Sanctified Blues: A Novel

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Reviewed by Karen Morse

Singing the Sanctified Blues

Promising start to new series

Enjoyable and Inspirational!

An uplifting and powerful story!

Sanctified Blues: A Novel
Mable John , and David Ritz
Manufacturer: Harlem Moon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | African American | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Stay Out of the Kitchen!: An Albertina Merci Novel

The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner

Forgivin' Ain't Forgettin'

Saved Folk in the House

Farther Than I Meant To Go, Longer Than I Meant To Stay

ASIN: 0767921658
Release Date: 2006-06-13

Book Description

Albertina Merci, a talented R&B singer, toured with Ray Charles, James Brown, and Wilson Pickett—until the fateful night her voice gave out in front of a sold-out crowd. Encouraged by her fans, she offered a little speech in praise of Jesus instead of a song. Her spontaneous words became the seed of “Sanctified Blues,” a song that soon captured the hearts of millions and gave Albertina the financial security to follow her true calling as an evangelist—sharing the Gospel with those in need of spiritual comfort.

Sanctified Blues is the story of Albertina’s encounter with Maggie Clay, the biracial beauty who is TV’s reigning diva. A sudden mystery surrounding Maggie has the entire country wondering: Is Maggie having a nervous breakdown, and if so, why? What caused it? And who can save the star from self-destruction?

Sanctified Blues kicks off a series about a former R&B singer turned full-time minister who’s full of spice and advice. When the Lord works in mysterious ways, it’s up to Pastor Albertina Merci to find out why…

Customer Reviews:

Reviewed by Karen Morse.......2007-01-25

Albertina Merci is a real firecracker. The 70-year-old R&B singer turned minister has more spunk than some women half her age. She has a level head, a love of God, and a way of bringing out the best in the people around her.

In SANCTIFIED BLUES, Albertina meets Maggie Clay, queen of daytime television, in the midst of a nervous breakdown. As the tabloids are abuzz with the star's escapades eagerly awaiting her self-destruction, it is only with infinite patience that Albertina can weather her rocky relationship with Maggie in hopes of helping her get back on the right path.

While Albertina is very devout, she is open-minded in a way that keeps the authors from alienating non-Christian readers. Albertina is written in a way that readers can't help but envy her fortitude and generosity. She is a sympathetic character precisely because she does lose patience and she does get mad; she too must struggle to do the right thing.

Although the book focuses most on Albertina's relationship with Maggie Clay, it does introduce a number of other interesting and three-dimensional characters who will probably appear in future Merci novels including Justine, a naïve neighbor who falls for all the wrong men, and Patrick, her strong-willed nephew who's afraid of breaking all his own rules.

SANCTIFIED BLUES is a great start to what promises to be an interesting series. While it is printed by Harlem Moon, an imprint that targets African-American readers, this book and the series to follow will appeal to a diverse group of readers. Fans of Jan Karon's Mitford series in particular should give SANCTIFIED BLUES a try.

Much like Albertina, Mable John was a successful R&B singer--having received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1994--before she became an ordained minister and received a doctorate in counseling. Coauthored by David Ritz; who has written biographies of Marvin Gaye and Jimmy Scott and co-authored the autobiographies of Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, and Smokey Robinson, among others; SANCTIFIED BLUES is Mable John's first novel.

Singing the Sanctified Blues.......2006-08-23

Sanctified Blues is the first novel in a series that will feature Pastor Albertina Merci. Pastor Merci is a 70-year-old former R&B singer, turned minister. In her own quiet and unassuming manner she offers prayer and counsel to those in need of a little understanding. Also, I hope will be returning characters will be her next door neighbor, Justine, the Target employee with a inclination of choosing the wrong men and her confused minister nephew, Patrick. These characters peculiarity brings humor and a touch of realism to the story.

