5 comments about Between the Lines: Not-So-Tall Tales From Ray "Scampy" Scapinello's Four Decades in the NHL.

1. I (asked for and) received this book for Christmas (Thanks, Mom!) and read it on the plane ride to Minnesota. It was a fun, entertaining read. For a post-lockout new fan, as I am, I found the mentions of the mechanics of the game interesting and for a short while I considered trying to be a referee or linesman in the NHL, until I realized I couldn't skate forwards that well, let alone backwards, sideways, or while holding myself up on the boards. The non-mechanics parts of the book were also fun - It has a lot of stories of "Scampy's" personal experiences working in the league for over 20 years. If you're looking for a light*, fun read about hockey, this is certainly the book for you.
   
   *"Light" meaning quick and mostly painless, and we're comparing it to the wide range of literature rather than other hockey books.



2. This was a good book. But if you're looking for juicy stories you won't find many (if any) here.



3. I bought an autographed copy of the book directly from Ray at the HSBC arena in Buffalo. I loved Scampy as a ref and I loved his book. Sure, it could've had a bit more content but overall it was a very enjoyable read.



4. As a hockey fan with an appreciation for the history of the game, I jumped at the chance to read and review Between the Lines: Not-So-Tall Tales From Ray "Scampy" Scapinello's Four Decades in the NHL by Ray Scapinello and Rob Simpson. From the perspective of a fan, it was fun to read. But from a critical perspective, it could (and should) have been much, much more...
   
   Contents:
   The Essential Scampy; Big Games, Colossal Pressure; Fighters and Brawlers; Young "Gus" Grows; Gaining Experience; A Brotherhood of Pranksters; All in the Family; NHL Evolutions; Privet (Hello) Russia; What's Left Behind and Lies Ahead; Index
   
   Ray Scapinello, aka "Scampy", was a linesman in the National Hockey League (NHL), and has a career of respect and longevity that will never again be matched by an official. Due to excellent conditioning and more than a little luck, he never missed a game and was on the ice until his late 50's. During that time, he skated with many of the legends of the game. And at only 5' 7", he was almost always outmatched in the size and bulk department when breaking up fights. But again, his commitment to the game and fearless attitude had him diving into scrums with some of the league's most notorious brawlers. Throughout the book, there are a number of stories related to the games he worked, personalities he met, and other officials he saw come and go during that time. From a pure hockey appreciation standpoint, the book provides an insight to the life of a "zebra", quite often the most thankless job in sports.
   
   So where did things go wrong with the book?
   
   Primarily, a lack of focus. I wouldn't expect fellow officials to be left out of stories, but far too often the stories were more about them than Scampy. It also wasn't unusual for the author to head off on a tangent related to some aspect of the game. Again, interesting from a hockey standpoint, but not seemingly relevant to Scampy's story. The stories don't always follow a chronological order in his life, so you jump from his last game to his childhood to the strike season back to his son, etc. It made the organization of the book seem very disjointed, and detracted from what could have been both an entertaining read *and* a solid book.
   
   I'll pass this along to my son, who is also a linesman and referee at the junior level. I have no doubt he'll enjoy the book and relate to many of the on-ice incidents. But I have a feeling that even he will be less than impressed at the overall layout. Too bad, as Scampy is a part of the game that's often overlooked and should have more attention. There *are* real people under those striped sweaters...



5. As an avid hockey fan, I enjoyed all of the stories in the book. It provides incredible insight into the NHL and its officials. I found myself thouroughly amazed at how much extracurricular stuff goes on during a hockey game between the officials and players.
   
   That said, the book itself was dissapointing. It seems to skip around alot, telling a story and then going off on several related tangents before returning to the original point. This causes the author to repeat himself several times, particularly across several chapters.
   
   Perhaps most dissapointing is the general lack of "Scampy" stories through the first two thirds of the book. It's more of a "life of the NHL officials" type of book than a story about the life and career of a specific person. This is why hockey fans will still enjoy this book, reading background stories about NHL games always provides a unique, new, and enjoyable experience. Unfortunately, this book is published as an [auto]biography and that takes away from the overall enjoyment of the book.

2 comments about Sharon Osbourne Survivor: My Story: The Next Chapter.

