5 comments about Riding the Bus with My Sister: A True Life Journey.

1. This book is an engaging, fast read. I was especially interested in Rachel Simon's flashbacks. We learn what caused her mental retardation, we see her experiences and Rachel's, we also suffer with the children as mom continues in a downward spiral. All of these flashbacks, distinguished by italic font, are worthy of a book all their own.
   
   Beth Simon is hard to like. She is loud, immature, unhygenic, and self-centered. She is also capable of holding down a job- she just chooses not to. What makes it worse is that she tells her fellow passengers that she doesn't work because she doesn't want to- always reminding them of her disability check. What type of endurance would you need, if you were riding the bus with Beth, heading to your job? Many people can't handle it. And Beth is oblivious to the reasons why people dislike her- she's a capable woman who won't better herself.
   
   In Rachel's relationship with Beth, the story is not sugar-coated. Rachel gets very annoyed with Beth: ' Damn it Beth, shut up! my dark voice erupts. Look at you- same expression, same seat, same stupefying conversation.
   and
   "When I started riding the buses, I remember, I thought of the people who didn't like Beth as insensitive and narrow-minded. Now I find myself more sympathetic to their point of view. Yes, some of them are coarse and offensively vocal. But she is so loud. And she talks all the time. About nothing. I know many of us babble on about nothing, too, but she does it over and over and over- and over and over and over- and it's really eroding the limits of my endurance. Dad used to tell us he came to dread their car rides to work for precisely the same reasons. That was twenty years ago."
   
   However, Rachel's interaction with every bus driver are so profound. She always seems to be learning something from them. And it's always about how they changed their philosophies so they could lead happier lives. Ugh, it was too corny and simplistic for me!
   
   Further, I was uninterested in how Rachel changed in relations to men and other people. I only wanted to see her relationship with Beth. Yes, Rachel Simon gives Beth and the bus rides credit for changing her life- but I really have no desire to know anything else about Rachel Simon in the late 90s (when the story takes place). Tell me more about Beth, including more altercations with drives and passengers, more about her obsessions with the drivers, more about her self-centered domination of every bus ride.
   
   " Beth is ignoring the parade of costumes in the street and gazing adoringly at Cliff- and with a jolt, I know what scares me.
   It's not just the same old crush with a new face, or the same olf song with the same wrong words. It's not just the pattern she doesn't see, or care about, and therefore cannot or will not change.
   It's that Beth seems to need a cataclysmic event for her to change in any way- an event like our mother's complete abdication of her responsibility to protect her own child, Juanita's rejection, or Rodolpho's abandonment. This seems true whether she's being called upon to develop resorucefulness, assertiveness, or just basic self-restraint. I look at her and feel a clutch in my throat. What will it take now?
   Is this all there will ever be to her life? "



2. This is not a book I would have chosen, but I read it for my book club and was pleasantly surprised. When I saw an endorsement from Rosie O'Donnell on the front cover of this book, I was expecting something more sentimental, along the lines of a Lifetime Channel movie, to lie within the pages. Instead, I found a powerful tribute to people on society's fringe and a meaningfully insightful story.
   
   The story centers around a workaholic writer/teacher, Rachel Simon, who runs out of ideas for her newspaper work and decides to spend a year shadowing her mildly mentally retarded sister, Beth. Beth has chucked working and living in a group home for a hedonistic life in her own apartment, filling her days happily riding the city's busses. Simon takes what could be a boring or sappy story and makes something marvelous out of Beth's mundane, repetitive life by her keen observation and analysis of the details of this routine. She does an excellent job of looking at life through Beth's eyes and of showing how the mentally challenged are at times similar to the rest of us and yet at other times vastly different and difficult to comprehend.
   
   Naturally Beth's efforts to live independently in the manner she desires create enormous frustration for her family and even the professionals involved in her "case." How to help someone in Beth's situation is complicated. How much help can family and professionals give versus how much help should they give? How many decisions can she safely, competently make on her own? Simon shows us that there are no easy answers, as she attempts to establish her own place in her sister's life.
   
   The book is beautifully written, hard to put down, and filled with insights and wisdom that would make Irma Bombeck proud. The author was surprised at how much she learned from Beth's limitations and her world, and you will be too.



3. I found this book to be very interesting and moving. It has really made a mark on my heart. I have a special needs child who unlike "Cool Beth" is not treated differently by many, yet sees some of the same prejudices. It was nice to read a book that shows how a person can live on their own and have the same things that so called "normal" people can. I appreciated that Beth knew right from wrong and is not afraid to express that to the world around her. We can all learn from that. The annoyance that Rachel gets from Beth is such a tough feeling for a sibling/parent, but a genuine one and written with such truth. This will not be enjoyed by all, but all can learn from it.



4. This book isn't for everyone, but anyone who lives with a mildy retarded family member will see this book as an eye-opening and touching memoir of the highs and lows of living and coping and dealing with a person such as Beth, the author's sister, with whom she agrees to ride the city buses with over the course of a year.
   
   The chapters are beautifully interweaved with flashbacks to the author's childhood with Beth, who is 18 months younger than the author. The parents' coping with Beth, and how the rest of the family deals with this headstrong and independent girl without once ever mentioning the words "mild retardation" and yet determined to keep together as a family in the early 1960s bring this book to life for many Babyboomers. Rachel did a lot of research on the subject to write for this book, and inserts statistics at logical moments without ever tiring the reader.
   
   Along with the encounters on the bus are small vignettes of the various and varied drivers who deal with Beth on a daily basis. Bus drivers are profiled coming from all aspects of society. Some like Beth, others do not, and many came forward to talk about Beth and her incessant chats while sitting in the front of crowded buses with strangers all around her. Bus drivers are her friends, are her mentors, are her romantic interests and Beth at times reminds us of our girlish teenage crushes...and she is 39 years old while the story takes place.
   