In this episode, Pastor Merci is summoned to her hometown Dallas, Texas, by her niece Cindy, who is terminally ill. Cindy's boss is an Oprah-like television talk show host Maggie Clay. While Cindy is physically ill, Maggie is emotionally ill and the both are in need of Pastor Merci. It is Maggie who sends the Pastor on a roller coaster ride as her behavior becomes more erratic and unpredictable. Maggie summons the Pastor to her home on Malibu, to a Caribbean vacation and to Rome and when the Pastor arrives Maggie ignores her or treats her as the hired help. Pastor Merci does nothing but silently offer up prayers for Maggie, praying that she will find peace and be able to resume a normal life. The prayers of the righteous availeth much, because even though Maggie blames the Pastor for all her woes, out of the blue, she provides the finances for the Pastor to move her church from her home and into a building called the House of Trust.

In Sanctified Blues, there is a lot of praying, scripture quoting and biblical counseling, but the best witnessing and inspiration comes from Pastor Merci just being herself, true to her beliefs, serving the Lord with humility. If I had to pick a theme song for Pastor Merci it would be "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine." I liked the flow of this story; it was easy to read. The descriptions of Pastor Merci, Maggie Clay, Justine, Patrick and the other characters were easy to visualize, as was the different scenery of Dallas, Rome and Maraqua. Hopefully, Pastor Merci's next door neighbor, Justine, the Target employee with an inclination of choosing the wrong men and the Pastor's confused minister nephew, Patrick will be reoccurring characters. These characters peculiarity brings humor and a touch of realism to the story. Mable John and David Ritz did a wonderful job with this debut novel. I am hoping to read more on the antics of Pastor Merci and friends in the near future.

Jeanette
APOOO BookClub

Promising start to new series.......2006-08-03

Enjoyable and Inspirational!.......2006-07-18

You don't have to be religious to appreciate the wisdom and decency of the main character in this book, a former R&B singer turned minister (very much like the real life Mable John!) This is an entertaining novel that moves briskly yet takes the time to share insights about life (both secular and religious)through the eyes of the heroine, Albertina Merci. Some interesting plot twists as well kept my attention as I read the novel.

An uplifting and powerful story! .......2006-07-14

No question, Mable John's first book (a collaboration with distinguished author David Ritz) is much like her music (as a solo artist with Motown and Stax and then as a Raelette): soulful, inspiring and truly satisfying. I found myself riveted as the book's main character Pastor Albertina Merci finds herself struggling with how to be of service, how to work with a clearly difficult 'star' (in the form of talk show host Maggie Clay) and how to minister to a congregation dealing with a variety of everyday issues (including the timely theme of gay/lesbian participation in black churches). Mable and David have made this an easy and quick but nonetheless compelling read and I can't wait for the next one!

Customer Reviews:

Satisfying Conclusion To the Lighthouse Scene.......2007-01-24

(Contains spoilers from previous volumes) In the previous volume, we witnessed the lighthouse girls kill each other after Yuko Nakagawa was killed from eating her poisoned soup. The one responsible, Yuko, is actually still alive, and has become very emotionally unstable.

Shuya comes face to face with Yuko, only to be shot at, believing he is a "demon boy". Will Shuya be able to tell Yuko what really happened and save her, or will she have her way and kill him?

The art is fantastic as usual, and there's nothing bad to say about the dailogue. I must say the scenes involving Yuko took much longer than they needed (almost 1/2 of the volume), but the rest of the story was fine.

Definately pick this up, especially if you just read 9, for it's an adequate conclusion to the lighthouse segment. It's getting down to the wire, with only 9 students left at the beginning

SUGIMURA FINDS KOTOHIKI.......2006-06-09

After finding his best friend Takako too late and having her die in his arms a couple of volumes back, Sugimura made a vow to find his love interest Kotohiki and protect her from a similar fate. At the beginning of Volume 11 he finally does find her. But things quickly worsen because the cold as ice demon Kiriyama is on their trail, and there is no chance of reasoning with such a monster. Through the use of flashbacks we get insight into Sugimura's character and how he fell for Kotohiki. We also find out about the self-doubt and perceived weakness beneath his martial arts fighter look and the reason why he fears the inevitable battle with Kiriyama.

