5 comments about No Stones: Women Redeemed from Sexual Shame.

1. My wife is in recovery from sex and love addiction. We wish that we would have found this book prior to reading any other literature on the subject. There many great books out there, but by far this is one of the best. If you are a woman suffering from the shame of sex addiction, sex and love addiction, or romance addiction, this is a must read. You owe it to yourself to read this book. I read the book to improve my insight and understanding of the addiction. It was eye opening.



2. Marnie shares her story of struggle and redemption in such a fantastic way. I couldn't put the book down. It felt like she was writing to me. I loved it and it has helped me tremendously.



3. The book, "No Stones" by Marnie Ferree is an excellent book. Very in-depth and compassionately written, I would highly recommend it to any woman who has any kind of struggle in the area of sexuality or relationships. Marnie has tackled a sensitive subject with great sensitivity and compassion. She is truly a pioneer and her work is breaking ground for others.
   The book is easy to understand but not always easy to read. It has the potential to open up painful areas of one's life. I would consider this book a gift from God to humanity.
   Sincerely,
   C.H.



4. "No Stones" is a comprehensive approach to recovery for female sex and love/romance addicts. In part one, Marnie defines the secret sin of sexual addiction, then explores messages about being female. She details the consequences and cycle of addiction as it presents in females and provides a diagnostic tool. In part two, Marnie explores the roots of sexual addiction: unhealthy families, abuse, abandonment, generational patterns, and the core beliefs and emotions of an addict. In part three, Marnie outlines the path to recovery and healing: surrender and sobriety, disclosure, community, accountability, boundaries, healing from trauma, and on-going recovery. There is a special chapter for the husband, family, and friends of a female addict. Marnie's writing is engaging and professional. Highly recommended.



5. This book is does a great job of defining sexual addiction from a female experience...it is different than men! Marnie shares her personal journey as well as her professional expertise. It has transformed the lives of many female sex addicts that I know from my counseling practice.

5 comments about I Can't Forget: A Journey Through Nazi Germany and WWII.

1. I just read this book and it blew me away. This account is so personal and so compelling, I couldn't put it down. On one level, it is a coming-of-age story that begins with earliest memories of a little girl and follows her as - against all odds - she blossoms into an accomplished young woman. But there are many more levels to this book because it unfolds against the overwhelming background of World War II and its aftermath.
   
   In the beginning, the war is a minor character in the distance. A tranquil childhood with youthful adventures and discovery is in the foreground. Before long, however, the war emerges as a major character in the story. Innocence is ripped away as the writer and her family suddenly lose everything and become refugees fleeing the horrors brought by the advancing Soviet army.
   
   Based on her own uncolored recollections, the author describes this trek through a seldom-described hell. Society and all its infrastructure are in ruins. Any sense of order is gone as Germany crumbles in the final throes of defeat. As the war ends and the Allies consummate their victory, those larger events create new terrors and more carnage as millions of displaced casualties flee to the west.
   
   Most readers know the many events surrounding the Allies and their hard-fought victories. Similarly, everyone already knows the heinous stories about the Nazi crimes that led to war and continued throughout that tragic era. Less known are the atrocities that accompanied the Soviet advance through the smoking ruins of Germany and the other countries that would soon fall behind the Iron Curtain.
   
   As I looked at some of the other reviews posted here, I was surprised to see a few people who just didn't get it. Those few only want to read the same history they've already read before. Too bad for them. A closed mind is a terrible thing.
   
   For everyone else, I highly recommend "I Can't Forget: A Journey Through Nazi Germany and WWII." It's tightly written and loaded with amazing photos and details. The book is a great read for anyone who wants to discover a different perspective on a history we all think we already know. I would like to thank the author, Gudrun Everett, for sharing this unique and firsthand viewpoint we rarely have the opportunity to experience. This book would make an awesome movie.



