5 comments about Melissa Etheridge: Our Little Secret.

1. This is the most informative and entertaining book about Melissa Etheridge. The book is well written, well organized and has some detailed information on how each CD was made and what the stories were behind them. It's the only book about Melissa Etheridge you will ever need.



2. This was the book both Lifetime's "Intimate Portrait" and VH-1's "Behind the Music" used as a reference for their specials on Melissa. Can't get much more definitive than that!!!



3. im a great fan just want to express my thoughts the web site contains to many commercial thoughts i dig all the cds you have releasded the one that striked home is yes i am #5 that is the greastest tune ever released melissa is cool just a human like me



4. Melissa has always been a favorite artist of mine since my girlfriend and I found a tape of hers on the dollar rack in a Walgreens in CA. We discovered that she had more than one tape, and we immediately went to find the others. Everything us nosy fans wants to know is in this book. That and more! I would most definitly encourage and Melissa fan to read this book and to buy a copy to add to your personal library. It is a must have info book!!!



5. The book, to me, was very good. It was very vivid in the telling of Melissa's life. It wasn't like reading an exam paper like the first book I read about her. All in all, the book was excellent.

5 comments about Barbara Bush: A Memoir.

1. Ordinarily, this is not the type of book that I would have chosen to purchase or read, but it was given to me as a gift.
   
   With all of the mass media infatuation with the Kennedy family, it is interesting to note that it is the Bush family that may have quietly assumed the position as the greatest American political dynasty since that of the Adamses: Prescott Bush was a United States Senator from Connecticut; his son, George Herbert Walker Bush, a certifiable war hero, relocated to Texas and served in the Congress before becoming Vice President and President; two of his sons, George W. Bush and his brother, Jeb Bush, have served as the governors of Texas and Florida respectively; George W. Bush is completing his second term as President.
   
   Barbara Bush's memoir is a political love story. It is remarkable to see what a great beauty that Mrs. Bush was at the time of her engagement and marriage. When her husband left the oil business to concentrate on politics, Barbara Bush became a valuable political asset. She possessed a sense of humor and steel backbone that allowed her to be a tower of strength when needed. There are some poignant recollections included in the book also: George W. Bush proved to be a great comfort to his mother following the childhood death of one of his siblings. Clearly, he inherited his mother's sense of determination and tenacity.
   
   It would have been interesting to imagine Barbara Bush as president.



2. Tugboat Babs has finally written her memoir. She is in the weird situation of having been married to one president and having spawned another. She is most informative on the Bush's early years together -- although she provides very little information on the family's connection with the Medellin cartel. She is also mum on Laura's vehicular homicide conviction.
   
   All in all, it is a tale to rank with that of the Sopranos.



3. While I admire the Bush presidencies, I found this book boring. It is written as a catalog of events. There seemed not to be any central theme or purpose in the writing other than that it happened. That made it about as appealing as if a cook went into the kitchen and put every available ingredient into one pot to make soup.



4. What a poitive, gritty, yet appreciative woman hlding dear the basic human values of life that hold our country together. Truly, she was one of our greatest first ladies--she put "first things first," meaning her family and husband first. A must read for all American women who think raising a strong family isn't worth it!! What a payoff! When walking through the George Bush Library at Texas A&M, etched on a wall is George Sr.'s comment that his greatest blessing in life is "that his children still want to come home" Now I understand why.



5. I'll admit up front that I am a fan of both 41 and 43--and have always admired "Bar". That being said, I loved the book. Mrs. Bush has such a gentle, warm way about her and this is certainly reflected in her writing. She is able to weave together the story of her life (including some not-so-wonderful moments) with wit, warmth and clarity--all without ever resorting to name-calling, self-pity or egotism. This book is a refreshing change of pace and should be taken for what it is: a remarkable woman's life story told from her (very sunny) point of view.

No comments about Women Who Changed the World: Fifty Inspirational Woman Who Shaped History.

No comments about Notable American Women: The Modern Period: A Biographical Dictionary (Notable American Women).

4 comments about Golden Afternoon : Volume II of the Autobiography of M. M. Kaye.

1. What a terrific book--nostalgic, romantic, funnny, poignant. I was utterly charmed once again by Ms. Kaye's writing. Her descriptions of visits to the Taj Mahal and spring in Kashmir are beautiful. I can't wait to read "Enchanted Evening."



