting exploration of the servant / master relationship.

Lord Julian Endicott was slowly wasting away since his wife and child had died the year before. Nothing gave him pleasure. Even food had no taste.

Jeannette was hired for her culinary skill. It was hoped she could tempt his appetite with her cooking. Jeannette was of French nobility. But with the ongoing war in France, only she survived of her family. Now she had a new name, a new country, and hopefully, a new chance at life. Jeannette had always been good at cooking and she was grateful to find a position which would let her earn her living doing what she so enjoyed. However, Lord Endicott's appetite was diminished for many reasons. Going through all she had, Jeannette had a better understanding than anyone else on how to help the Lord. Things were made harder by the arrival of the Lord's sister. His sister was determined to have Jeannette fired.

***This is the best I have read of E. Fairchild's stories. I aim to keep this one always! Real history, real problems, real solutions. I loved it!***

My daughter, age 4, just loves this book. It is a paragraph book, not a one-liner read-aloud, and adults will find it enjoyable to read to children. The basic story is that Spotty has spots while his siblings don't. He gets left behind, runs away (which I usually don't like to see in stories, but I just correct verbally to express the dangers of and move on), and gets taken in by a family of spotted bunnies who have ostracized their plain bunny just the same as he was an outcast in his family! So, of course, eventually all the bunnies get together and learn that the spots and colors don't really matter and that it's more important to be kind and loving... all told in the warm medium of adorable bunnies which any child would love. It's rather hard to find these days, but worth buying!

Spotty is a dotted, spotted bunny born to a family of white, pink-eyed rabbits. Although Spotty's mother loves him very much, as do all his brothers and sisters, she's afraid Grandpa will not approve of a bunny with brown spots, so she leaves him at home. Spotty becomes despondent and runs away, only to find a family of spotted rabbits with one all-white bunny.

The book is a celebration of differences, and teaches children the very important lesson that we are who we are, and nothing can change that, nor should we try. This reaches all levels - differences in attitude to the obvious difference in skin color.

"Spotty" reaches so much farther than any of the Rey's "Curious George" works, and I highly recommend it for every parent.

My siblings and I were raised on this book in the 1950s and 1960s. Seeing it in the movie "You've Got Mail" brought back fond memories. I am now purchasing it for the children in my life. In an era when tolerating differences is at a shortage and sorely needed, no child should grow up without "Spotty".

This story takes you back to different periods of American history -- from the early settlement of the west at the turn of the century to urbanization and immigration in New York some 50 years later. It allows you to "live" history with the author, and highlights the changes that have shaped our country over time.
I was very impressed by the author's tale, and the way she was able to weave in stories told to her by her father.
This is a great book -- one that I would share with others to better appreciate our connections in life with those we love.

A very sensitive, concisely written, parallel stream of reminiscences: the first by the author, of her youth growing up in New York City; the second by the author's father growing up around and in an Indian Reservation in Klamath Falls, Oregon. The author weaves the two different lives, lifestyles, and periods together and shows us the very striking similarities and differences between them.
A satisfying and enjoyable memoir.

This is a charming, wonderful read. It is only over too soon. You are taken back and forth in the history of the father on an Oregon reservation, and the daughter's New York, there is history there too. A great gift book to share with all of your best friends.

Live the thoughts, eyes and ears of these courageous women, whose lifes bear the scent of a totally dedicated hearts sensitive to Gods call while living in a remote jungle in Ecuador and their tales will open your mind to their beauty of character and lives set as a flint for God

Out of print for many years, "These Strange Ashes" now returns as a classic of Christian missions. Written by an author better known for books about her husband Jim Elliot's well-publicized martyrdom in the 1950's, this book reviews Elisabeth's earlier mission work as a single woman deep in the South American jungle. Far from a rosy or simple story, Elliot honestly shares her struggles, frustrations and confusion when God acted contrary to the way she thought He ought. This is a "must read" for anyone who deeply cares about Christian missions.

This book is awesome!In it Elizabeth shares the details of her first missionary trip.I have the original version which was a hardback published a long time ago.This is a great book for anyone who would like or might take a mission trip.Elliot paints a picture with class using her gift with words found on the pages of her other books.

