literature

The Diaries of Adam and Eve is one of my favorite books. It's so gentle, funny, and deeply true I find myself loaning it to friends and giving it as a gift whenever I can. If you've not read Twain since Huckleberry Finn was forced upon you in junior high, this is a wonderful way to start reading Mark Twain's work again. If you've been looking for something to restore your faith in the worth of that whole man-woman thing, treat yourself to this book.

The Diaries of Adam & Eve is an incredible representation of both sides of Mark Twain. The cynical side that most people seem to know, as well as a softer side that has largely been kept hidden.

From the unflinching stubborn "maleness" of Adam to the innocent yet knowing Eve, this book is an amazing testement of Twain's love for his ailing wife. It was her persuasion that led him to write the sweetly naive character of Eve. The gentleness of the work is very touching and may be a surprise for people who think that Twain was just a tetchy grown-up Tom Sawyer. Adam and Eve both have equal say in various "experiments" in their new world and their wonderful differing interpretations of shared events make the characters pop off of the page and into your soul.

I would also recommend the audio version of this book as read by Mandy Patinkin, Betty Buckley, and Walter Cronkite. The true musical nature of the text and the spirit of Twain's words really come to life in a spoken format and may move you to tears.

This book is so funny! Put yourself in Adam's shoes: you have been alone on Paradise for some time, and suddenly appears this talking creature that follows you around. Adam's thoughts on Eve and the world are hillarious. And then comes the tale from Eve - who loves Adam very much-, which is tender and still fun.

I read this book with my wife and she was laughing too. Then I lent it to a friend. He read it and passed it on to his wife.

I read Mark Twain on high school, and time only makes it better.

Now I'm after "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn".

I read this book for the first time in high school and I feel like I owe it to my english teacher for introducing me to the world of Jane Austen. Pride and Predjudice is hands down my favorite novel of hers. I am so impressed with the superbly written dialogue and consistency of all the characters. While reading it, my mind became enraptured with the story and I felt like I was actually a bystander in the book observing Lizzy's and Darcy's relationship and how beautifully their feelings for each other evolved throughout the story. This book is definately appropriate for the mature reader as well as the young at heart. Thumbs up to the great Jane Austen!

Pride and Prejudice is a story I could easily read once a year. Jane Austen's characters are expertly drawn; they entertain and enchant. I simply could not put this book down, and when it was over I longed for it to continue!

This is a great collection for a new Jane Austen fan. It showcases some of her best work but the price is right if you're not sure you want to invest in hard cover editions just yet.

In 1976 a delightful book was published in the Netherlands. It was titled "Leven en werken van de Kabouter". Luckily for us, the Abrams publishing company found this book and translated it to the english version, titled "Gnomes", in 1977. Twenty five years later, a special edition has been released to the public.

For the art lover, this book is filled with wonderful illustrations! It was illustrated by Rien Poortvliet, and I will be doing an article on him later, for those who are interested.

This book is a must have for any fantasy lover. It is formatted as a diary of Gnome facts and sightings. Many of the illustrations are accompanied by hand-written notes. The book covers all aspects of Gnome life, from birth to marriage, and on to death. Each subject is carefully organized, and written about fully!

The book also briefly covers other mythological figures, of a more sinister nature. They discuss the conection that gnomes have with these creatures of darkness.

At the end of the book are a few fairy tales about gnomes, these brought back many fond memories of my father reading them to me before bed time!

One small note of caution; there is some nudity, and some graphic images of injuries, so I would not reccommend this book for small children. Parents, use your own judgement and preview before purchasing!

I love this book. The illustrations are absolutely
beautiful, and the facts and small entries
throughout the book are fantastic.
From how they live, to different types,
this book tells everything you could want
to know about gnomes. Some parts of the book
are so well written you get a glimmer
of hope in your heart that maybe they really
do exist. I would reccomend this
book to anyone. This is so much more
than a childrens book.

I absolutely love this book. I want every morsel of it to be fact, rather than fiction. I want it to be real. It's beautiful, well written... and makes a great story time for children. I really love this book!!

Only 600 years - but the wait was worth it. The Illustrations are nothing short of magical. The secrets told include making a Sorcerer's hat, disappearing in your "Now You See Me, now you don't Cloak, the jeweled Solomon's Magic Ring with instructions for choosing justice and kindness to control its power, and making baby unicorn horns. I loved all the educational information disguised in charming mysterious images -Learn about the constellations with the caster( flashlight covers), horticulture (Mandrake heads from apples and terrarium building, and alchemist (Phatom Potions, Chameleon Water, and Ghouly Green Quicksand) and use your imagination (crystal balls, bejeweled mirrors, fairy tambourine) and legends that come to life. We'll be throwing neighborhood wizard parties by making Crystal Candy,floating Magic Candles, and glowing crytal balls.