2. This book is thoroughly enjoyable, with M. M. Kaye describing her idlyic days in India in a wonderfully interesting, humorous way, which makes this book a pleasure to read and a must own!



3. Ms. Kaye has the most wonderful way of describing scenes, colors, and events of an era never to be seen again. Her family led a story-book life of adventure and she makes it look so easy to overcome the forces of nature that were part of living there with very few, if any, modern conveniences. It was a delicious read and I hope Ms. Kaye is busily at work on the next book of her travels in China! I am grateful for this journey back into a gentler, quieter time.



4. At long last, the sequel to Sun in the Morning -- and as always, M.M. Kaye's writing is evocative, sumptuous, and addictive. (The Far Pavilions is one of the two books I always travel with -- the other is Gone With the Wind -- because I can start reading anywhere and become totally immersed, no matter how many times I've read it.) No one is better at evoking that time-lost period before the Second World War; the details are not only fascinating but reveal to us moderns what the world once was like (which in British India in many cases seems rather closely to resemble E.F. Benson's town of Tilling...). Since I owe not only my interest in, but my several-hundred-volume library on, India to reading The Far Pavilions, I must admit a certain partiality here -- and a burning desire to read the sequel to Golden Afternoon.

3 comments about My Life in Stalinist Russia: An American Woman Looks Back.

1. Mary is taking you to the Stalin era... in imagination I lived her life while reading the book..When I went to Moscow it felt as if I have already been there.



2. A great account of how people lived in the Soviet Union during Stalin's rule. The advantage of this book is that it gives you the facts in such a way that it is up to you to decide whether or not the author is right in her conclusions. I strongly recommend this book for both academic and private reading for I believe it is one of the most unique books ever written about the lifes of regular Soviet citizens.



3. Although I have read a number of books on the Soviet Union, much to my surprise, I found myself totally absorbed by Mary Leder's odyssey. Starting with her travels across the US, and thence to Birobidzhan (Siberia), later asked to spy and, of course, spied upon, I believe Ms. Leder spins an eloquent and gripping tale. From Mary the dedicated communist to Mary the disenchanted one, from Mary the factory worker to Mary the editor-translator, she paints a totally honest and courageous picture of herself and her travails and those of so many of her fellow citizens. I recommend this book highly.

5 comments about Lilla's Feast: One Woman's True Story of Love and War in the Orient.

1. "Lilla's Feast" describes a time not so very long ago that seems impossibly distant. The world-wide expansion of European colonialism in the 19th century caused thousands of people, especially British, to seek their fortunes in the colonies and the trading emporiums in the exotic East, especially India and China. Lilla, the great-grandmother of the author was one of them. She was born in Chefoo, China in 1882 and spent most of her life in China or India.
   
   Lilla never did anything of great importance, but she stands for all the Brits born and raised abroad who felt a bit foreign when they returned "home" to England on visits. During the course of her 100-year life Lilla was present during the peak of Western power and prestige in the Orient before 1900 and its rapid decline thereafter culminating in World War II in which Lilla and her family ended up in a Japanese concentration camp.
   
   We follow Lilla through marriages, births,deaths, family troubles in India and China, the hardships of Weihsien internee camp in China during World War II, and finally back to an uneasy old age in England -- the money, power, and prestige of life as a privileged Westener in China now gone. It's a good story to be read about a class of people who saw their pleasant lives and lucrative livelihoods destroyed by war and politics. We don't feel all that sorry for Lilla, nor even that fond of her, but we are interested in her experiences. Along the way we get some fascinating pictures of the life of Brits in China -- and especially the hardships of Weihsien, a concentration camp that has catalyzed a sizeable body of literature. See "The Call" by John Hersey, a novel about a missionary who is interned in Weihsien and "Shantung Compound" by Lawrence Gilkey, a sociological classic about people under the stress of imprisonment.
   
   Smallchief



2. This is one of the most amazing stories that I have recently read. The book is beautifully produced, and the Author has gone to an enormous amount of trouble in collecting photographs and information concerning her Great Grandmother, who defied every hardship she faced. This incredible Lady lived to the age of 100, having survived a Japanese concentration camp in World War 2, preceded by other trials and tribulations. Her story is an object lesson to us all, in how not to give in, how to keep going whatever the circumstances that life brings to us. The early days of her first Marriage tell us how to keep a man happy even though she had a miserable time with him!!!This is a book to be read again and again, a wonderful read and most inspiring.