   Although this book mostly deals with Beth and her daily bus rides around town, the author also talks about her own failings; her recent break-up, her move to a new apartment, and we see how dealing with Beth, and talking with bus drivers, help Rachel find the answers for her own troubles.
   
   This book may not be for everyone. One must have a close experience with a person such as Beth to understand the many detailed and sometimes long-drawn-out episodes of city bus travel to truly appreciate this book. Beth is beautifully portrayed in this book, and with all her flaws and handicaps we can see a bit our ourselves through her daily bus journeys.
   
   Read this book with patience and understanding for the mildy retarded people in our society. We all know and have dealt with our own Cools Beths.



5. Okay, so maybe not the most original title in the world, but the story sure is. The author decides to spend some quality time with her mildly retarded sister, Beth, (whom she never fully understood). Simons basically takes a very long leave of absence from work and totally immerses herself in Beth's world - which consists mainly of riding the bus system in an unnamed Pennsylvania city. But this is not just a simple journey. She experiences how Beth has carved out a life for herself, the people she has connected with, the joyful outlook she has on life, and realizes that maybe Beth's life is fulfilling in its own way. This is also a journey through her childhood as she
   reflects on her memories, her relationship with her family as well as her sister. By slowing down her fast-paced existence and taking the time to experience a year with her sister, Simons certainly discovers a lot about herself, and comes away with a different, more appreciative view of her life. Hopefully you will too. I know I did.

5 comments about Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen.

1. This book has travelled with me from Arizona to PA, to TX, to NOLA, to PA, to NOLA, to GA, to PA, back to GA and finally back to PA again.... I have been "in the middle" of this book for almost two years. It is one of those books that never really grabs you. Some books grab you and pull you in and you can't put the book down, however, I put this book down many timees.
   
   Julie & Julia is a very boring and unintelligible memoir to Julia Child (maybe) but more so a self-involved journaling/rambling of a person battling depression, cooking obsession and the beating of the "biological clock." Her half-a**ed attempts at recreating Julia Child's recipes left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
   
   The author attempts to (and somewhat accomplishes) the re-creation of every recipe in Julia Childs renown cookbook (524 recipes) (Mastering the Art of French Cooking) in one year. She cooks things such as brains, liver, kidneys, marrow. The only humorous memory was that her Mother always said that kidneys always "tasted like piss." however some that the author cooked did not taste like piss, however her "piss smelled like kidneys." That was such a crude remark (and I am no priss mind you) I could not help but laugh.
   
   The author wrote a blog and this book really made small mention of her blog, small mention of other characters. The only characters truly developed in this book is the author and her husband Eric. But even his character is truly never examined, just from the author's perspective minimally. This book was albout the author. My final impression of the book was that the author wants/wanted to have a baby, had to do something to occupy her mind besides thinking about having a baby or not being able to have a baby and the personal neglect in her kitchen can't help but be seen as depression.
   
   I'm sorry but little flies flying around the author's kitchen constantly and finally towards the end of the book they discover maggots under their dish drying tray. They were very neglectful of the dishes, left them piled in the sink frequently and I'm sorry but this book was extremely bad and further, I could not imagine eathing ANYTHING from this author's kitchen knowing the lack of care taken to have a clean kitchen. She put forth about as much energy in writing a book.



2. Oh. My. God. This was easily one of THE best books I have ever read! Who knew that hidden among the writings on food books was a gem of this caliber and magnificence.
   
   Julie Powell was like many failed actresses who had moved to New York before her...stuck in a dead end job. She was unhappy in her secretarial work for some government agency as are many people who labor at such menial occupations.
   
   On the cusp of her 30th birthday, Julie recognized the trivial existence she had been inhabiting and determined that she needed some purpose in life. She was beckoned to what would be become her Bible for the next year...Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. Julie resolved to cook her way through this intimidating collection of recipes within one year. Not only did she take on this daunting task, she decided to blog about her experience, which resulted in a group of followers, several interviews, and an eventual book deal.
   
   What follows the introduction into the premise is 300 astonishing pages of anger, pain, laughter, frustration, adoration, and...butter. Julie deliciously (and sometimes disgustingly) describes, in detail, her journey into the foray of French cooking. We are thrilled with her when she accomplishes tasks such as bone marrow scraping and crepe flipping. We are aggravated alongside her through the poaching of eggs and the ever elusive task of mayonnaise making. We are enraptured with tart-a-palooza and squirm our way through aspics. We are even with her when she attempts culinary seduction by way of pecan spice cake with pecan icing.
   
   Not only is there are relationship built with Julie but through her, and the apartments in her brain pan, we come to know Julia Child as a culinary genius and one Hell of a woman. I was even saddened when in the final pages of the book I learned that Julia Child died on the eve of her 92nd birthday.
   
   This book is not strictly about food, though that is the central theme, but is also about people. We get to know Sally and are somewhat creeped out by the David's, we worry over Isabel's life altering choices, and enjoy Gwen's sexy IM romance. We are thankful for husband's as supportive and composed as Eric and wish Julie's mother would just calm down. What is there to say about Heathcliff other than...that's Heathcliff.
   
   What can I say to express the sheer pleasure and delight that filled me with each turn of the page? I laughed, I cried, and I toiled. This book is inspirational to say the least. I was ravenous through the majority of its duration and my cravings would change as we grew deeper into the cookbook, beginning with potato soup and ending with a stuffed, pastry-wrapped duck. I found myself overflowing with the hunger to cook. I kept walking to my kitchen bookshelf to find and flip through my copy of Julia Child's The Way to Cook. Not only have I found myself wanting to create culinary masterpieces, I also was inspired to write. Julie Powell's voice is blunt, brutal, and honest. She has no qualms about using the word f*** whenever she sees fit, and sometimes even if it doesn't fit. She does not sugar coat her life to make it seem more desirable. She offers the reader nothing other than her self and her life. Take her as she as or do not take her at all...and balls to you if you don't like her!
   
