Sisters Book and Movie Exchange

Your Sun Sign as a Spiritual Guide by Kriyananda

2009-10-30T13:14:00.001-07:00

Hailed by many astrologers as a classic, this book not only maps our strengths and weaknesses, but also reveals the true purpose of astrology: to guide us toward our own self-realization.

Swami Kriyananda's studies embrace Indian as well as Western astrology. He shows how extraordinarily sophisticated this ancient science is in its careful delineation of twelve basic categories of human nature.

The convincing insights Kriyananda offers into human nature are born of forty years of meditative practice, as well as of a lifetime of experience in counseling others.

The sun in Capricorn

The key to Capricorn’s influence is its power to awaken in the ego a desire to bring reality into sharp, impersonal focus. A secondary key word for this sign is concentration.

Parmahansa Yogananda, himself a Capricorn, stressed in his teachings that “Concentration is the key to sucess” and this quality is epitomized by this sign.
Capricorn meditation is to visualize the body as a rock, heavy and strong. Visualize the mind as a rock, so immovably fixed that no thought, no emotion can sway it.

The seat of concentration in the body is located at the third eye. All thoughts, all sensation have their origin at that point.

“When we go to a tragic motion picture and see death and suffering on the screen, we may leave saying, ‘What a fine picture!’ Why then can we not say as much of this motion picture of life? For the truth is, we are only shadow players on the screen of life. We are immortals sent here on earth to act our roles and then depart. We should not take the play seriously. Whatever picture is showing, we should not let it disturb our minds. Let us just say, ‘This is a good picture. I am learning much from this experience.’ If you can face life with the attitude, you shall see the light of eternal bliss dancing through all life’s experiences.”
-Parmahansa Yogananda

My poems published

2009-10-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

I am newly published. Check it out.
http://www.lulu.com/content/7843996
I write under the name Ganesha

Absolute Poetry, Vol. 1

This collection, from the poets of the Absolute Write Poetry Forum, contains a diverse and beautiful collection of original poems. I'm proud and humbled to be associated with these poets, and it's a joy to have such a marvelous collection of works to present to you.

The paperback edition is available here for US$11.99
The download version is available here for US$3.99

Proceeds from sales will be contributed to Absolute Write, in order to help keep our forum and our site alive, healthy, and vibrant.

"Goat Song"

2009-10-22T14:51:00.000-07:00

Acclaimed novelist Brad Kessler lived in New York City but longed for a life on the land where he could grow his own food. After years of searching for a home, he and his wife, photographer Dona Ann McAdams, found a mountain farmhouse on a dead-end road, with seventy-five acres of land. One day, when Dona returned home with fresh goat milk from a neighbor's farm, Kessler made a fresh chèvre, and their life changed forever. They decided to raise dairy goats and make cheese.

Goat Song tells about what it's like to live intimately with animals who directly feed you. As Kessler begins to live the life of a herder -- learning how to care for and breed and birth goats -- he encounters the pastoral roots of so many aspects of Western culture. Kessler reflects on the history and literature of herding, and how our diet, our alphabet, our religions, poetry, and economy all grew out of a pastoralist milieu among hoofed animals.

Kessler and his wife adapt to a life governed by their goats and the rhythm of the seasons. And their goats give back in immeasurable ways, as Kessler proves to be a remarkable cheesemaker, with his first tomme of goat cheese winning lavish praise from America's premier cheese restaurants.

William and Mary

2009-09-02T05:06:00.000-07:00

I absolutely adored this quirky show. William is an undertaker and Mary is a midwife. She ushers in babies and he assists people after they've left their life and in-between the two of them live life with such lust & gusto.

well done documentary true story

2009-05-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)

In Teatment HBO

2009-04-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

In Treatment

In Treatment is a Golden Globe Award winning HBO drama, produced and developed by Rodrigo Garcia, about a psychotherapist, Dr. Paul Weston, and his weekly sessions with his patients. It stars Gabriel Byrne in his first Golden Globe-winning and Emmy-nominated role as Paul, and premiered on January 28, 2008 as a five-night-a-week serial drama. Each night focuses on one specific patient. The format, script and opening theme are based on the critically acclaimed Israeli show.

Sepulchre

2009-03-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

Palais Garnier, Paris ... the opera house, the site of anti-Wagner riots of 1891, and setting for The Phantom of the Opera.

This is an historical novel intertwining modern times with France in the 19th Century. It could not be described as great literature, but it is enjoyable. The author, Kate Mosse, wrote a book I really enjoyed, titled Labyrinth, which is why I picked this one up. Plus it features the Tarot!

To Live (Huozhe)

2009-03-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

This movie, directed by Yimou Zhang, is the story of a Chinese family through the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and the 70s, with all the various experiences of life in China during those periods.
It is a tale in which well-meaning characters do things that produce "evil" results, and some that seem evil produce "good" effects.
It is reminiscent of the old tale of the man's family and the horse, recounted here by Irma Schutte of the British Institute of Homeopathy. The moral is, of course, we do not have enough information to judge what is good and what is evil.

The Fire by Katherine Neville

2009-02-23T15:20:00.000-08:00

This sequel to The Eight is intriguing and fast-paced. Once again we are thrown in the middle of a mystery involving the chess set; it is very difficult for our heroine to figure out who is friend and who foe, but eventually it is clear and everything leads to the exciting climax.

Again we hop to different times and places to discover the people and events of the past that give us clues to the present dilemma and dangers.

The Fallen Idol

2009-02-15T20:25:00.000-08:00

Ralph Richardson and Michele Morgan are good in this Graham Greene story, directed by Carol Reed who did The Third Man. The child is the absolute center of the story, however. Haunting, tension-building and tangled, the story starts quietly and ends up with you on the edge of your seat. Marvelous stuff. Well shot and directed.

The boy unintentionally implicates his friend the butler in a murder.

Saw it on TCM during 31 Days of Oscar. It deserved one. Bobby Henrey played the boy.

In The Mood for Love

2009-01-16T15:21:00.000-08:00

The original movie ... the sequel was 2046. In this one, our hero is married, but his wife is having an affair with a neighbor's husband. The two left behind begin to spend time together, but remain chaste. Melancholy pervades this one too.

2046

2009-01-13T17:26:00.000-08:00

This is a melancholic movie with intertwined love stories, most involving a man who is a writer. To say much more is not really possible, but it is worth seeing.