3. What we have here is a woman's life spanning just over 100 years. Lilla is not a particularly likeable woman, but if you digest the details you can see why (possibly). She is an interesting woman who weathered particularly exhausting situations and managed her life so that she did what was expedient.
   This book has numerous photographs.
   The book isn't well-written or edited. That aside, the details of survival, one way or another, are quite out of the ordinary and at times fascinating. It became even more so when I realized I had actually seen this cookbook when I was lucky enough to come across it several years ago at the Imperial War Museum. It was a nice , unexpected connection. And I have never before read of the Japanese prison camp existence within China. An easy read of eras gone by.



4. The previous review which reviles the colonial bias of this biography has little relevance ... this is the world as it was then and the story is not being told to address the right or wrong of it, but rather to tell the story of the author's great grandmother in the grand sweep of WWII. The woman in this incredible story makes the best of deprivations and a bad marriage and far flung family, circumstances take her from her beloved China to England, India, all of this in that bygone time with none of todays conveniences and she remained a figure of dignity and elegance who also has experiences of sublime beauty and love... I think this little masterpiece will make its way into your heart and stay there, it did with me.



5. But I for one was not. The book is steeped in a bias towards colonialism. The tone of the book encourages the reader to think of the Chinese, Japanese, and Indians as faceless "others" surrounding the more civilised and elegant British and European populations, only to be depicted in elementary-school-textbook-like passages about historical events.
   Although the author's inclination to view her great-grandmother as a victim of nearly everyone and everything (fate as well!)is certainly understandable, it hardly makes for captivating reading. The writing style is a dry mix of "facts" derived from personal effects and sheer speculation.
   This book is based upon a recipe book which was donated to a British museum.... as opposed to the priceless artifacts which Britain so self-righteously helped itself to during it's tyrannical episode of colonization... and still doesn't feel the need to return.
   I suppose it's hardly possible to expect an unbiased view of colonization from the wife of the youngest conservative member of Parliament, but one can hope.

2 comments about The Sun in My Eyes: Two-Wheeling East.

1. Amazon seems to have several negative reviews of Josie Dew's books that I find baffling. I've just finished a second book of hers (Sun in My Eyes) and thought it was excellent. Perhaps other reviewers haven't spent days (and weeks) cycling over mountains and through rainstorms. Josie Dew seems to do this with aplomb, and her writing is interesting and full of informative detail about Japan.
   
   In fact, Ms. Dew is full of praise for rural Japan and the overwhelming generosity of the people that she encountered. She has done her homework in researching the history of Japan and interweaving it through her story in an interesting way.
   
   The best compliments are that I was sorry to see the book end, that I plan to buy others of her books, and that her book inspires me to try a cycling trip to Japan.



2. A buddy lent this to me to read on a trip. I had read her other Japan book and thought it was horrible. This one has improved little, although this time she did not spend page after page reporting on what the Armed Forces radio was playing. She has turned into a Japan explainer of the type we had years ago and thought we were rid of when the "revisionist school" became accepted. Well, now we have a quasi bike story and a quasi chrysanthinum club J-apologist hybrid. Overly long, nothing new or deep about Japan. Not much a a travel tale either. ...

5 comments about Comeback Season: How I Learned to Play the Game of Love.

1. So, as a native Hoosier having the pleasure to read Day's book, I have to say first that it was highly helpful to those of us that aren't rabid football fans (yes, believe it or not there are a few of us in central Indiana.) She explained the passion behind the sport in a way that I could relate to as a single - love. As a person who fully understands the plight of the young urban single professional, Day also does a great job of presenting what is a challenge for many young, bright, professional talented singles - struggling to find Mr. or Ms. Right. Although I'm not convinced there is a Mr. or Ms. Right for each and every one of us, I enjoyed reading Professor Day's plight, which many can fully understand. Every single should read this book (and also all those marrieds out there) to fully understand the challenges. And WAY TO GO for Day to hold out for Mr. Right instead of Mr. Right Now!!!



