Customer Reviews:
An Intoxicating Read.......2006-03-11
INTOXICATED is one of those books, when you open it and start reading, you don't want to put it down.
From its evocative opening pages, the reader is drawn into a story of overindulgence and experimentation set against the backdrop of a backend-of-nowhere setting - Gomersal.
Having grown up in "The Rhubard Triangle" of West Yorkshire , it wasn't hard for me to be transported half way across the world, to a village setting which probably has changed little since the mid-nineteenth century, to a family of alcoholics and their co-dependents whose actions and reactions are also constant through the ages.
Barlow's pages reek of authenticity. But, don't get me wrong, INTOXICATED is far from a torrid story. Like the secret recipe which is added to the Rhurbarb drink, the cast of colourful characters spike the mixture and titillate the imagination.
Take Vermilion - the personification of the music hall midget - colourful by name and nature, and the weakling George who slowly emerges like the proverbial butterfly, Isaac Brookes - entrepreneur - seemingly unstoppable, and the rest of the cast of contrasting hangers-on who are unwittingly carried along in the tide of reverie.
INTOXICATED captures the reader's imagination with its drama and pathos and Barlow portrays its characters with honesty and sensitivity.
INTOXICATED is a great read and I can thoroughly recommend it.
Weird but warm.......2006-02-24
This is the strangest historical novel I have read. It's the story of how soda drinks were invented, set in rural victorian England (if you will...) and involving alcoholics, cocaine addiction and rhubarb (yes, you heard right). he's one of those writers who draw you in, very subtle and readable but so warm. I mean really warm. full of emotion so that you kind of gasp almost after some scenes. and he can do drama, and humor. it leaves you a bit drained of emotion. fantastic, wild writing.
Book Description
His mother abandoned him. His drug-dealing dad landed him in the middle of a gunfight. After entering the foster care system, he fell through the cracks. He was rejected by everyone, known by no one…
Born to a teenage mother whose hopes and dreams for her son were shattered by her own drug addiction, author Shane Salter was thrust into parenting his younger brother at the tender age of four. His first look at the world was through a broken windowpane into an alley leading nowhere. When his mother walked out and left him, he kept it together and took care of his brother until they found foster care, a system as threatening to a child as any dark alley in New York, Miami, Chicago, Detroit, or Los Angeles.
He sought what his mother was unable to give: nurturing, guidance, and the opportunity to be a child. With all odds against him, he survived and emerged more determined than ever to succeed.
Customer Reviews:
Inspiring and Beautiful.......2006-09-14
I read this book in one day and was mesmerized by it. Shane's resiliance is extraordinary. The book inspired me to continue on my path of healing. Because of Shane's book, I am better equipped to tell my own story of addiction, tragedy and recovery. This book motivated me and is a MUST read.
Inspiring, uplifting and informative.......2005-09-10
I could not put this book down, from the first sentence it had me. A gripping yet inspiring tale of overcoming. You will not complain about your circumstances after this book but rejoice in knowing that "trouble don't last always." Superbly written. I will read it again and plan to give it as gifts to friends who need to hear his message.
An Uphill Journey.......2005-07-23
A POWERFUL...MOVING...GRIPPING account of abuse and neglect. Should be required reading for all social service agencies, foster and adoptive parents. I thank God "Trouble Don't Last Always", and thank you Shane Salter for sharing your "going- through".
Gripping, poignant and an eye opener!.......2005-05-20
I could not put this one down. His plight and how he emerges from it all is simply heroic. I learned from his personal odyssey about perseverance, love and how to live the best life you can despite the huge challenges that come our way.
Amazing.......2005-05-05
This book grabs you and will not let you go. It is a powerful story. The struggles and barriers Shane Salter endured as a child are unimaginable. With each encounter, I found myself hoping and wishing for something great to happen to whisk him out of his unfortunate circumstance. The strength lies in the books commanding writing voice and vivid descriptions. Some of the painful scenes make you react physically as if you are being abused instead of Shane. I am also left compelled to reach out to a child who may be experiencing abuse or neglect. Thanks for sharing, Shane.
Book Description
Previously published as The Turning Point, this powerful story is about a woman searching for a new beginning. Desperate to escape her abusive marriage, Lilly Crawford files for divorce, then slips away from her small east Texas hometown with little more than the clothes on her back. With broken dreams and countless regrets, she points her twelve-year-old car east, hoping to find a new beginning. But when her car breaks down on a back road in Louisiana, Lilly is forced to seek help and finds unex-pected employment in the wealthy Wakefield home-a powerful southern family who takes her in as one of their own. Lilly even finds an unexpected love with Adam, the Wakefield son and head of the family. But then Lilly's ex-husband resurfaces, bring-ing with him a past that threatens to destroy her new found life.