1. I was pleasantly surprised to find the next chapter of Sharon's story available so soon after reading the first book. Some may feel she took too much liberty in putting those who've offended her (and/or her family) in their places; but I enjoyed reading her side of these conflicts. I would have liked to read more about Ozzy and the kids, but perhaps not enough time has passed since she told their stories the first time... Instead, she tells of her British chat show, and of her participation in "The Vagina Monologues", "The X Factor", and "America's Got Talent". Sharon shares about health issues she's had resulting from her gastric bypass and other cosmetic surgeries, as well as some scary stalking incidents. She also spends a significant amount of time on how she dealt with the illness, dementia, and ultimately death of her father, Don Arden. She was very open in relating her struggle with taking care of a dad who for years had used and betrayed her (when he should have been protecting her, and looking out for her best interests). It says a lot about her character that she chose the high road, regardless of their history, and did what she could to be there for him during his long and painful decline. It's clear Sharon speaks candidly and from the heart, whether it's shaming those who've pissed her off, or expressing her fiercely loyal love for her husband and children. That must be what makes this such an easy read: Though she lives a lifestyle most of us can barely dream of attaining, she tells her story openly and honestly, in a way to which almost anyone can easily relate.



2. Sharon has a fascinating life and puts it all out in the open for everyone. While some people might not be as open about their misfortunes, Sharon doesn't sugar coat anything; she tells it all. This book was well written and very personal. Her life is very interesting and how she has put up with Ozzy, I will never know. That must be what true love really is. She is such a hard worker and a great inspiration for women everywhere.
   
   I also highly recommend Sharon's first autobiography "Sharon Osbourne Extreme: My Autobiography" and the book "Understanding: Train of Thought".

5 comments about Before Night Falls: A Memoir.

1. My review will be quite simple, this book is... marvelous, magnificent, beautiful, brilliant, painful, poetic, and glorious. Read it!!!!!!!!



2. Anyone can put the their life on paper, but few such endeavors are worth reading. A fine memoir must come alive, must breathe, must sweat, must bleed, must become flesh and blood and acquire a `life` beyond that of its creator. A memoir worth reading (more than once) must become a Frankenstein. Reinaldo Arenas` supremely moving and magical autobiographical journey has become just that, a freakish, terrifying and stunningly gorgeous creation that will carry the memory of its creator well into the future. If Arenas had never written anything else, `Before Night Falls` would have been enough to rocket its author into the pantheon of literary greats.
   
   When I first devoured this book more than ten years ago, it gripped me like some nagging fever. I just couldn`t put it down, nor put its collection of macabre images and revealing epiphanies out of mind. Coming back to it once again, I was amazed that its power and pathos can still hold the reader spellbound. And what exactly is the secret of its magic? The answer lays with Arenas`s unflinching desire to lay himself bare before the reader, completely shorn of the disingenuous veils through which we all like to see ourselves and be seen by others. Arenas makes no such attempt to airbrush his forty-seven years of life into a pretty portrait for posterity. Instead, he gives us what was and nothing more.
   
   But was, was truly a life lived to the full. As full as possible within the Island prison of Fidel Castro. When the first page begins with little Reinaldo expelling a painful and ferocious stomach worm (the result of too much dirt eating!), the die is cast. Page after page, Arenas documents his impoverished upbringing within the wilds of Eastern Cuba. With his stark and matter-of-fact diction, Arenas shades nothing. Yet, through the very simplicity of his language, the images of his magical youth do achieve something of that overused phenomenon within Latin American letters, `magical realism.` Whether describing his lonely and forsaken mother, superstitous grandmother or lecherous grandfather, Arenas` tiny familial world comes alive like that of a Marquez novel. And everpresent throughout are the forces of nature, the rich, luxurious island fauna, the extremes of rain and sun and especially, the powerful and mysterious Caribbean. Throughout his life, the sea remained a mythic and revered instrument of freedom for Arenas, always enticing and prodding him to abandon his island prison, which he eventually did in 1980 with the Mariel exodus.
   
