Book Description
Warning: Laughter ahead! Liz Curtis Higgs delivers again with "Fine Print," where a businessman and the speech coach he's hired have no idea there are matchmakers at work on their behalf! Her novella is part of a delightful triple-header in Three Weddings and a Giggle. The "giggle" comes from Carolyn Zane, whose "Sweet Chariot" drops readers in on two little old ladies who purchase a motor home sight-unseen, then drag their adult grandchildren along for cross-country antics. In Karen Ball's "Bride on the Run," an heiress defies her father's demand that she marry a man she doesn't love. If only she hadn't waited until her wedding day to do so! So it's out the window, down the rose trellis ... and headlong into one escapade after another. Thoroughly fun!
Customer Reviews:
Enjoyable beach read.......2007-09-28
I wasn't impressed nor disappointed in this book. It is a cute and very sweet collection of short Christian fiction stories. Absolutely nothing shocking or soul-baring in any of them. To me, they are the type of story that just makes you feel better about the world. The book would make a good library check out as something to enjoy in your backyard or on the beach.
Laugh out loud funny.......2007-02-27
This is one of my favorite uplifting gift books! It contains three beautifully written romantic novellas by three amazing authors. Each novella reads so quickly that they can they be finished in one sitting!
"Fine Print" is Liz Curtis Higgs' contribution to this winning combination. It's the story of a printing magnate, his public speaking coach, and his matchmaking family. The printer, a widower, is terrified of public speaking. When Meghan is hired to coach Hugh through his fears, the romantic sparks fly.
Karen Ball's "Bride on the Run" begins hysterically and keeps the frenetic pace throughout! The runaway bride escapes her nuptials with her nanny in tow to wind up landfill diving and witness God's answers to prayer through flying kittens. This story is heartwarming and hilarious!
In "Sweet Chariot" by Carolyn Zane, two best girlfriends buy a motor home for post-retirement adventure. When their grandchildren insist on helping the ladies pick up the new purchase and driving it back to civilization, the adventure has already begun. The grandkids can't stand each other, and the sweet little old grandmas are convinced that God is in control of all of the mishaps that befall them on the trip.
You'll Laugh and You'll Cry.......2006-02-10
I thoroughly enjoyed these novellas. Maybe they had an element of "too convenient," but in novellas, there isn't time to develop intricate plot lines. However, the characters were delightful, the dialogue realistic, and all told by great story-tellers. I laughed and I cried, and you will, too. There's a plus in this book...each writer tells a bit about themselves and their own weddings. And Karen Ball's chilli episode really happened!
Puts the AWWW in love. .......2005-12-24
This collection of authors is incredible. Each one has her own style and tone to love. In Fine Print, a cute love story that includes a widow, a broken heart, and an idea between a fun grandfather and his granddaughter. A twist on common love with the exceptional tale of second chances, courtesy of yellow roses and love notes.
In Sweet Chariot, it answers the joke, "What do you get when you take two adventurous grandmothers, their grandchildren, a beat up RV, and humor?" The answer is LOVE. Meet Jake, a young handsome pilot who isn't set on spending a few days with workaholic Lexie. But when opposite ends of the human race attract, something is bound to happen.
In Bride on the Run, rich heiress, Alexandria, ran from her previous wedding to a man her rich father deems suitable for his beautiful daugther. But when she arrives with her governess to a shelter ran by handsome Evan, something is bound to spark. But what happens if Evan isn;t willing to admit Alexandria's effect on him?
AMAZING book. Definitely a must have for the people who love love!
Wow!!.......2003-06-11
Three Weddings and a Giggle is a must read. All of the stories have their flaws (but who doesn't wish that love just came along all of the sudden?).
Fine Print is very cute, although I think that it was my least favorite. Meghan is a speech coach and has to get rid of Hughs butterflies before his big speech. But what happens to their budding love when it's time for her to go?? Guess you'll just have to read!!