Customer Reviews:
One of my favorites..........2007-10-03
This is one of my favorite romance novels. It was selected as a book club read. I think I fell in love right along with Lilly and Dr. Crawford. The development of their relationship is so wholesome, you can help but not to. This book will definitely not disappoint you.
AKA how to develop a backbone 4.5 stars.......2007-08-22
A beautiful story of love overcoming adversity, courage, finding oneself etc. Lilly helps a rich blind docter Adam to regain his self esteem and finds love and a backbone for herself, Jonathan's patience of 40 years pays off with Eleanor. The only fly in the ointment is Kristen but her story is told in Somebody's knocking at my door, read this book (Trouble) first to get an understanding of her character and the minor character Rafe.
My all time favorite book.......2007-07-16
I love this book I can read this book over and over again. I really love this book because it is a story about two people that meet each other at their worst and find love and it really hits your heart. This book is my all time favorite and I admire Lilly and Adam's strength and determination to make it through the hard times that they are enduring and I love Francis Ray.
I really liked this book.......2007-06-22
Francis Ray did a wonderful job with the heroine and hero's finding true love. I enjoyed the underlying story of a woman who finds the strenght to walk away from an abusive relationship, but not torn up enough to allow it to sway her from finding love the way it was so romantically rendered in in this romance tale.
Whimsical.......2007-03-29
Another great read from Mrs. Ray.
Her stories are extraordinary, insightful and romantic. I truly admire that the majority of the men in her novels aren't your stereotypical abusive, pants sagging, drug dealing thugs. They're kind, loving, intelligent, successful and handsome men.
Lilly and Adam were meant for each other. I thanked the Lord when those two finally became an item.
I won't rest until I've read all of her books.
Product Description
His mother abandoned him. His drug-dealing dad landed him in the middle of a gunfight. After entering the foster care system, he fell through the cracks. He was rejected by everyone, known by no one… Born to a teenage mother whose hopes and dreams for her son were shattered by her own drug addiction, author Shane Salter was thrust into parenting his younger brother at the tender age of four. His first look at the world was through a broken windowpane into an alley leading nowhere. When his mother walked out and left him, he kept it together and took care of his brother until they found foster care, a system as threatening to a child as any dark alley in New York, Miami, Chicago, Detroit, or Los Angeles.
Customer Reviews:
triumph of human spirit.......2007-03-17
The authors story of overcoming lifes challenges and succeeding against the odds is captured in this book. It is truly a story of triumph and inspiration. Kudos to the author.
Customer Reviews:
Great reflective source.......2007-10-06
Wonderful insight of E. Parker's perspective of young African American girls and their perception and approach towards faith and spiritual formation.
Average customer rating:
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Troubles Don't Last Always
Gary, B. McCleod
Manufacturer: Pleasant Word-A Division of WinePress Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Religious | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1414103573 |
Book Description
Gary B. McCleod will always remember the day the Lord delivered him from the hand of the enemy (satan). There's nothing that can describe the feeling of being loosed from bondage other than to say, "Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, I'm free at last." Being free from satan and the quandary he brought led Gary to a closer walk with God. He now bears witness that troubles don't last always. For you who are experiencing various trials and difficulties in your life you will find in the contents of this book practical solutions, answers and advice to your dilemmas. In Troubles Don't Last Always Gary talks about . His testimony . How troubles come . The trying and testing of your faith . When all seems lost trust in God . What did I do to deserve this? . How you can find peace in time of trouble . How the prayers of others strengthened him . Prayers that availeth much Gary's testimony is clear. God is sovereign, God is righteous and God if faithful. Troubles Don't Last Always!
Average customer rating:
- As the novel wore on, its novelty wore off
- Discworld
- Captain Vimes goes into diplomacy
- another enjoyable read
- The Fifth Elephant
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The Fifth Elephant: A Novel of Discworld
Terry Pratchett
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
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Binding: Hardcover
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Jingo
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Carpe Jugulum
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The Last Continent
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Feet of Clay
ASIN: 0061051578 |
Amazon.com
Terry Pratchett has a seemingly endless capacity for generating inventively comic novels about the Discworld and its inhabitants, but there is in the hearts of most of his admirers a particular place for those novels that feature the hard-bitten captain of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, Samuel Vimes. Sent as ambassador to the Northern principality of Uberwald where they mine gold, iron, and fat--but never silver--he is caught up in an uneasy truce between dwarfs, werewolves, and vampires in the theft of the Scone of Stone (a particularly important piece of dwarf bread) and in the old werewolf custom of giving humans a short start in the hunt and then cheating.