11 is a pretty weak installment in this series. The flashback sequences in Battle Royale have always been a drawback in my mind and an unwelcome interruption in the main action. But they weren't as obtrusive in the beginning because exposition is what you do in the outset of a story. But here we are close to the end, and the writer is STILL explaining why these characters behave the way they do! I don't want to read pages and pages of the characters chatting about the good old days when in reality every second they spend blabbing increases their chance of getting killed. I would recommend buying Volume 12 along with 11 because this book ends in a cliffhanger ending just as the action gets started.

A TIME TO THINK, A TIME TO KILL.......2006-05-22

After nearly being killed by the calmly psychotic Kiriyama, Shuuya was left in the care of a group of girls who had decided to abstain from the Program. He promises them that there is a way of beating the game, and that they can all retain their humanity instead of descending into mindless murder. He doesn't notice that one of the girls has had a less than healthy reaction to his arrival in the group. Yuko Sakaki, believing wrongly that Shuuya is lying to the girls and is playing the game, tries to poison him. Instead of killing Shuuya, she accidentally kills one of the other girls and what happens next is pretty predictable, seeing how messed up the situation is, even for friends. In a senseless shoot-out, all the girls kill each other, leaving Yuko the only survivor. As Volume 10 begins, Shuuya arrives in the aftermath of the bloodbath to face Yuko.

This volume of Battle Royale is about Shuuya facing up to the fact that his ideals of "people won't play if you just reason with them" and that "everyone has a spark of goodness in them" are put to the test. Shuuya is not a strong character because of his fighting skills. He is strong because he chooses NOT to fight, NOT to kill. So it's going to be interesting to see if he can survive the Program and still remain true to himself. This installment is a more meditative tome that others, because Shuuya finally has time to think, and that's not necessarily a good thing. What does it all mean? He'll have to think about his next move as he makes his way back to Shogo and Noriko, two people he hopes are still alive. The contestant pool is getting awfully small these days.

MITSUKO LETS IT ALL OUT.......2005-12-19

As you can tell from the cover of Volume 8, Mitsuko takes center stage in this volume, with all the bodily assets that she squeeze into it! Mitsuko is always looking for a few nice boys to kill some time....I mean boys to kill and she'll stop at nothing to gain their trust in order to slice their throats with her mini-scythe. The next two unfortunate lucky guys are the complete pre-adolescent loser Yuichiro and the brawn of the outfit Tadakatsu. Mitsuko weasels her way out of the attempted killing of Tadakatsu and gains the trust of Yuichiro and then the mind games begin. Mitusuko's body is on full display as she tries to turn the friends against each other and mark off some more contestants from the Program. But she reveals a bit too much as we find out what caused her to become so warped and morally repugnant.

Battle Royale 8 was a little over the top, bordering on the ultraviolent pornography stereotype of manga in the West. So many bodily fluids are excreted in this installment that you might want to wash yourself with a garden hose after reading it. In some ways you feel that Mitsuko's victims deserve their fate for letting their lust cloud their judgement. I mean while they are too embarrassed to look at her naked body, they have no qualms about killing their fellow students. Not for the squeamish, but still an engaging, if tragic and heart-rending series.

This is the Vol. 11 review page, right...?.......2005-02-05

First, before I say anything else, let me say that I write this review while bearing the ELEVENTH volume in mind, as this page does have the cover of manga volume #11. I don't know why others are reviewing the novel (and why some are moronic enough to rank the movie above the manga/novel)...but whatever.

Have you seen the movie? Or read the novel? Are you willing to pick up only one Battle Royale manga volume among all of the ones you see on the shelves? Then make sure it's this one. Not only because the Kotohiki/Hiroki meeting is a much happier, slightly romantic alternative to the movie/novel one, but because...

Taguchi's art is gorgeously illustrated in these chapters, having some lovely dark and iconic pages of characters, a la Volume 8, to some extent. Volume 8 will still remain as the most chilling book, both in terms of artwork and story, but the word "grotesque" has much more than a minute part to play in this volume as well - it simply carries a less... promiscuous meaning.