   And in a book where the forces of nature play a central role, sexuality is omnipresent. Arenas` homosexuality was central to who he was as a man and as a writer, and he lived a life many would deem promiscuous at the very least. With seering intensity and unmatched candor, Arenas catalogues his sexual history like few have done before. From the group encounters with his childhood playmates (even a few animals) to the legions of encounters and partners in adulthood, Arenas leaves no stone unturned in documenting the importance of sex in his life. Yet, Arenas` lusty descriptions of his extraordinary erotic life are neither strictly prurient nor solely for voyeuristic thrill. Instead, one feels the palpable, if albeit transitory, joy that the erotic held for Arenas. While some parts of the book will be hard going for the puritan, the arm-chair psychotherapist will have a field day constructing theories as to the source of Arenas` grandiose appetites. Yet, Arenas` makes no excuses nor explanations for his behavior, rather he documents what was, without blinders, without shame.
   
   Like in Kundera`s Czechoslovakia, Arenas` Cuba was/is a place of profound spiritual, emotional and physical suffering. A place where the `state` forced its way into every perimeter of human existence. Sexual expression, along with artistic expression, was the only way of asserting any individual autonomy. But even this was/is controlled and oppressed by the all-compassing arms of Castro`s revolutionary state. Arenas suffered persecution and torture for both his uncompromising sexual autonomy and for his individual artistic voice. Branded a `degenerate` and `counter-revolutionary,` Arenas paid a heavy price for his refusal to conform. Some of `Before Night Falls` most endearing and moving passages involve Arenas` internment in the infamous `El Morro` concentration camp.
   
   While the constant references to the Cuban literary milieu and its inhabitants can confuse the reader (who informed on who!), they never wholly detract from the fluidity of the narrative nor from the power of the voice locked within. `Before Night Falls` is like a boulder rolling down a steep cliff. With each page, it only gains in intensity and ferocity.
   
   With Arenas`decision to end his richly lived and endured years, `Before Night Falls` comes to an abrupt stop. But not end, for this is truly an unfinished work. Arenas` spirit stays with the reader long after the last word is digested, feverishly waiting for his country to catch up with him.
   
   Arenas` last words say it best, `Cuba will be free. I already am.`



3. Many readers may have a difficult time getting past the first third of Reinaldo Arenas's memoir. Its opening chapters describe both the author's sexual awakening and his unorthodox (to say the least) adventures at the beaches and in the bushes and even in public restrooms in Cuba before and after the rise of Castro. "In spite of everything, youth in the sixties managed to conspire, not against the regime but in favor of life." He regales his readers both unashamedly and unreservedly with his exploits, and the more homogeneous audience members may be repelled by his homo-heterodoxy.
   
   Yet these tales are an integral part of Arenas's message: in a totalitarian society, everything is an act of rebellion--even sex, which is often subversive and furtive and (in spite of any regime's puritanical attempt to control it) always available. For Arenas, his sexual prowess is of a piece with his literary expression, and his brave and headstrong need to write often overlap with his desire to be a gay man in a society that doesn't want homosexuals--or writers--to exist. The bulk of the book, dealing with his life as a writer, as a rebel, as a fugitive, as a prisoner, and as an exile, is identical in tone and spirit to the early passages about his libidinous youth.
   
   His stubbornness is awe-inspiring. We read about the many times Arenas's manuscripts, often hidden in the roof or left with friends, were discovered and destroyed. Nevertheless, he would shirk off the dangers and re-create them from memory. The novels he managed to smuggle out of the country resulted in a slim international celebrity that made him a pariah of the government yet immunized him from becoming simply a political prisoner. After his arrest, he confessed to "ideological weaknesses," but his public trial was for sexual offences. "By convicting me of a common crime, they would avoid an international scandal," and the court condemned him as "a counterrevolutionary and an immoral person [who] should be sentenced for corruption of minors." (It is almost beside the point that the two swarthy "victims," both of whom recanted their testimony at the trial out of embarrassment, were hardly minors.) All of Arenas's battles were fought at the intersection of sex and literature.
   
   Arenas has little good to say about the Batista era, but his recollections are a bracing and much-needed rebuttal to those who make apologies for the Castro regime. He reserves his bitterness especially for fellow writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Alejo Carpentier who have helped prop up Castro with an aura of respectability. He reminds us that Carpentier wrote his best work (in exile) before 1959 but became part of a group of writers who "once they embraced the new dictatorship, never wrote anything worthwhile again."
   
