The Ya-Ya Boxed Set

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Little Altars Everywhere first introduces readers to Siddalee Walker, her mother Viviane, and Viviane's unforgettable pals, the Ya-Yas--as wild a bunch of born-and-bred steel magnolias as you will ever run across in literature. Set in Louisiana and narrated by various members of the Walker family, Little Altars tells the tragicomic tale of Siddalee's magnificently dysfunctional clan. There is hard-drinking Viviane, who alternately adores her children and abuses them, and Daddy Big Shep, who is inarticulate, alcoholic, and can't quite say what he means and seldom means what he yells. Sidda's siblings are a mess, the family servants are badly treated, and though Rebecca Wells includes many hilarious set pieces throughout, even the Ya-Yas can't completely overcome the dark core at the center of this novel.

Wells continues the saga of Sidda and Vivi Walker in her follow-up, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, and this time the mood is considerably lightened as she takes her characters back in time via a collection of letters, clippings, and scrapbooks--the "divine secrets" of the title. Here a younger, more sympathetic Vivi shares the limelight with her Ya-Ya pals, Teensy, Caro, and Necie. From skinny-dipping in the town water tower to boozing it up at the spring cotillion, these Southern-fried hell-raisers prove what everyone has always suspected--that "it's so much fun being a bad girl!" But you don't have to be bad to enjoy Rebecca Wells's take on family, friendship, and the ties that bind for a lifetime. --Margaret Prior

Book Description

A special Mother's Day boxed set of Rebecca Wells's two New York Times-bestselling novels of the Ya-Yas and the Walker Clan, including a new Note to the Reader.

Both Little Altars Everywhere and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, chronicling the touching, funny, beguiling Walker family of Thornton, Louisiana, have been phenomenal critical and popular hits. Little Altars Everywhere, the first book, began life as a small-press, word-of-mouth cult classic in 1992, went on to win the Western States Book Award, and was included in the anthology Five Hundred Great Books by Women (Penguin, 1994). It followed Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood onto the New York Times bestseller list in 1998. The 1996 sequel, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, sparked the creation of Ya-Ya clubs around the country, and inspired Terry McMillan (San Francisco Chronicle) to exclaim, "I read the first two pages and I said, 'I haven't heard a white woman talk like this in literature before.'"

Customer Reviews:

Go Ya-Yas!.......2007-08-06

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya sisterhood and Little Alters Everywhere tell the tale of Vivi and her beloved girlfriends the "Ya-Yas" and about Siddalee, her daughter who she both physicaly and emotionaly abused. Sidda was beaten, slapped, and called names by her own mother who was a drunk. Vivi, though charming and fun, is also very selfish and cruel. Sidda goes from being a hurt, abused little girl to a tough and passionate young woman in her 30s who still fights with her mother over a Time magazine article in which she tells of her mother's damanging ways. As Sidda slowly comes to know more about her mother from a scrapbook, it forever changes her life as she starts to heal past wounds and being able to move on from her dark past. Sidda is a beautifuly written voice, and there's so much truth to these books. So many parents abuse their kids and all for selfish reasons and most of all because they don't love them. Sidda doesn't know how to love anyone, since her parents didn't love her enough. But Vivi, though an unfit mother, is sorry more then ever that she hurt her poor children and both women struggle to regain their realionship. I love this book. It's a great book. It made me cry and laugh. I love the South, so I loved this book and the child-abuse subject is a very universal subject matter which I'm sure a lot of people are very farmilar with and can understand and have been through.

Little Alters Everywhere.......2005-08-10

This was a most enjoyable easy read. It filled you will sense of the south and a life (both good and bad) that most of us only see in the movies.

Boxed set allows reader to find out "all about the Walkers".......2003-04-14

I was leant a well read dog-eared copy of 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood' a few years ago and came to know and love Rebecca Wells' style and story telling capabilities.

Ms. Wells has the ability to capture a particular era and region of the country (the South) and make her characters come alive.

The Ya-Yas are all about friendship, loyalty and some much darker and less admirable human traits as well. Some of the situations recounted in these two VERY different books about the Walker family will have the reader squirming with discomfort. For Rebecca Wells is intent on telling the whole story: the bad, the sad, the shocking, as well about the successes, the joys and a lot of giggles at the funnier side of human nature.

When you have finished both volumes in this boxed set, you will have a really good idea of what makes a very complex set of family members (the Walkers) "tick". What keeps them together, what may tear them apart. The journey isn't going to be boring in Ms. Wells' talented hands.