I was looking for inspiration for something to read and found this book. The breadth and diversity of the authors and writing styles that Ellington and Freimiller bring to the reader expands ones reading horizon but stays accessable with an array of high quality works. I recommend this book as it will lead to multiple literary discoveries.

When I received "A Year of Reading" by Elisabeth Ellington I was amazed at the diversity of books she has listed and researched for members of book clubs or individual readers like myself. Her categories under each month allow me to select a writing style that fits my 'personal preference' for that month, whether it is the Crowd Pleaser, a Classic, or an intriguing Memoir.

I have shared this book with several people, one of whom is a used book dealer who is planning to help her customers find the right book for their 'personal preference' using Ms. Ellington's book. She finds that many customers are unfamiliar with current authors and she felt this book would be useful to both her customers and to her in stocking her store.

I have given it to my daughter who is an avid Classical book reader. Her first love is the literature of the 19th century. She reads with a critical mind even when reading for pleasure. She has also expressed great interest in expanding her reading realm.

This book is all about reading to suit your personal preference and I highly recommend it for the insight it will provide its readers.

If you have ever gone to the public library and wondered what to read, this book will be a great guide. It is full of suggestions, reviews and video resources. It will take you years to read all the books recommended in this well written resource.

In 1980, when Jane Nardin first came across the novels of Barbara Pym, as she remarks, 'almost no literary criticism had yet been written' of Pym's work, while Dale Salwak, in his epilogue to All This Reading, records the 'appearance since 1985 of twenty full-length book studies or anthologies, with more soon to arrive'. An extraordinary growth of interest, which is now further reflected in the publication of this stimulating collection of nineteen new essays. Part I examines the significance of reading in the novels; Part II is devoted to literary encounters and collaborations in Pym's life and works. Hazel Bell's index successfully draws together the threads running through the contributions by various hands, allowing the reader to trace, for example, references to spinsterhood in the essays of Frauke Elisabeth Lenckos, Katherine Anne Ackley, Barbara Everett, Helen Clare Taylor, Anthony Kaufman, Anne Pilgrim and Barbara Dunlap.

In attempts to pin down Pym's special quality as a novelist, she has been compared to, and with, a quite disparate list of writers, from Jane Austen to Iris Murdoch, Elizabeth Bowen, Elizabeth von Arnim, E. M. Delafield and a whole host of other names, many listed by Lenckos in her introduction. Kaufman compares the rivalry of Belinda and Agatha in Some Tame Gazelle to the humour of E. F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia, and Everett commends Pym's 'high originality' which sets her fiction 'far above the intransigently reactionary ... Angela Thirkell'. Dunlap, tracing the influence on Pym of Charlotte M. Yonge, asserts that 'Pym's fiction is steeped in the work of Yonge' (even the unusual name of the heroine of A Glass of Blessings, Wilmet, is borrowed from a very different heroine of Yonge's).

To what extent are Pym's novels autobiographical, and her well-read heroines reflections of herself? Orphia Jane Allen, writing on 'Reading Pym Autobiographically', comments that 'Pym was aware that she could permit herself to become like Leonora' (in The Sweet Dove Died), but Leonora represents only 'one of the directions an aging, unmarried woman's life could take'. The most obvious incarnation of Pym's own personality is Belinda in Some Tame Gazelle, with her near-obsessive love of literary quotation. Pilgrim notes that, while Archdeacon Hoccleve and Bishop Grote quote aloud, sometimes not very felicitously, and Harriet 'tends to be oblivious to literary references', Belinda 'hardly ever quotes aloud, but silently recollects and meditates upon scores of passages, many of them quite obscure', and Nardin also finds significance in the fact that Belinda keeps her literary references to herself, 'restrained by a sense of personal modesty and strict propriety at once pathological and deeply lovable'. In being made privy to Belinda's interior monologue, the reader is at the same time granted access to the author's own stream of consciousness.