A truly enchanting book. The illustrations will knock your Sorcerer Slipovers off!

I personally would recommend this book to anybody, Harry Potter fan or not. This is a great book, and it tells how to make two different kinds of wands, robes, cloaks, crystal balls, potions, a wizard's hat, turban, and more! It also tells how to make a wizard party, etc.

I got this book for my birthday about two years ago, and I've read it through at least ten times since then. If I have nothing to do, I just sit down and read it. It's got lots of stories, so if you just feel like reading, it's the right book.

I hope this was helpful!

This book is fantastic. We received the book today in the mail. My two children and I looked at the book from cover to cover. They told me they want to start tomorrow on making the crafts that are in the book.

This book is perfect for Harry Potter fans. From robes, to wands, potions, hiding boxes, crystal balls..you name it.

The way the author has written this book is funny. You can just feel the author enjoyed writing this book.

My children loved it as soon as I turned the first page.

I am well on my way to reading this 101 times!! I started at age 11 and still enjoy it at age 33. Dodie Smith really makes you believe in the dogs and the world she has created. I often use 101 Dalmations as my "de-stress" book during stressful times in my life or if I have just finished an intense, or emotionoally charged book. This can be read alone or to your children. Don't let your children grow up with only the Disney version, introduce them to the REAL 101 Dalmations.

This book is quite different from the Disney movie, and therefore much better. Pongo's wife is not named Perdita, but Missus even though there is a Perdita here. Some of the names of the dogs have been changed as well and there are many events that happen here that didn't in the movie. Dodie Smith is a very funny writer and she makes you feel as if you are one of the characters. Read this book!

It is funny. It is exciting. It has an endearing warmth to the heart. Pongo and Missis, a younge married couple of dalmatian dogs, live with Mr. and Mrs. Dearly, a younge married couple of humans. Fifteen delightful puppis are born, to be adored by all. And then-the puppies are stolen. Bye whom? Top men at Scatland yard are frankly baffled. But one of the keenest brains od Dogdom was at work-Pongo had a clue! Nearby lived a sinister woman named Cruella de Ville who had a pasion fo furs. She had shown a marked interest in the puppies-and been heard to wish she had a white fur coat with black spots. By a way known only to dogs (sesret though noisy), Pongo got all the dogs of England to help trace the pups-to a mysterios house in deepest Suffolk. Then he and Missis set out to the rescue. They traveled by night, befriended by many generous dogs. But the recsue turned out to be an even greater task than Pongo expected, for the mysterios house was nothing less than a dalmatian fur farm, guarded by the adominable Baddun brothers. Many dangers had to be faced. Adventure follows adventure as the suspense mounts higher and higher. Ther are many suprises of all is the one the Dearlys get, on a snowy Christmas Eve near the stories triumphant end. Dog-lovers of all gaes will delight in Pongo, Missis, and their family, espesially the tiny Cadpig, who is crazy abot television. Then ther is Perdita, the touching lost dog.And a great dane, a gallant spaniel, a shrewd old sheepdog, and many other dogs of varios breeds play important parts-not to mention a couple of cats,a horse, and some kindly cows. Animals, humans, London, and the country seen are charmingly portrayed in this heart touching tal like no other. A must read.

This book was given to me by a co-worker who believed the subject matter and story would interest me. She was right. There are so many different issues dealt with in this book ranging from the struggle for sexual identity to the struggle of sharing it with you family.....to the ups and downs of living a life that is full of oppression and worry. There are many characters here with many different backgrounds. There is Phillip, the young gay man struggling to win acceptance from his mother. Elliott who fears commitment and leaves Phillip. Owen, Phillip's father who has to come to terms with his own sexual identity after years of marriage and living his life without being true to himself. Then there is Jerene who is basically disowned because of her homosexuality which is so common in this day and age and extremely sad. NO parent should ever do this to their child!!!!! UNCONDITIONAL LOVE is key! Jerene's new girlfriend Laura.....it is just a well written story on all levels.......my only complaint was the ending. There was no real closure. Other than that, I loved it!

"The Lost Language of Cranes" is an excellent book. David Leavitt tells a story on the relations between a Deep-deep-in-the-closet father and his Going-out-of-the-closet young son. David Leavitt portrays the difficulty of the father to be a homosexual at an age when it was nowhere near acceptable, his denial and self deceit and his current regret - the voice of the old generation(s). He adroitly describes the son's feelings of self-discovery with more than a flare of optimism and in great sensitivity and in the name of the new generation he proves that happiness and love are attainable through self acceptance.