Pratchett is always at his best when the comedy is combined with a real sense of jeopardy that even favorite characters might be hurt if there was a good joke in it. As always, the most unlikely things crop up as the subjects of gags--Chekhov, grand opera, the Caine Mutiny--and as always there are remorselessly funny gags about the inevitability of story:
They say that the fifth elephant came screaming and trumpeting through the atmosphere of the young world all those years ago and landed hard enough to split continents and raise mountains.
No one actually saw it land, which raised the interesting philosophical question: when millions of tons of angry elephant come spinning through the sky, and there is no one to hear it, does it--philosophically speaking--make a noise?
As for the dwarfs, whose legend it is, and who mine a lot deeper than other people, they say that there is a grain of truth in it.
All this, the usual guest appearances, and Gaspode the Wonder Dog. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk
Book Description
Everyone knows that the world is flat, and supported on the backs of four elephants. But weren't there supposed to be five? Indeed there were, and what happened to the fifth elephant is only one of the many perplexing mysteries solved in this new novel by today's most celebrated fantasy humorist.
Terry Pratchett's profoundly irreverent Discworld novels have been number one bestsellers in England for more than a decade, securing him a position in the pantheon of satire and parody alongside Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Carl Hiaasen. Pratchett's fame, like his imagination, is now going global--if such a term can be used in connection with an author whose creation is so uncompromisingly (though no longer quite so unfashionably) flat.
Which brings us back to the missing mythical pachyderm. The Fifth Elephant begins, like so many of Pratchett's satirical inventions, with an invitation. This one is both royal and engraved, requiring that Commander Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork constabulary attend as both detective and diplomat. The one role he relishes; the other, well, requires ruby tights.
Where cops (even those clad in tights) go, crime of course, follows--and an attempted assassination and a theft soon lead to a desperate chase from the low halls of Discworld royalty to the legendary fat mines of Uberwald, where lard is found in underground seams along with tusks and teeth and other precious ivory artifacts.
Vimes's "elephant" adventure is as profound as it is hilarious, sending up every aspect of modern life from royalty (a British specialty) to bureaucrats (inescapable anywhere), from cops (especially those unusually dressed) to criminals (who, like fools, have their own guild), from fantasy literature to satire itself.
The world is busy discovering Terry Pratchett. Shouldn't you be doing your part?
Customer Reviews:
As the novel wore on, its novelty wore off.......2007-09-02
Although I love the Discworld series as a whole, I'm noticing a pattern that the ones I like the least all have Sam Vimes as the central character. I have nothing against Vimes as a character per se, but I'm beginning to suspect that some sort of "Vimes curse" exists: if Pratchett's using him, the book's ultimately going to be a disappointment.
Such was the case with The Fifth Elephant. The book started off promising, but about a third to half way through it seemed to be losing steam. Ironically, the ending seemed to drag on about 20 pages longer than it should have. In between, we have a number of tantalizing ideas that are ultimately left as unexplored red herrings. (I'm reading the series out of order, so I don't know if Pratchett was laying groundwork for future books, or if he just lost interest in them while writing.)
Another big problem I had with this book is that it had a heavy helping of overly-contrived plot convenience. Pratchett's proven that he's creative enough that he could certainly have come up with something better than the Deus Ex Machina that shows up ***a couple of times*** here.
Last gripe: in the beginning, it seems that we are going to have 3 interconnected subplots, but as the story shifts more and more to the Vimes angle, 1 of them (the Carrot/Angua arc) ultimately just becomes an unsatisfying Deus Ex Machina to get Vimes out of trouble at a critical moment, and the other (the Captain Colon arc) ultimately becomes weak comic relief -- which Pratchett (wisely) all but forgets about anyway.
Despite this, Fifth Elephant had a few amusing moments, and helped flesh out the Discworld Milieu. If you're a completionist, by all means give it a go, but remember to keep your expectations reasonable. Pratchett certainly has done better.
Discworld.......2006-08-27
I've decided he's too good and too prolific for me to write a brand new review every single time I read one of his books. Discworld currently has 34 titles and every one of them will probably knock your socks off. His mind bubbles and flashes like a boiling pot of electric eels, and I simply can't get enough of his writing.
A reviewer has compared him to Geoffrey Chaucer. He reminds me more of Douglas Adams, or perhaps S Morgenstern. Great company, isn't it? He's an extremely skillful and imaginative writer, damn funny, clever and observant to boot. He's also very easy to read. A master of characterization, and if there's anything else you like about reading that I didn't mention here, assume I simply forgot. He's awesome.