The story(stories) prove that being a "southern belle" isn't nearly as easy as you might think.

I'm happy to have my own lovely boxed set, combining both volumes 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood' and 'Little Alters Everywhere', so I can revisit these fascinating people any time I want. My particular recommendation for the reader would be to read 'Divine Secrets' first and then flesh out the history of the clan with 'Little Alters'. But I have wondered many times why Ms. Wells published the smaller, episodic 'Little Alters' first. So those uninitiated into Ya-Ya-hood, may wish to read them in order of the published date. If you do, PLEASE let me know what you think about the experience. I'd be interested in your opinions.

READ THIS BOOK!.......2003-03-03

Rebecca Wells did an awesome job at writing this book. She's created lovable characters for everyone. Rebecca has made the charcters come so alive, it's like they're your friends. When they're having a bad time, so are you. When they're happy, so are you. This book is really good for mothers and daughters to read together.

Loved Ya-Ya, Liked Little Altars not quite as much.......2002-09-27

Little Altars Everywhere pretty much takes away any sympathy you might have for the main character in Ya-Ya. I read SYYS first (even though it's the second book) and came away with the feeling that the main character was pretty self-centered. After reading LAE, I revised my opinion downward. Both books were good reads, though.

The Chronicles of Narnia Boxed Set (Box Set)

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The Chronicles of Narnia Boxed Set (Box Set)

Manufacturer: MacMillan Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000CFM7OA

Product Description

Boxed set of 7 mass market size paperback books in order are: 1. The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe; 2. Prince Caspian; 3. The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader"; 4. The Silver Chair; 5. The Horse & His Boy; 6. The Magician's Nephew; 7. The Last Battle

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The Ya-Ya Boxed Set
Rebecca Wells
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OF3NBY

Customer Reviews:

The whole series..........2006-01-18

Starquest:
1. "Lionheart" This was a great intro to the series. The actual development of the relationship was a bit glossed over with the author spending more time on the actual sex (of course) as well as the setting and development of the war. I really liked these two characters and was really happy at this point.
2. "Night of the Cat" After reading this short I was sure I found a great treasure. Every scene with this couple was great, and there were plenty of them. And the intrigue at the end with his father was nice and suspenseful.
3. "Pride of Imar" Now here's where I started to get nauseas. This sick military General abducts the two main characters. He forces his four soldiers to "bring her to pleasure" by any means necessary while she's tied down and her lover is tied to a wall and has to watch. She's part lion and the soldiers are repulsed that they are forced to be intimate with an animal, which in turn kind of grosses us out also, not to mention she's being abused and is not happy, which does not make for good entertainment in my humble opinion. I was really disappointed with this installment.

Starquest 2:
4. "Synergy" In this short both characters are human with physic talent. He is asked to bring over a woman. By seeing an image of her through another's vision he can locate and bring her 100 years into their future. This one was a bit boring without either of the characters being Lions, just plain old boring humans, which I can forgive, but then, at the end she's kidnapped and he can't find her! Hmm...he can zap her into the room through time...but he can't do it again when she's being held a few doors down? I was done at this point. So all in all, this series really had promise, but started to go down hill pretty fast. I never did read the fifth book "Bold Journey."

Night of the Cat (Book 2 Starquest series)

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Here Kity, Kity.
As Good As The First

Night of the Cat (Book 2 Starquest series)
Kate Douglas
Manufacturer: Ellora's Cave
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: CD-ROM
ASIN: 1843601729

Book Description

Jenna Lang is ready for a change, but traveling to a future earth and landing in the middle of a rebellion between Sensitives and the World Federation was not on her list. A sensual encounter with a ferocious but intriguing Lion of Mirat is something Jenna could never have imagined. Is Garan her ultimate sexual fantasy come true, the one love she has always dreamed of...or is he both?

Customer Reviews:

Here Kity, Kity........2003-07-03

The second book in Kate's StarQuest Series is hotter than the first. Garan is a alien cat helping the future earth in there war. Jenna is from the present earth that is sent forward to the future. This is her and Garan's story and boy is it hot. Stop whatever you are doing an orders this series, you want regret it.

As Good As The First.......2003-01-14

This is the second of the StarQuest Books. Kate Douglas has come up with a story line that is unique and imaginative. The Lions of Mirat are Humaniod Cats. Actually large cats.

Garan has been assigned to earth to help the rebellion that the humans are fighting against the World Federation. He would rather be on his StarQuest. That is until Jenna is pulled from earths past and dropped into his quarters. He is sure she is a spy and is determined to do whatever it takes to break the human.