Sweet Chariot was most definately my favorite!!! What a hoot!! I laughed a lot during this novella, and I love that Lexie and Jake don't get along at first, I tend to like the stories like this... Jake and Lexie's grandmothers are adventurous... sometimes too adventurous. So Lexie and Jake go along to help their grannies pick up a sorry excuse for a motor home. Neither one knew the other was coming, and they REALLY don't like eachother... so will it be a disaster, or a miracle?
Bride on the Run, is very funny too. Again they all have their weaknesses, but it was a good novella. Alex can't go through with her wedding, so she goes THROUGH her window instead! When she meets Evan (and what a weird meeting...) she hears in her mind "Awake, my love, and come away." What she knew she would when she met "the one" except he doesn't seem so interested in her, in fact, he seems scared of her, not to mention frustrated, and he doesn't trust her with anything... ok there is good reason... but you'll just have to find out, wont ya?
All in all, It is an awesome book, you wont be able to put it down!!
Customer Reviews:
A Fun Anthology.......2006-04-03
This is an easy read fun anthology, which gave me some good smiley moments & a few temperature raising ones too!!!
If you like your stories sweet this book won't be for you - but if you like them HOT then I definitely say go for it.
Nibbles-n-Bits, amusing romantica.......2006-04-03
I read Nibbles-n-Bits a while ago. This is a lighthearted and fun anthology which accomplishes its intent of making the reader both smile and squirm on his/her seat (romantica is rather explicit). Though it may not be everyone's cup of tea, I would definitely recommend it to all lovers of erotic romance, particularly those that like paranormals with a touch of humor.
Save your money.......2006-03-22
This was an absolute waste of money. The stories were poorly written and felt as if they were written by first time writers. The plot, such as they were, were mediocre at best.
Rednecks n' Roses from Nibbles N' Bits.......2005-11-15
Rednecks N' Roses
I loved this story! Judy Mays' wonderful writing style really shows through in this totally fun and wacky story. Amber is a hoot as our heroine and Rusty is totally sexy in a delicious redneck sort of way. You'll find yourself giggling quite a lot during this story, especially when Midnight, the cross-eyed cat, is on the scene. Ms. Mays has even thrown in a bit of danger and suspense as well. I could have read on and on about Rusty and Amber. "Rednecks `n' Roses" really starts this anthology off with a bang!
Susan Biliter
eCataRomance Reviews
Average customer rating:
- View from another side
- Broad in scope but shallow in execution
- WOW!!!
- Brilliant imagination. A classic book.
- A big, bold, colorful sci-fi adventure
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Midnight at the Well of Souls
Jack L. Chalker
Manufacturer: A Baen Book
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Similar Items:
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The Return of Nathan Brazil (The Well World)
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Quest For The Well Of Souls
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The Sea Is Full of Stars (Well World)
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Echoes of the Well of Souls (Watchers at the Well, Book 1)
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Ghost of the Well of Souls (Well World)
ASIN: 0743435222 |
Book Description
Entered by a thousand unsuspected gateways -- built by a race lost in the clouds of time -- the planet its dwellers called the Well World turned beings of every kind into something else. There spacefarer Nathan Brazil found himself companioned by a batman, an amorous female centaur and a mermaid -- all once as human as he.
Yet Nathan Brazil's metamorphosis was more terrifying than any of those...and his memory was coming back, bringing with it the secret of the Well World.
For at the heart of the bizarre planet lay the goal of every being that had ever lived -- and Nathan Brazil and his comrades were...lucky?...enough to find it!
Customer Reviews:
View from another side.......2006-03-21
For those of us who enjoy alternatives to the standard views of life and history or just looking for something new to roll over in your mind this is it.
Not only are the characters strong and likable the story flows quickly and evenly.
Broad in scope but shallow in execution.......2004-01-16
"Midnight at the Well of Souls" is a book with a great deal of potential, which is the main reason I found it to be such a grand disappointment in the end -- most of that potential goes unrealized, and the book is a rather trite (and not terribly well-written) example of what's wrong with much of modern science fiction.