Her Second Death

2008-12-31T14:34:00.000-08:00

This memoir is compelling and vivid. The author was born in 1965 and her mother is the main focus of the book; there is a clear ambivalence and confusion in the stories. Her mother did lots of coke, and was sexually involved with many men, was abusive, yet affectionate, took care of her children, yet did not provide them with good structure.

It is a memoir of recovery, in a sense; recovery from Susanna's intimate relationship with this dysfunctional and obsessive parent.

God Is Dead

2008-12-31T14:30:00.000-08:00

The premise of this set of vignettes is simple: God incarnates as a young Dinka woman, who then dies. The rest of the stories flow from that premise and there are many different reactions/responses. The wild dogs who eat her flesh are no longer able to function simply as dogs, but have a vast view of reality, and communicate telepathically with humans. They also walk on water.

Some people kill themselves, others simply exist. There are no religions possible, so people finally make up opposing philosophies and go to war to defend them and kill those who embrace the other.

It was well worth reading.

Brattleboro Literary Festival 2008

2008-09-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

www.brattleboroliteraryfestival.org
yup, it's my favorite time the the year. The time to listen and take in all the verbal delights of poetry & stories. This is only one of the reasons I love this town.

Crumb

2008-09-01T18:36:00.000-07:00

This documentary about R. Crumb is a portrait of a deeply disturbed family. He and his two brothers (the two sisters declined to be filmed) manifest different symptoms yet all reflect the intense and difficult childhood milieu they shared. Their father was abusive and had a hair-trigger temper, and their mother took amphetamines habitually.

R. Crumb is the healthiest of the three. His brother Max was a sex offender and is now a yogi of sorts. His brother Charles was an unemployed recluse with homicidal fantasies, living with his mother. He committed suicide a year after the movie was made.

Robert maintains a relationship and has a daughter and son, and his hostilities are embodied in his work.

I remember vividly seeing my first Zap Comix issue, given to me by my sister Robyn. It was intensely sexual and clearly came from the lowest and crudest aspect of human sexual imagination, not clean animal nature, but the distorted bestiality of which only humans are capable.

I loved it at the time and I still enjoy his audacity and wonderful imagery. Today, though I find it more disturbing than I did then. Still, Whiteman Comix was a great one, where the uptight white dude ends up with a yeti girlfriend whom he dresses in mini skirts. The absurdity of an overly sanitized culture is very clearly parodied.

His work was fresh and liberating, looking straight at the darker side of humanity.

The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse

2008-08-15T06:22:00.000-07:00

Louise Erdrich

This book, one of Erdrich's ongoing sequence of novels about Native American life on an Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota, tells the tale of her exploration of the interlocking lives of several generations of characters from her fictional reservation works beautifully as a reprise of all that has come before: the action, centered on the life of a priest who served the reservation for nearly a century, jumps back and forth in time. Her story is glimpsed through Father Damien, who is, in fact, Agnes De Witt, the common-law wife of a murdered German farmer, who through a typically absurd sequence of events, finds her mission in life by impersonating a dead priest. As Father Damien, in his (her) 90s and nearing death, attempts to explain to a younger priest why Sister Leopolda should not be made a saint, we experience the history of the reservation from the unique point of view of an outsider who gradually, under the tutelage of the wise and hysterically funny Nanapush, throws in her spiritual lot with the Ojibwe.
This is Erdrich writing at the peak of her powers, embracing both the earthy sensuality and abiding spirituality of her characters and energizing the whole with a raucous humor that is at once self-deprecating and life-enhancing.

Chapter One

Naked Woman Playing Chopin
1910-1912

Eighty-some years previous, through a town that was to flourish and past a farm that would disappear, the river slid -- all that happened began with that flow of water. The town on its banks was very new and its main street was a long curved road that followed the will of a muddy river full of brush, silt, and oxbows that threw the whole town off the strict clean grid laid out by railroad plat. The river flooded each spring and dragged local backyards into its roil, even though the banks were strengthened with riprap and piled high with rocks torn from reconstructed walls and foundations. It was a hopelessly complicated river, one that froze deceptively, broke rough, drowned one or two every year in its icy run. it was a dead river in some places, one that harbored only carp and bullheads. Wild in others, it lured moose down from Canada into the town limits. When the land along its banks was newly broken, paddleboats and barges of grain moved grandly from its source to Winnipeg, for the river flowed inscrutably north. Across from what would become church land and the town park, over on the Minnesota side, a farm spread generously up and down the river and back into wide hot fields.

The bonanza farm belonged to easterners who had sold a foundry in Vermont and with their money bought the flat vastness that lay along the river. They raised astounding crops when the land was young -- rutabagas that weighed sixty pounds, wheat unbearably lush, corn on cobs like truncheons. Then six grasshopper years occurred during which even the handles on the hoes and rakes were eaten and a U.S. cavalry soldier, too, partially devoured while he lay drunk in the insects' path. The enterprise suffered losses on a grand scale. The farm was split among four brothers, eventually, who then sold off half each so that by the time Berndt Vogel escaped the latest war of Europe, during which he'd been chopped mightily but inconclusively in six places by a lieutenant's saber and then kicked by a horse so ever after his jaw didn't shut right, there was just one beautiful and peaceful swatch of land about to go for grabs. In the time it would take for him to gather the money -- by forswearing women, drinking cheap beers only, and working twenty-hour days -- to retrieve it from the local bank, the price of that farm would drop further, further, and the earth rise up in a great ship of destruction. Sails of dust carried half of Berndt's lush dirt over the horizon, but enough remained for him to plant and reap six fields.

So Berndt survived. On his land there stood a hangarlike barn that once had housed teams of great blue Percherons and Belgian draft horses. Only one horse was left, old and made of brutal velvet, but the others still moved in the powerful synchronicity of his dreams. Berndt liked to work in the heat of this horse's breath. The vast building echoed and only one small part was still in use-housing a cow, chickens, one depressed pig. Berndt kept the rest in decent repair not only because as a good German he must waste nothing that had come his way but because he saw in those grand dust-filled shafts of light something he could worship.

The spirit of the farm was there in the lost breath of horses. He fussed over the one remaining mammoth and imagined one day his farm entire, vast and teeming, crews of men under his command, a cookhouse, bunkhouse, equipment, a woman and children sturdily determined to their toil. A garden in which seeds bearing the scented pinks and sharp red geraniums of his childhood were planted and thrived.