Jenna was having a very bad week. The dot.com coming she was working for is out of business and the guy she seduces into her bed is a real loser. She longs for a real man that will send her to the stars and last long enough to bring her to climax.

Jenna is a telepath, but doesn't know it. As she works with the rebels she unleashes her powers and becomes a force to be reckoned with.

Garan is strongly attracted to Jenna. Through the teaching of his father he can't imagine that he could love a human. The longer he is with Jenna the more he most be with her.

This is a great story and definitely worth the time to read. The whole series is.

Book Description

Was Andas an android-or the rightful Emperor, held prisoner on a distant planet while an android impersonated him on the Empire's throne world? Was Tallhassee Mitford a modern archaeologist suffering from strange delusions, or has an ancient Egyptian ankh somehow hurled her personality far back in the mists of time to a Nubian kingdom where she is now a warrior princess named Ashake, caught up in a struggle between the gods of Egypt? Two very different heroes in the grip of forces beyond control, beyond comprehension, both destined to be the only hope of doomed civilizations. . . .

Publisher's Note: Gods and Androids has previously appeared separately as Android at Arms and Wraiths of Time. This is the first combined publication of the complete book.

Customer Reviews:

Gods and Androids.......2006-08-29

I found the book to be a quality addition to my library. This replaces some of thr paperbacks that I have read until they were coming apart

The Doppelganger Novels.......2004-03-31

Gods and Androids is an omnibus edition of two independent novels. It includes Android in Arms and Wraiths of Time. Both involve doppelgangers who replace their duplicate persons during a time of great crisis.

Androids at Arms (1971) is a singleton novel set in the Psychocrat universe. Imperial Prince Andas of Inyanga and other personages awake on a harsh planet apparently uninhabited by sentient life except for the single building that they occupy. In discussing the situation, they conclude that they have been under the influence of an inhibitor, which muddles the mind. Then one of them tells of a rumor he has heard of a service that, for a suitable fee, offers to replace selected persons with programmed androids.

Wraiths of Time (1976) is a singleton novel about an ancient Egyptian civilization. Tallahassee Mitford is a student of archaeology and an assistant curator at the local museum. As she examines an artifact found in an airport locker, she is suddenly surrounded by a riot of light, heat, sound and pain and then falls senseless. Upon awaking, Tally finds that she has been hurled into a time after Egypt was overrun by barbarians.

These stories illustrate one of the recurring themes in the author's SF works: persona transfer. As best exemplified in the Moonsinger series, the author explores the results of transferring or copying a mind from one body to another. In these stories, the mind is impressed upon a near duplicate body. However, in other tales the persona is impressed upon a very different physical carrier; for example, in The Moon of Three Rings, the mind of Krip Vorland is transferred to a barsk, an alien canine-like animal. These stories also depict the two approaches that the author takes to such advanced techniques; in the first tale, the transfer is apparently accomplished by machines, but the second story seems to use an advanced technology indistinquishable from magic.

Nevertheless, these stories don't dwell upon the technical aspects, but paint vivid pictures of two very different worlds and their inhabitants. As in most of her novels, the author shows human beings, and aliens, coping with trying circumstances and achieving a fair degree of success in unexpected circumstances and strange environments. While these novels are not among the author's major works, they are easy and enjoyable reads.

Highly recommended for Norton fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of daring adventures and exotic societies.

Book Description

Avigon has to escape. Her mechanical world ruled by political clockwork masters is killing her soul. But can she hide in a surreal world of machines where she herself is one? This complete volume unveils the full story of Avigon's journey. A clockwork creation pushed beyond the dark world binding her soul where her true destiny is unlocked.

Customer Reviews:

It's Chobits meets The Corpse Bride.......2006-03-07

Possibly, you might remember a one-shot prestige format one-shot comic from a while ago titled Avigon. It was a strange but wonderful sci-fi gothic fairytale. Now, its back in an all new extended graphic novel called Avigon: Gods & Demons.

Taking place in an alternate reality, mechanical creatures known as Clockworks are used for human amusement. One of the best makers of these is Pulsifer. One of her latest creations is the humanoid one Avigon. Although she sometimes makes creations which appear to be crossovers with animals like a sphinx, Pulsifer usually adds a hint of emotions and sometimes free will to her clockworks. She usually creates for the elite rich, and even her country's young empress.