Another reviewer mentioned Jonathan Swift and PG Wodehouse. Why such hallowed company? Because Pratchett belongs there! Truly, I'm enjoying my quest to read every book in the series. You should do the same, and begin your quest at the library because he's got to be there. He's awesome!
Yet another reviewer said Jerome K Jerome meets Lord of the Rings. Yeah, that works too.
Why do we, as reviewers, compare authors to other authors? Because it's easier than thinking. In the case of Terry Pratchett, it's probably because we'd otherwise wind up quoting the guy. He's so unique that we just don't know how else to cope with his greatness. Even this paragraph sounds like foamy drool raving, doesn't it? That's how all readers react to Pratchett. Reviewers simply don't have the good sense to keep it to themselves.
I could call his writing fantasy, but I could likewise call what Douglas Adams wrote science fiction. In both cases, I wouldn't be wrong, but I'd be neglecting so much and just totally missing the point. A rare few authors transcend a genre to such a degree that you know they're shouting out, loud and proud, a big fat "Bite me!"
I love Terry Pratchett's writing, and I completely understand why some folks refer to him as their favorite author. Or favourite, I should say, since we're being British. He's one of those authors that makes you want to grab whoever's in hearing range and start reading passages aloud. I'm simply thrilled that there's such an extremely talented and prolific author who's been working for years without me being aware of him. Now I have much catching up to do, and I will love it.
Captain Vimes goes into diplomacy.......2006-08-14
Once upon a time in the Multiverse there was indeed a Fifth Elephant floating around aimlessly. He could not help it, but he crashed violently screaming and kicking into the Discworld, at the same time splitting continents and raising mountains. An eternity later his remains are still buried deep in the planes of Uberwalt, the home of vampires, werewolves and most importanly dwarves. Dwarves who are not only mining diamonds and gold, but lately also elephant fat. It is exactly that valuable asset that brings Lord Vetinari, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, to the conclusion that keeping good diplomatic relations with Uberwalt is maybe not such a bad idea. On the other side, sending Captain Vimes on such a diplomatic mission might not belong to that same pool of bright ideas.
It is always a great joy to meet the old folks of the City Watch again for another crazy voyage. This time it is not different: it all starts with Sergeant Colon's experiences with the Discworld version of a speed camera, but soon the complete City Watch proves that silliness is their strongest weapon. This time not many new characters are introduced, but this only means that known characters, such as the Igors and that cute little doggie Gaspode, get more attention.
The attentive reader certainly will notice the undertone that links certain forces in Uberwalt to a Nazi regime. Indeed references to sub-humans and other Nazi slogans are generously spread throughout the story. In this respect The Fifth Elephant is unique -at least for the Discworld series- in the way that it portraits a strong political message against extreme nationalism. In the end it is not only a funny, but also an extremely smart book.
another enjoyable read.......2006-04-21
Terry Pratchett's Fifth Elephant was yet another enjoyable and exciting read. I have not read many of Pratchett's books but so far I can't read much else! He draws you away from this world and into another, filled with werewolves, sexist dwarves and Igors gleefully trading body parts.
Commander Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork city Watch is reluctantly sent to the city of Uberwald to attend the coronation of the Low King. Then the Scone of Stone is stolen (without this there could be no King) and Vimes takes it upon himself to find the stone and the culprit.
Meanwhile Sergeant Angua (who is a Werewolf) sets off on her own journey to Uberwald to sort out her family problems with Carrot and Gaspode (a talking dog) following closely on her tail, leaving Ankh-Morporks Watch in complete dissaray.
This was a very funny and exhilarating book and I just can't wait to read more of the Discworld series but I did feel that too much was happening at once and on several occasions I was slightly confused. Maybe Pratchett should keep his characters to a smaller number in future.
The Fifth Elephant.......2006-04-05
The Fifth Elephant is a City Watch novel of Discworld, where the newly proclaimed Duke of Ankh-Morpork, His Grace Commander Samuel Vimes, goes to Überwald as an ambassador, looking for fat deposits caused by the legendary crash of the Fifth Elephant into the regions of Überwald. However, problems in Ankh-Morpork arise, and Captain Carrot is left in charge of the watch. Mr. Sonky is found dead in his vat for making rubber thingys, and the replica of the Scone of Stone, the crowning seat of the dwarves made of the famous dwarf bread, has been stolen.Vimes leaves with Lady Sybil, Sergeant Detritus, Corporal Littlebottom, and a helpful "clerk", Inigo Skimmer. At Überwald, the actual Scone is stolen, and all the dwarves look shifty. There's also some werewolf trouble, and Sergeant Angua of the Watch comes along too. Captain Carrot follows, leaving Sergeant Fred Colon to lead the watch. Needless to say, with all that power, he goes around throwing his excessive weight around. The sugar lumps keep disappearing...