How surprised he was to find, one morning, as though sown by the wind and summoned by his dreams, a woman standing barefoot, starved, and frowzy in the doorway of his barn. She was pale but sturdy, angular, a strong flower, very young, nearly bald and dressed in a rough shift. He blinked stupidly at the vision. Light poured around her like smoke and swirled at her gesture of need. She spoke with a low, gravelly abruptness: "Ich habe Hunger."

By the way she said it, he knew she was a Swabian and thereforehe tried to thrust the thought from his mind-possessing certain unruly habits in bed. She continued to speak, her voice husky and bossy. He passed his hand across his eyes. Through the gown of nearly transparent muslin he could see that her breasts were, excitingly, bound tight to her chest with strips of cloth. He blinked hard. Looking directly into her eyes, he experienced the vertigo of confronting a female who did not blush or look away but held him with an honest human calm. He thought at first she must be a loose woman, fleeing a brothel -- had Fargo got so big? Or escaping an evil marriage, perhaps. He didn't know she was from God.
Sister Cecilia

In the center of the town on the other side of the river there stood a convent made of yellow bricks. Hauled halfway across Minnesota from Little Falls brickworks by pious drivers, they still held the peculiar sulfurous moth gold of the clay outside that town. The word Fleisch was etched in shallow letters on each one. Fleisch Company Brickworks. Donated to the nuns at cost. The word, of course, was covered by mortar each time a brick was laid. Because she had organized a few discarded bricks behind the convent into the base for a small birdbath, the youngest nun knew, as she gazed at the mute order of the convent's wall, that she lived within the secret repetition of that one word...

Tales of Burning Love

2008-07-27T05:32:00.001-07:00

French-German-Chippewa writer Louise Erdrich's novel, Tales of Burning Love, is billed as non-Indian: the book's jacket advertises that "Erdrich moves beyond the world of the reservation to tell the story of five women whose lives are connected by one man."
The novel loosely focuses on four women: Eleanor Mauser, a self-absorbed, sensual intellectual fired from her university job for seducing an undergraduate; Candice Pantamounty, a clean-pressed, precise professional dentist; Marlis Cook, a bitter, desperate alcoholic blackjack dealer; and Dot Nanapush, a lonely accountant married to a convicted felon. All of them share ties to the same man, smooth-talking, four-timing, debt-shuffling trickster Jack Mauser.

The Wire

2008-07-27T04:53:00.001-07:00

The Wire is an American television drama series set and produced in Baltimore, Maryland. Created, produced, and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon, the series was broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States. The Wire premiered on June 2, 2002 and ended on March 9, 2008, with 60 episodes airing over the course of its five seasons.
Each season of The Wire focuses on a different facet of the city of Baltimore. They are, in order: the drug trade, the port, the city bureaucracy, the school system, and the print news media. The large cast consists mainly of character actors who are little known for their other roles. Simon has said that despite its presentation as a crime drama, the show is "really about the American city, and about how we live together. It's about how institutions have an effect on individuals, and how…whether you're a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge [or] lawyer, you are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution you've committed to."
Despite never seeing great commercial success or winning any major television awards, The Wire has frequently been cited by critics as one of the greatest television series of all time. The show is recognized for its realistic portrayal of urban life, artistic ambitions, and uncommonly deep exploration of sociological themes.

The Closer

2008-07-27T04:48:00.001-07:00

Each episode of "The Closer" deals with an aspect of the Los Angeles culture as it interfaces with law enforcement in the mega-city. The show deals with complex and subtle issues of public policy ethics, personal integrity, and profound questions of good and evil. The rather large character ensemble is sophisticated in its own exploration of the human condition, touching on individual faiths, traditional religious influences in the lives and communities of contemporary society, and the breakdown and dysfunction of family systems, work teaming, and government responsibility.

The Bucket List

2008-07-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Probably everyone knows the premise of this film. Two dying men decide to make a list of things they would like to do before they die. They are both able-bodied, and have months to live.

The points gotten across by the movie are obvious, but the acting is good. If you have too much death and dying in your life as it is, the film is depressing, but it does say two things very clearly and, I think, importantly:

seek what gives you joy
share your life with those you love, up to the final moment

I think that makes the film worth seeing.

Roughly Speaking

2008-07-10T20:16:00.000-07:00

When I saw the movie listing on TCM for this movie I never expected to be so engaged by it. It is a sort of feminist tale of a woman who never gives up, and meets every challenge with courage and a smile. I know that sounds a bit mushy, but it is a fun movie to watch most of the time.

Rosalind Russell charges through the movie, and we half expect her to win at everything, but she doesn't. She just keeps her chin up, no matter what. Her second husband is played (VERY WELL .... omg who knew?) by Jack Carson. I love the scene where they meet at a holiday party. He has on a very unusual hat* (spoiler below if you will never watch this movie or if you don't find movies spoiled by knowing something about them).

*A top hat with a christmas tree on it that features lighted candles

Roman de Gare

2008-07-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

Some of the reviews of this film are less than enthusiastic, but I enjoyed it. It has enough surprises to keep one wondering for some time about who the protagonist is ... a missing husband, a serial murderer, or someone else entirely! It was a satisfying experience, and the comedy of the female lead's family is really fun.

Talk to Her

2008-07-09T19:12:00.000-07:00

Almodovar made another strange movie about women , but this one is gentle. ... it only took six years for me to get around to seeing it. Read the New York Times review here.

Stranger Than Fiction

2008-06-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

This movie reminds me of another story or movie that I can't recall, where the author writes and reality follows. Will Ferrell is actually very good in his part, and the other actors are outstanding. The movie could have used a LOT more editing ... it resembles a short play that was stretched out to fill 90 minutes. It wasn't terrible, but I would not see it again, and I will probably forget it in a day or two.

Water

2008-06-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

"Water" is set in 1938 India, and portrays the lives of widows, who are forced to live in poverty in an ashram. The main character is a 7-year-old who never even knew she had been married, and who is sent to the widow's house after her "husband" dies.

Ten Canoes

2008-06-14T08:37:00.000-07:00

Moving between the story, and the story within the story, this tale of ancient times is gripping and teaches the traditional ways of aboriginal people. The culture is polygamistic, and the gentle narration of this film helps us to understand the reasoning behind the tradition. The film is beautifully made, alternating between color and black and white to show the different times portrayed.

My Mother's Smile

2008-06-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

This Italian film is about a well-known painter whose mother is nominated for canonization after she was murdered by his brother. He is an atheist and is horrified by the attitudes of his relatives, who seek personal advantages from the proposed canonization.