   Arenas begins his book with "The End," a chapter summarizing his final struggle with AIDS and acknowledging the irony that after the "thousand adversities" he suffered in Cuba, "the only escape for me was death." The paradox of Arena's life is that he finally escaped his homeland, only to die in a decade by his own hand in a dingy New York City apartment. Repression, imprisonment, and torture couldn't destroy him in a land that liberty forgot, but the fight ended once he reached the land of the free.



4. No pretty prose passages, no magical realism, no lovable eccentrics. Thank God. This isn't Marquez or Allende. This is true life, sonny Jim, dirty, brutal, hilarious, dark and unrepentant. This is a great book filled with creations, copulations, imprisonments, escapes, knife fights, love affairs and a deep, deep love of a rich beautiful Cuba that one day Arenas hopes will be free from tyranny.
   
   Arenas hates what Castro and his cronies did to him and the island. He shows us the secret police, the prisoners, the informers, the labor camps all in intense and sometimes horrifying detail. He levels his wrath at deluded pro Castroites in the United States and Latin America and doesnt hold back from accusing fellow writers (including Marquez, Carpentier and Paz) of being stooges of the Castro brothers.
   
   I personally could have done without the AIDS conspiracy theories and the copious beastiality, but that doesnt detract from a terrific book.



5. If you're sick of cute little stories that follow some godforsaken formula, you might get some juices flowing with this book. I can count on my fingers all the books I've read that resulted in what I would call "an experience." This is one of them.

5 comments about Backcast: Fatherhood, Fly-fishing, and a River Journey Through the Heart of Alaska.

1. I liked this book. I heard Lou on NPR and decided his book sounded interesting enough to read. While I was drawn to it for its tales of rafting in Alaska, what I found most interesting were his tales of growing up. His father abandoned the family when he was 7 and his mom moved he and his brother around to many different houses and apartments. Many of his anecdotes made me relect on situations in my own past. Once, another kid's dad spanked him for some minor infraction. When he told his mom, a hot-tempered person, she decided to do nothing, since she rented her shop from the man. This made me furious. The book also made me sad as he described the breakup of his marriage and his strained relations with his grown son. The Alaska adventure is enjoyable too, though it seems in retrospect to take up only a fraction of the book.



2. A most enjoyable read. When first picking it up I thought I was going to be exposed to a boys own adventure tale of a floating & fishing trip in remote Alaska. The book certainly delivers this but even moreso it descibes the complexity of family relationships as seen through Lou's own experiences as a son and father.
   As an aussie it provided me with some insight to what it was like growing up in middle america in the 50's and 60's. I found Lou's accounts of his own childhood and his interpretation of relationships with his mother, & father figures, as rewarding as the descriptions of he & his son hooking monster sock-eye salmon.



3. I truly enjoyed this book, since it was real, involved father son relationships, and included fishing in Alaska. As a father of 4 sons, I related reasonably well to the struggles the father and son encountered during this trip. I have been to Alaska on a similar trip with both friends and a son and the descriptions of the float and wildlife were very accurate. I thought the hostility of the son toward his father, who was the leader of the trip, cook, fishing guide, fly tier and financier was a little overdone. Having never been through a divorce, maybe I don't relate to this part of the relationship. The father did more than his share to bridge the gap with what appeared to be little or no effort or reciprocity by the son. They had spent many hours together before the trip, so this seemed a little over done.



4. The author invites you to come along on a rafting / fly fishing trip down Alaska's Kanektok River. There's excitement in the air in the opening chapter as the author and his teenage son hop planes from Philly to Anchorage then to Dillingham and finally dropped by bush-plane into the Alaskan wilderness - ON THEIR OWN. To dial up the adventure meter here, the East coast duo decides to cover the 100 plus mile float by themselves. Add to that a shoe-string budget for equipment and a first time ever trip to the wilds of Alaska, and well, I sensed it would be interesting.
   
   And yes, these guys experience the thrills and dangers of the untamed Alaskan wilderness first-hand. But the greater adventure Lou Ureneck has in mind for us in Backcast isn't catching wild silver salmon on a fly-rod, but the adventure of growing up, becoming a man, and the demands of being a good father.
   
   Backcast alternates settings between Alaskan wilderness and Ureneck's various homes which range from South Jersey up north to Maine. At least a third to a half of the book tells Ureneck's life story. How he grew up. The importance he places on fishing as an escape from an unstable family life and as a common bond with his step-father. And lastly, living through the stress and anguish of a crumbling marriage.
   