   All in all, this was quite a delectable read. I recommend it to anyone who wants a good laugh and or if you simply want an uplifting, yet down and dirty read. I cannot wait to see what Julie comes out with next. Bon Appetite!!!



3. This the true story of a women just 30 who struggles with the idea of working to live, not being able to carry a child, and an oh too boring existence. She lives in NY city where she works for a local Government agency as a secretary. She absolutely hates her job, which she finds no purpose in what so ever. When she realizes that she is unable to have children, she begins to question everything, mainly her purpose. She takes a trip to visit her mother and father back home, to get some much needed R and R, and comes across her mother's Art of French Cooking book. She takes it home with her and begins to cook, she writes a blog about the adventure, as she decides much to the dismay of family and friends to cook every recipe in the book by years end. I know it doesn't sound very exciting, but it's a great read and this is why.
   
   She is a great comedic writer, it reminded me a whole lot of Bridget Jones, I laughed through out.
   
   She holds nothing back, letting you inside all aspects of her thoughts and memories, which are always amusing.
   
   She is highly relatable, if you are a late 20's to mid 30's women you should find this book humorous and enlightening.
   
   The book took me a few weeks to read, it was not a page turner suspense, but it was great on lunches or lazy Sundays. Its just too funny and real not to read!



4. I had such fun reading this book. I had never heard of Julie Powell and the first time I heard of her blog was in this book. From the very first chapter, though, I was engaged with the book because I felt she was so like myself: 29(well, I'm 30 now, as she turned in the book)and diagnosed with PCOS - as I was myself last year - married, and not entirely satisfied with her life. I was hooked from Chapter 1. I enjoyed reading about her messy life and the messy lives of her friends every bit as much as I enjoyed reading about her hilarious anecdotes about her cooking experiences. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, certainly, but why would you expect this book to be entirely about cooking. This is a memoir - no one's life is ever just about one thing, and if this book HAD been only about cooking, it would not have been nearly as much fun. Or even a true memoir, for that matter. I think it is hilarous that some reviewers criticized Julie for being an amateur cook - I believe that was the point of the project: to tackle something new and different.
   I say thanks, Julie, for inspiring me to find a project to commit myself to - to find purpose in something I can be passionate about.



5. The premise had promise. The execution was shallow, narcissistic, and naive. In short, it brandished every hallmark of the blog it once was.
   
   But, let me be clear: I actually would have loved it as a blog. From a book, I craved more thoughtful prose and structural and thematic sophistication.

5 comments about Sky of Stone: A Memoir.

1. If you have read Rocket Boys, it's imperative you continue with Coalwood Ways and Sky of the Stone. All are wonderful reads with great life lessons. Sky of the Stone was my favorite of the three but they build on each other. I look forward to reading Red Helmet in February!



2. Just a great part 3 continuation of "The Rocket Boys", AKA: "October Sky". I could hardly put it down. I really enjoyed this book, too.



3. I read October Sky a week ago and then grabbed this one. I haven't read The Coalwood Way but after starting Sky of Stone, don't think it's necessary. This book continues where October Sky left off, and in many ways people are introduced in this book that were never mentioned in the first book. In manyways this book seems to be derived from all the notes taken out of the first book. Sonny's father's character comes to light in this book and we see the continued tension between father and son, and the son's reluctant growth into adulthood when he accepts (or is forced into) adult decisions for the first time.
   
   Homer is a year out of college and he's slowly learning that many of the naive things he experienced in boyhood are coming back to haunt him. Where we all read about the fame and success of the six Rocket Boys, we now find that they are scattered across the country in college. With Homer, the grades in the first year weren't anything out of this world, or anything indicative of an aspiring rocket scientist. Without reading October Sky this book may appear to be a mystery, and I recommend reading October Sky first before attempting this one.
   
   It is unfair to compare one book to the other, although I am doing it right now. What the first book was in childish charm, this one is with mature awakening. The writing style is still superb, the narrative flowing. The built-up to the plot, however, takes longer. The rocket scientist is no longer a rocket scientist in this book, and we find Homer Jr more of his father's son as a summer miner, exactly what he never wanted to be while in high school.
   
   There is much more sadness in this book. The focus is on the death of a miner at the mine that Sonny's father manages. This book is more of a country suspense than it is a happy-go-lucky story like October Sky is. I think that this change in tone was necessary because the first book was full of optimistic, youthful naivete.
   
   The problem with sequels and trilogies is that to understand the whole picture, all books must be read. I have now read two of the three and don't plan on reading the second book.



4. A wonderful book that was not only an engaging story, but offered a glimpse into the life of West Virginia coal miners. Following on the heels of the "Rocket Boys" ( the book that inspired the movie "October Sky"), this book carries on the story of Rocket Boy and author Homer Hickam. You won't be sorry you read this book.



