Macaulay thoughtfully and concisely introduces us to a living education, to the world of Charlotte Mason, where children are valued and encouraged through play, literature, and warm relationships with the world. Perfect as an aid in awakening thoughts towards education as a 'joyous adventure and celebration of life, as well as a solid preparation for living', "For the Children's Sake" is an excellent stepping stone on the way to how life and education should be.

Ghosts of the West Coast sent chills up my spine and made me want to read more. From the Winchester Mansion to Alcatraz Island, this book is informative, interesting and chilling. I loved every page.

Although I had solely purchased this book for a college course, I can honestly say it is one book I will not be reselling. The amount of helpful sites located within the book have saved me countless hours on the Internet. Any educator would benefit from the 70+ pages of websites it offers. For the money, this was a [deal]!

Marriage Clues for the Clueless offers marriage tips for the newlyweds and for experienced couples. It offers advice on everything from money to children to sex to in-laws, often in a humerous but enlightening way. Marriage Clues for the Clueless explains how to make your marriage strong without children, with children, and even how to deal with the empty nest syndrome.

I have read this book several times. The 5th reading was just as capitvating as the first. The author of this book provides a detailed description of Wisconsin's Logging Camps. Better then I've ever seen.

"Set Free" by Martha C. Woods has been a long awaited help for all of us who are caregivers. I find that for myself, there are several people who feel the way that I do and are involved in similar situations. The fact that there is a place to write down my feelings for that particular day only enhances it. I believe that anyone who has to take care of a family member or friend should have this book to look to when times become difficult or unsure. I also appreciate the fact that this book gives the reader valuable scripture references to follow up on. Martha Wood did an excellent job and a marvelous work!!

I do not have much to say to recommend such classic poems. A person may choose to find out which works are considered "indispensable" and may or may not avail themselves of the pleasure of reading them. What I like most about Eliot is the symbiotic relationship he had with Pound as his editor on "The Wasteland." A long time ago Horizon magazine printed the first draft of that poem with Pound's notes and sometimes "brutal" excisions. I must say that the final product IMO is much better than the unedited version. If only more Modern and Postmodern writers had editors like that! Or even ANY editors, in some cases! The art of editing is like diamond-cutting. This judgment does not negate the adamantine brilliance of the author.

William Mainwaring is trying to escape from the mess his life has become over the past year, in which he fell in love with the (then) estranged wife of his best friend. So he retreats to Graystone, in the north of England, intending to try to forget Elizabeth and avoid polite society. However, he reckons without the inhabitants of the local town, who are determined to include him in their activities; after all, while he may not have a title, he is certainly one of the wealthiest single gentlemen around at the moment, which makes him extremely eligible and desirable.

Lady Helen Wade, youngest daughter of the Earl of Claymore, hates the sort of 'proper' behaviour required of a young lady of the ton, and she avoids any kind of interaction with Society as much as she can, simply by slipping out and running to her favourite place, in the woods by a stream on Graystone land. Although she's almost twenty, she does her best to pretend that she won't have to secure a suitable marriage some day; in fact, it's clear that Helen hasn't really grown up yet.

One day, William Mainwaring comes upon a young woman sitting by the river on his land, 'learning water', as she tells him. She's wearing a faded dress which is unfashionable and far too short for her; unsurprisingly, he takes her for a village girl. Helen, realising his mistake and the impropriety of her presence in his land and in his company, allows him to carry on believing that she's a simple country girl, and tells him that her name is Nell.

'Nell' and William become friends, actually seeking each other out as escape from their mundane and unwelcome daily lives; they discuss poetry and landscapes and nature, and find themselves becoming drawn to each other. Attracted to each other. Until the inevitable happens...

William thinks that Nell is a village girl. So it never occurs to him that, since he realises he needs to marry and he's actually considering one of her sisters as a potential wife, that he could marry Nell instead. And anyway, he's not in love with her, is he? He still loves Elizabeth! Nell knows that she needs to tell William the truth; after all, she's spent time with him under false pretences. But good intentions go their usual way, and very soon it's too late. William has left, and Nell is... well, Nell has to grow up very quickly in a very short space of time.