2. I just finished "I Can't Forget" and have mixed feelings about the book. It is an interesting read as the book is written by a woman (civilian) and on the 'losing end' of WWII. The story enfolds like a historical family album with lots of (excellent) pictures. The description of the flight from Poland for the oncoming Russian Army as a 13 year old, the fear for the Russians (which is interesting as I've read this in many accounts of Germans and I'm still unsure what lay at the basis of this fear in the '30s (pre-war) and '40s), the chaos and the arrival in safer Bavaria are very good. Describing life in the first post-war years is interesting as well with many small details on day-to-day affairs. What is lacking though in my few is the total lack of insight in the thought of the writer and family members on their lives in Nazi Germany under Nazi rule? How did it affect them in their choices? What were people thinking? Hence you are kept at a distance of the true feelings of the writer and her family resulting in not feeling anything except wonder.
   When reading the book one could come to the conclusion that everything just happened and that's that.
   What bothers me in this repsect is the unhidden bitterness over the treatment of the German people and destruction of German cities and infrastructure by the Russians and Americans notwithstanding the horrors inflicted by the Germans on peoples and countries in the first place. Had this book been written directly after the war I would not have been bothered by the tone. Given the fact that the book was written in 2004-2006 one wonders how the writer, more than 60 years after war's end, was not capable of balancing her thoughts or at least provide the reader with more insight in why her judgement - after all these years - is still what it is.
   I regret as well that the writer has not given more information on the family after the war (what has become of them at this day and age?).
   In all I would recommend this book as - fair enough - the story is apparantly the writer's true experiences of life in Nazi and occupied Germany. I do emphasize that one should read other books on the subject as well to deny a one-sided few on the events!



3. I just finished reading "I Can't Forget" and am bothered by several aspects of it. It does give a different side to WWII victims but it still bothered me. Gudrun Everett tells the story of her childhood first in Germany where her father was mayor of a Bavarian town. This part was fine as it told her life in pre-war times. Her father obviously a Nazi was given a position in Poland where he oversaw a large district. The family moved there and Gudrun described her perfect childhood with animals and living in huge and beautiful home all this taking place in the country where millions were dying in concentration camps at this very time.
   
   Their perfect life came to an end in 1945 when the Soviets came and they became refugees and from Jan'45 to June of that year were on the road fleeing for survival along with millions of others. She describes their hardships after they were finally settled in Bavaria in June of that year. [...]
   
   I am glad to have read the book and can recommend it as the pictures were excellent and it was good to read the other side however I found I could not garner up much sympathy for her. She found a good life in America judging from the picture of her on the back cover but was very critical of America's part in and after the war.



4. World War II ended in 1945, but interest in that conflict remains high. I CAN'T FORGET by Gudrun (Koppe) Everett is a memoir of her "journey through Nazi Germany and WW II." Published in 2006, this book is a BookSurge product.
   
   My copy is securely bound, well-illustrated with black and white photographs, most of which aren't credited. Furthermore, I haven't seen most of these before and suspect that they might be from the author's collection. There are also some helpful maps and line drawings.
   
   I carried this book around for a couple of weeks while I was reading it and am impressed to see that the binding is still tight and the pages still secure. The quality of this book is comparable, or better, than the quality of most paperbacks in my opinion.
   
   The author provides some unique insights into the catastrophe she survived. Her father, for example, was assigned to be the mayor of Dolsk, Poland, and she arrived there with her family a short time after the "Bromberg Bloody Sunday" slaughter of September 3, 1939. Polish mobs reportedly hunted down German speaking residents of the area and murdered many of them. The author's book includes what appear to be snapshots of the aftermath of that little-known atrocity.
   
   I'd heard of the treks trough the blizzards in January, 1945, when the Red Army initiated its massive offensive. The author gives a dramatic, evocative account of her own trek with her family and the narrow escapes including one in which Red Army units overran the town in which she and her family were sheltering.
   
   If you're interested in European History, World War II, the Eastern Front, or epic tales of survival against long odds, you'll want to read I CAN'T FORGET. I like the book and gave it five stars.



5. I have been fascinated, appalled, depressed and mesmerized by the author's story. She has written a vivid and poignant picture of her life and time in Germany and Poland, and of aspects of the war and the post-war period that many of us in this country know little about.
   
   I am sure that much of what happened, not only to Jews of course, but also to Germans and other nationalities from all over Europe who experienced the War and its aftermath in their own country, is still influencing the psyche and the politics of millions of people, even of the younger generations, who are not really conscious on a first-hand basis of what actually took place.
   