NOVA's Strange Days on Planet Earth

2008-05-10T05:40:00.000-07:00

This documentary follows the trail of some mysteries that have to do with changes in the environment. In large part the mysteries involve water and the ocean. It reveals the causes of very strange phenomena, some of which are hidden away from our daily view.

It is available in recorded format, and I think it is well worth viewing and sharing.

Admit One

2008-05-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

The Museum of Lost Wonder is an adult's picture book of alchemy. The ticket says ADMIT ONE ... 7 Exhibit Halls - 7 Paper Models - Turn Your 2-D Ideas into 3-D Reality - Leave Your Baggage at the Door - Everything You Need Is Inside!

And it is ... the seven exhibit halls are based on seven alchemical processes:
Calcinatio ...The Hall of Technology
Solution ... The Hall of Aquaria
Coagulatio ... The Zoological Garden
Sublimatio ... The Observatory
Mortificatio ... The Mausoleum of History
Separatio ... The Laboratory of Science and Faith
Conjunctio ...The Gallery to the Arts

and THEN ... and THEN ... AND THEN ...

Circulatio! The Entrance, Exit and Circulation Desk

Each of the halls has a heavy, fold-out, cut and construct 3-D model you can actually put together (if you can bear to cut it out of the book), in full color.

I found this book at the Jung Center and fell in love. I had to put back several other items, and wear blinders on the way out. That bookstore is a honeytrap!

Ruth Stout

2008-04-25T12:08:00.000-07:00

When my friend Lucy mentioned Nero Wolfe to me, Osprey added, "Rex Stout's sister was Ruth Stout, whose work we know from her gardening books". Well, I did not know her from her gardening books, but I have purchased this one because I did a little research and found her main idea was what she termed 'permanent mulch'. As you can see from the subtitle, this form of gardening is 'For the Aging, the Busy and the Indolent', three of my own personal categories!

Also this fits in nicely with my nefarious plan to buy a Nature Mill Composter; it is easy to use, no odor, and makes lovely compost in two weeks from kitchen scraps. Instead of buying fertilizer and sending my scraps to the dump, I think I will make the two cancel one another out.

The Last King of Scotland

2008-04-23T07:19:00.000-07:00

We had this DVD in the house for weeks before we could face watching it. Thank goodness, it did not portray as much violent brutality as it could have. It turned out to be more a character study of Idi Amin as shown in contrast to a fictional young Scottish doctor who becomes enmeshed in the regime. I found it a powerful film, and I am glad I saw it. As Lord Acton said, "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely", and this movie shows why that is so.

All About Eve

2008-04-17T06:04:00.000-07:00

Margo Channing (Bette Davis), a Broadway diva beginning to show her age, meets the young fan who stands outside the theater after every performance (Anne Baxter as Eve Harrington). Taken by her devotion, humility, and hard luck story, Margo gives Eve a job as a gofer/secretary. At first, she is delighted, but later comes to realize that Eve is ruthless and will stop at nothing to steal Margo�s career -- not to mention her fianc� (Gary Merrill as director Bill Simpson). Eve manipulates Margo�s friends and colleagues, becomes her understudy, and finally, after scheming to keep her away from the theater, goes on in her place, after arranging for critics to be at her performance. She takes the starring role in a new production that would have been Margo�s, and wins an award for it. But by then, Margo and her friends are back together, Eve is tied to a critic who is as ambitiously manipulative as she is, and as the movie ends, she too meets a devoted young fan who could be another Eve.

This movie, with one of the most literate scripts ever written (by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who also directed) is not just the finest backstage drama ever filmed, but also a compelling parable of ambition and loyalty. Bette Davis is brilliant as Margo, bringing both the ferocity and the vulnerability of Margo to life. No one can forget her at the beginning of her party: "Fasten your seatbelts, it�s going to be a bumpy night." She is the first to notice that Eve is not what she seems, but her friends assume it is just petty jealousy, and it only makes them want to protect Eve. That is just what Eve needs to get them to do what she wants, and it almost results in the break-up not only of Margo and Bill, but also of their best friends, playwright Lloyd Richards and his wife Karen. Ultimately, the loyalty of all four friends keeps them together. And ultimately, Eve is reigned in by someone who is her equal, acidic columnist Addison De Witt (a silky George Saunders).

Bought It Again!

2008-04-08T18:18:00.000-07:00

I bought and read this book years ago, then it slipped away, and I semi-forgot about it, but today I was drawn once again to the title. It is about drunken fairies from Cornwall who have somehow gotten across the Atlantic. They appear in the apartment of a bad fiddle player, where they sleep it off, then continue on their adventures. Another character is a woman with Crohn's disease, who is creating a flower alphabet. Light and full of comedy, but a satisfying read.

Tracks by Louise Erdrich

2008-04-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

"This is the story of Fleur Pillager told alternately by Nanapush, an Ojibway tribe elder, and Pauline, a young mix-blood woman drawn to Fleur's strong personality.

Fleur is the only one of her family to survive when an epidemic hits the reservation. She is rescued by Nanapush who has lost his own family, and so considers Fleur a daughter. She is considered bad luck by reservation residents when after two close drowning the men who help her die. She goes to live in her family's cabin on Mitchimanitou Lake. The people believe she keeps a sea monster in the lake under control. She visits the butcher shop in town, and joins the men there in playing cards. The men become very angry when Fleur plays so well she takes all their winnings. A tornado strikes shortly after this. The men are found mysteriously locked into a meat locker from the outside. Only one survives, and he is crippled. This contributes to even more fear of Fleur among the reservation residents.

Eli Kapshaw falls in love with her, and will not be dissuaded by the suspicions and stories. He enlists Nanapush's help in winning her heart. He moves into her cabin, and they have a baby. Fleur almost dies giving birth. A drunk bear comes into the cabin, and frightens her into pushing the baby out. Because Eli is away seeking help, and Fleur is unconscious, Nanapush is pressed to name the baby. He calls her Lulu Nanapush after his own dead child.

Fleur, her family, and community struggle through the epidemics that sweep the tribe, starvation from inadequate government provisions, and the loss of their land due to their inability to pay government taxes. Fleur is betrayed by her in-laws when they take the money that was supposed to pay for her land as well as theirs, and use it entirely on their own debt. Fleur loses her confidence, and sends her daughter Lulu away to a government school. She waits until the last trees are crashing down around her house before she takes off from the reservation.