2. Cathy Day's "Comeback Season: How I learned to Play the Game of Love," offers a fresh and sophisticated examination of modern society. If you are looking for a run-of-the mill, cliche, quest for love story, than this is not the book for you. However, if you are someone looking for a great, character-driven story that seeks to examine what life is all about, particularly our sometimes troubling, virtual life of the 21st century, than this is definitely the book for you. With her smart and witty, but down-to earth, midwestern voice, Cathy Day serves as an excellent guide for all readers who are attempting to traverse through their own labyrinth of love. Without a doubt, you'll be cheering for Cathy Day, play-by-play, in this incredibly, well-written book. A must read for any individual who seeks to understand both 21st century life and its complex dating structure.



3. This is a wonderful book that's fully of humor and humanity. It's a title I've recommended to my friends and family as a (true!) story that hits close to home for any intellegent person looking for their soul mate. The book has resulted in a lot discussions about relationships and the many dating moments that we've all experienced trying to find the right one. Cathy - don't give up!



4. "Comeback Season" made me vaguely uncomfortable at first, for which I blame this simple fact: I'm a man. I don't read books about dating, especially women dating, not even if they have a catchy football angle. And to be utterly truthful, the last time I did any reading about football, I was thumbing idly through a year-old Sports Illustrated while waiting to get a cavity filled. So one would not think that I would even countenance reading a book such as this.
   
   However, after hearing a radio interview with the author, I was moved to check it out, in part because I, like Ms. Day at the beginning of her book, am 37, educated, and single, and I would be hard pressed to think of a single acquaintance of my own age who is stil, well, single. Like Ms. Day, I have spent an inordinate amount of time wondering what's wrong with me, not out of unhealthy self-absorbtion, but genuine concern.
   
   The difference between me and the author is that she decided to take action to change her life. And then she wrote this book. I assume you've read the synopsis already, so I won't dwell on the plotline, other than to say it is by turns funny and profoundly thought-provoking, a performance-art journal and a diary of 3 a.m. despair. It showed me a situation quite similar to my own, but from the perspective of a member of the opposite sex. And, no, guys, you'll find no feminist rants here, no man-hating or man-baiting. The most refreshing thing about the book, considering its subject matter, is its almost total lack of ideological or gender-based rancor and its refusal to indulge in victimology. Like her earlier novel, this memoir is peopled by fully-realized human beings, both women and men, who are by turns weak and courageous, despicable and generous; no heroes or heroines, nor blameless victims, nor mustache-twirling villains. Nor are there quick and easy self-help solutions: Cathy does not get a makeover, a new wardrobe, and a frontal lobotomy and immediately find the love of her life; nor does she halfheartedly embrace a bitter compromise. Instead, she finds her own core and an unknown strength of character with the help of her loving family and friends and the virtues she's learned from her sports heroes. She comes to terms with the past decisions she's made, and finds grace and meaning in her present life, without earth-shattering calamity, divine revelation, or Oprah. Rather, she finds that the simple, sometimes hackneyed, often maligned influences in our lives - football, family, friends, silly 70's rock songs - can lead us to our better, greater selves.



5. What a wonderful book this is. Cathy Day's search and struggle to find "the right one", like the fight of the Indianapolis Colts, is told so honestly, and in such beautiful prose, that it's impossible not to be beguiled by this book. The portraits of men, friends, and family members are precise and perfectly rendered. I'm not given to reading about dating, but this book is about so much more than that: it's about the desire and the need to--to steal a line from an old coach--"make something happen" in life.

5 comments about Ayn Rand: My Fiction-Writing Teacher.

1. I'm going to use Erika's book to help me read my own writing.
   The ability to see your own mistakes, edit your own thoughts, and create new and unique pieces is precious. Thanks, Erika, for sharing your experiences.
   
   Rita



2. There is a great method to Erika Holzer's madness in how she put together this excellent book, "Ayn Rand: My Fiction-Writing Teacher." First off, let me say that I have no intention of ever becoming a novelist, and that as a writer, I'm strictly a journalist and essayist. Therefore, I am not exactly part of the "target audience" of such a book. However, I am a lover of movies, short stories and novels, and it is from that vantage point that I read this.
   
