I am now 23 years old, I read this book in the ninth grade. I have not forgotten it yet. I have been looking for another book this good since and have not succeed. I am going to order this book and read it over and over. Wonderful reading here !!!

HIGHLY RECOMENDED! ******** Five stars are not enough.

I GOT THIS BOOK ON THE RETURN TRIP FROM A BRANSON, MO VACATION TRIP, AND IT WAS SO GOOD I'M AFRAID I MISSED MANY OF THE SIGHTS I HAD GONE TO BRANSON TO SEE. I COULDN'T PUT THE BOOK DOWN. IF ANYONE KNOWS HOW I CAN GET MORE OF HER BOOKS, LET ME KNOW PLEASE!!!!

I was so fascinated by Laura Dassow Walls' unique take on Thoreau that I was inspired to complete my own graduate work on Transcendentalism. Any student of Thoreau will appreciate this innovative look at the old master.

I first heard Laura Walls deliver the concepts contained in this volume at a recent annual meeting of the Thoreau Society. Her presentation was clear and direct, introducing the hearer to the historical personalities that influenced the platform upon which Thoreau based his world view. This book expands the same theme, for it fills in a great deal of minutia that had to be omitted from the ealier presentation. Seeing New Worlds is an important excursion into both the obvious and the subtle influences that shaped the late writings of Thoreau, such as Faith in a Seed, which only recently was made available to students of this enigmatic soul. Congratulations to Walls for a well researched intrusion into a complex mind. Tom Potter

A real page turner.Gentle Danny Tarrington, a young retarded man murders a young pregnant woman who use to be his teacher. The Tarrington family is a very rich influential family who dearly love Danny....Not one of them believe that Danny is guilty of killing Beth Williams, but feel that because he is mentally handicapped he will not be sentenced to death......BUT, if Danny is not quilty that means that another member of the Tarrington family commited this horrible crime;therefore no one wants to look too closely at this matter.....The hard driving District Attorney, at the surprise of everyone, does seek the death penalty so now the family is faced with the most difficult decision of their lives........Will Danny be sentenced to die or will the guilty party confess?

Henry Weingarten's Investing By The Stars: Using Astrology In The Financial Markets show how to use astrology to make better investing and market trading decisions; how to buy and sell stocks based on astrological positions; how to utilize astrology to predict market timing, market psychology, and market-affecting geopolitical events; and how to integrate astrology into conventional market analysis. Investing By The Stars is a unique and recommended complement to metaphysical, astrological, and financial investment strategy reference collections.

Anna Maria Ortese is an Italian writer well received in her homeland but hardly known in America. I discovered her by accident while browsing in a used book store in Venice (the one that's a district in Los Angeles). She practices a form of magical realism that is more subtle than the Latin Americans favor, and I found this makes her work a degree or two more haunting. In this collection of ten stories, all set in an enchanted urban reality, Ortese explores interior lives at moments of transformation, when her characters discover they lead blessed or cursed existences -- or both. She writes in a wonderfully moody, poetic prose and uses vivid descriptive passages to detail layers of emotion. Even in English translation, the language has a clear, crisp ring. Not all the stories are worth a second read, but those that are offer endless rounds of pleasure.

Compiled and edited by Eric Sandweiss (Carmony Associate Professor of History, Indiana University - Bloomington) St. Louis In The Century Of Henry Shaw: A View Beyond The Garden Wall is a collection of essays by notable contributions and was assembled and published in tribute to the 200th anniversary of the birth of philanthropist and entrepreneur Henry Shaw (1800-1889). Touching upon politics, ethnicity, business, literature, and more, these informed and informative treatises offer perspectives upon a thriving cultural center of 19th century America. Enhanced with a number of black-and-white illustrations, St. Louis In The Century Of Henry Shaw is a highly recommended contribution to 19th Century American History Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

This is not a bad book. It does get a bit melodramatic, and Martha Claire is a bit too much to be believed. Would a man like Grayson stick around all those years with a woman who is as self-suffering as she is? I liked the interplay within this family, and I liked the setting. I have never seen Columbus Texas, but Ms. Wall certainly writes like she knows it well. Justine and Iris are wonderful characters. I would not have enjoyed the book without them. As for Cissy - I found that I didn't get to feel the same affinity for her. I found her a bit "milksoppy". Still the book is worth the read for the sense of belonging in this town and in this era.

Martha Claire has waited patiently for her husband Grayson to return from the European front so they can settle into married life in her hometown of Columbus, Texas. Unlike her sister Justine who worked overseas on the war effort and always eagerly wanted to leave their small town for the big city. Grayson is expected to help his family run their dry goods store and make a life with his wife although in his heart he wants to be a career military man seeing the world.

Justine returns home pregnant, but determined to become a famous and respected photographer. Martha Claire raises her sibling's daughter Iris as if the lass were hers. Martha Claire and Grayson also adopt orphans, Cissy and Buddy, making their family complete. Martha Claire is contented until she uncovers the shocking news that Grayson and Justine share. The devastating secret causes a rift and turns a loving family dysfunctional.

MY MOTHER'S DAUGHTER is an exciting, fulfilling relationship drama that spans four decades of American life. The characters are well developed and multi-dimensional and feel like the neighbors next door. Readers are fully drawn into their lives and are able to feel and understand the choices and paths chosen. Judith Henry Wall is a brilliant storyteller who will appeal to fans of Delinsky and Vale Allen.