Nanapush is successful in getting Lulu out of the government school. He tells her her mother's story so that she can understand her past, and hopefully not get into a bad marriage.

Michael Wilcox on Color Mixing

2008-03-25T11:02:00.000-07:00

I have had these two books for several years now, and finally took the time to read them more or less thoroughly, and found myself using a new combination of pigments. Michael Wilcox emphasizes several aspects of color usage by artists.

The standard color wheel cannot work for color mixing, as there are no pigments that are "pure" red, blue or yellow. We have blue violet, red violet, red orange, orange yellow, green yellow, and green blue ... so he suggests six pigments that are light-fast and permanent. There are varying names for the paints, so he gives the pigment names.

These are technical reference books; I am finding the suggestions so helpful. I am re-working old paintings that I had considered failures, and finding that I really enjoy the new color schemes. A lot of his color suggestions involve using complementaries, which create lovely colors, from neutrals to variations of the original colors, when mixed in varying proportions.

Making Room for Making Art

2008-03-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

by Sally Warner

I found this book very helpful. It covers issues about making art, both physical and psychological. Making the space and time to work on art is difficult when people have many other time commitments.

I have read a lot of books that see art as a career, but this one encourages us to realize that it is simply not the same as making a product and selling it. When we are process-oriented, the work is alive. Not to say we don't want a product, but just that the "juice" of art comes through us, time melts away, and we live in the moment, letting the work make itself.

Four Souls By Louise Erdrich

2008-03-20T19:56:00.001-07:00

Four Souls
By Louise Erdrich

Fleur Pillager takes her mother's name, Four Souls, for strength and walks from her Ojibwe reservation to the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. She is seeking restitution from and revenge on the lumber baron who has stripped her reservation. But revenge is never simple, and she quickly finds her intentions complicated by her own dangerous compassion for the man who wronged her.

Pan's Labyrinth

2008-03-05T11:07:00.000-08:00

The faun is a bit scary in this Spanish film (in Spanish the title is "The Labyrinth of a Faun"), but he is nowhere near as frightening as the stepfather in this tale of a girl who lives in fantasies during the Spanish Civil War.

Ma Vie en Rose (1997)

2008-03-05T11:02:00.000-08:00

The child who portrays a boy that says he is a girl and dresses like one, is utterly charming. The parents make a total hash of the situation, and it is difficult to see that, yet understandable, as they cannot accept her/him as he/she is. Well made and compelling.

The Sea Inside

2008-02-27T08:48:00.000-08:00

Again I chose a movie about which I knew nothing. Again it was the true story of a paralyzed man, in this case one who chose to die, against the wishes of his government. The movie is a moving statement about those who are held hostage in helpless bodies.

It is in Galician, a dialect of Spanish. The scenes of flying to the sea are glorious.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

2008-02-25T06:03:00.000-08:00

Knowing nothing about this film, I saw it yesterday with two friends and was moved to laughter, horror and sorrow. It is an autobiography by the editor of Elle magazine, who suffered a stroke. His words were dictated in the form of blinks, and transcribed by interpreters. It is filmed largely from his point of view, and we are privy to his comments. Extremely interesting, and enjoyable, but difficult to watch at times.

Julian Schnabel did an excellent job of directing, in my opinion. The Salon.com review of the film is here.

My Father's Island

2008-02-05T09:36:00.000-08:00

"Marie and Heinrich Angermeyer sold their home to purchase the boat on which their five sons escaped from Germany in 1935 and set sail for a life on the Galapagos Islands." (A caption from one of the many photographs in this books, which was published in 1989.)

The author is Joanna Angermeyer, daughter of one of the brothers, so we see the islands from her perspective, when she was a child.

This story is a combination of autobiography and adventure tale, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

My Life Without Me

2008-02-02T20:27:00.001-08:00

"My Life Without Me" has really stayed with me...very well done.

A Scanner Darkly

2008-01-25T10:43:00.000-08:00

This film came out in 2006, but I only recently viewed it. It is based upon a story by Philip K. Dick, and it is a Richard Linklater film, rotoscoped, as was Waking Life. The plot is not terribly involved, but the treatment is appropriate. Undercover agents wear a suit while they are at the police station which makes them appear to change appearance constantly, something that would be difficult and expensive to reproduce with special effects. At times people turn into unpleasant insects, which is believable in a rotoscoped film.

It has a relatively hopeful ending, but it is a dark film in general. An undercover cop becomes addicted to "D" or "Death" capsules and loses sight of his own identity.

Tell Us Something We Don't Realize We Already Know!

2007-11-27T07:44:00.000-08:00

The World Is Flat, by Thomas L. Friedman, is fascinating to me. I find it exhilarating and inspiring. The basic premise is that there are these factors leveling the playing field, globally, and that these factors make it possible for us to do what I am doing right now ... participating in a global community.

This book has been out for several years now, but it has been updated. He terms this edition "Release 3.0". I have not finished the book, and this is my interpretation of what I have read so far, so please read it and if you have other ideas about what he is saying, please comment!

In Chapter Two, he lists the Ten Forces that Flattened the World, and expands upon their effects on all of us, worldwide:

1. The Fall of the Berlin Wall + the release of Windows 3.0 (1989 - 1990)

2. The World Wide Web and Netscape (the first web browser) (1995)

3. Work Flow Software: which allows work to be broken up into segments and done by people who may never meet face-to-face.

4. Uploading: software, news, commentary, content, created by individuals and uploaded for common use, frequently free.

5. Outsourcing: India benefits from the "bubble" of laying huge amounts of fiber-optic cable throughout the world, which turned out to be way overdone, contributing to the "dot-com bust" which meant that the cable was sold for almost nothing and India got a chance to purchase large amounts of this cable, empowering them to participate in global work flow.

6. Offshoring: Global competition means we all have to try harder to create quality goods at reasonable prices, no matter who we are or where we live. Cheating is punished with returns ... witness the lead-painted toy fiasco!

7. Supply-Chaining: Wal-Mart and other very large retail chains who buy in enormous amounts and deliver goods to their outlets faster and cheaper than their competitors. To quote Friedman: "Supply-chaining is a method of collaborating horizontally--among suppliers, retailers, and customers--to create value. Supply-chaining is both enabled by the flattening of the world and a hugely important flattener itself, because the more these supply chains grow and proliferate, the more they force the adoption of common standards between companies (so that every link of every supply chain can interface with the next), the more they eliminate points of friction at borders, the more the efficiencies of one company get adopted by the others, and the more they encourage global colaboration."