As Ackley points out, Pym 'often blurs the distinction between literature and life', suggesting in various ways that some of her characters have lives outside her fictional world. Dulcie in No Fond Return of Love, who cannot resist prying into people's lives, finds it 'so much safer and more comfortable to live in the lives of others'. Pym's characters, says Ackley, 'view the world as if they, too, were writers', and Nardin writes that 'in Pym's novels, there is a tension between the impulse to read and the impulse to contextualize or interpret'.

The inner monologues of Pym's heroines reveal her own uncertainties and need for reassurance. Pilgrim comments on Belinda's habitual alternation between self-doubt, 'expressed in her diffidence, timidity and constant anxiety', and self-confidence. Everett remarks on the unpretentiousness of Pym's early novels, and adds that the modesty of her approach 'possibly worked to Pym's disadvantage during the period when her manuscripts were being rejected' and 'makes her too easy to dismiss now'. Surveying the six earlier novels, she considers these thoroughly enjoyable but 'probably minor art', while Quartet in Autumn is to her mind a major work. She finds Excellent Women the 'most accomplished,... the most admirably competent', and has a kind word for An Unsuitable Attachment - it 'has a first-rate cat and a wholly believable public library'.

These are only some examples of the many rich insights provided by All This Reading. Further pleasures are provided in the second part of the volume, such as the reproduction in the essay by Paul De Angelis of Pym's letters to him of 1978-9, almost up to the time of her death in January 1980, and of A Year in West Oxfordshire, Pym's contribution to Ronald Blythe's anthology Places of 1981.

Janice Rossen's essay, 'Philip Larkin: Barbara Pym's Ideal Reader', discusses the crucial role played by 'virtually the only fellow writer with whom she discussed her work in progress'. Larkin's influence and advice were clearly of great importance to her: not only was he able to give her very specific and practical advice, but he was a writer of established reputation who treated her as an equal and gave her 'constant reassurances that her work was of extraordinary value'.

And not least, there is an account of thirty years of friendship and collaboration by Hazel Holt, Pym's literary executor, who tells us that she no longer reads Barbara Pym. 'I don't need to. ...once you've read the novels, she is with you forever.'

Eudora Welty found Pym's novels to be "quiet, paradoxical and sad." I think she described them perfectly. All this Reading explores the life, novels and publication of Pym. The book comprises a series of essays by many distinguised contributors. Educated at St. Hilda's college, Osford, she joined the Wrens during WWII and was posted to Naples. Her novels draw on her circle of college friends and her military life. Her writing highlights the theme "only connect" from Howard's End by Forster.
In Katherine Ackley's essay, she suggests Pym's characters are devoted to literature. They recite passages from an Austen novel or a Donne poem. Literature is a source of comfort to them. In John Bayley's essay, he further seees Pym as a comforter. He expands upon Matthew Arnold's theme that great art calms and comforts us, and he cites Pym as such a writer. Bayley notes that Pym's confidence about the sexes comes "from her sense of the arbitrary, almost ruthless, way they join up."
In "A Life Ruined by Literature", Elisabeth Lenckos argues that reading is a central theme in Pym's novels. The related topics of reading, romance and redemption are central in her novels. In A Few Green Leaves, the heroine Emma Howick recalls Austen's Emma. She stars in her own drama of misplaced affection, rejection and humiliation before leaving romantic fantasy behind. Lenckos suggests that Pym's world is like Austen's where the gentlewomen of reduced circumstances in post-war England have moved from manor houses to village cottages, and work part time in gentile jobs as librarians, clerks and social helpers.. "Like Austen's heroines their desire is to find a loving partner with whom to share life...." Those who love literature will find the nineteen essays in All this Reading satisfy every taste in a fine collection.

Hi! I am an eigth grader and am currently doing a Holocaust anthology project. I have used this book as one of my short stories. I would highly reccomend this book to anyone interested in the Holocaust or is doing a project. This book helped me learn how courageous Jews were and how much they were dedicated to their religion. It also taught me to value the friendships I have today. In conclusion, Best Friends is a great Holocaust book. It can teach you a lot. I would reccomend this book highly to anyone learning or teaching about the Holocaust. I really enjoyed reading it and hope you will to!! : )

I am a second grade teacher and I love to use this book to teach about the Holocaust. It is an exceptional tool in teaching all children. The book offers excellent lessons from which we all can learn.