A great Night Watch book, the suspense is all right, but there are some surprises and such to keep any reader happy. A good book to be read, just not over and over again.
Average customer rating:
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Fifth Elephant, The (Discworld Novel)
Terry Pratchett
Manufacturer: Corgi
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0552154229
Release Date: 2006-11-28 |
Book Description
Sam Vimes is a man on the run. Yesterday he was a duke, a chief of police and the ambassador to the mysterious, fat-rich country of Uberwald. Now he has nothing but his native wit and the gloomy trousers of Uncle Vanya (don’t ask). It’s snowing. It’s freezing. And there are monsters on his trail . . .
Customer Reviews:
Ambassador Sam Vimes.......2007-02-05
Although I couldn't quite get my mind around the idea of a fat mine (created by the fiery crash of the fifth elephant that supported Discworld on top of A'Tuin, the Cosmic Turtle), this fantasy is nevertheless a savoury entry in the Sam Vimes/Night Watch series (in spite of all that fat).
Sam Vimes, Commander of Ankh-Morpork's Night Watch is 'asked' by the city's Patrician (with the approval of Sam's wife, Sybil) to represent the city at the coronation of Uberwald's new dwarf Low King.
The last thing Sam wants to do is dress up in ceremonial tights and gallop off to a country filled with werewolves and vampires, not to mention two sects of battling dwarfs. He's got the murder of a condom manufacturer to solve right in Ankh-Morpork, plus the theft of a replica of the holy Scone of Stone from the Dwarf Bread Museum.
However Lady Sybil thinks her husband needs a vacation, so off they go, tights and all, leaving Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson (a six-foot adopted dwarf) in charge of the Watch. Then Corporal Angua, the only werewolf on the Watch disappears and Captain Carrot resigns to go after her, taking only Gaspode, the talking dog with him.
Sergeant Colon is now acting-Captain of the Watch, much to the dismay of everyone, including himself.
While his beloved Night Watch slides swiftly into an abyss of incompetence in Ankh-Morpork, Sam discovers that being an ambassador is not all champagne and cucumber sandwiches. On his first day in Uberwald's capital city, he becomes both a murder suspect and a participant in the Game--a werewolf version of 'Fox and Hounds'---with himself as the unwilling fox.
The alpha female among the werewolves calls Sam a "nothing...a paper man. A man of straw. An insult." She will have to learn the hard way that she grossly underestimated the new ambassador.
If you'd like to read the Sam Vimes/Night Watch books in order of publication, they are: "Guards! Guards!" (1989); "Men at Arms" (1993); "Feet of Clay" (1996); "Jingo" (1997); "The Fifth Elephant" (2000); "Night Watch" (2002); and "Thud!" (2005).
Book Description
Spirit-filled believers will find new resources for understanding the Bible and applying biblical themes to their day-to-day lives in these interactive study guides.
Written from a Pentecostal/Charismatic viewpoint, these interactive studies introduce believers to the books of the Bible and offer a thorough and balanced understanding of key themes of the Bible.
By studying the themes of the books, as well as the books themselves, these interactive studies offer groups and individuals a Spirit-filled perspective of the Bible's message for today.
Books:
- Jerusalem's Hope (The Zion Legacy, Book VI)
- Katerina: A Novel
- Layover
- Lens of an Infantryman: A World War II Memoir with Photographs from a Hidden Camera
- Little Altars Everywhere: A Novel
- Little Boys Come from the Stars
- Madras on Rainy Days: A Novel
- Meeting Ms. Right
- Midnight Champagne: A Novel: A Novel
- Monuments and Maidens: The Allegory of the Female Form
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
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- Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner
- The Schooling of Claybird Catts : A Novel
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- Top Working Dogs: A Training Manual--Tracking, Obedience, Protection
- Chaotic Dynamics: An Introduction
- Animal Underworld: Inside America's Black Market for Rare & Exotic Species
- A country girl: This is my life, including the biography of Maurice Sanditen
- Towards Recovery in Pacific Asia
- How to Be a Global Thinker
Thirteen Moons: A Novel
The Road
Suite Francaise
Water for Elephants: A Novel
The Glass Castle: A Memoir