   Most of Holzer's "lessons" about writing learnt at the feet of Russian-American novelist Rand took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the living room of Rand's midtown Manhattan apartment. The book gives you that feel, as Holzer lets her anecdotes unfold naturally. As I reader, I never felt as though I were reading a boring by-the-numbers "how-to" book, feeling like the poor sucker at the receiving end of a power-point slide presentation (which is how most 'how-to' books feel, which is why I avoid them like cholera), but instead, Erika's got you sitting in a wing chair, eating a Danish and drinking caffe con leche and thrilling you with "Hey, guess what Ayn told me about holding on to your audience? Don't hit them over the head with the freakin' message!"
   
   It's a nice compendium of life-lessons, disguised as writing tips, and it's clear the author took them to heart, particularly in her short story (printed herein) titled "The House on Hester Street." It is the most charming short story I've read in years! It's really some of her best writing, ever, because it seems her heart was in this one 100%. The plot construction was simple, but not until I got well through the story did I see where it was truly headed. Ending quite like an O. Henry story, but the ironic twist never felt forced. Instead, my reaction was "of course," and, "how perfect."
   
   More so than her two novels (to be fair, I have to re-read "Double Crossing," because it's been 23 years), it shows the influence her "inveterate moviegoing" has had on her writing. As I read it, the whole thing unfolded like the scenes of a movie, the pacing very much like a film's montage. The scene with the central figure and her ailing mother talking, in very crisp, matter-of-fact cuts; the train trip in slow dissolves; the taxi ride to the 5th Avenue library in jump cuts. The letter reading was a dreamy flashback, sepia toned and all. It had a very easy flow to it, like a narrative of a motion picture.
   
   I read a lot of short stories, and aside from Roald Dahl or Daphne duMaurier, most leave me sort of "ho hum." "The House on Hester Street," however, is really one of those short stories that is demanding to be made into a screenplay! I couldn't help thinking that this was where her "Cheryl Taggart as Gibson Girl" mood piece found its true home (though it may also be yet in her upcoming courtroom novel). There's also the feel of H.L. Mencken's reminiscing about his wild days in Baltimore about it, he being a connoiseur of high-toned dames.
   
   Back to the book: If I got a kick out of this just as a casual reader, imagine the gems of great advice you'll get from this if you want to seriously tackle the task of writing the Great American Novel.



3. I am extremely grateful to Erika Holzer for her most recent book Ayn Rand: My Fiction-Writing Teacher. In it, she discusses her mentor-protege relationship with Ayn Rand, her development as a novelist, and important lessons about the fiction writer's craft. What I most appreciate about the book is Mrs. Holzer's insight into the art of fiction writing. She does not simply recite a few directives given to her by Ms. Rand. Rather, she provides a context for each of the lessons she learned and explains the importance and relevance of Ms. Rand's advice. Thus, the reader is left with a veritable road map to becoming a skilled and thoughtful (and, yes, principled) fiction writer. Thank you, Mrs. Holzer, for this insightful book.



4. Writers of all philosophical stripes will find Holzer's new book full of useful guidance. Much of it stands as a tribute to Rand the teacher, recalling an era when Holzer spent considerable time with her, moving past understandable heroine-worship into a true mentor-protege relationship. Yet the book is more, a catalogue of key relationships that benefited Holzer, the woman and the writer.
   
   Writers at all stages of development will find this book useful. All readers will be edified by the noble soul who shares so much of herself in these pages. Holzer covers believable characterization, disciplined plot development, heroes and anti-heroes in literature and film, the moral function of fiction and other issues in the book. She generously reveals many secrets of her admirable writing style.
   
   Holzer's stories are sensual without being salacious. Her fiction writing is transporting, full of compelling moments and memories. Her views of novel writing put her firmly in the camp of romantic realists. She is opposed to (or at least troubled over) so-called "naturalism" in modern novels. This book is highly recommended.
   -- Patrick B. McGuigan, Oklahoma City



5. I am a writer in my professional life, but I do not write fiction and have no plans to in the future. I am also a big fan of Ayn Rand.
   
   Ms. Holzer's book provides what I imagine is incredibly useful advice and context for fiction-writers; having said that, I found the lessons in this book extremely valuable for my own endeavors as well. I enjoyed every minute reading this book as a little piece of insight into a heroine (Ayn Rand) and was able to put myself often into Ms. Holzer's learning shoes to absorb the lessons Ms. Rand taught.
   
   I believe my own writing--legal and non-fiction in nature as it is--will benefit greatly from the lessons I've learned. Plus, it was an enjoyable read so it's worth the time in any case.