On-the-tape

my best friend died almost 2 years ago, and i almost killed myself over it. she was more like a sister to me than a friend. our families were so close. i started seeking therapy, and my therapist read this book to me, and it really helped me. i bought the book for me, and my deceased best friends mother. its a wonderful book, and it truly helped me to get through the toughest time of my life. i read the book tonight for the third time, and realized that the feelings that its describing arent the feelings i am going through, but the feelings that i have overcome. i would love to personally thank rusty berkus for his amazing help by writing this book, and i recomend it to anyone who is grieving over any lost. god bless!

The simplicity of this book is its power. The author and illustrator combine their immense talent to give us images in which we can linger as long as we need until we are ready to move on. Despite your religious or spiritual reference, this book transcends boundaries that might exist and speaks to us of renewal and transformation. One can read it over and over again and be touched in new ways with each reading. Often I have used it to take to a friend, slowing down to read it out loud to them, sharing its peace. Through many deep losses in my own life, this treasure has been one I return to. I deeply regret it is not now available and encourage you to ask for it to be made available. It is a gift to yourself and to anyone you love who is grieving from death, from the loss of part of oneself, from addiction.... Highly recommend.

This is one of the most beautiful gifts. We love it!

After reading this book, I am dying to get the next in the series on my nightstand. Sharan Newman's books are so engaging in their plots, well-crafted subplots, and details of medieval life that you almost hate to finish one. Her works are intelligently written and addictively interesting. Four stars, no question.

Newman just kepts improving with age. How she manages to come up with all these new settings, people, and situations is beyond me. Each book can stand on it's own, but I'm happy to have read them all in order to allow me to see how each character in the story has changed and matured.
I hope this series never ends!

I couldn't wait for this latest installment of Sharan Newman's series featuring the clever and clumsy Catherine and her stalwart spouse Edgar, set in the 1140's, this time back in Paris. Just as with her previous novels, I was more than satisfied. I discovered Catherine and Edgar in "Cursed in the Blood" just after our return from Scotland and the north of England this summer, visiting castles of our ancestors dating from the 11th and 12th centuries, primarily. Newman has such a thorough grounding in the history of the time and yet she has the ability to bring her characters to life. I raced through all of her previous novels in the series, except for the next to last one--on order!--just prior to this one, "To Wear the White Cloak". In this latest story, Catherine and Edgar were shocked upon their return from what seems to have been a dangerous and difficult journey to Germany to find a very dead (and moldy!) Knight of the Temple locked inside her father's home. The well-educated twosome have to counter the suspicion that quickly falls on their family, as before, by solving the murder themselves. This is accomplished while they deal with the everyday issues of raising their family in health and safety, establishing themselves financially, and even struggling with moral issue of birth control. You will do yourself a favor if you begin reading Newman's books--go back and read the others--if you have an appreciation for this time period and for an excellent mystery. (Note to fans of Ellis Peters: finally, someone to (almost) fill her shoes)

Great book! Very inspiring! If you use the book's bottom line, to never give up, and repeat it to yourself so you eventually believe it, the book will work miracles! It is a must read!

No wonder Rober Schuller with his inner wisdom shares his thoughts to show you how to build a self image with positive thoughts and know the truth that after every storm, there is a calm! Every problem has a solution. Tough times never last..is a Gift giver to self and others. It's the attitude to get going when the going gets tough as you face the challenges in life and struggle to face obstacles that rob your mental or physical peace. I gave this book to my hubby during his worst trial period of life in his career and he came out with positive influence to be a sane and wise decision maker to start a business on his own and reach to heights of success today! There is always a twist n sharp turns in life and Rob's book with his dynamic principles in life makes you build positive self image and turn out to be a success. Life isn't a tempest nor a midsummer night's dream, But a comedy of erros, Take it As you Like it!!! A Spiritual Motivation - another bedside shelf book to peek-a-boo to boost your spirits. After all, tough times never last, tough people do!

"Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do!" and the "Be Happy Attitudes" are the best of Robert Schuller. I give out the Tough Times book to friends in tough times. It was a real help to me, and the folks I talk to find it helpful. Easy to read, easy to remember, and eay to apply. This book has the 'how tos' that are needed in the real world -- not high sounding theory.

I just finished reading "Warsaw Requiem", the last book in the "Zion Covenant" series. It was wonderful, as are all the books in that series. The characters in the book will always be a part of my life.

Well, I'm a 16 years old girl from Norway. The reson why I read this book is because in my class we had to read a book and afterwords we had to write a review of it. So, I went down to the school library, there I took the first book I could find... But I have to say that this book was great! It shows how the jews lived and felt it during the second world war, and I have learnd so much from it! I highly recomand this book for all ages, but it requires that you know something about 2. wordwar...

This book - the whole series, in fact, are so filled with power it is amazing. It convicted me, inspired me, and moved me. I read a lot of books, and I mean a lot, but very few are in the calibre this book is in. The characters are very real and the way in which they relate to one another makes you feel as though you are a part of the action. I became so involved that at the end of the book I felt as though I had lost many friends. The writing style itself flows smoothly, never feeling stilted or cheap. The story-line was exciting, and the historical detail is so wound up in the story it becomes difficult to separate the two. All in all, I'd recommend this book to anyone, and I am sure that I will read it again and again and again.