   The pictures and maps, (some of them rare) that accompany the text, make the author's narration even more expressive - all those mountains of rubble and bodies!
   
   Also, I think that most Americans have no idea how it really was for the civilian population, nor do the younger Germans (or others) who were born later than about 1950. And of course the reasons and the consequences of the division of Europe after the war, including the Cold War and even up to the discussions about Israel, Palestine, Iraq etc. are certainly very unclear for many.
   
   On the whole, it was a very good read!

5 comments about Madame Curie: A Biography.

1. This book should be on every Mother's list of gifts for her daughter. What a beautiful portrait of a mother by her daughter. In this age of "feminism" this should also be a must read for women in general. Madame Curie was in a class of intellectual genius by herself. She is one of the most outstanding woman scientists ever - and she was Polish!
   She is a great example as a human being, a woman, a mother, a "Polack", a scientist, a wife. Needless to say I was very impressed by the book. The thought that this was written so beautifully by this woman's daughter never left my awareness. This book certainly made this half-Polack extremely proud of his heritage.



2. This is one of the books that will remain closest to me...the kind of book I would definitely have on my own children's bookshelf. I unfortunately had to stop reading the book midway because the library wanted it back, and I was also going to be out of town. Three months later, I still felt compelled to go back to the library and finish off the remaining two or three chapters.
   
   The book is a detailed account of Marie Curie's personal and professional life. And who better to tell this story than Eve, her own daughter. The genius in Mme. Curie was a direct result of her dedication to hard work and an amazing work ethic. From a peasant Polish family, she faced many challenges and postponed her own education and worked for a wealthy family to help pay for her older sister's education. Such was Marie's spirit and selflessness - which extended to her research and her work in science.
   
   Her creation, radium, was the ultimate criminal that led to her untimely death, when she felt she still had a lot to accomplish. The lady was indeed a noble gift to the science world.



3. I say that for a biography was pretty good. There was a few boring parts that made me want to put the book. I wouldn't have read this book for pleasure. I had to read it for a physics project. I gave the book 3 stars because I did not necessary enjoy this because it was for school.



4. Madame Curie is a touching and honest biography. It tells the perserving story of Marie Curie, a native Pole who would seem out of place in France and--being a woman in a more prejudice timeframe--in the scientific community in general. Although this was the case, it did not stop her from becoming one of the most prolific and important scientists in the realm of physics and chemistry.

   Within this book is held the tale of a woman who worked almost every single minute of her life in either the laboratory, the classroom, or her own home. But she never faltered under pressure and endured inhospitable laboratory conditions (she was originally working in a shed to help discover radium, the element that created the field of radiation cancer treatment and spurred the field of nuclear science.

   As a biographer, Eve Curie remains factual in content, allowing the reader to form an unbiased opinion of her mother. She buttresses the book with personally letters to and from Marie Curie, which add a first hand account of certain aspects of her mother's life.

   A must read for anyone looking for a heartwarming story.




5. The book is a reprint of the biography written by Marie Curie's daughter, Eve Curie in 1937. It is a book which should be read by all - especially aspiring scientists. Marie Curie was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in France, the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize and the first person to receive two Nobel prizes. The work she accomplished under the most difficult situations for a scientist is truly inspiring. When asked why she and her husband, Pierre Curie did not patent the procedure for extraction and purification of radium, something which would have made them very wealthy, she said "No, It would be contrary to the scientific spirit." How refreshing, since in today's world the first thought of scientists is patenting their discoveries.

5 comments about Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia.

1. My wife got this book (from the library) on a recommendation from someone who she can't remember. Just as well; after 150 pages, she threw it into the "return" pile saying the author was a spoiled, self-centered brat.
   
   Out of curiousity, I picked it up and managed to get through it. I say cut the writer some slack.
   
   The book does suffer from two things. The first is the author's refusal to discuss anything about her apparently very emotionally draining divorce which seemed to be the underpining for the whole thing. Some understanding of how she got to where she felt she needed to take this journey would have given the entire book more substance. Second, the book would have benefitted from some much sharper editing. There is some substance here but you have to read, sometimes for over 100 pages at a time, to find it. About 150 pages or so would have accomplished just as much for the reading public.
   