Author David Leavit writes a brillant novel that I had a hard time putting down. While Phillip is confronting his changing relationship with his lover, Elliot, his father Owen is finally, confronting his homosexuality. Highly recommended. Each character is richly developed and textured, they feel like real people that you know. While the film is good, it uses London as a backdrop rather than the book's all-to-real-modern-urban life set in New York and in the transistion looses something.

From the very first paragraph until the last, Bloom, a novella written by talented Author, Linda Dominique Grosvenor was an entertaining and refreshing read. What I enjoyed most about this book was the mere fact that it was centered on a flower shop, which made this book such a treat. Let me just say that this book was a breath of fresh air from some of the drama-filled fiction that is being written today.

As an author, I do know that there seems to be a heavy readership for drama, but every once in while I find it refreshing to read a moving and entertaining fiction book, supported with a wonderful story line, without having to be barraged with intense drama throughout. And, Bloom offered me just that -- an entertaining and refreshing good old-fashioned love story in every sense of the words.

The story begins with the main character, Lily Manchester, reminiscing about her life as she stood in Bloom, her labor of love. Although Lily had been through a very big disappointment in her life at one time, she never gave up and would soon open the doors of Bloom. Lily fondly recalled her deceased mother keeping a garden and telling her that everyone needs his or her zone. And, Bloom would become Lily's zone and her place of refuge since in her mind there was something so therapeutic about horticulture.

Lily's whole life was devoted to Bloom until the day that, Alex, a substitute deliveryman arrived at her flower shop. After this delivery, Lily's life would never be the same. Even a ghost from the past couldn't sway Lily from eventually embracing true love, which is what I believe life is all about.

Pick up a copy of this wonderful novella. You'll find this book entertaining and refreshing as you grow to love this old-fashioned love story as much as I did.

Reviewed by:
Carla J. Curtis, Author of A Single Woman's Parenting Journey: Survival Tidbits and Grip the Rope: Prayers for Single Mothers
www.trccommuniccations.com

Bloom
Linda Dominique Grosvenor
Sadorian Publications
2003, 124 pages (pbk)
ISBN # 0-974171417 (pbk)
4.5 Star Rating

Dee Stewart, Reviewer

Eleven years after Lily Manchester's husband ran off with the Army and ran off with her heart, Lily meets a charismatic young man twelve years her junior, who won't take "no" for an answer. Her quiet world in her quaint little flower shop gets turned upside down when her heart and her ex-husband returns home. Will she jeopardize her good standing in the small town of Bliss, North Carolina, to pursue "something that has been missing from her life for far too long" or will she take the safe route by taking her ex-husband back?

Grovesnor's addition to Sadorian's The Cradle Robbers Series is just as fresh and brilliant as the flowers she describes in "Bloom". This novella is an intelligent and sweetly written story about the blossoming relationship between an older woman and a younger man.

I love short works of fiction be it short stories or novellas, because they cut to the chase and tell the story matter-of-factly. In order to do that successfully, characters must be developed and fleshed out immediately. Plain and simple- you get to know the main character in detail by the end of the first paragraph or page.

Grosvenor does an excellent job at fleshing out her characters. She makes them real int an instant. In most of the last books I've read the characters have been either too good, too bad, or too crazy. The characters in "Bloom" are just right. They are human.

Lily's character flaws enhances the conflict. Her inability to trust, her fear of self-freedom, her own inadequacies about her age, lends to the question of this novella. It makes her problem real. Will she allow herself to love Alex James despite her own mess?

Alex is just as real as his love interest. He is young, seductive, jealous, and insecure. Alex is as unsure of himself and his future as Lily is as unsure about her feelings toward him.

Last weekend I had a discussion with some members of my writing group about making a familiar story your own and I used this book as an example. It is not a lackluster version of MacMillan's How Stella Got Her Groove Back or another remake of the "Graduate". This story has its own timeless voice. It is such a clever story that I've read it twice in three days. Thus, I give the novella a 4.5 rating.

This book is cute and sweet enough for the purchase price. It is short enough to take on a weekend trip and it is intelligent enough to stimulate your mind. Kudos.

Bloom, a wonderful passionate spring/autumn romance by Linda Dominique Grosvenor, makes great use of horticulture as a theme throughout the entire book. The chapter titled employed the use of various flowers, but the real warmth of the book was not in the greenhouse, but in the characters.

Lily, the main character, was immediately drawn to the new "delivery boy" when he showed up as a substitute delivery man. From the first delivery, when they shared his tuna sandwich, to the very last, when they decided to share a life, the depth of feeling between these two was delightful.

A side-issue was the appearance of a typical small-town busybody, who came in regularly to purchase her calla lilies. She warned Lily of what might lie ahead of her, but it was only at the end of the book that Lily learned why she was so concerned. It was a very tender, heart-rending touch to the book.

Whether you have a green thumb or not, this book is one that will have you wanting to go buy a bouquet of flowers-in honor of Lily and Bloom.