"The Watch" is a long story placed third in the collection. It is a tale of loneliness. A man and an older man, his father, have a store that has almost no customers. An exception to the general trend is Jesse, a cyclist, who stops for cokes and comes to be an expected presence in the life of the younger man. Jesse is aware of the fact that he is expected and begins dimly to resent the fact. The older man runs off to the fever camps and the younger man and Jesse pursue him and finally manage to carry him home. Jesse feels guilty when the older man ends up being chained to the store to keep him from running off again.

A gallery of characters are featured in the stories. Along with the diverse characters, out of the way geographical places are described. Mostly the places are exrremely to the south or to the north. There is the unpublished writer and teacher from Jackson State who feels annoyed with someone who attended Millsaps. The geometry teacher who teaches in a sort of frustration in Houston and tells stories of WallWalla Washington is portrayed. The teacher drives a corvette. When he appears all bruised, he tells the students he fell out of his car and his wife drove away in it. Kirby, the narator, and Trish appear in several of the stories. Kirby and the narrator met in college. The style is laconic, indirect, artful.

The stories in The Watch are both youthful and wise. Rick Bass is a master of the short story form and this collection is a wonderful representation of his earlier works of fiction. Highly recommended for someone looking to get into contemporary literary fiction. Back in '92, the book captured me.

One of my favorite short story collections. The language is beautiful. The characters, settings, and actions are all so persuasive, and complement each other so well. Finally, the stories are MOVING--not just witty or clever or inventive. Bass' stories have it all!

What qualifies the author to write this book is concisely summarized in a quote from his daughter: "Daddy likes to pig out." In the grand history of American gluttony (dating back to the first Thanksgiving dinner, I suppose), no one has ever pigged out with more demonstrable relish and native lack of hauteur than Calvin Trillin. His ode to the glories of Arthur Bryant's Barbecue - The Single Best Restaurant In The World - is a dithyramb worthy of Whitman. He is, in short, a true patriot - albeit one whose vision of multiculturalism is expressed in Italian fried-pepper sandwiches and Polish pierogies. There are lots of laughs in this volume but I value it more for its whole-hearted embrace of our authentic appetites. In a time of spiralling culinary pretention (whose standard bearer is Charlie Trotter and his dishes with paragraph-long names), "The Tummy Trilogy" is a palate-cleansing dish of sanity.

Trillin talks about food cleverly and with great humor, but not snobbily. I learned all about barbecue in Kansas City, oyster po'boys, Chinese food in NYC, and a ton of other delicious things. Three of the best food books of all time! But also excellent reading for someone who just enjoys well-written and funny stories.

The books in Calvin Trillin's Tummy Trilogy instilled in me forever a love of reading books aloud and an insatiable penchant for "American cuisine." I grew up reading them to my mother, a caterer, as she was busy in the kitchen. Aside from being absolutely hilarious, his descriptions of different dishes - from the humble french fry to more exotic regional dishes - would make our mouths water. Those descriptions and stories have never left me, and I've made a point of trying to visit some of the places he described in his books, including what I'd have to call a pilgrimage to the legendary Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City. Books to be savoured over and over again, preferably with an Italian sausage sandwich in hand.

It's a good read, if some entertainment and light fantasy is what you want. Fortunately its what I want, and I can say that next to Piers Anthonly's XANTH series, this is the best light fantasy series going.

Finally Brooks took some risks and put his characters really on the line. I found this the best plotted one of the series! I loved it. The characters' explorations in their prison are wonderfully done, especially those they make into themselves. I think Brooks put more meat in this one, and that is why I like it so much. You gotta read this one. It is definately the most satisfying of the bunch, with the G'Home Gnomes being the coolest part of the book practically. Read it.

I loved this book. Next to THE WITCHES' BREW, this was the best landover novel, Terry really did out do himself this time. I enjoyed this book the whole way through, I never wanted to put it down, and when I did, I picked it up again almost immediatly. I loved all the hardships and obsticles the characters had to face, endure, and over come throughout the course of the book. GREAT JOB!!!!!! This is a must read for anybody and everybody who has ever had a love for the spellbinding magic of a great fantasy novel.

Here is another author one can go to if you have already exhausted Van Reid's heartwarming and rollicking Moosepath novels, and also Jan Karon's sweet tempered Mitford series. Don't expect as many surprising incidents as in Mr. Reid's books (who could top the melancholy pig in "Mrs. Roberto"?)or as much romance as Ms. Karon's, but do expect some very cozy people in the small circumstances of life made large by a very good writer. Here it's kneeling cushions and crotchety parishioners. Lots of reassuring fun in a world that seems to value old fashioned values less and less.

I love charming towns and quirkey people and Thrush Green is full of them. The writing style is lovely and I felt like a bird flying from home to home getting to know the characters in the book while I was reading it. It is refreshing and in my opinion, it is much better than the Mitford series by Jan Karon. I am eager to buy all of the books in this series.