5. Sky of Stone, by Homer "Sonny" Hickam, is the sequel to his famous memoir, Rocket Boys, (October Sky). The story takes place in 1961, a year after his graduation from high school. Sonny, now eighteen, has just finished his first year of college at VPI, and is hoping to spend his summer with his mother in Myrtle Beach, lying on the beach, watching the girls go by, and dreaming about building rockets with Wernher Von Braun, the world famous rocket engineer. Out of the blue, his mother calls and says that he can't go to South Carolina; he to go back to Coalwood, West Virginia, the place he thought he was free from, to keep his father company. Sonny, shocked out of his socks, at first argues, but he eventually gives up knowing that he would not want to get on his mom's bad side. So, he heads up to Coalwood, filled with confusion pounding at his head. His father is a pretty stubborn man who can hold is own. Why would he need his company?
   Within the first few days of being in Coalwood, Sonny wrecks his father's car. In order to pay his father back for repairing the damages, Sonny has to do the one thing that he never dreamed he would do in this or any other life time: he joins the UMWA (United Mine Workers of America), which is the union for the Coalwood miners. He becomes a "track-laying man," one of the hardest jobs in the mining business. His father, completely enraged with this, as well as having the pressure of the Tuck Dillon case on his mind, threatens to cut off Sonny's college fund if Sonny doesn't stop working in the mines. Yet, Sonny, who is actually beginning to enjoy the hard work of being a miner, refuses.
   As the story goes on, Sonny slowly begins to find more and more information about the Tuck Dillon accident, and starts to wonder if his father might have actually killed Tuck. Sonny also has many other adventures during this experience of being a miner. He makes many new friends, some of whom give him very important advice and teach him life lessons; he meets a girl engineer who is older than he, and he starts to have feelings for. He also participates in a heated track-laying race with the other mining group.
   Sky of Stone, like Rocket Boys, is a beautifully well-written memoir, filled with such amazing images, you feel as though you are reading a novel. The fact that this is a true story about one man's experience is astonishing. Along with it being about Homer's life, it deals with the hardships of growing up, changing from a teenager into a young man, trying to find your place in the world, while dealing with reality and the new feeling of independence. Each page you read takes you further into this adventure, making you fall in love even more with the book. You feel as though you are with Sonny every step of the way, learning more and more from this new experience. Personally, having read October Sky, I love both books and think that Homer Hickam is great author. It is a wonderful book, for anyone, as it reflects on life and the many lessons it teaches us, "I knew then, as I faced the sky, that Coalwood would go on. Its buildings might be torn down, its mine closed, its people might even die, but Coalwood would persevere. There was something about this place that maybe, as the Reverend Richard maintained, God just liked. Coalwood had nothing to fear and I guessed I didn't, either. When I needed it, the old place of my boyhood would yet be there waiting for me with all its wisdom and purpose, if not in stone and wood and iron, then still in my memory and my heart. I closed my eyes and felt the rain against my face, and smelled the smoke of the defeated fire, and thought of Coalwood. Coalwood, as it was, and shall be. Coalwood my home. Coalwood forever." (354). As I got to the end of the book I felt as though I was looking back on memory, in awe and filled with respect. In conclusion, I think this is great book, and I highly recommend it to anyone.

5 comments about River of No Return: Tennessee Ernie Ford and the Woman He Loved.

1. Good Book, what can I say? I was and am a fan and enjoyed the book.



2. Jeffery Buckner Ford has written a wonderful story of his journey as the son of Tennessee Ernie Ford. This is a must read for all of us who experienced his father's great musical talent on the radio and television. Jeffery describes the interesting business details of his father's career as well as his family's personal triumphs and heartaches. Jeffery makes you feel as though you are right there experiencing his life with him. The author tells the story with a heartfelt range of emotions from humor to saddness.Thanks Jeffery for writing about your interesting life as the son of Tennessee Ernie Ford.I will be buying the book for Christmas presents this year. I highly recommend this book to all of you!



3. What a talent! Its a shame he didn't have time for himself, or his wife. A very honest review of the life of Ernie Ford. For me there were several surprises in this book. It has to be placed in the "Must Read" catagory.



4. Reviewed by Carol Hoyer for Reader Views (7/08)
   
   Jeffrey Buckner Ford has written an amazing book on the inside of his family's life from the beginning of his dad's start to fame to the downfall of the family. While most of us think that the rich and famous have no problems, Buck Ford shows us that is not true.
   
   Tennessee Ernie Ford started his career as a radio announcer in Knoxville, Tennessee. As Buck recalls, his father always said he didn't go looking for fame; he just fell into the business. In 1942 he married Betty Ford and had planned on a quiet, simple life. Into the marriage came Buck and Brion Ford, who thought their family was the greatest. Although the boys did not always seem to fit up to their dad's standards, they still loved him greatly.
   
   During the course of the marriage, Betty Ford became very friendly with the bottle; this gave her the courage to say the things she felt she should say without any apologies. Over the years her drinking would increase, she would abuse prescription pills and verbally lash out at anyone who stood in her way. Her behavior was never addressed in private or public. The relationship with her husband turned sour. After many suicide attempts and embarrassing behavior in public, it took its final toll.
   
   Tennessee Ernie Ford was a kind gentleman; he had a style of his own and everyone wanted a piece of the action. Little did he know that his advisors were steering him in the wrong direction. After several failed businesses and selling his property, it finally got the best of him. After his wife died, he married Beverly Wood Smith, three months and ten days after burying Betty Ford. She was not what she portrayed to be. She immediately took over all Ernie Ford's business projects and left his sons without any knowledge of what she was doing. When Tennessee Ernie Ford died, she didn't even let them know where he would be buried.
   
   "River of No Return" by Jeffrey Buckner Ford is a very interesting story if you like to know the personal background of the Ford family. It covers the ups and down's of a stars life. I personally thought it was well-written, easy-to-read and a page-turner. However, I would like to remember Tennessee Ernie Ford as the icon he was.



5. Ernest Jennings Ford was at heart a family man devoutly devoted to his wife and two sons. At the very peak of his Hollywood success, the man who will forever be known as "Tennessee Ernie" Ford, the radio character he created for himself, decided to walk away from all the glamour because of his concern for what the Hollywood lifestyle was doing to his family. The great irony of his life is that Ernie Ford would die in October 1991 under the care of a second wife who was determined to deny his two sons any part of his legacy, financial or otherwise, a woman who even tried to deny them access to their father's funeral.
   
   In River of No Return, Jeffrey Buckner Ford, eldest of the Ford sons, mixes his fond memories of growing up next door to Bob Hope and of the several successful television series that his father hosted with sad recollections of how alcohol and pills ended up destroying both his parents. He speaks frankly of the addictions and dissatisfaction with her life that resulted in his mother's suicide after several earlier attempts had failed, and he speaks just as honestly of how his father failed to do the things that might have saved her life. Perhaps saddest of all is his disclosure of how Ernie Ford's decision to protect his sons by moving them from Hollywood was doomed to failure because of what the boys witnessed in their own home, wherever it might be located.
   