   However, don't knock her personally. No one was / is financially dependent on her and she did self-fund the whole thing from her book advance which her publisher felt she had earned based on her previous writing successes. So, if she wants to go off for awhile (but a whole year....jeeezzz)to "find herself," cut her some slack and treat this as a form of self-therapy for the writer with some travel stuff thrown in to try to keep it interesting.



2. I found this book a wonderful read. Leaving herself open to the world, the author shares her journey to self-awareness. She seeks something that some in this world will probably never understand for she has a desire to heal herself from within. Through her search, she finds that the Divine has been living inside of her all the time, just waiting for her to find the "bliss" of connection. As a pastor, this is a message that I would gladly share with the great majority of people who are hurting deep inside, those who don't know yet that if they reconnect with their Maker (whatever they call their Maker!) those hurts can be healed.



3. From beginning to end I was fascinated with this book. I think it is a great book for any woman to read. Immediately after I finished it I mailed it to my mom to read and told her when she was finished to give it to another woman. It was insightful,funny, and easy to relate to. I cannot wait to read another one of her books!



4. I love travel, personal search for meaning books and although, this wasn't a great book, it was entertaining and I think she grew as a person, some of the country observations were nice. A nice book--don't agree that is has great spiritual insight, but we are on a search for meaning. This is one woman's search.. Perfect for plane travel



5. This is the best book i've read in a while. I could not let it go. She has great sense if humor as well as honesty.
   I can't recommend it more.

5 comments about Cherry.

1. I enjoyed both books by Ms. Karr. She speaks of happiness hidden in a dysfunctional childhood. I believe more young adults should read her books and realize that happiness comes from within and as adults it is no longer our parents who control our choices/lifestyle. I read exerpts to high school seniors who find they can relate to abuse or poor personal choices like losing their virginity. Ms. Karr is a natural born story weaver.



2. I read Liar's Club when first published & Cherry when it was first published, so, it's been many years since I have read either one. I grew up w/Mary Karr. Leechfield, TX is actually Groves, Port Arthur, TX; Janis Joplin's hometown. She dedicated Cherry to my step-brother's best friend, the one she ran off with to California after graduation from HS. I'm glad that Mary has turned out to be a successful writer & professor. She had a book of poetry published when we were in the 3rd grade. I was always in awe of her. Mary was always beautiful, with those big doe eyes, & long lashes, pretty body. She was in the HS drill team, so, she wasn't as much of an outcast, as she would have many to believe. We all went through the halls stoned on acid, pot, etc. There wasn't a lot to do, except, hang @ the Dairy Queen down the street from PNG HS, or skip school & go surfing @ Crystal Beach. A lot of us hung out in those dangerous, "black" blues bars down by the docks in Beaumont, & drove across the "bridge", just to get drunk in Vinton, LA. Many of the people she hung with in HS, were my friends, as well. I know exactly who she is referring to in Cherry's descriptions. Although Liar's Club is a much better written book, Cherry is still a good read. I was shocked when people related so much to Liar's Club, you know, the WASP girls in the book clubs. Kudis to Mary!!



3. I will 100% agree with the person who says in their review is this the same author of The Liar's Club? I REALLY, REALLY liked that memoir. I don't know what went wrong with this one..but I didn't waste much of my time trying to figure it out.



4. This is my absolute favorite book in the past few years. Karr is outstanding at description. I've never read anything as precise and beautiful and inventive. Her description of an attention-driven suicide attempt is hilarious and profoundly sad. The writing style is deliciously funny and smart, Karr is a keen observer of sexuality, adolescence, and change, and physicality permeates the story.
   
   On another note, I couldn't believe the 1-star reviews here - they criticize Karr's use of "big words." I was cracking up, hahha. And apparently if you write about drugs, your story automatically sucks. What?!
   
   Most people seem to be critiquing the fact that it isn't another Liars' Club. I haven't read that yet, so maybe that's why I was able to read Cherry with no expectations. It's very accessible, and I liked reading it out of order and then again in sequence. It doesn't have a really linear narrative, (maybe that's what people disliked?) but I loved that. I can't wait to read her first memoir.