I found Miss Read through an avid reader friend (PLB) as we were comparing notes about Jan Karon's writing style. She informed me Jan Karon was partially inspired by Miss Read. From the moment I read this book, my first Miss Read, I was hooked! These books (all 20+) need to be put back into print! I wish I could live in this fictional Cotswold village. The characters are charming and entertaining. Treat yourself to a pleasant diversion into another life, another time... of course, along with a cuppa!

How did I ever leave this book sitting on a shelf since 1995? This book is a great place to start reading Patrick O'Brian's sea novels. This story of a minor ship in Anson's expedition to "trouble the Spanish" in the Pacific (see O'Brian's GOLDEN OCEAN, following the other ships of the squadron, for the broader, parallel picture of that remarkable voyage) not only precedes the commencement of O'Brian's famous Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin series (set during the Napoleonic wars 60 years later), but develops two characters that have uncanny similarities to the later heartiness of Jack and the erudite innocence of Stephen. The relationship here between Jack Byron, helpful friend and midshipman, and Tobias, the surgeon's mate, anticipates in so many ways the characteristics of the famous Aubrey/Maturin duo.

Not only was O'Brian full of youthful enthusiasm when he wrote this story, but he often explains his customary obscure references to the ancient ways of the sailor, making hilarious use of the lubberly landsman, Tobias-hilarious, that is, in a restrained British way and perhaps only recognizable once you've learned enough to catch the meaning of the ever-present nautical slang. Unique to this book, O'Brian inserts from time to time his own editorial comments on the action, again helping to explain antique situations to the modern reader. My only knock on this story is that it eventually drags during the endlessly grinding struggle for survival along the wild and desolate unknown shore, and then wraps up too quickly. The same struggles against surf and hunger are repeated at least three times, although most artfully written without repeating the same phrases.

I highly recommend you read this story soon after beginning to read O'Brian's sea novels, for it is really a glimpse into what the earlier careers of Aubrey and Maturin could have been before we first meet them already well-advanced in MASTER AND COMMANDER. As always in the Norton editon, Geoff Hunt's cover art is precise, detailed, and relevant to the story. The joyousness of the writing and antics in this story remind me of Capt. Marryat's less believable book, MR. MIDSHIPMAN EASY.

Suffering, suffering and more suffering on an unknown shore; cast onto the rocks just Northwest of the Horn these two friends, little more than children, must endure the terrible hardships of mariners unlucky enough to run aground half a world away from home. Jack and Toby are the best of friends in a time in human history when death was preferable to dishonor. Patrick O'Brian is the kind of writer that makes us care about these young men and their shipmates enough to read through an incredible ordeal. Yes we can see the blue print for the Aubrey and Maturin characters of later O'Brian books, but that is not what makes this a great work. O'Brian's writing depicting a cold and far off land filled with a unremitting savagery and a loneliness that would break the hardest heart is what kept me turning the pages of this wonderful book. If you enjoyed the Aubrey and Maturin books, you will love The Unknown Shore. If you have not read any Patrick O'Brian before, please start with this one. You will not be disappointed

I heartily agree with the other reviewer's praise of this wonderful book. I wish only to add that the final part is strikingly similar to - In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. That account of an epic adventure suffered from what I'd call 'reportage'. I recall as I read that exciting book I found myself longing for the enthralling descriptive power of Patrick O'Brian marvelous prose. So imagine my joy in discovering this book! O'Brian's masterful capacity to evoke the verisimilitude of these sailors plight wonderfully enhanced my memory the Essex book. I was so pleased!

Almost every book about suicide focuses on its causes, often chronicling the final descent of its victims. This heartfelt study does something different and long overdue - it examines the lives of "failed" suicides and lets them describe how they emerged from of the seemingly bottomless darkness that nearly claimed them. Harrowing in its depiction of the pain that fills the suicidal mind, deeply moving in its stories of overcoming that pain and living beyond it, this book is an invaluable resource. By the time you turn the last page, hope will be even more tangible to you than despair. A book that should be kept permanently in print.

Having the disorder of depression; and teetering in and out of suicidal thoughts; I went in search of a book which explained what I was going through. After reading several books, I came across this one. THIS IS IT ! It is the ONLY book I have found that "gets it". I have bought 5 copies - one by one - and have loaned them all out to friends and therapists whom I wanted to really understand what I was going through.

This book was almost an obsession....I HAD to keep reading it. It also managed to give me some hope when I didn't think it was possible and wasn't looking for any.

I'd buy a copy to keep for myself, but I can't find one....This one needs to be put back into print ! It may save lives.

A few weeks after a failed attempt at suicide, I found this book when searching for some understanding of suicidal feelings. When I read the stories and the quotes of those who have overcome the tempation, I felt that someone really did understand the way the mind narrows to the point where sucide is the only option. I bought copies for those who were surprised, and hurt, by my attempt. If you battle suicidal urges or want to know what it is like to enter the "vortex", I would reccomend this very helpful book. I thank the author and all he interviewed.