Mind you, the ideas in the novel are intriguing. The concept of the Well World, for example, is fairly original and has a lot of potential for easily delving into many different cultures and alien races. Unfortunately, the idea is not explored nearly as well as it could be, and is really only a superficial device to serve the plot... such as it is. The different alien cultures and races of the Well World are only explored thinly, with no sense of richness or history in it. The different races seem to be created for their wierdness factor than any actual examination of different cultures.
What's worse is the story itself isn't all that great. Remove the concept of the Well World, and you have a fairly standard quest framework. The main character has a "mysterious" (but rather predictable) origin, but his personality is still a carbon-copy hero from any swashbuckling space opera. Think Han Solo and you've pretty much nailed him. The other characters only seem to act as foils for how his story is told. Throw in some alien sex here and there, a standard "universal translator" device to get over the problem of different languages, and end with a very predictable conclusion, and what the story amounts to is... not much.
Without the concept behind the story, it's really pretty bland. The plot moves along sluggishly, with several blatantly obvious passages of exposition masked as character dialogue. I found a scene near the end, in which the characters are travelling down an extremely long moving walkway to their destination, especially annoying in this regard. There was no good reason for the walkway to be there, and it had already established that such clunky transportation was unnecessary on the Well World. The only reason for it to be there was so the main characters (and the reader) could be told what was going on up to that point. This passage was perhaps the worst example of several similar parts of the novel, in which story exposition is dealt with in an exceptionally clumsy way.
Chalker's writing style leaves much to be desired as well. His use of language is minimal and not suggestive at all of the weight he attempted to give the subject matter. Dialogue was essentially the same from one character to another, with none of the usual language markers to differentiate different people or different groups (this goes to the lack of cultural depth in the book discussed earlier). The characters lacked any feeling of honest emotion, such that I didn't connect with any of them at all.
For an idea with so much potential, this book was really lacking in so many ways. It was vaguely entertaining in some parts, but overall felt poorly-written and trite. Chalker's treatment of a good idea ended up very broad but also very superficial, only scratching the surface of the story's potential. I would love to see an idea like the Well World given a proper treatment by a better writer, one with a talent for how to craft alien worlds and different cultures with some sense of validity and history. Without that, a book like this just falls flat.
I won't be keeping this one, and I do not recommend it, unless you're into shallow, poorly-written science fiction.
WOW!!!.......2003-11-09
This book has it all!!!! The greatness of it is in the mixup of si-fi and fantasy. for too long did si-fi fans have to deal with the same style plot,the same characters and for some reason always the same humanlike shape!!! Bewarned!! All this is about to change in this book!!! What you think you know, will prove wrong. what you don't know will be infront of your eyes... What more can i say?? READ THIS BOOK!!!! :)
I started out as a si-fi reader and switched to fantasy for lack of imagination... this book proved that si-fi is still here!!!
Brilliant imagination. A classic book........2003-09-08
This is the book that launched Jack Chalker as an SF heavyweight and it's easy to see why. Full of fun characters, a brilliantly realised world and a fascinating plot it's a terrific adventure from a master story.
Other reviews will give you the plot in more detail. I simply want to recommend Chalker the writer. I've read pretty much everything he's published and I always look forward to his new books. This, though, is certainly one of his greatest. It's a great shame that mainstream SF critics have ignored or impugned his work because it's as good or better than a lot of the dross that's out there (and I include some of the so-called masterworks that have been swathed in awards). Thankfully he has a loyal legion of fans that have followed his career.
And this is also a great prequel to the War of the Well which is told the four volumes that followed this one. You don't have to read them all, as this a stand alone novel, but if you enjoy this one as much as so many others have then you'll certainly want to read more about Well World and the War of the Well novels are also superior entertainment on a large scale.
Basically, try anything of Jack Chalker's. He's an underrated master of the fantasy/sf genre.
Look also for The Four Lords of the Diamond series, The Rings of the Master series, the Dancing Gods novels and his lone short story collection, Dance Band on the Titanic.