   Ureneck vows to not repeat the mistakes of his natural father and his step-father. As the story closes, we are presented with a father who has made tough choices but refuses to throw in the towel on his son. The struggle here to maintain the love and respect of his college-bound son, is no less in scope to what it takes to survive the raw, Alaskan wilderness. At the end of Backcast, I'm left feeling that his father is certainly up to the task.
   
   Ureneck delivers a well-told, and extremely personal story of a man's journey to confront a childhood filled with temporary homes and temporary father figures. The struggle against the Alaskan elements sometimes pale in comparison.



5. I had heard Ureneck interviewed on NPR and the book sounded like an outdoor adventure during which the author/father and his son took a trip to Alaska and had the opportunity to work on their relationship. Having taken my own teenage son on a fishing trip in Alaska, I was looking forward to an outdoor adventure and insight on a father/son relationship. More than half of this book, however, was the author's discussion of his own largely fatherless childhood in Newark, NJ. (I guess titling the book "Backcast: a miserable, divorced father analyzes his dysfunctional childhood in Newark" wouldn't sell as many books.
   
   I found it interesting that even when there were "teachable moments" with his son in Alaska when he could have shed light on the depths of care and concern that he had for his son, Ureneck seemed to miss them entirely and only let out the anger instead of the fear behind it so that the two could actually understand each other better. This served only to further isolate them from each other. The lesson, however, was not lost on me.

No comments about Otherwise.

5 comments about Safekeeping: Some True Stories from a Life.

1. I read Abigail Thomas' article in the AARP magazine. I am writing a memoir and thought I would like to read one of her memoirs before buying her book which is supposed to tell you how.
   
   I decided on "Safekeeping". I was so disappointed! I read it in two sittings and was left feeling, "That is it?". I've thought a couple of days whether or not I should write this review as several readers have raved about it. The blurbs on the cover do too.
   
   I'm sorry, but I just can't agree. I'm glad I bought a used copy and didn't waste too much money!



2. I had very high expectations for Safekeeping after having devoured Ms. Thomas's excellent memoir, A Three Dog Life. Safekeeping is nothing like A Three Dog Life and so I was left disappointed.
   
   A Three Dog Life is a moving memoir which displays Ms. Thomas's keen insight and hyper-self-awareness as well as her beautiful way of being able to translate her thoughts and feelings into words. Safekeeping also showcases, Abigail's unique and talented writing style, however, Safekeeping is a collection of short vignette's and does not tell a complete story or recount contiguous events in her life. The stories were disjointed and jumped around.
   
   I should note that I am not a huge fan of short story collections to begin with, so I am perhaps not the best critic of a book which is basically mini short stories. Abigail Thomas's writing is sparse and insightful. Those who love short stories will like this book.
   
   I recommend reading a Three Dog Life first so as to gain knowledge and backstory on Abigail's life. I feel that this knowledge enables a greater appreciation of Safekeeping despite the fact that it was written before A Three Dog Life.



3. I can't remember now why I bought this book. Must have read a review somewhere. When I first started it, I was a little annoyed by the writing style...some very short and other longer chapters, jumping from one point of view to another, racing back and forth in time. But in the end, I really liked the book, perhaps mostly because of its unusual style. It's laid out as if it were a book of short stories. I think hers is a story many people will relate to.



4. I liked this author enough to pick up her memoir--that came out not too long ago--and liked her even more!



5. Thankfully, Abigail Thomas followed the proverb, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again," having recently composed a wonderful memoir of life before, during and (mostly) after her husband suffered a traumatic brain injury, entitled A Three Dog Life. Unfortunately, this earlier work, a 179-page collection of about 100 stories, ranging in length from one sentence to a few pages, was disappointing. In Safekeeping, snippets of her life from an eighteen-year-old pregnant wife, to grandmotherhood, her writing feels stiff and forced and even though I disliked it from the start, I trudged on hopefully. Unfortunately, my disappointment never disappeared and only wavered during two of the stories, I Ate There Once, about a conversation which takes place as she rides in a car with her second and third husbands and, What the Moment Can Hold, which tells of her feelings and actions during an encounter with her newborn granddaughter. Both felt authentic and true. As far as the rest of the stories, they seemed like what you'd get from an above-average college student if you assigned them to create a journal of life, specifying, "Write down any random thought you have." Additionally, it is written in the third person, which doesn't suit the theme, memoir-like "true stories from a life." Readers should skip Safekeeping in favor of her later and many-times-better memoir, A Three Dog Life.