This topical, character-focused, gloomy cover art is what all of the covers should be like in my opinion. But the latter ones to the highest degree, seeing as how they're in wind-up, hope-is-gone mode. I've seen the cover art for Volume 13, which is already released in Japan, and it's very disappointing. I was getting sick of constantly seeing boring happy shots of Shuuya - in fact, it's what deterred me from picking up the manga in the first place. However, this kind of cover art is not work that would bring someone completely foreign to Battle Royale into Battle Royale, but it doesn't need to be. Simplistic though this art may be, every little aspect of the front has meaning that is obviously dispersed throughout the book - the cross, symbolizing his "boy scout"-ness, his teardrop-like blood, symbolizing his fight with Kiriyama, his hopeless yet firm look into the light, symbolizing the [self-explanatory], and finally his expression, symbolizing gloom, maybe even repression. That's how I perceived it anyways and while others may not take scrutinize the cover to such a degree, I'm sure many will appreciate this.

Kiriyama easily takes the cake as the coolest (as well as the coldest) character in the manga/novel, despite him being the least developed and the weirdest in the movie. If there's one thing I could have asked more for in the novel it would be more of Kiriyama's backstory. Which we do get, and when you get to the end, there's a cliffhanger that hints at the possibility of there being more...

Kazuo. Kiriyama. He kills, but not out of hatred, odd idealism, sadism, psychosis, stupidity, or the like...but out of a simple and logical willingness to play The Program. No volume released so far makes this clearer, and based on what I've read in the novel, it's not likely to be made more clear in the future; automatically making this and the subsequent book a must-buy for Kiriyama enthusiasts (such as myself).

Giffen's humor also helps a bit. Of course, I'm not entirely positive the guy intended his DBZ, Batman, and Boy Scout remarks&references to be funny, perhaps just a mere "Americanization", but this guy's irreverence towards some of the original lines make me laugh. 'Specially as a longtime DBZ fan.

Here, in this volume, the manga series truly begins the "countdown" segment of Battle Royale. The punks, hoes, conceited morons, and other extraneous (but interesting and fun) characters are gone. They're all gone.

Order this, now. You're a fool if you don't; a fool who deserves his ey-...oops, almost let a spoiler slip =).

Battle Royale [Young Champion C] Vol. 10 (Batoru Rowaiaru) (in Japanese)

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Battle Royale [Young Champion C] Vol. 10 (Batoru Rowaiaru) (in Japanese)
Taguchi
Manufacturer: Akita Shoten
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Comic
ASIN: 4253148204

Book Description

The savage war between two mighty families has ravaged the kingdom both wish to rule—spawning treachery within the ranks of the Renné and Wills, drawing the brave, the innocent, and the malevolent alike into the bloody conflict. But a far more terrible consequence has arisen from the carnage—for Death himself has been roused from his dread domain . . . and is preparing to walk the world again.

Customer Reviews:

Yeah. Too bad........2007-03-25

I loved The One Kingdom, the first book in this series. The Isle of Battle, however, gave me serious pause. I had hoped that The Shadow Roads would return to the freshness and attraction of the first, but no such luck. Sadly, I have to agree with the reviewer that The Shadow Roads only compounds the mistakes of the second book.

It seems to me that the biggest mistake Russell made was that he could not figure out on which characters he should focus. Part of what made The One Kingdom so nice was that it seemed like the beginning of a nice coming of age story with the focus on Tam and his friends. I was happy with that. The best epic fantasy is all coming of age stories of one sort or another. Unfortunately, in book 2, Russell shifts the focus to the more powerful and eternal figures.

In the third book, he compounds the mistake even further and dilutes the time and attention he gives to the Whist-- easily the most engaging and real of the eternal characters.

Finally, by book three, so many characters are introduced that it is difficult to keep them all straight, let alone care about them. Even though Tam still is given a small role at the end, it is little more than a nod to the fact that he had to be included in order to round out the series.

Like I said, too bad. I'm honestly giving this three stars instead of two because of what it could have been. I would have a difficult time recommending the series.

End of a terrific fantasy trilogy........2006-09-13

A satisfying finale!