Harriet Klausner

Judith Henry Wall tells a spell-binding story of three generations of Texas women. The middle generation comes of age during WWII and illustrates the changing times. One sister, Martha Claire, dreams of a happy home life and having babies as she waits for her soldier/husband to return from Europe. Meanwhile, her beloved and career-minded sister Justine joins the WACS and sees first-hand the horrors of war. The free-spirited Justine returns home unwed and pregnant and gives birth to Iris. Martha Claire and her husband adopt Cissy and Buddy, orphan siblings, and they all live together in their happy, family home until a horrible secret shatters their world and drives them painfully apart. The younger generation, devastated by what has happened to their once-loving family, struggles to learn the secret. Only Cissy does and is able to bring some degree of healing to her destroyed family through her own troubles. You will never forget these mothers and daughters and will delight in their joys and cry over their heartbreaks.

This is the first novel I've ever read by this author, but I now intend to read all her work. She is a master story-teller.

I should have listened to my instincts and held off on buying the book until it came out in paperback. A 200-page 'popcorn' book for $26. Better yet, it could have been condensed down to a magazine article in Vanity Fair. No comparison to 'Liar's Poker.' Plus it doesn't even have an index. And the promos overplay the Mary Meeker/Henry Blodgett connections. Not really much there. Andy should stick to investing.

I rarely rate a book with 5 stars but this book richly deserves it for in succinct breadth and witty storytelling. In his wild expose, WALL STREET MEAT, Andy Kessler gives the reader a behind-the-scenes view of the antics of some of Wall Street's giants. The subtitle tells it all: Grubman, Quattrone, Meeker and Blodgett and Andy Kessler's relationships and experiences with each. To those even somewhat familiar with the SEC action of April 28, 2003, these names will stand out. MEAT tells us more, much more.

Andy Kessler began his career as an electrical engineer designing microchips at Bell Labs. By some strange quirk of fate (or brainless move by a headhunter), he was thrown into the world of a Wall Street analyst. Kessler has seen more than most; his Wall Street career began before the infamous "Black Monday" crash (October 19, 1987) and spanned into the beginning of the Internet Bubble. During that time, Kessler met and worked with the individuals now being targeted for prosecution for their "exuberant" activities. Kessler went at it elbow-to-elbow with Jack Grubman while at PaineWebber (Grubman eventually moved on to Salomon Smith Barney); with Frank Quattrone (and Mary Meeker...truly a bit player here) while at Morgan Stanley (Quattrone eventually moved to Deutsche Bank and then to CSFB); and became well acquainted with Henry Blodgett AFTER Kessler turned in his analyst hat for that of a venture capitalist.

Kessler goes to great lengths to inform the reader of the trials and tribulations of the Wall Street analyst in the 80's and most of the 90's. The difficulties and reticence he would feel each time he would put a "Buy" or "Sell" recommendation on a company are richly described as gnashing of teeth and firestorms. In this age, an analyst had to defend each recommendation as the Street's skepticism "appeared" to demand it. Conversely, as the Internet phenomenon hit the scenes, the code of the analyst changed from one of cautious recommendation to one of mindless, obtuse "dartthrowing." Although he provides us with many gems, Kessler recounts one poignant conversation with Blogett wherin Blodgett posits: "You've got to understand. If I stop recommending a stock, and the shares keep going up, there is hell to pay. Brokers call you up and yell at you for missing more of the upside. Bankers yell at you for messing up their relationships. There is just too much risk in not recommending these stocks." A perfect example of the mindset and excesses bringing Wall Street to its knees. In another conversation, now considered germane and somewhat paradoxical (given the chronology of events), Kessler recounts Quattrone's tutelage of the invisible "Chinese Wall." This "Wall" is a conceptual separation of research and investment banking designed to prevent insider information passing from bankers to analysts. Ironically, the breaching of this "Wall" was one of the acts eventually bringing Quattrone down.

Kessler uses MEAT as part biography, part expose, and part satire...and does all three exceedingly well. To say this is just another "tell-all" book about Wall Street would be a great injustice. Kessler was there, Kessler is smart, Kessler was lucky. Above all, Kessler is hilarious. The combination makes this book an extremely enjoyable read, one most will appreciate and most importantly, learn from. A very good read, indeed.

Andy Kessler is a worthy follow-up act to Michael Lewis, and his Wall Street Meat is as fun and enjoyable as Lewis's Liar's Poker. I read this book cover to cover and was chuckling with delight all the way through.

It really brings us upclose and personal with the biggest rogues on Wall Street. The portraits of Jack Grubman and Mary Meeker are especially compelling. I highly recommend this book - easy to read, lucid and with a sense of bemusement only a true new yorker can have...shame we have to wait for his next book

Judith Henry Wall captures the mystery and the magic of military living during the '40's, 50's and 60's that is not so prevalent today. This book is a heartwarming history reminder to all military wives past and present as well a stoic valentine to a style of living that not everyone is a part of.

A real page turner! Had difficulty putting this book down.A great family saga of military families from WWI thru Vietnam war. This is a sweeping story that was both happy and sad. I found Franklin very controlling and not lovable in my eyes. He is a very intense man and I found myself really disliking him at times.On the whole this was a passion-filled drama spanning 30 yrs. Enjoyed it and recommend it.

Good reflective reading especially the womens role in marriage, family dynamics and denied hopes of a career in the 1940s,5os and 60s.

I found this a very touching story of the complex dynamics and individual personalities of a loving Texas family in the military. When a man makes a decision to become a top officer in the military his whole family is also in the military and must behave admirably at all times. When you read this novel you come to understand that military life is difficult and also quite rewarding. This author has a gift for bringing her characters to life. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys feeling as if they are part of the story.