5 comments about Who Do You Think You Are?: A Memoir.

1. I appreciate the honesty it took for this author to write this book. She dug deep into what had to be painful memories and I give her credit for going there. I was moved/touched by her life story and thank her for allowing us a look into it. Most of all, I'm very happy she made it! She moved on with her life and didn't let her past determine her future....GOOD FOR YOU! I highly recommend it to others.



2. This memoir is a quick read, full of regret and sadness for the mother (and father) who might have been. Parents let their children down regularly, that is just a fact of life. The character that Myers describes as her mother is not some abusive monster, but instead is an extremely lonely, isolated and depressed young widow who is struggling to support three kids.
   
   Not at all a nurturing mother, but then that did not shock or surprise me. She had a husband with numerous health problems, who (we learn at the story's end) married her mainly because he hated being in the army, and married men were allowed an honorable discharge because the low pay of an enlisted man could not support a family. She was essentially a single mother even before her husband died, since he was mostly absent and had a girlfriend. The mother-daughter arguments that are recalled by the author are frankly pretty typical stuff ("You're selfish!" "I hate you!"). Hurtful things were said by both, and the daughter was made to leave home at 18. The author envied "normal" families that were intact and appeared to be happier than hers, but ultimately she became a confident and independent woman with a wonderful husband and career.
   
   I ended this book feeling deeply sorry for the author and her mother; our parents are always strangers to us, even when we think we know them well.
   
   I also felt thankful to NOT live in a place like New York City, described here as so full of crime, filth, and unkindness, as to be a horrible place to raise small children.



3. "I found this book to be amazingly captivating. I must be honest I did not expect to enjoy this read, but I was entranced from the first page. The book was a nostalgic ride back into my youth. Alyse Myers manages to deal with her formative years in an honest almost cleansing manner. The book shows us how we are in some positive and negative ways the products of our environment. The essence of who we are is shaped in childhood and Alyse shows her strength and determination in rising to the top." - Eva Johnston
   
   *I give it 5 stars, but my computer isn't allowing me to highlight all five.



4. No insight. A the ending - the "I'm the good person I am today because my mother was awful to me, and I wanted to be better than her" is a total cop out. How about that you might be a good person today ~in spite of~ the hate and violence your mother tortured you with as a child? Think about what a wonderful person you'd be like if you had a Good childhood? A supportive parent, a happy household, an understanding family. It's like justifying being spanked as a child as a good thing because hey, you turned out okay, so it must not have been so bad.
   
   There was no real exploration into the reason why her mother was so angry and hateful toward this one daughter and not the other two, why the three didn't get along or speak much. Why?
   
   This is a story suitable for a blog, someone posting about what it was like growing up. Not worthy of print though. Find it at the library. You will read it in one afternoon - it is not a weighty book at all and certainly not one that requires much effort on your part as the author didn't seem to work that hard. So many times I asked "but why?" and wanted to know more, things were hinted at but never explored further and my questions not answered. Could have been a good read but it's really just a quick story of growing up with an angry mother.



5. reading this memoir--I was done reading it in one day. I found there were times I put it down; when it got too close for comfort. I really found this book by accident..I didn't know anything about it until I was shopping for new memoir's at bookstore last weekend--and there it was. I am very glad I picked it up and read it. I will recommend this book to my best friend..and I think she will like it as much as I do. :)

1 comments about Alice Cooper, Golf Monster: A Rock 'n' Roller's Life and 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict.

1. I bought this book and read it in one setting. There are a few stories told here that I didn't know about, and he does seem to take golf very seriously. I myself detest golf but I must admit Alice is very persuasive. The style of writing utilized here is very difficult to resist and I found the book difficult to set down.
   There are a few parts in the book where Alice discuses his religious faith, but he's not pushy with it. There are some genuinely funny stories relayed in the book and he does cover a few of the lesser known events of his career.
   Overall I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in classic rock. I'm not a big golf person and would not know how good his golf tips are.

5 comments about Gladys Aylward: The Adventure of a Lifetime (Christian Heroes: Then & Now) (Christian Heroes, Then & Now).