The War of the Well is told in Exiles at the Well of Souls, Quest for the Well of Souls, The Return of Nathan Brazil and Twilight at the Well of Souls.
Dont wait. Go seek them out. You won't be disappointed.
A big, bold, colorful sci-fi adventure.......2002-11-13
Jack Chalker's "Midnight at the Well of Souls" is a science fiction adventure tale that one could describe as an ambitious epic, yet written with an often whimsical sense of fun. The novel is full of colorful characters, weird locales, and imaginatively conceived alien species.
The story's hero is freighter captain Nathan Brazil, a human male who is noted to be a maverick and a loner in "an age of extreme conformity." While carrying a motley collection of passengers on his ship, Brazil answers a distress call. Soon he finds himself on the Well World, a bizarre planet divided up into hundreds of biospheres and home to hundreds of different civilizations. Oh, and each newcomer to the planet can expect to find him- or herself transformed into a different species! "Midnight" charts the odyssey of Brazil, his allies, and his enemies across this strange and wondrous world as they seek the answer to an ancient mystery.
"Midnight" is a novel of ideas as well as a fun and exciting adventure; Chalker deals with such issues as history, drug addiction, crime, social organization, literacy, and more as the story unfolds. Chalker cleverly delves into the life cycles and sexual behaviors of the various Well World species, which include intelligent plants, a centaur-like race, and many more. The motif of transformation, including gender-changing, is intriguingly handled throughout the story.
Chalker makes reference to "Alice in Wonderland" at one point in the book, but the book, curiously, reminds me more of L. Frank Baum's classic Oz tales. And Chalker's vision of science, civilization, and history reminds me a bit of a less horrific, more light-hearted H.P. Lovecraft. Overall, a lot of fun, and written in a very engaging prose style. If you like this book, try "Lord Valentine's Castle," by Robert Silverberg.
Product Description
[Roleplaying in the world of Jack L. Chalker]
"ENTERED BY A THOUSAND UNSUSPECTED GATEWAYS...
BUILT BY A RACE LOST IN THE CLOUDS OF TIME...
THE PLANET ITS DWELLERS CALLED THE WELL WORLD TURNED BEINGS OF EVERY KIND INTO SOMETHING ELSE...
Journey to the Well World or adventure in the domains of the Com Worlds. Either way, this fast-paced science fiction role-playing game will fascinate
you and your friends for hours.
112-page game book including 150 character races
Introductory Scenario
Combat tables and charts
Starship blueprints and combat system
Partial map of the Well World
Polyhedral dice
Product Description
First 5 massmarket paperback books in Well of Souls series - Midnight at the Well of Souls - Exiles at the the Well of Souls - Quest for the the Well of Souls - Return of Nathan Brazil - Twighlight at the the Well of Souls
Amazon.com
One of the defining religious trends of our time is the gradual reconciliation of Christianity and Judaism, which usually takes the form of churches (most notably, the Vatican) accepting responsibility for the anti-Semitic aspects of their worship, theology, and history. No amount of official proclamation, however, can reconcile these religions until individual Christians and Jews recognize their common religious heritage and learn to respect the differences between their traditions. Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction for Christians is an important resource for cultivating such awareness. The author, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, has long been known for his sophisticated, accessible books on Jewish spirituality (including Honey from the Rock and God Was in This Place and I, I Did Not Know). His definition of spirituality, which loops and spirals in rabbinic fashion, includes the following observations: "Spirituality is religion experienced intimately.... Spirituality is where you and God meet--and what you do about it." And Jewish spirituality, he writes, is distinguished as "an approach to life in which we strive to become aware of God's presence and purpose--even and especially in what might strike the casual observer as gross or material things." This, he points out, is a fact that bridges the gap between Judaism and Christianity: the incarnation of Christ, as one pastor explains to Kushner, demands that believers "continuously seek to find God in every person." Beginning with a summary of Jewish ideas about Creation, and then exploring topics such as the Torah, the Commandments, and the nature of God, Kushner expertly defines many of the similarities and differences between the religions. His lively, storytelling style makes Jewish Spirituality a pleasurable and challenging book that would serve well as a personal devotional, a Bible-study or Sunday-school text, or an occasion for Jewish and Christian friends to set aside time to learn more about each other's faith. --Michael Joseph Gross
Book Description
A window into the Jewish soul--written especially for Christians.