5. I bought this book because I loved her first one "The Liars' Club" so much. To be honest, had I started with "Cherry" I probably would not have been interested enough to read anything else by her. But by the end of "The Liars' Club" you feel as if she's a close friend so you want to read "Cherry" to find out what happens in her life after that. She's also a poet, but I'm not a fan of poetry so I can't tell how if her poetry books are any good. I highly, highly recommend "The Liars' Club" and then "Cherry".

5 comments about Love and Consequences: A Memoir of Hope and Survival.

1. I didn't know the book was fiction until I went to review it. I'm disappointed that the author couldn't be honest about this, but the story is still good. I have a sister who lives in the Bakersfield area, who raised two African American children in grinding poverty in a very bad neighborhood. There are many things about the story that rang true from what she has told me. The question for me: does the story move us forward? I think it does. I feel more compassion for poor people and the circumstances that lead them to crime and the gang life. Maybe I'm naive, but I think that's a good thing despite the deception by the author.



2. This is ridiculous, anybody who been involved or even been around this life on the outside edges would be able to tell right from the beginning where she says the thing about using K's for c's. becuz they would know that C's would not be spelled with a K, but a cK. so right from the beginning it prooves that she is ignorant of what shes talkin about. c's become cK=crip killer, there is many different parts of the language that gets changed, not just c's, so if that is all she bothered to change to the "blood speak" (just typing that made me roll my eyes) then its even more ignorant becuz she couldnt even bother to find out what language really gets used n what it stands for, just uses someone elses life as a frame to make her own picture look better and thats sad.
   
   Books like this make me sick, for real, cant people just write somethin real, or somethin fiction and admit it. you cant get away with lying like that forever. its sad also, that she robs other peoples lives, when in reality there IS many white kids as the minority in the ghetto, but it aint a myth. But people like her faking it, takes away from the reality of their situations, like its just some concept to be used for your own good and not someones actual life and suffering. What a pathetic thing to do, now being upper class and priveleged is so hard that people gotta pretend they had a different life to get acceptance?
   
   Her use of the slang wasnt even on point, that should tell you straight up at the start what kind of suspect book you have.



3. This is a well written, most engaging story and it is so unfortunate that the author chose to label it as a true memoir which caused the publisher to recall it. BUT give her a chance... it should be read, not "banned"! (I chose to read it anyway because I'd heard the NPR interview with the author and was intrigued. And, I certainly was not disappointed at all in the book.)
   I think the author has a real gift to tell a story with feeling. Her descriptions of events and people are indeed well crafted. She has a talent for painting pictures with words. This tale of a youth growing up in the inner city is a fascinating, believable and captivating one. And, if you "read" the book on CD, you'll be treated to not only a well-written story but a well-read one as well. It's truly a "hard to put down" book. I hope she writes more, honestly!



4. Memoir or Fiction it is a wonderful and interesting book. Read it and see.



5. I started to read this book even thought I was aware that it was not, in fact, an autobiography. I stopped after the first chapter because I felt I had been duped. Wish I could get my money back.

5 comments about Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone.

1. I had just read Eat Pray Love and wanted to read more of the same. I was excited to find Nothing to Declare, but found it quite disappointing. She complains a lot about Mexico, how she hates to be alone, her new boyfriend (who takes care of her and makes her feel like the man in the relationship), and so on. If there was any self discovery in this story I missed it. Skippable. Read Eat Pray Love instead.



2. I finished reading this book only because I'm on vacation and short of other books. Also, I couldn't believe that there wouldn't be more to it at some point. Ms. Morris does write fairly well. There are some errors in the text and she clearly is not a craftwoman - she doesn't do the research at various points to name animals (for instance the 'large rodent' in the Guatemalan jungle). The critiques of other reviewers are very correct - she is self-absorbed, but not in an interesting way. The entire book is of her taking from others what she can, with very little giving back, except to her generous neighbor, Lupe, and even in that relationship it doesn't feel as if she's really able to be humanly touched. Her travel descriptions are pathetically shallow and useless for those of us who are curious and want to know the flavor of places. The texture and description which bring the essence of a place to a reader are mostly absent. The whole book reads as a cryptic list of 'places I've been with the crummy places I stayed while there and how I didn't like it' saga. I would have given the book one star, except Ms. Morris does have some writing ability. I'm very surprised this book is still in print. Ms. Morris has now had a number of other books printed and I for one can't imagine ever picking one of them up after having read this one. If those books are better than this one, Ms. Morris, do yourself a favor and take this one out of circulation.