1. This is an extremely inspiring and amazing tale of a woman and her quest be a missionary to China.
   She indures many hardships and successes that can only be attributed to God. One of the best books I have ever read and it is an amazing adventure. Both my boys ages 9 and 10 and I throughly enjoyed this book. It held their attention on every page.



2. I love this book. It is down to earth and very clear for the younger children to understand. It gives a clear picture of Gladys' life. I definitely recommend this book to all young readers. The life of this missionary is exciting and leaves you feeling inspired!



3. I read this to my children a few weeks ago, and I found it incredibly moving. I am not one to get sentimental over books, but I found this story so inspiring and really incredible. The book begins with Gladys being told by the head of a missionary school that she would never make it on the mission field. She isn't cut out for missionary work. She is urged to go back to being a professional housekeeper. Instead, Gladys stubbornly chooses to pay her own way to China. God uses her in a mighty way, eventually bringing the mandarin (similar to a governor) to faith in Christ. I was so touched by how God was able to use her in spite of what others thought that it brought me to tears.
   
   I've come to the conclusion that any book by these authors is worth reading -- every book I've read of theirs is excellent.



4. Gladys is my heroe. I was spellbound by not only her difficulties but her tenacity to stay the course when circumstances said to throw in the towel. I've never had a book grab my heart like this one. I immediately bought two other versions of her story and the movie, 'Inn of the Sixth Happiness' based on her story. Lord help me to be as focused as Gladys was.



5. It is incredible to think that a single young lady could accomplish so much in such a short lifetime. Only someone sold out to God could be used in wonderful ways like this. Thank the Lord that people like Gladys Aylward do answer the call to spend their lives serving Him. She gave up all of the normal comforts of western life and totally followed God's will. She even sacrificed the hope of a husband and family, but God gave her a bigger family than she could have ever imagined! She dared to head off into the unknown with nothing but her faith in God. It proved to be more than enough and God blessed her with spiritual fruit beyond our understanding. You must read this book! It is so well done and inspiring! It would be great for the whole family. I pray He will call out many more people like Gladys Aylward into the dark corners of the world.

5 comments about In the Company of Horses: A Year on the Road With Horseman Mark Rashid.

1. Both enlightening and practical. This book is clearly written and makes points in way that Mark Rashid himself (I love his books) is not always able to. I think this comes from this author's more "traditional" horse training background, which so many of us share. (BTW: If you are into jumping then this book is definitely for you!)
   
   I found this a wonderful complement to Mark's own books. It stands well on its own, too. I would recommend this as a first exposure to Mark Rashid's philosophies for anyone who wants to "get to the point" a little quicker than reading through all of Mark's books. But if you've already read all of Mark's books, you won't be disappointed either!



2. It is often good to see the insights and opinions of those whom have been affected by someone elses knowledge and abilities. In the Company of Horses: A Year on the Road With Horseman Mark Rashid puts you on the road and in the clinics with the eyes, ears and emotions of many of his students.



3. After reading the first five pages of this book, I put my pen down as I knew I'd underline about 80 percent of what I was reading.
   
   Chapter titles include 'Point of View', 'Softness', 'Mean Well' and within the chapters are well thought, priceless vignettes of self-discovery ranging from learning with Mark and horses, the life style of an on-the road clinicians, working with students and how this thoughtful style of consistent horsemanship changes self and permeates life.
   
   This time through, I'm devouring it - skimming words, slowing down here and there, nodding in agreement, delighting in the aha-moments. As soon as I compete the book, I'll start my second reading - going slowly, savouring the Lindley's words and experiences along this horsemanship road that beckons and calls us just over the next hill.



4. Of sharing true openness and self observation. Kathleen shows how being open minded to learning from not only Mark, horses and her students but also learning from herself and what she is really doing when she is working with a horse. Which shows that if you are not honest with yourself and what you are really doing, or not capable of doing while working with a horse, the horse will reveal it for you.
   This book is hard to put down once you start reading it.



5. In the Company of Horses is such an inspiring story about not only finding your role as a horse trainer but also how to identify and work within your own psyche. There were so many ways that I could relate to what Kathleen had written about her own experiences, doubts, and insecurities. The inspiration comes when she helps the reader to realize their own potential for success- in life as well as with the horse.