This series by Sean Russell is one of the best fantasy reads I've had in ages. It has everything I enjoy in this genre; love, hate, betrayal, friends/enemies in unusual places, unexpected twists and turns and a liberal dose of magic throughout this work. The conclusion to this epic good versus evil struggle ends with a much anticipated and long awaited battle that will, I think, leave most fantasy reader satisfied.(and maybe wishing for more)

What separates this trilogy from so many others is the quality of the prose. Russell writes with an impressive descriptive style and is able to give us a range of characters that go from easily likable to just plain despicable(and lots in between). I found this novel hard to put down and often read late into the night.

The SINGLE negative (and loss of ½ star) for this book (and the entire series) is the fact that there is no map; a map that would have made following the travels of our heroes so much easier and enjoyable.

All in all, a great final installment for this epic fantasy trilogy. Easily recommended for all fantasy lovers. 4 ½ Stars.

Not the Best Effort.......2006-08-09

It was hard for me to believe that the Swan's War books were written by the author of Initiate Brother. The first two books were pleasant and interesting enough that I bought the third, The Shadow Roads." Unfortunately, I found that instead of reading a story about endless war fueled by the weaknesses of human character, as detailed in the first two long novels, I was reading about a supernatural love triangle, which caused endless war as a side effect. The climactic resolution was effected by characters who had less than 10 pages of development out of a thousand, and all of the subplots and story lines were revealed as irrelevant.

If I had not previously read outstanding work by Sean Russell, I would give up on this author.

Out of Control.......2006-07-09

Oh, how good you could have been, dear "Shadow Roads." You could have been awesome. Even after "the Isle of Battle" was a letdown you could have been amazing. Instead, we got everything that made the second novel bad, but twice over. Characters in the group completely disappear in the group yet again, sometimes for pages, and when they do pop up, there is almost no character to them, just a name and dialogue. Even Alaan suffers. The "whist" is so serious and plain in his delivery here that the trickster archetype that so many people love is completely removed. And the other characters didn't have a chance.

Poor Fynnol and Cynddl again. The original group of four worked so well for Russell in the first novel, he never should have expanded it beyond a couple more. Eber, Llya, Rabal, Slighthands, all those characters just never stuck like the first ones.

The other major problem of the second novel also popped up. The "are we close to him or are the others closer?" Which is just boring. It drags the pace down. The same feel can even be found in the Prince Michael part of the story. So often his is just "are we going to get caught? But no we found a hideaway. And another. And another." Argh! Its suppose to be suspenseful but its not because in Russell's world, no one dies really. Or if they do, its very anti-climatic, or they come back to life. Its worse than Jordan with the Forsaken.

The one bright point of this novel is Carrel Wills and Llyn Renne, both of which are very sweet characters. Though at times it gets too sappy with Russell's love of the melodrama. Every scene of these two is good, has been since the beginning, which is why its so bizarre that after the first few chapters they just disappear until the very end of the novel to wrap things up. Yes, they were kind of out of the action, but they could have been more involved. Especially if Torren, Dease, and some of the others would have stayed instead of going off and getting lost in the group of more interesting characters.

Novels are like chess in some ways, you have to put your pieces in the right places and you have to sacrifice some to win. Russell wouldn't sacrifice any and he wouldn't put them where they could have been useful, that was this novel's biggest weakness, and thus, the biggest weakness of what I believe could have been a great High Fantasy series.

Final Thought: Unless you are really into metaphor and melodrama, you probably should stay away from the trilogy.

He lost me.......2006-03-09

To have taken the time to read the first two books, and then to stop reading 1/3 of the way through this one is a huge disappointment to me. The book sat on my nightstand for days and days, untouched, and I finally realized I had given up.

In a lengthier review of The One Kingdom (to which I gave three stars), I said that the reader needs to know what's at stake in order to be drawn in to the story. We didn't learn what was at stake in The One Kingdom until we were well into the story, and I'm absolutely certain that Russell lost readers because of it.

My "at stake" comment applies to this book even more. Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, the stakes change. Death and Time are introduced, and there is an immense fear that Death - a realized character in the second book - will escape and roam the world. Something that nobody wants to happen.