3. Although Morris would (and does) believe that she is a natural and effortless traveller, this text attests otherwise. Morris spends the majority of the work lamenting the inefficencies of Mexico and reminding us how bold she is for taking the journey. The other portion consists of her waxing lyrical about her indifference to love or how generous she is as the privileged and revered American. She continously struck me as bitter and egocentrical.
   
   Similarly, I think she adheres to the stereotypes she seemingly casts away. I particularly loved when she decided that she felt more like a 'man than a woman' in her relationship with the pampering/cleaning Mexican man. I also shuddered when she declared that her aforementioned Mexican love was like an 'Indian' when drunk.
   
   As others have suggest, the cast that populates the background are more interesting than Morris herself. Beautiful writing and landscape, but intensely annoying subject.



4. A better title of this book might be "Nothing Interesting to Write About". This book was a total disappointment. All the people the author meets and writes about are oafish, selfish and/or unlikeable, including the man she takes as a lover, as well as being thoroughly boring. The one exception is her neighbor Lupe, however her sad and hopeless situation is common refrain in any poor area of any country. Too many children, not enough money. I will say that her descriptions of travel, food and medical care in Mexico have convinced me it is not someplace I ever care to travel to.



5. I was not so impressed with this novel and felt that the author was too caught up in her own drama to take the reader on an interesting voyage with her. It was a decent read, but I can't say that I would highly recommend it. To read a great book about a woman traveling, check out Rita Goldman Gelman.

5 comments about Cave in the Snow: Tenzin Palmo's Quest for Enlightenment.

1. In 1961, a 21 year-old English girl named Diane Perry embarked on an extraordinary journey towards becoming only the second Western woman ever ordained as a Buddhist nun. Adopting the Tibetan name Tenzin Palmo, this young Cockney girl, daughter of a poor single mother working as a cleaning woman in south London, went on to transform herself into a cross-cultural spiritual pioneer, devoting her next 20 years to steeping herself in the rarefied higher teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, and bridging enormous barriers of culture and gender to pursue a deeply felt spiritual calling.
   
   For most of the next two decades, Palmo lived among the exiled Tibetan monastic communities in India, at one point spending twelve years - yes, that's twelve years - in solitary retreat in a Himalayan cave. Since then, she has become a leading advocate for women in Buddhism, and a widely respected teacher leading Buddhist meditation retreats worldwide and working towards completing her convent for Tibetan nuns.
   
   In the years since her long Himalayan solitude, Palmo has also taken a solemn vow - one that non-Buddhists may find outlandish, but that Palmo herself undoubtedly takes quite seriously - to dedicate her current and future lifetimes (as Tibetan Buddhists believe) towards attaining enlightenment in the female form, transforming herself into a full-fledged female bodhisattva.
   
   Mackenzie, a former Times of London journalist, has written a captivating account of this remarkable womanýs life, including fascinating vignettes about her early encounters with Tibetan luminaries such as the great meditation master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a young Dalai Lama, and her lifelong teacher and guru Kamtrul Rinpoche, who recognized her immediately upon their first meeting as a reincarnated Tibetan lama in the Kargyu tradition.
   
   A reluctant biography subject (agreeing to the project only after much heartfelt persuading by Mackenzie, an unabashed admirer), Palmo comes across as a deeply humble, holy figure, possessed of a profound inner wisdom and much practical sense.
   
   This book is that rare find of a biography, in which we meet a remarkable but hitherto uncelebrated figure, whose life story provides an object lesson in moral virtue and grace.
   
   I would recommend this book to men, women, Buddhists, non-Buddhists, and others.