This represents the early part of The Wood Nymph; the remainder of the book is set mostly in London, and readers will need to read it for themselves to find out what happens. All I can say is that this book satisfies my desire for closure for William Mainwaring completely. A wonderful book, and well worth the 'collectible' price I paid for it.

I found "A Woodcarer's Workbook" to be an excellant source of inspiration to my carving. The patterns set forth in this issue are well laid out and easily explained. Although the author assume's that the reader has some experience with woodcarving, I found the emphasis the author puts on the most critical parts of carving (eyes, ears, feet, etc.)to justify the lack of concentration on the body. Thumbs up to Mary for a wonderful book, I'll defininately be buying the follow-up to this book.

"Much Ado About Nothing" is a beautifully made, performed, and directed film by the incomparable Kenneth Branaugh. This film includes an all-star cast that give wonderful performances and draw you into the lives of the characters. The plot is somewhat complicated, so I'll give a general version. The film is basically about love, misunderstanding, scandal, revenge, virtue, and bravery. That's a lot for one film, but believe me, it's all in there!

Kenneth Branaugh, Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves, and Michael Keaton give excellent performances in this film that you wouldn't want to miss. Although the film is a period piece and the Shakespearean language is used, you will have no difficulty understanding it perfectly.

The scenery and landscape in this film are exquisite as well. I never thought there could be such a beautiful, untouched place like that on earth. I would suggest watching the film just for the beautiful landscape, but it's the performances and the story that you should really pay attention to.

Anyone who loves Shakespeare would absolutely love this film! Anyone who loves Kenneth Branaugh and what he has done for Shakespeare in the past 10 or 15 years will appreciate this film as well! There isn't one bad thing I can say about this film. Definitely watch it, you won't be disappointed!!!

One of the problems with Shakespeare's comedies, an English professor once told me, is that they are not funny. Now, this is not to say that Shakespeare was a bad comedy writer, or that this professor had no sense of humour. In fact, quite the opposite--he had turned his sense of humour and love of humour into an academic career in pursuit of humour.

What he meant by the comment was, humour is most often a culture-specific thing. It is of a time, place, people, and situation--there is very little by way of universal humour in any language construction. Perhaps a pie in the face (or some variant thereof) does have some degree of cross-cultural appeal, but even that has less universality than we would often suppose.

Thus, when I suggested to him that we go see this film when it came out, he was not enthusiastic. He confessed to me afterward that he only did it because he had picked the last film, and intended to require the next two selections when this film turned out to be a bore. He also then confessed that he was wrong.

Brannagh managed in his way to carry much of the humour of this play into the twentieth century in an accessible way -- true, the audience was often silent at word-plays that might have had the Elizabethan audiences roaring, but there was enough in the action, the acting, the nuance and building up of situations to convey the same amount of humour to today's audience that Shakespeare most likely intended for his groups in the balconies and the pit.

The film stars Kenneth Brannagh (who also adapted the play for screen) and Emma Thompson as Benedict and Beatrice, the two central characters. They did their usual good job, with occasional flashes of excellence. Alas, I'll never see Michael Keaton as a Shakespearean actor, but he did a servicable job in the role of the constable (and I shall always remember that 'he is an ass') -- the use of his sidekick as the 'horse' who clomps around has to be a recollection of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, where their 'horses' are sidekicks clapping coconut shells together.

I'll also not see Keanu Reeves as a Shakespearean, yet he was perhaps too well known (type-cast, perhaps) in other ways to pull off the brief-appearing villian in this film.

Lavish sets and costumes accentuate the Italianate-yet-very-English feel of this play. This film succeeds in presenting an excellent but lesser-known Shakespeare work to the public in a way that the public can enjoy.

I saw this movie when I was fairly young. I admit that I couldn't understand much of what was going on let along what was being said (I was nine, I wasn't exactly fluent in Olde English). Since then I've watched it many times. Not only do I understand it now, but I fully apreciate how good it is.

The movie is a very good adaptation of the play. The impressive lines that Shakespeare wrote were generally given new life in their delivery. Also, I must compliment Michael Keaton on his role. It isn't a very big one, but if you watch this movie, you'll understand why I mentioned it. Overall, this is simply a fully enjoyable movie, whether you're a fan of Shakespeare or not.