Avigon though longs to be free on her own. She runs away from Pulsifer's castle, and heads for a nearby town. She meets a young student there who mistakes her for a human. But when Avigon asks him what he thinks of clockworks being truly alive, she becomes
disappointed, and runs away again. She ends up in a small town at the end of the tracks where a novice mechanic finds her and totally wound down. He forges a new key for her and revives her. This leads to an altercation between the two when he tries to force himself on her, and inadvertantly activates her self-defense program.

Avigon then runs back home, only to find that she's been sold by Pulsifer to the Empress herself. After a while though, Pulsifer's new creation Daemon challenges her to the right to be the Empress' personal clockwork. After loosing, Avigon is then given back to Pulsifer. Once back in her castle, Avigon then realizes she was truly happy to be there to begin with.

This comic is what Chobits would be like if it we done by Tim Burton. A fine moody piece that is an instant classic taking you to a new world of what it means to be human, and how someone can see themselves as being truly alive.

The complete story of Avigon.......2005-08-16

Five years ago, I picked up a graphic novel titled _Avigon_ at my local bookstore, simply because the cover intrigued me. What was behind that cover turned out to be one of my favorite stories ever, about a robot girl who runs away from her master to the outside world, and the painful lesson she learns there. I thought the story was near-perfect, though the book had some spelling issues and one page printed out of order.

Now the author and illustrator, Che Gilson and Jimmie Robinson, respectively, have given us the complete story of Avigon. The original novella is included, so you don't need to go find it to be up to date.

The story is pretty much the same, but expanded. Avigon, a beautiful clockwork, runs away. The outside world treats her cruelly, though she also discovers much beauty and falls in love. I'm not sure if I understand the end completely, but it is an ending, not a cliffhanger. When all is said and done, while I like having the complete story, I feel that the first version had a more dream-like quality, and a lovely, sad ending.

Che Gilson's writing style is perfect for this story. And the art is lovely, all in black and white and greyscale, with simple, dramatic lines. It is a bit like manga, a bit like Tim Burton. I only wish that the book had been printed on glossy paper, like its predecessor. I find the matte paper looks less professional, but that's just my opinion.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes fairy tales, manga, and science fiction with a heart.

NOVELETS OF SCIENCE FICTION: Ultrasonic God; The Chapter Ends; A as in Android; And the Truth Shall Make You Free; Night Fear; I Am Tomorrow; Testament of Andros; The Possessed

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NOVELETS OF SCIENCE FICTION: Ultrasonic God; The Chapter Ends; A as in Android; And the Truth Shall Make You Free; Night Fear; I Am Tomorrow; Testament of Andros; The Possessed
Ivan (editor) (L. Sprague de Camp; Poul Anderson; Milton Lesser; Clifford D. Simak; Frank Belknap Long; Lester del Rey; James Blish; Arthur C. Clarke) Howard
Manufacturer: Belmont Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GVUJYA

Book Description

"Certainly one of the most promising theological statements of our time." -The Christian Century "Not for the timid, this brilliant book calls for nothing short of the overthrow of patriarchy itself." -The Village Voice

Customer Reviews:

excellent.......2006-07-21

Mary Daly makes no apologies. Instead of employing 'mental contortionism' in an effort to interpret blatantly sexist texts in an equitable manner, Daly bravely tosses them aside and forges a new theological understanding. This is one of the best indictments of traditional Catholic beleif that I have ever read, from the scathing rebutals of the pauline texts to the rejection of the idea of any messiah cum human. The tone is forceful witty and incredible clever, and definitely keeps you reading. The urge to move beyond outdated ideas is one of the corner-stones of progress and thus I salute Mary Daly for her much needed work in religious philosophy.

Mary Daly has contributed little to humanity or women.......2005-03-19

For decades feminist authors such as Miss Daly have used their dubious credentials in academia to promulgate the fantasy of a golden age before the onset of "patriarchy," It's the same 60s nonsense clothed in a new phraseology and when we strip away the fancy prose we're left with the following executive summary: Women once ruled the earth with flowy robes and Gaia conjuring magic wands, and all the world worshipped the Goddess. Any woman who has the courage to study the historical, archeological and paleological evidence by academics with ACTUAL ACCREDITED Ph.D.s will soon understand that this gynocentric vision is a myth which harms and enslaves women. Why? The effect of this genre of novel is not to increase grace, love and mercy, but to further splinter humanity into yet more little tribes, all petulantly vying for victim-status and privilege. When we sublimate and externalize our spiritual pain and longing for transcendence to a hatred of other groups (in this case, men) how can we find happiness in our journey through life?