That's when he lost me. It's when he angered me. It's when I stopped reading the book, because I just didn't care anymore. When a writer doesn't let his readers know what's at stake until the last book of a trilogy, he/she has committed an "epic" mistake.

If there was some good stuff in the last two thirds of the book, well, I guess I missed it. But I don't regret it. There are only nine (now ten) reviews for this book. It seems that he lost more than this reader along the way.

Shadow of the Swan: Book Two of the Phoenix Legacy

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My favorite trilogy of all time
One of the Best Trilogies Around
Wonderful to read and re-read

Shadow of the Swan: Book Two of the Phoenix Legacy
M. K. Wren
Manufacturer: Backinprint.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0595143377

Book Description

The Lord Alexand DeKoven Woolf was born destined to lead the Concord, the Two System's ultimate empire, but to prevent it from imploding into a Third Dark Age, he surrendered his birthright of power to become Alex Ransom, leader of the outlawed Society of the Phoenix‹and in the process, he surrendered the one woman he has ever loved, the Lady Adrien Eliseer. But the Lady Adrien proves her love for Alexand with unexpected and breathtaking courage.

Customer Reviews:

My favorite trilogy of all time.......2007-03-08

I have owned several sets of this trilogy over the past 30 years. I keep loaning them out and they never return! I've talked people into buying the first book and they ALWAYS come back and buy the other two.

Shadow of the Swan continues the story with the same intensity and depth as the first. Trilogys often feel like a single book stretched with fluff and filler. This one avoids that and builds your interest and desire to discover what happens next in the lives of these people.

I wish Wren would write more in this genre.

This is a great read!

One of the Best Trilogies Around.......2007-02-13

I read this series on the recommendation of a friend of my mother, and she was right about how terrific the series is. It is extremely well-written and the mix of "history" with the ongoing action of the novels is fascinating. M.K. Wren creates an entire world and makes it completely real for the reader. The characters really come alive in the series, and you really can understand their emotions, and you care about what happens to them. Now that the books have been reprinted, it is easier to find copies, and it's worth the price. I have read a lot of sci fi trilogies over the years, and this is one of the best trilogies I have ever read. Even my husband, who generally does ot read sci fi, read this series and enjoyed it. I highly recommend it.

Wonderful to read and re-read.......2000-05-26

I read the first of these books when I was in 7th grade. It took me two years to locate a copy of the 2nd book and two more to find the 3rd. It was well worth the wait and I stayed up all night to read the final book. The characters are wonderfully crafted, the story line is multilevel. The only books I have read more times are "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Lord of the Rings". If you can locate a copy of these in a used book store, buy them! Don't let the romance novel apperance keep you from enjoying these great books.

Average customer rating:

Shadow Road (Swans' War)
Sean Russell
Manufacturer: Orbit
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Swan and Shadow: Yeats's Dialogue With History (Critical Studies in Irish Literature)

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Swan and Shadow: Yeats's Dialogue With History (Critical Studies in Irish Literature)
Thomas R. Whitaker
Manufacturer: Catholic Univ of Amer Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Irish | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Irish | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0813206804

3-book Set; the Swans' War Series Book 1-3; the One Kingdom; the Isle of Battle; the Shadow Roads By Sean Russell

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3-book Set; the Swans' War Series Book 1-3; the One Kingdom; the Isle of Battle; the Shadow Roads By Sean Russell
Sean Russell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000V4R0US

Product Description

Book 1-3 of Swans' War Series by Sean Russell.

7 Kismet Titles by Dancer - Baby Makes Five - Diamond On Ice - Forever Joy - Flight of the Swan - Lightning Strikes Twice - Sunlight on Shadows - 13 Days of Luck

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7 Kismet Titles by Dancer - Baby Makes Five - Diamond On Ice - Forever Joy - Flight of the Swan - Lightning Strikes Twice - Sunlight on Shadows - 13 Days of Luck
Lacey Dancer
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000T9Y09E

Product Description

Multiple books shipped as one item for your convenience. Save on Shipping/Handling charges.