   Betty Jean Heminger met Ernie Ford when he was stationed at Victorville Army Air Base in California, where she worked as a secretary; she was only nineteen years old when they married. Betty Jean, an avid reader and an accomplished artist, was at first content to be labeled simply an entertainer's wife but, as the years went by, she seemed to grow frustrated with her role, turning to alcohol and drugs to get through her day. Ernie and her sons sensed when she was losing control, but though they did their best to protect her from herself, they were not always successful. As the couple grew farther and farther apart, Ernie turned more often to alcohol to ease his own pain, a decision that would eventually lead to liver disease, severe memory loss, and ultimately his death.
   
   But River of No Return is not just about the bad times. Jeffrey Buckner Ford celebrates the good times as well, and his pride in and love for both his parents are evident. He remembers the times when being around his parents was sheer joy, days spent on the set of his father's television shows, his brief encounter with Bob Hope when he crawled through the hedges dividing their property in order to sneak a picture of Mrs. Hope, whom the neighborhood boys insisted swam in the nude in her backyard, and days spent basking in "celebrity" as only the child of famous parents can.
   
   Ernie Ford was a spectacularly successful entertainer, a man with the voice and talent to sing any style of music but who, almost by default due to his "Tennessee Ernie" image, became best known as a country music singer. At the peak of his career, he was world-famous and played to particularly large audiences in England. As so often happens to a singer, today he is probably best-known for a single recording, "Sixteen Tons," which in 1955 became the fastest selling single in the history of the record business. Ernie Ford received numerous honors during his career, but four of them particularly stand out because they reward his decades as an entertainer: the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984, induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1994, and three stars on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame (one each for television, recordings and radio).
   
   Jeffrey Buckner Ford presents the contrast between Ernie Ford's public success and the frustrating failures he experienced in private in what is often a conversationally ironic tone, an approach that makes the sadness of Ernie's life especially vivid. Longtime fans of Ernie Ford are certain to find River of No Return a gratifying experience despite its sad revelations about his personal life. Those not as familiar with Ford as a performer will likely read the book more as the cautionary tale it is but might, at the same time, find themselves compelled to investigate his musical history. They will be better off for having discovered why Ernie Ford is still considered to be an American music legend.

5 comments about West of Jesus: Surfing, Science, and the Origins of Belief.

1. With dry wit and self-deprecating humor, Steven Kotler examines surfing from a Spiritual perspective, or is it Spirituality from a surfing perspective.
   
   This book answers all the big Spiritual questions in life:
   Why am I here?
   Why do I surf?
   
   Everyone who surfs can relate to observations like, "I was both addicted to surfing and terrified of surfing." But it's a great book even if you don't surf. I just wish my temple had better waves today.



2. I'm a surfer/extreme sport athlete. Also have a BS in psychology as well as anthropology. Kotler's blend of humor, story telling, and empirical data in his search for the big question is seriously phenomenal. BUY THIS BOOK!!



3. I didn't know what this was about, but seeing the word "Jesus" in the title above a flying surfboard grabbed me enough to check it out. Turns out, Kotler has put together a pretty interesting project in his book.
   
   I call this a project because it doesn't feel like a novel, an autobiography, or any other nonfiction piece. Kotler goes on a multi-continent journey searching for the origins of a particular surfing myth he was told after a bad wipeout, and along the way he tells us all about his research into zen, weather science, drugs, and human psychology. All of these aspects combine with his first person narrative of interactions with surfers from all over the world to create an entertaining read with all kinds of food for thought and future discussion.
   
   Sadly, while he wraps up the ending in a tidy little package, there's no real or satisfying resolution to his quest. After all the fascinating facts and theories and stories he unloads on his audience, he doesn't really deliver any answers. And maybe that was the point, but it makes me as a reader feel a little gypped.
   
   Still, it's a fun read with a lot of insight and many parts where I laughed out loud, so I definitely recommend it.



4. The book was decently written but I found myself wondering half way through what the book was actually about. There seems to be an attempt to tie surfing, philosophy and religion together in some way but it never really happens. It seemed the author picked a bunch of theories and tried to force some sort of analogy to his life and surfing but the connections remained unclear. The book does not have any significant conclusion. I forced myself to finish it just to catch the surfing stories which were ok but couldn't stand alone on their own.



5. Sometimes a strange disease changes the course of a life. For Steven Kotler, it was Lyme, described by one notable physician as "a very intelligent bacteria." The journey precipitated by these Borrelia burgdorferi lead the author of West of Jesus on a surf trip of sorts. Twin stories of a Conductor who can control the weather and "conduct" the waves, which he hears eight years and thousands of miles apart, lead inexorably to a space where physics and metaphysics converge. Here is an strangely exciting tale of coincidence and serendipity sub-populated with shamans, Tibetan White Buddhists, and kahunas at the intersection of Stoke and Karma - where the Surf Quest, for Kotler, is experienced as a disturbingly real search for the Holy Grail.
   
   Subtitled "Surfing, Science and the Origins of Belief," this is an alluring and stimulating tour-de-force that has more to do with mind surfing through the wonders and paradoxes on our times than with riding ocean waves. The book is replete with attractive speculations; like, that humans' competitive advantage in the animal kingdom is to be found most singularly in our long-distance running ability (we're born marathoners; we'll catch anything eventually). This book is a worthy companion for the journey.
   
   Kotler's story of the pursuit of the Conductor didn't click for me (it felt either like a literary device or a bad justification for a rather aimless surf trip). But the trip's the point anyway, and if you can bring along Einstein and Tom Stone and Rabbi Shifren and sundry commentators on altered states of consciousness, well - hey! West of Jesus resonates right along with its shelfmate, Dancing Naked in the Mind Field, by Novel laureate (and surfer) Karry Mullis. It's an enjoyable and enlightening ride, even if you don't get barreled.
   