Like other reviewers, this was one of my favorite books as a child. Since the contents of the book have been covered in other reviews, I wanted to mention a few other things. First, I can proudly say that my 3-year-old son is currently thrilled with my original copy. Second, I believe that this book has much to offer in terms of pre-reading skills. When I pulled this book out for my son last year, I looked through it fondly, and vividly recognized almost all of the pictures. Interestingly, though, I didn't remember the words; I had memorized all of the pictures and created my own stories as a very young child. I was a very early reader; I was reading novels of 300-400 pages in the third grade. I believe that that had much to do with my desire to sit and "read" books on my own as a toddler.

Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever is designed for a child to work through on his/her own. My son "reads" to himself for about an hour each day (self-inflicted!) and he already matches letter sounds to words. I'm not a believer in the genetics argument for most children; I believe that children learn to read early, and learn to have a love for books based on the environment provided for them. This book is a fantastic way to begin to set that environment for your child.

I still have my original paperback copy, which came free with a box of Bold laundry detergant (the sticker is still on the cover), and hold it as one of my most valued childhood treasures. I'm sure my dad can recite the entire book word for word as he read it to me so often!
I am now 7 months pregnant with my first child and wondered how my tattered (read that as well loved) copy would hold up for my little boy. Imagine my delight when I found that it is still in print! I can't wait to get a copy for the library we are working on for him! Even though my little one is still in utero, my husband and I read to him every night, and will continue to do so after he's born. I can't imagine a better book to read from than Richard Scarry!
This book has delightful tales and rhymes that all children will love. My favorite part about the book though is that so many of the stories are set in different parts of the world and illustrated in a child friendly manner that will make them want to learn more about the world around them (in my opinion anyway, as it certainly did for me). As we now live in Europe, I've visited many places I was first introduced to, and intrigued by, in Richard Scarry's world. This book is an absolute must for all children's libraries.

My two year old son loves this book. He asks for it every night before bed. We call it "The Lion Book." His vocabulary has increased ten-fold since we started reading it. He's learned about shapes, sizes, colors, numbers, animals, farms, planes, cars, trucks; just about everything that could attract a little one's attention. The stories are interesting and gentle and fun. A great book!

An enchanting saga about how a variety of characters react to a difficult time.

An engaging view of a clash of cultures. The vigorous American culture versus the age-old Italian culture.

An endearing cast of characters that will linger in your memory. From peasant buffoons to wise old men. From selfish to magnanimous. From simple to sophisticated. From despicable to saintly. An amazing portait of humanity.

An enthralling quest of one Major Joloppo. His attempt to return civility to an incivil world.

And it is all couched in a warm, humorous story line which will keep you interested to the last word. Not a "page-turner" or thriller, but you will want to know what happens to the Major on his quest and how all of the characters either help or hinder him along the way.

I was very glad I followed the advice of the other reviewers and read this book.

This book is wonderful in its clear language and soft touch. You will instantly feel a part of the town and its inhabitants. The book tells the story of a small town in Italy occupied by the Americans at the end of WW2. It relates how the occupied village interacts with its human, caring "occupier", an American army officer. Much like Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres, this book puts a massive event in world history into focus. I highly recommend the book.

This is a very warm story of humanity. War, misery, soldiers, death and the love, friendship, and a deep desire for the GOOD. Good story, good book, good writer.

Dorothy Parker was the great literary wit of her era. In her stories, she had a wonderful understanding of the way people talked back then; also, her writing style was easy without being bland, and intelligent without being overbearing. Her witty rhyming poems have great lines. Kind of like Mae West "one-liners" haha. Overall, she had such a great sense of humor, irony, sarcasm, tenderness, and pathos.

David Rehak
author of "Poems From My Bleeding Heart"

Dorothy has a possession of the english language that is almost demonic, and coupled with her insight into the weaknesses of human nature (not to mention her own), her prose and poetry are witty, cutting and hilarious. Her poetry is short and quotable and her short stories explored the mundane and ridiculous of American Life far earlier than most writers. My favorites, however, are her book and play reviews. They are genius, and can leave you rolling on the floor. This is my favorite collection of Dorothy's work. I have found that collections of only poetry or short stories soon became tedious and extremely depressing (I wonder if Dorothy on Prozak would have produced such great work). This is an excellent volume for those just discovering Dorothy, and great to keep handy for a "little read."

I have read a great deal of her work and have found that she has the wit that applies to make her stroies fun to read and the attitude that suits them to others my age...I find this as one of my all time favorite books and could not appreciate all the hours of joy and laughter these poems and stories have brought me...Dorothy Parker was and will always be one of the greatest authors of this age...God Bless Her!Other books that I am known well to read are the Harry Potter and books and the Series of Unfortunate Events.