"I invite you to explore with me some of the rich and varied expressions of the Jewish spiritual imagination. It is a tradition that may at times, for Christians, feel strangely familiar and will, for Christians and Jews, always challenge you to see yourself and your world through a new lens." --from the Introduction
Jewish spirituality is an approach to life that encourages us to become aware of God's presence and purpose, even in unlikely places. "This world and everything in it is a manifestation of God's presence," says Rabbi Lawrence Kushner. "Our challenge and goal is to find it and then act in such a way as to help others find it too."
In this special book, Kushner guides Christians through the rich wisdom of Jewish spirituality. He tailors his unique style to address Christians' questions, and, in doing so, opens new windows on their own faith.
Jewish Spirituality is a window into the Jewish soul that people of all faiths can understand and enjoy. From the Talmud and Torah, to "repentance" (teshuva) and "repairing the world" (tikkun olam), Kushner shows all of us how we can use the fundamentals of Jewish spirituality to enrich our own lives.
This intriguing book offers an entry into the center of Jewish spirituality. Kushner explains its key elements and the ways in which Christians--and people of all faiths and backgrounds--can bring them into their everyday lives.
In Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction for Christians you will explore:
* Holy things that happen around us every day
* Invisible lines of relation that connect us to each other and to God
* Torah--a blueprint for all of creation
* Everyday, holy deeds that mend the world
* God's Oneness
* How the Jewish experience of Teshuva is similar to the Christian experience of Jesus
...and much more.
Customer Reviews:
Faith provoking.......2006-03-10
This is a book that every Christian should read. It will open the eyes of your heart and help you to see God in a brand new way!
In Good Company .......2005-12-17
Along comes an illustrious and highly respected rabbi, with a book to give us a look at Biblical roots of the spirituality of our Jewish sisters and brothers. The primary argument of the book is that Christians can appreciate and benefit from Jewish spirituality, so that the fresh insights found there might well inform our own spiritual lives. Timid and cautious, we may ask, "Dare we read it? Not to worry! We will feel right at home, if we have a high view of God whose Word speaks to us in Scripture, as well as a sense of playfulness about our own journey of faith. Why these? Because these are key elements in Jewish spirituality as introduced to Christians by Lawrence Kushner.
Lawrence Kushner was for about 30 years the rabbi of Congregation Beth El in Sudbury, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Widely regarded as one of the most creative religious writers in America, he is the author of numerous articles and ten books about personal and institutional spiritual renewal within Judaism, including Eyes Remade for Wonder, God Was In This Place and I Did Not Know It and Honey in the Rock. Now rabbi in residence of Hebrew Union College in New York, he is a regular commentator on NPR's "All Things Considered."
The book is arranged in four sections dealing with the broad topics of Creation, Torah, Commandment, and The Holy One. In a series of brief and highly readable chapters within each section, Rabbi Kushner draws us in to the realm of stories-delightful, entertaining, evocative stories with a purpose. Parable might be the term we know best for these tales that deliver new ideas, insights and questions about the God we love and serve. As we engage our imagination with these stories, they allow God to guide our awareness of the "...one world that is simultaneously material and spiritual."
Particularly helpful is a section on Biblical interpretation, in which Kushner relates that there are four ways of meeting God's written Word. These he lists in a section entitled "Orchard of Words". The reader of Torah is encouraged to find four layers in every pericope, based on the four letters of the Hebrew word for orchard, (pardes). Layer One is the surface meaning-or simple story. Layer Two offers a hint of something in our own lives that intersect with the text. Layer Three is interpreting-finding lessons that can inform our lives. The Fourth Layer is the secret layer, according to Kushner, "even when seen, its meaning remains mysterious." Even though Kushner confines his description of these layers to Torah, these same layers of awareness could be applied by preachers, teachers and Bible students throughout the larger landscape of Biblical truth.