   - Drew Kampion for The Surfer's Path [www.surferspath.com]

5 comments about Road Map to Holland: How I Found My Way Through My Son's First Two Years With Down Syndrome.

1. Nobody in my family has Down syndrome, but I still found this book to be well written. It is not a how to book, it is simply the experiences of a mother who was surprised at birth with premies, including one premie with Down Syndrome. It is not a happy happy uplifting I'm so grateful for all my blessings book but it is an honest story of the work, the shock, the complicated set of feelings, the processing of said feeling, and the reactions of friends and family. I was left with a determination to keep up with this family and especially darling Avery.
   
   How I wish that the young people I work with could read this book and realize that a child is not a cute toy to dress up, but a human being that may have profound needs, or at any rate special needs, and that they need to build a firmer support system and gain maturity before throwing that B/C away.
   
   PS If you're reading this, former neighbor who shunned the family as if Down is as easy to catch as chicken pox, your cruelty shocks me.



2. This book took my breath away with its factual, emotional, and honest capturing of the journey through the birth, diagnosis, and early growth of a child with Down syndrome. Groneberg clearly displays the confusion, guilt, exhaustion, fear, and (later) unparalleled joy that the news, 'Your baby has Down syndrome' brings. I hope that all new parents of babies with DS will read this book and find validation, encouragement, and most of all hope as they walk through the initial maze of doctors' offices, therapy appointments and stacks of insurance papers. Groneberg rightly emphasizes that the delights and treasures brought to their family by their son with DS makes it all worth it.
   
   I think this book should be the first thing a parent receives from the hospital, along with the diagnosis of Down syndrome. If it were, so many new parents would be spared some of the misconceptions, confusion, and fear that often accompanies the initial diagnosis. If you are a doctor, family member, or therapist in contact with new parents of babies with DS, please consider giving them this book. It will do them a world of good.



3. In ROAD MAP TO HOLLAND Jennifer Graf Groneberg reveals a lifetime of lessons learned in a very short time-span. Her message of hope resonates with the joy of her ultimate discovery that one of the greatest gifts she can give her children is to simply teach them how to love. Read this book, read Jennifer's blog, and join in a celebration of a unique family with a mom-writer at the helm who's gracious and generous enough to invite us all along on her ongoing journey of discovery.



4. This book is wonderful! As a new mom with a son with DS, I cannot express how accurate this book depicts the wide range of emotions, confusion, feelings of being lost and guilt, and most of all love we all feel for our children. This book should be handed out in the hospital before you leave with your child. It would help to ease so much fear and help you understand, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! I was in tears so many times through out this book and remember thinking, "YES, that is exactly how I feel/felt!"....HIGHLY recommend to anyone and everyone! If you don't understand DS, read this and educate yourself!! Great book!



5. I couldn't put this book down.
   
   The author writes about her experience with premature delivery of twins, one of whom is diagnosed with Down syndrome, and the first two years of their life.
   
   This isn't just a story of a mom having to come to terms with that trip to Holland, but an honest mom's story--of balancing the arrival of twins with her preschooler, the affect that her situation had on friendships--both good and bad, her marriage, and her perception of herself as a woman.
   
   This is an excellent book--honest without being morose, uplifting without coming across as saccharine-sweet. A must read for all moms.

5 comments about Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia.

1. As the author Carmen relates, life in Saudi Arabia is not good. In fact, it is almost as if the men marry the women and then have them as pets for the rest of their life. A man can divorce a woman very easily. A man can marry other women if he pleases. In this male dominated society, women turn to religion for their salvation. If they don't, they face a difficult life living among their peers. Carmen Bin Laden relates the story of her nine year marriage to one of Osmana's brothers. Her husband was more liberal in his thinking than other Saudi males. However, as he gets older, he reverts to his old beliefs and there is a split in her family. Bin Laden eventually frees herself of him and raises her three daughters in Switzerland.
   
   There are several great books about the life of Arab women in Saudi Arabia and other countries. Bin Laden's is of interest because this is the richest family in Saudi Arabia with many males raised and educated in the West. Even with that, this family still treats its women with low regard. An interesting tale.



2. I read this with interest and, while not exactly perfectly written, it wasn't real bad, and I hold that to the professional editors anyway, especially when written by a foreigner, even one partially educated in the US. Some may argue that it was a ploy to earn money, again: so what? Her husband totally deserted his children and she was left with three to raise on her own. The thing I take most from this sad story is her concern more for the welfare of her children and with what poor future was in store for them if she remained in a hostile environment. I still wonder if her being so outspoken about Saudi Arabia is that great for her and her children's welfare. The only thing I can say concerning how bad the countries in general are, especially against the western world, is that extremist/ elitists are no better just because they have a different name, be it Christian or any other organized man-made religion. With the history of the United States concerning what they did to the Natives that lived here, slavery, televangilism, and a few other things we politely don't think or talk about, it makes me shudder every time I hear someone speak about how this "nation" was founded on Christian principles. Brother, if that is Christianity, I do not care to have anything to do with that!



3. Incredible! A women's first hand account of the life in the Saudi Kingdom. Sometimes here in the West we just seem so far removed from these issues portrayed in this book and need to realize our culture could change just as rapidly. [9/11 our example]
   
   My personal stance has always been as a Christian believer, LORD never send me to Saudi Arabia. I still hold firm to this and also have a heart for the women of Saudi Arabia, that have not experienced 'Freedom' as we know it today in the West.
   
   Thank you Carmen for taking us on a journey to the uttermost parts of the earth and giving us a birds eye view of this ancient, closed, religious culture. Your bravery in writing your memoirs are exceptional.



4. I was drawn to Carmen Bin Laden's memoir, Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia when I was doing research about the country of Saudi Arabia. I was pleased to find a fascinating story of a woman trying to protect her children from the fall-out after the tragic events of September 11, 2001 and raise them to be educated free-thinkers instead of grooming them to become chattel in a severe culture.
   