8. Insourcing: UPS and FedEx are, to quote Nandan Nilekani, CEO of Infosys: "...not just delivering packages, they are doing logistics." These excellent delivery systems are (quoting Friedman again) "...synchronizing global supply chains for companies large and small."

9. In-Forming: Search Engines ... the five most frequent search terms:

SEX (DUH!)
GOD
JOB
PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING (!!!??!!)
RECIPES (to match what one has in one's refrigerator)

10. The Steroids: Digital, Mobile, Personal and Virtual: Wireless connectivity for PDAs, laptops, mobiles, etc. You can do anything anywhere, especially with satellite connections.

Friedman goes on from there to illuminate the effects of globalization. As with all major changes or tools, there are both what we would call positive effects and those we would term negative. Whatever we think, it is a done deal.

A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe

2007-07-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

This book delights me because it is chock full of pictures ( I know, I know, I am a child who cannot read solid text ... unless it is a book that creates images in my mind). It goes through the idea of the basic shapes that occur throughout the universe, from one to ten, and gives examples from nature, as well as from humanity's constructions, many of them sacred.

The Ice Queen

2007-07-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I devoured this novel in a weekend (I am lying; it was about three days). I enjoyed the dance of death and despair with the here and now and love of life and color.

The Tarot

2007-07-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

This was the first book I ever read on the Tarot and it is still the touchstone of truth as far as I am concerned. When I read it, something deep inside me responded, and ever since I have been studying the Tarot.

This quest has changed me for the better in many ways, and I am grateful to have stumbled upon the book so long ago.

The Alpha Solution

2007-07-16T16:07:00.001-07:00

For the last twenty-five years, Dr. Ronald Glassman has helped thousands of his patients lose weight—from five pounds to 150 pounds—and keep it off. And he knows that the answer to overeating is not another diet or exercise regimen. The answer is to harness the power of your mind. The Alpha Solution presents his phenomenally successful scientific approach to easy, permanent weight loss—and proves that you literally can think yourself thin.

For many of us, the result of years of poor eating, or eating for psychological and social reasons rather than nutritional ones, means that, subconsciously, we have been conditioned to eat the wrong foods in the wrong quantities. Despite our desire to be lean, strong, and healthy, we’re still subconsciously programmed to overeat, crave certain foods, and snack unnecessarily. This is why diets don’t work: Even if we know we should choose salad over pizza, our subconscious mind—ingrained with years of negative eating habits—undermines our effortsat every turn. The solution? Give your brain a new food blueprint by tapping into its “Alpha” state—the state right before you fall asleep in which your subconscious mind is open to suggestion and change.

Through a series of simple questionnaires, Dr. Glassman guides you through the process of identifying the food issues you need to overcome and creating two personalized scripts tailored to your specific weight loss needs. You will then record the scripts on a tape or CD and listen to the recordings each night as you fall asleep. The changes are immediate and dramatic—you will begin reaching for healthy foods, keeping proper portion sizes, and turning down the fattening, sugary foods you used to crave. Within days, your eating habits will be transformed and you will begin melting away the pounds—seemingly without effort! Filled with success stories, The Alpha Solution is already changing the lives of people everywhere. Losing weight has never been this easy—and you will never have to “diet” again. What could be better than that?

Loving What Is

2007-07-12T13:37:00.001-07:00

Out of nowhere, like a fresh breeze in a marketplace crowded with advice on what to believe, comes Byron Katie and what she calls “The Work.” In the midst of a normal life, Katie became increasingly depressed, and over a ten-year period sank further into rage, despair, and thoughts of suicide. Then one morning, she woke up in a state of absolute joy, filled with the realization of how her own suffering had ended. The freedom of that realization has never left her, and now in Loving What Is you can discover the same freedom through The Work.

The Work is simply four questions that, when applied to a specific problem, enable you to see what is troubling you in an entirely different light. As Katie says, “It’s not the problem that causes our suffering; it’s our thinking about the problem.” Contrary to popular belief, trying to let go of a painful thought never works; instead, once we have done The Work, the thought lets go of us. At that point, we can truly love what is, just as it is.

The Dance of Seventeen Lives, by Mick Brown

2007-07-11T19:42:00.001-07:00

This intelligent and well-written biography-cum-travelogue explores the life of the 17th Karmapa, the teenage lama who fled Chinese-occupied Tibet in 2000 for India. Brown, a freelance journalist who began the book as a magazine article after the lama's daring escape, traces the Karmapa's story but also uses the account to give Western readers a quick sketch of the nature, history and perennial conflicts of Tibetan Buddhism. Unlike other Western writers who tend to romanticize Buddhism in Asia, Brown evenhandedly paints it as a religion that is as rife with political considerations and human foibles as it is with miraculous incarnations and incomparable teachers. At times the early historical chapters can be too detailed, but Brown's balanced tone serves him well, and the writing is superbly accessible. He is particularly interested in the 11 years that elapsed between the 16th Karmapa's death in 1981 and the recognition of his seven-year-old successor in 1992; Brown shows these years to be characterized by feuding and accusations among the 16th's closest disciples. In the later chapters, he also chronicles China's mid-1990s crackdown on Buddhist practitioners in Tibet who remained loyal to the Dalai Lama, whom the Chinese government labeled a dangerous villain. Far from being a mere report on the 17th Karmapa and his exodus, this is an excellent history of modern Tibetan Buddhism on a broad scale.

Stitch 'n' Bitch

2007-07-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

This handbook reflects the views of a new generation of knitters; it is fun and has a collection of projects that are doable by someone who is not terribly experienced at the craft, including "Powerful Wristbands", one with "geek" knit in contrasting color; a devil cap with horns; and tote bags and backpacks.

New and Selected Poems

2007-06-30T12:52:00.001-07:00

Hello dear sisters,

We are such lovers of poetry. Mary Oliver has heart wisdom and a Divine connection to Nature. Her words walk a path of wondering prayer.

The poem entitled, "Bone" is my favorite in this book. Have you read her work?

oooxxx botz

The Active Side of Infinity

2007-06-26T14:15:00.001-07:00

"Ordinarily, events that change our path are impersonal affairs, and yet extremely personal. My teacher, don Juan Matsus, said this is guiding me as his apprentice to collect what I considered to be the memorable events of my life…. Don Juan described the total goal of the shamanistic knowledge that he handled as the preparation for facing the definitive journey: the journey that every human being has to take at the end of his life. He said that what modern man referred to vaguely as life after death was, for those shamans, a concrete region filled to capacity with practical affairs of a different order than the practical affairs of daily life, yet bearing a similar functional practicality. Don Juan considered that to collect the memorable in their lives was, for shamans, the preparation for their entrance into that concrete region, which they called the active side of infinity."