This book stems from a lifelong friendship and ongoing conversation between the author and an Episcopalian rector, who for many years served a congregation near Kushner's own. The touching story of their empathy and friendship is chronicled in the book's introduction, where Kushner responds to his friend's compassion in this way: "And then it dawned on me...that's what it means to say that God can take the form of a human being... Right here across the table from me was a truly holy man, one in whom the spirit had become flesh." (Page 16). On your own spiritual journey, you would be in good company with Lawrence Kushner as a fellow traveler.
Fun Theology.......2003-12-23
Rabbi Kushner's "Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction for Christians" is a light introduction to Jewish meditations, but I'm not so sure it's Jewish spirituality. At its most profound moments, it doesn't seem Jewish at all. It's more like Buddha with a yarmulka on.
Make no mistakes: it's a fun and easy read. In less than 100 pages Kushner introduces us to playful Jewish reflections on the Torah (like the story of the two men walking through the Red Sea without realizing where they are), thoughtful word plays (like the acronym on the Hebrew word for "garden"), and motivational meditations on our need to serve others and let God work through us (like the story of the rich man leaving bread at the synagogue. This is a cute collection of stories and illustrations, a few of which will give you pause for reflection.
However, at it's heart, I'm not sure that most orthodox Jews would embrace every word of this. While Kushner notes that it is difficult to define Judaism, he nonetheless includes sweeping sentences like "Jews think this" and "Jewish mysticism teaches that." And the things he credits to all Judaism include, in referece to creation, the belief that "It's all God." Or he will say, you must be fused into the divine until the "borders of your self are erased." While this is spirituality, I'm not so sure it's Jewish.
In the end, it's a quick, easy, fun read. But if this is your first exposure to Judaism, don't stop reading.
A complete accessible text.......2002-01-09
In Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction For Christians, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner assists members of the Christian community to better understand Judaism in general, and basic Jewish concepts of spirituality in particular. In a complete accessible text, Rabbi Kushner explores how we are all connected to each other and to God, how the Torah is a blueprint for all of creation, how "holy deeds" are required every day by each of us in order to successfully mend the world, the nature of God's "Oneness", how the Jewish experience of teshuva is similar to the Christian experience of Jesus, and a great deal more. Rabbi Kushner also dispels a number of misconceptions about Judaism common among Christians. Jewish Spirituality is an enthusiastically recommended introduction for those with Christian backgrounds who are seeking a better understanding of Judaism and its relation to their own Christian faith from a Jewish perspective.
Books:
- Unless: A Novel
- Up the Down Staircase
- We Should Never Meet: Stories
- Who Does She Think She Is?: A Novel
- Willa Cather : Later Novels : A Lost Lady / The Professor's House / Death Comes for the Archbishop / Shadows on the Rock / Lucy Gayheart / Sapphira and the Slave Girl (The Library of America)
- Your Blues Ain't Like Mine: A Novel
- A Bit on the Side : Stories
- A Box of Matches: A Novel
- A Flag for Sunrise
- A Gentleman in Charleston and the Manner of His Death
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Blind Eye: The Terrifying Story Of A Doctor Who Got Away With Murder
- The Establishment Clause: Religion and the First Amendment
- Non-Western Art: A Brief Guide
- On The Black Liberation Army
- ROMANTIC'S GUIDE, THE: HUNDREDS OF CREATIVE TIPS FOR A LIFETIME OF LOVE
- Soft Computing and Intelligent Systems Design: Theory, Tools and Applications
- The Edge of the Sea
- Peterman Rides Again: Adventures Continue with the Real "J. Peterman" Through Life & the Catalog
- Real Estate Money Machine: Real Estate Cash Flow Formulas That Really Work
- Balanced Measures for Strategic Planning: A Public Sector Handbook
Mixed Signals
Bookends
Whence Came a Prince
Rise and Shine: Encouragement to Start Your Day
Fair Is the Rose
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