The best antidote to Miss Daly's agenda-of-rage is Cynthia Eller's "The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory : Why An Invented Past Will Not Give Women a Future." Cynthia Eller easily exposes the Gaia/Sophia/Lilith scam. Reading this can help the reader differentiate between the two major taxonomies of Truth: the external, objective and verifiable reality which increases our understanding of the world, vs. collecting subjective emotional concepts to serve as a "stabilizing glue" for one's fragmented consciousness.
Another valuable read is "Interior Castle" or "The Way of Perfection" by St. Teresa of Avila. I challenge any woman to read those 2 books and conclude that this woman was "marginalized" and repressed by the "patriarchy." More likely, they would understand that a loving apprehension of woman's beauty, power and regnancy existed centuries before the word "feminism" was ever breathed on a western campus. The great irony is that this vision of women, infinitely larger, more beautiful and complex than anything modern feminism has ever proposed, is the very reality which Miss Daly desperately wishes to extinguish in her disciples.
In 50 years, the present farrago of theoreticians- Andrea Dworkin, Germaine Greer, Naomi Wolf, Susan Faludi ad infinitum will all be dead and forgotten, their books mouldering in bargain bins and used book stores. Each began with a half-truth: yes, our modern secular society is indeed repressive to women, but each fell into error by conjecturing that secular humanism was the implacable norm in society and represents God's plan for humanity. It is not. Feminist authors are themselves caught in the engrenage of materialism which afflicts our society, and thus, their solutions to free women can't work. In the guise of freedom, they end by merely exalting themselves and leading women further away from the truth. Don't follow their fate, sisters... only love is stronger than death, prejudice and violence. Open your heart and you will receive the graces to understand that there is but one division in life, that between creature and creator. When that day comes, you'll be forever immune to the hate of Miss Daly and her friends. God was beside you all along, a thousand times more ready to give than you were to ask.

Mary Daly is Out of This World!.......2001-08-22

It's amazing to me just how many readers don't get Mary Daly! That someone compared her to Hustler Magazine is too funny! Oh, I bet Professor Daly would love that! For those of you who didn't know, Daly has several doctorates (in philosophy and theology) from Fribourg University in Switzerland; she has published many phenomenal, intellectually stimulating, truly groundbreaking books; she's an amazing linguist with a dictionary of terms all her own; and she was a tenured professor at Boston College for many years. That the average reader from Philly hasn't a clue what she's saying is hardly surprising. Daly is a philosopher, a theologian, a scholar, writing for an intellectual feminist audience. Her ideas are not more of the usual male-defined babble, (which is why some readers may get "kicked out of school" for citing her as a reference) but rather radical, eye-opening, amazing challenges to the status quo. Of course, she's not for everyone (truly their loss). However, I've found her philosophy and her books to be quite enlightening, and I am most grateful for and encouraged by all that I have learned from her. Yes, Mary Daly is out of this world! (And with the Bush Administration at the helm, that's probably about the best place to be!)

Pitiful.......2000-10-27

Mary Daly is published for exactly the same reason that Hustler is published - there is a sizeable market of stupids who simply like reading trash.

Useful, up to a VERY limited point.......2000-08-04

As a seminary trained theologian I can appreciate the value of reading Daly's book. In its day 'Beyond God the Father' inspired many religious folks to critically engage several of the accepted tenents of Christian theology. But this positive contribution notwithstanding I am afraid the book is finally little more than a self-righteous and self-indulgent tirade. Indeed, rather than engaging in some critical (and historical) thinking of her own -- grappling with fact that many women have been able to buttress their liberation struggles through their Christian faith, Daly assumes that hers is only authentic feminist perspective. This makes for an ultimately tiresome and intellectually unsatisfying read. I wouldn't encourage anyone to avoid this book altogether, but there is certainly more important and creative feminist theology out there.

Beyond God the Father: toward a philosophy of women's liberation

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Beyond God the Father: toward a philosophy of women's liberation
Mary Daly
Manufacturer: Beacon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation
Mary Daly
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Beyond God the Father - Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation
Mary Daly
Manufacturer: Beacon Press, Boston
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VZW5XO

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Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation
Mary Daly
Manufacturer: Beacon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000I334JS

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Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation
Mary Daly
Manufacturer: Beacon Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KNX2OS

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Beyond God The Father; Toward A Philosophy Of Women's Liberation
Daly Mary
Manufacturer: Beacon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QYL16C

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