In this book written immediately before his death, anthropologist and shaman Carlos Castaneda gives us his most autobiographical and intimately revealing work ever, the fruit of a lifetime of experience and perhaps the most moving volume in his oeuvre.

In Which We Serve

2007-06-20T11:33:00.001-07:00

This movie stars and is written, directed and produced by Noel Coward. He does a great job of presenting the story of a British ship in World War II. The stories of the men are heart-warming and uplifting. I have seen it three times so far, and enjoyed it each time.

For Poet

2007-06-20T11:30:00.001-07:00

To upload an image of a book cover, go to half.com or Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble's site, put in the name of the book, then right-click on the image of the book, and when a menu pops up, choose SAVE AS ... give it a name you will remember, and store it in a new folder named "Book Covers" or something else you will also remember. Then upload it as an image. It almost always saves as a .jpg file.

For the "Super-Sensitive"!

2007-06-20T11:22:00.000-07:00

I remember being told, as a child, "OH, don't be Super Sensitive!" This accusation was given in a tone of annoyance. For a long time I thought I was like everyone else, but then someone told me about this book and recommended it to me.

I have an exaggerated startle response. If I hear a sharp, loud, sudden sound, I nearly jump out of my skin, literally jumping and crying out. I feel foolish when it happens, but I cannot control it. Even the toaster does it to me, so I have to go some distance from it when the toast is about to be done.

When I read this book, I recognized myself and my responses to things. There is a test in the beginning to help a person determine if they are in the category of Highly Sensitive. I am, and it has helped me to know that I am part of a minority of human beings. I protect myself from being overstimulated (read, "I do not go to malls if I can help it"), for example.

I recommend this book for anyone who is very sensitive or who has a family member who is sensitive. It helps us all understand the type.

The Creative Habit

2007-06-12T17:04:00.001-07:00

This a great book for an artist that finds herself in a funk, unable to access the creative juices. There are provocative questions and very interesting exercises to dislodge any stuck-ness. Twyla Tharp is a dancer and choreographer but has many approaches in her language to reach each artist no matter what medium their creativity is expressed through...equally good for painters, writers, sculptors, musicians, poets, actors, singers, comedians, photographers, and any creative vehicle style an artist has chosen.

She presents an exercise (among many) to help the artist find their deep rooted, DNA hard wired, implanted creative approach, so artists interested in many mediums can cut to the chase and dig into the medium they can express through with the greatest impact and absorb the greatest nourishment from...soul food.

Review by botz

A NEW EARTH

2007-06-11T18:01:00.001-07:00

In his book, Eckhart Tolle gives us powerful insights into the immediacy of our need to wake up and be fully conscious before our planet collapses under the strain of our collective carelessness. His writing is presented with profound clarity and verbal dexterity mixed with sweetness and compassion to our human dilemma at this time. He says we are being invited to take a leap in consciousness and experience a collective "flowering" into a new level of existence, experience an evolutionary transformation and it is an invitation by Consciousness Itself.

Tolle identifies the madness of the "voices in our head", what Buddhists call the monkey mind, and how that "voice" can rule our actions and cause great harm if not understood. He has a brilliant grasp of the "pain-body" we carry around individually and collectively and points to ways of creating a gap between reacting from the pain-body when it is triggered or activated, to having mastery over it.

Eckhart Tolle writes we have had several "flowered" humans inhabit our earth as an example of our full potential. This book is a guide to opening our flower.

Review by botz

A Guide to the Bach Flower Remedies

2007-06-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

This book by Julian Barnard is a thorough, yet straightforward guide to the Bach Flower Remedies and how to both use and understand them.

Empire Falls

2007-05-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

Richard Russo won the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls.

Here is a synopsis from ReadingGroupGuides.com:

Dominated by the Whiting family, the founders of the three mills that provided employment for most of the town's residents, Empire Falls finds itself in sharp decline at the turn of the twenty-first century. Its mills are closed, stores are boarded up, and its population is dwindling. The families that remain live on memories of the past and the shared fantasy that the mills will reopen and the once-thriving town will experience a renaissance. However, the formidable Mrs. Whiting, widow of the last Whiting son (and rumored to be the richest woman in central Maine), makes no concessions to the community's needs or fantasies. As the owner of the few viable businesses left in Empire Falls and a dependable, if begrudging, source of funds for essential town improvements, Mrs. Whiting wields her power over the town and its inhabitants with an iron will.

Miles Roby was once known around town as a young man smart enough to escape Empire Falls. A devoted son, he put his dreams on hold when his mother's illness interrupted his last year of college. Twenty years later, Miles is the proprietor of Mrs. Whiting's just barely profitable Empire Grill, the soon-to-be ex-husband of Janine (who has left him for the slick owner of the flashy new health club), and the proud father of Tick, a bright, loving teenager. Seduced by Mrs. Whiting's promise to bequeath him the restaurant, Miles stoically submits to her arbitrary, often humiliating demands—until the accidental discovery of a family secret shocks him into a troubling reevaluation of his life and the small town that shaped it. Nothing, however, prepares him for the horrific event that ultimately sets him free.

As he exposes the betrayals and self-deceptions, false hopes and genuine desires that motivate his quirky cast of characters, Richard Russo transforms the story of one town into an unforgettable exploration of the human condition. By turns funny, poignant, satiric, and shocking, Empire Falls captures humanity at its best and its worst.

2007-05-11T08:44:00.001-07:00

Books, books, how we love them--Flatley sisters that is. Here are my true book-loves: The Lieutenants Woman, A Stone for Danny Fisher, If Beal Street Could Talk and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Note: these are all fiction. More recently and for a long time, I have been drawn to non-fiction and poetry but now and then a book, fiction, has been read.