Shadow of the swan: A story of the revolutionary war in Georgia

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Shadow of the swan: A story of the revolutionary war in Georgia
Gene Todd
Manufacturer: Vantage Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 0533013798

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Statues Without Shadows
Anna Swan
Manufacturer: Hodder Headline
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Reference & Collections | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Haunting, poignant memoir of the author's quest to discover the shocking truth about her past, spanning three generations of a fascinating but flawed family. Anna grew up accepting that her parents were glamorous but mysterious figures, who had both died by the time she was seven. It was only when she was in her thirties that she discovered they had both committed suicide. As she began to search for the truth about her parents, she uncovered details about their fascinating and incredibly divergent backgrounds: her father's family can trace their ancestry to King James II. Her mother came from a Welsh mining family. They met in 1950s literary London and fell in love. But a year after Anna was born, her mother was dead. The book explores the nature of loss, exile, betrayal and Anna's own deep-rooted instinct to refuse the horrors of her past and transcend the legacy of her parents. This is a compelling, moving story of uncovering the past in order to reclaim the future.

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Swan & Shadow Yeats
Thomas R Whitaker
Manufacturer: UNIV OF NC+PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000Q0523Y

Swan and Shadow: Yeat's Dialogue With History

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Swan and Shadow: Yeat's Dialogue With History
Thomas R. Whitaker
Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000M1I220

Customer Reviews:

Great book, easy recipes.......2007-02-11

This cookbook has lots of great recipes with ingredients you already know... Lots of meat substitute recipes (the "Stedda" Fish is amazing!) and delicious soups and salads. Even non-veg people will love your meals!

Pretty good food but also has some problems.......2006-10-29

First, this book is NOT a vegetarian cookbook. It's VEGAN, and that's a problem for me. I don't want icky tofu substitutes for ingredients like eggs, milk, and cheese. For example, the tofu-based "egg salad" recipe isn't worth the trouble. If you want egg salad, make egg salad!

Second, although I've not tried many receipes, of those I have tried, I've found two already where the list of ingredients doesn't jive with the directions: the directions call for ingredients that aren't on the list of ingredients. Also, some ingredients named are just mysterious--I've never heard of them and can't find them.

Third, the recipes I've tried make HUGE amounts of food that overflow even my largest bowls, frying pans, and casseroles. The woman must be cooking for an army. (Of course, I can halve or quarter them down now that I know the problem exists.)

Fourth, portion-size information and nutritional information would be very helpful but aren't given.

Fifth, some recipes I've tried seem needlessly difficult. Why go to the trouble to steam and grate potatoes if you can find good, frozen, organic shredded potatoes (i.e., hash browns) to start with? Fresh isn't necessarily better than frozen, especially as fresh may have been in transit for several days, while fresh-frozen is actually closer to fresh off the vine or out of the ground.

So I'm not entirely happy with this book. I won't give it away, but I won't consult it first. I'm much more pleased with books from the *Vegetarian Times*.

Wonderful Vegan Recipes.......2006-05-14

I am an avid cook and finding delicious vegan recipes can be challenging. This book provides me with a variety of tasty meals that I love to prepare because they are so good! My meat eating friends are never afraid to come for supper as they know the food will be good...all recipes from this book!!!

Best Book on Healthy Eating - Ever!.......2006-01-28

I bought this book 10 years ago! The recipes are delicious and easy enough for this bachelor to cook. I've made these dishes for myself... and I've made them for dinner parties. Everyone loves the meals that come out of this cookbook. It's one of my absolute favorites. Even die-hard meat eaters will love the vegetable goodies in here.

The American Vegetarian Cookbook from the Fit for Life Kitchen.......2005-09-20

I love this book for it's recipes and special information on living foods and how to keep them healthy foods.

Average customer rating:

The American Vegetarian Cookbook from the Fit for Life Kitchen
Marilyn Diamond
Manufacturer: Warner Books Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NVBXVG

Average customer rating:

The American Vegetarian Cookbook from the Fit for Life Kitchen
Marilyn Diamond
Manufacturer: Warner Books Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NYD65Y

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