   Young and deeply in love, this half-Swiss and half-Persian girl married into the vast Bin Laden family. With her European upbringing, she was not prepared for her several years of married life in the male-dominated Muslim world, where "women are no more than house pets." The harsh treatment of Saudi women seems almost criminal, and Carmen doesn't hide the fact that money, status, and location all play an important role in determining how a woman is treated treated. In Saudi Arabia, sequestered Muslim wives are oppressed and treated like second class citizens. It's not only the men who expect women to stay "under wraps," uneducated, and out of the public eye; the older Saudi women often force young women to adopt codes of behavior that turn them into pieces of property. Money, on the other hand, can buy a woman a temporary reprieve, a trip to Europe and America, where an almost unfettered life can be led, but when she returns behind the veil, life becomes frightening.
   
   Not wanting her three young children to be subjected to this upbringing, Carmen fights her way out of a painful marriage and makes a life for her family in Europe and America. Just when things seem to be leveling out, the horror of 9/11 occurs and Carmen has to fight the stigma attached to her married name of Bin Laden.
   
   This painful memoir will be quick to read and difficult to put down, but you may find yourself returning to read again about life Inside the Kingdom.
   
   by Rhonda Esakov
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   reviewing books by, for, and about women



5. In this book, Osama Bin Laden's sister-in-law Carmen Bin Laden gets a final word in edgewise, and it is quite a word indeed. It exposes what she describes as the crude opulence, emotionally shallow, debauched, harsh and often ignorance, overly rich Saudi royal family. According to her description, the desert kingdom drips in waste, gaudiness, opaqueness, mean-spiritedness, internecine snipping and betrayal, and is grounded in utter and base religious hypocrisy. In short, Saudi Arabia, like the Taliban, is a cult-like religiously based state -- only richer.
   
   The book is about the author's plight to save her three daughters from a life of a slow "death by religious constriction." She succeeds in painting a graphic picture of a society that values appearances over its own pious beliefs, one still rooted in the nomadic desert tribal mentalities and still driven by primordial desert tribal fears.
   
   As one would expect, there is very little here about Osama that we did not already know: For instance, that he is a very tall, not particularly intelligent, but very pious, a very wealthy religious warrior and the "nth" son of one of the richest and most powerful construction company magnates in Saudi Arabia. During the Russian occupation of Afghanistan, the U.S supported him and his cause, and a large majority of Saudis still support his extremist views. Even in the post-911 world, he remains an iconic, a very much revered and protected religious hero in a nation where being a successful religious warrior amounts to a lot.
   
   The book shows that Osama Bin Laden and those like him do not spring, fully formed, from the desert sand. But that they are carefully nurtured by the workings of an opaque and intolerant medieval society, that, until this day remains very much closed to the outside world.
   
   In its essential outline it is not unlike Harsi Ali's "The Caged Virgin," for it too is as much an exposé on how religion becomes a self-enforcing form of mental enslavement on women, even as it is used as the foundation for a decadent, oppressive and a rigidly inhuman social order. Saudi women never become legal adults in Saudi society. They have few meaningful legal rights. The Bin Laden women were kept shut in their homes like pets kept by their husbands. The certainty of their inferiority and subservient status is bred into their bones as it is done to blacks in America.
   
   The intelligence and energy of women in Saudi Arabia can only be expressed through religion. They live only through, and for, their faith, which as it turns out is also the primary instrument of their oppression. Yet, most lack the courage or the will to resist the oppressive social order religion imposes upon them. The result is that their personalities are completely annihilated. They become dependent for their survival on their ability to manipulate their husbands. A disobedient woman dishonors her family and can be killed legally. Yet, because Islam is their way of life, these women do not chafe at the restrictions they live under: They embrace them. It is a willing form of self-enslavement. While there is little new here, it does come with a personal touch and much passion. Four stars
   
   Four Stars

5 comments about Free Byrd: The Power of a Liberated Life.

1. I started reading this book the first day I got it and it was hard to put down. It's very well written and easy to follow.
   I am truly blessed to know Paul, and after reading his book, I know now that we are both Fighters and want the same things in life.
   I recommend this book to anyone who thinks they are struggling in life with the Lord.
   I think everyone should read this book even if you are not a baseball fan, cuz it's really not about baseball at all.
   Great Job Brother and look forward to seeing you in the offseason.
   God Bless and Thank You for your wonderful words.
   God Bless,
   Cosmo*



2. I almost did not get this book... I was thinking -- great another baseball player puts out a book full of the "normal" christian pop culture and how Jesus is great and all that jazz.
   
   But I have to admit... this is an amazing book... it is down right unvarnished in your face... this is my life and how my faith has grown through out the years...
   
   It is one of my top books of 2008... it really is not about baseball but more about life and living an authentic christian life... not a perfect super clean verson -- but a real down in the dirt true christian life.
   
   I totally recommed this book.
   
   I look forward to Paul Byrd's next book...



3. I couldn't put this book down and it had me choking up with emotion time and time again. The reason is because Paul Byrd peeled away all the phony facades too many Christians hide behind and gave a stunningly open, honest, transparent and moving look into the life of a man earnestly struggling to better his relationship with Jesus Christ.
   
   Byrd focuses less on baseball and much more on the journey of what a true, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ is supposed to look like. (And is anything more important when you consider the stakes that this game of life holds for us?)
   
   Paul Byrd gets it - nobody's perfect, and yet God loves us anyway, offering His amazing grace, compassion and love through Jesus. Our job is not to try and earn it through sin management or following a list of tips and techniques, but rather ACCEPT God's love and enter into a deep, intimate relationship with Him. And out of that, we cannot help but be transformed into someone new, someone who seeks not sin (even though we'll still fall short sometimes) but rather to walk in lockstep with the One who loves us so deeply and so truly. To be loved, to really allow yourself to be loved in spite of all your struggles and imperfections, to really take Jesus at His Word ... this is what Paul Byrd inspires us to do.
   