The non-fiction genre would include: Ain't I a Woman by Maya Angelou, Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins (I have an autographed copy), The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, The Last Gift of Time by Carolyn G. Heilbrun and Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

I don't read just to read except for magazines and The New York Times newspaper (delivered to me each Sunday). I have noticed my eyes become tired when reading--coming on sooner than before--so I choose my readings carefully.
Poet

Eat Pray Love

2007-04-24T05:56:00.000-07:00

BOOKLIST A Starred Review. "Gilbert, author of The Last American Man (2002) and a well-traveled I'll-try-anything-once journalist, chronicles her intrepid quest for spiritual healing. Driven to despair by a punishing divorce and an anguished love affair, Gilbert flees New York for sojourns in the three Is. She goes to Italy to learn the language and revel in the cuisine, India to meditate in an ashram, and Indonesia to reconnect with a healer in Bali. This itinerary may sound self-indulgent or fey, but there is never a whiny or pious or dull moment because Gilbert is irreverent, hilarious, zestful, courageous, intelligent, and in masterful command of her sparkling prose. A captivating storyteller with a gift for enlivening metaphors, Gilbert is Anne Lamott's hip, yoga-practicing, footloose younger sister, and readers will laugh and cry as she recounts her nervy and outlandish experiences and profiles the extraordinary people she meets. As Gilbert switches from gelato to kundalini Shakti to herbal cures Balinese-style, she ponders the many paths to divinity, the true nature of happiness, and the boon of good-hearted, sexy love. Gilbert's sensuous and audacious spiritual odyssey is as deeply pleasurable as it is enlightening." by Donna Seaman

I am reading it now, and have just finished the "Eat" section. I laughed outloud several times.

Katherine Neville biography

2007-04-21T05:40:00.000-07:00

Katherine Neville was born in the Midwest and attended school there and in the Rocky Mountains, spending summers in the Pacific Northwest. She developed an early interest in the myths and tales of other cultures like those of the Native Americans and the Mountain Men of the Rockies. From childhood she wanted to be a writer, and began writing at the age of eight. After college, Neville went to New York City and entered the new and fast-growing computer field. Over the next five years, her work was diverse; she wrote programs for the stock exchanges and for the transportation industry, developing systems for railroads, motor freight and ocean shipping. Her career in computers and subsequent interests would take her, over the next twenty years, to countries on three continents, as well as half of the United States.
In New York, Neville was inspired by her African American colleagues to learn more about African cultures. Among her other interests, she worked mornings for the Black Panthers' breakfast program and began studying and collecting African art. She still has her first acquisition, a hundred-year-old Mende female dancing mask from Sierra Leone. While continuing in the computer field, Neville did her postgraduate work on "Form in Black Literature in French and English, in Africa, Europe, and America."

In the 1970s, Neville went to North Africa as an international consultant to the Algerian government, and was living there when the OPEC petroleum embargo took place. These experiences--her first-hand view of global turmoil caused by the shift in economic power from the Cold War confrontation toward the Third World--would provide the fodder for her first published novel, The Eight, a story revolving around a chess game plot set in two different time frames: the French Revolution of the 1790s and the OPEC embargo of the 1970s. In the fifteen years since its publication, The Eight has become a cult classic translated into 20 languages.

Whenever in school or between jobs, Neville often supported herself by painting and fashion modeling. These activities, and working with photographers over the years, helped her develop her own photography skills. Upon returning from North Africa and finding computer jobs scarce, Neville started her own photography business with the aid and support of male photographer friends, and operated for several years as one of the first female commercial photographers in Colorado.

In the late 1970s, thanks to her previous work in the energy field, Neville was called to Idaho as a consultant at the Department of Energy's nuclear research site in the high desert where she helped develop automated methods to identify, track, and manage toxic, hazardous and transuranic materials. This experience, along with her re-acquaintance with the northwest of her youth and a year spent in Austria and Germany, would later provide the core of The Magic Circle--a novel about Uranus, uranium, the Rockies, the Russians, and the millennium.

In 1980, Neville moved to San Francisco where she remained for the next ten years and became a vice president of the Bank of America. Having initiated her career on the stock exchanges of New York and finding herself now, twenty years later, in the world banking arena inspired her international caper, A Calculated Risk, a tale of high-stakes intrigue and skullduggery in the world of global money markets.

At age forty, Neville left the computer world behind and moved to Europe with her best friend and "significant other," Dr. Karl Pribram, the world-famous brain scientist renowned for his holographic theory of memory storage and for his discovery of the functions of the brain's limbic systems and frontal lobes. After living for some time abroad, Neville and Pribram settled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with their cockatiel-atura, Cosi Fan Tootie, and Tyger, the cat.

Neville is presently working on her new novel about painters, set in the sixteenth century and in modern times, in Europe, the Mediterranean and the Americas. She is also working on the sequel to The Eight.

Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman

2007-04-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

Blackbird House traces the lives of the various occupants of an old Massachusetts house over a span of two hundred years.
Alice Hoffman weaves a web of tales, all set in Blackbird House. This small farm on the outer reaches of Cape Cod is a place that is as bewitching and alive as the characters we meet: Violet, a brilliant girl who is in love with books and with a man destined to betray her; Lysander Wynn, attacked by a halibut as big as a horse, certain that his life is ruined until a boarder wearing red boots arrives to change everything; Maya Cooper, who does not understand the true meaning of the love between her mother and father until it is nearly too late. From the time of the British occupation of Massachusetts to our own modern world, family after family's lives are inexorably changed, not only by the people they love but by the lives they lead inside Blackbird House.
Inside Blackbird House more than a dozen men and women learn how love transforms us. The past both dissipates and remains contained inside the rooms of Blackbird House, where there are terrible secrets, inspired beauty, and, above all else, a spirit of coming home.

The Labyrinth

2007-04-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

Another historical adventure mingled with a present-day adventure, in the style of The Da Vinci Code. Evil stalks and our heroine works to find the secret of the Labyrinth in the Languedoc region of France. Absorbing!

The Eight

2007-04-08T08:35:00.000-07:00

The Eight is a novel by Katherine Neville. It is set in all sorts of places, notably France, the USA, Algeria, and England. The story weaves the time of the French Revolution with the 1970s. There is an ancient chess set that once belonged to Charlemagne, which contains some sort of secret powerful formula. There is a GAME being played .... and the narrator is chosen to join it!

It is a thriller, meticulously researched, with beautiful descriptions, women caught up in larger-than-life adventures, and good vs. evil in a BIG way.

Gretel Ehrlich

2007-04-08T08:30:00.001-07:00

http://www.parkcentralwebs.com/GretelEhrlich/bio.asp

Gretel Ehrlich was hit by lightning in 1991 and survived to write about it, along with all the other subjects she has covered, including China and the Himalayas. I have not read her work, but she is highly acclaimed.