   This book is less about baseball and more about the spiritual journey Byrd went on, and how even the trappings and fame of being a famous professional athlete leaves you empty inside if you don't know Christ. Byrd's chilling realization of this came when he won a national title with LSU in 1991 and was like, "That's it? That's all I feel?" moments after the on-field celebration began.
   
   The other thing from this book that continues to stick with me is Paul Byrd's approach to understanding and cultivating a relationship with God. He talks about how so many of us who grew up Catholic or in other denominations try to approach God with strict routines, memorized prayers, formal behaviors, etc. Byrd makes a great point when he says we would never approach our wives or close friends that way. But yet we do it with God, whose deepest desire is to have a close, loving and intimate relationship with us.
   
   Byrd's book is another way God continues to open my eyes toward the TRUTH about what it means to believe in Jesus Christ.
   
   I praise Paul Byrd for his transparency and for leading with his own weakness, because in the end it makes him human, helps me relate to him and glorifies God.
   
   After all, it's the truth about myself - the honest, unperfect truth - that attracts others to me, not all the preaching in the world.
   
   Lastly, Byrd really impresses as a writer. Having written my own Christian baseball novel The King's Game I was so excited to see Byrd's book, and I have to admit I was blown away at how crisp and clear his voice is as a narrator. The book moves at a fantastic pace - a very easy and fast read.
   
   He also had me laughing out loud over and over with his razor-sharp and oftentimes self-depricating wit.
   
   This is a book I'd give to anyone and everyone, Christian or not, sports fan or not, because it is the courageous and moving story of one man's journey toward the most important goal of all existence - knowing and sharing your life with Jesus Christ.
   
   Praise Jesus for his amazing love and blessings on Paul Byrd for this honest, much-needed memoir!



4. I bought this book because I love baseball and the Lord and because I have much respect for those seemingly few players who are successful both on the field and in their spiritual lives. The book is filled with great stories about Paul's baseball experiences, but what touched me most was how Paul recognizes how his relationship with his earthly father has shaped his view of his Heavenly Father. This is so true in my own life and it is comforting to know that someone as successful as Paul carries some of the same burdens as the rest of us. In this book, Paul writes, "I had spent most of my life imitating my living legacy, Larry the Legend (his father), by being a good, honest, and just person apart from Christ, which is impossible." I couldn't agree more! I too want to live "from Christ." Thank you Paul for sharing your stories, your insights and your life experiences so that we all learn from them. Your Father is proud!



5. Paul Byrd is living proof that Professional Baseball Players can and do have talent in areas off the field. Christians are not perfect.
   They recognized they are sinners deserving hell, they have repented of their sin to God, asked forgiveness, placed their faith in the blood of Jesus as payment of their sin-debt which guarantees their eternal salvation, then asked that God begin to make them into the person He always wanted them to be.
   We are real people, in a life-long struggle, fighting real temptations. We are just doing it with the awesome help of The Holy Spirit. Paul doesn't rely on religious systems to guide his Christian walk. He goes right to the source of all knowledge and all the wisdom we need for life in this world and for eternity to come, God's perfect and Holy Word.
   Paul, you nailed it. I just hope and pray you keep writing.
   Thanks for your testimony.
   Tim Billheimer
   Alliance, Ohio (Tribe Country)

No comments about Riding into the Sunrise: Al Quie, A Life of Faith, Service & Civility.

5 comments about All My Patients Have Tales.

1. This is a very easy read and certainly illuminates the life of a vet! It's so interesting to hear the story behind the person. My wife and I both read this book in our spare moments each day. We always looked forward to to our opportunities to read about the next 'adventure', often sharing a chuckle between us! After the last chapter, we found ourselves wanting to read still further!



2. "A breath of fresh air" applies to Jeff Wells' collection of stories that demonstrate "why veterinary medicine is a true calling." Sure, he's sloshed through a lot of poop, been rained on by vomit, and reached into the abyss of numerous cows and horses, but he's also treated a leather clad chihuahua named Megadeath, released puppies stuck in their father's? birth canal, and experienced a lifetime of opportunities to laugh at himself. Read ALL MY PATIENTS HAVE TALES. Inhale deeply.



3. This book is so well written, and truly IS a modern-day James Herriot book, like I read in the other review. If you love animals, this is a MUST read. You will have a new appreciation for what veterinarians do on a daily basis, and the people that they come across, too. I highly recommend this book!



4. The title of this book is what first caught my attention; I loved the "play on words" with tales and the picture of those wagging tails on the cover!
   
   Being an animal lover, I enjoy reading stories of people sharing their experiences with pets. My husband and I joke that our two cats are cheap entertainment as we watch them slide across our floor to bat at a toy, chase their tails or chirp at the birds outside. When I began reading Jeff's stories about his experiences with animals and their owners, I found I could not put the book down until I reached the last tale. Jeff is a wonderful story-teller; one moment, you experience the emotional heartache of owners and Jeff as a vet tending to a sick or injured pet, and the next, you are roaring with laughter at the antics of the pets - and owners!
   
   A great read and wonderful book to take with you when traveling.
   
   Kelly Johnson
   Cornerstone Virtual Assistance, LLC



5. Dr. Wells has brought the world and challenges of being a Veterinarian into your home in this wonderful and well written book about his experiences. I bought the book for my niece, but had to read it before she ever got it. She is in Vet school and bought more for her friends. My brother, a M.D., enjoyed it immensely. We ordered more for other members of the family and friends. It is not only stories about dogs (as the cover indicates) but animals - large and small - that Dr. Wells has helped. It is touching, warm, educational, interesting, intriguing and a most enjoyable read! Any Vet wannabes or just people loving animals will enjoy this book. I highly recommend it.