2. This is the story of an extraordinary woman who strives for enlightenment, and in her quest she trundles off to live in a cave for years. Quite amazing.
   Unfortunately, despite the fact that the story is fascinating, this book is so staggeringly badly written that every page made me wince and in the end I gave up and haven't finished it. Despite the authors fairly prolific output in matters of buddhism/spirituality I found the content bland, trite, rambling and uninspiring.
   I am not normally so critical of a book, and this is my first review, but this book incensed me because it completely mangled a fantastic story.
   It's only worth reading if you are particularly interested in Tenzin Palmo, I would never bother reading it for anything other than gleaning the facts.



3. Cave in the Snow is an Intelligent and Insightful book. Tenzin Palmo helps us to Realize that we as Humans are open to unimaginable Possibilities. Her Journey is one of Integrity and Truthfulness. She battles the Elements , a male dominated Faith and her own upbringing in an attempt to find True Enlightenment. Her Cultivation of Higher Values and Moral Essence are a Testament to the Strength and Courage of not only herself but of all Women. I was Deeply moved by the Wisdom and Accomplishment of Tenzin Palmo.
   
   Vicki Mackenzie - the author of this incredible book - should be applauded for presenting such a Fascinating and Balanced book. Tenzin Palmo takes us along a Path of Spiritual Transformation. She is truly in Union with the True Self. I am a Better person for having read this book.
   
   Cave in the snow is a Faciltator of Awareness. We as readers are are Inspred by Tenzin Palmos Knowledge and Confidence. She proves that Divinity is your Birthright. Enhance your Experience of today by reading the Tapestry of the Soul which is Cave in the Snow.



4. This book exceeded my high expectations.
   
   First off it is a well told life story of a western woman drawn to Buddhism. That spiritual attraction is not so unusual, but her subseqent move to India, and the related discomforts she overcame long before starting her years of seclusion were truly inspiring.
   
   Then came the chapters on her actual life in her cave. Since "the cave" is in the title of the book one reads with great anticipation until that part of her life begins. And the author does not shortchange you. You get detail and wholeness. Your curiosities are satisfied and you get a feeling for the spiritual evolution she was achieving herself.
   
   The latter chapters of the book were an added bonus. You gain a rich feeling for Tenzin Palmo's inner peace and stand in awe as she travels the globe fulfilling her goal of starting a Buddhist monastery for women.
   
   Let me leave you with a quote of Palmo's that I found very satisfying: '...taking time to be still and think is often a better investment for future productivity than cramming every waking moment with feverish activity."
   
   All in all a book of growth, wisdom, adventure and a bonus of personal reflection.



5. Am I the only person who found this book to be shallow? I actually couldn't finish it! I got about halfway through and got tremendously irritated with two things: the first one is the author's focus on apparently gossipy details - like Tenzin Palmo's early love conquests. It seemed an awful lot like the undertone was "Look at this woman! She became a nun, and it's not because she was socially shunned by men!" This introduced a note of melodrama that really doesn't suit the subject matter.
   
   Now, the second part that really bothered me: The title of the book is "Cave in the Snow" not "Small cottage in the mountains". I had to put the book down when I read the sentence about the DOUBLE GLAZED WINDOWS that were installed in her "cave" COME ON! It is amazing what she did, living in the himilayas on her own (except for those annual shipments of goods to last her the year). I would have been interested to read about that. But the author had to create melodrama and insinuate that Tenzin Palmo lived in a cave - the cave was bricked in, repaved, installed with a window with DOUBLE GLAZING, there was a patio out front, and a terraced garden.
   I'm not saying that Tenzin Palmo doesn't deserve all the credit that she has received - she has truly blazed a trail for all women in buddhism, however the author's attempts to create interest border on melodrama and significant inaccuracy.

5 comments about The Sky Isn't Visible from Here: Scenes from a Life.

1. I found her story gut wrenching and mesmerizing. Sullivan crafts an absorbing memoir from painful experiences. She writes beautifully.



2. I didn't hate the book and it was interesting enough that I was curious how it would end. However, I felt like her writing style was all over the place. Some chapters are about dreams. Some are written in the third person. Some in first person. One chapter I didn't even know what she was talking about. It didn't flow that well and I felt like she was trying too hard. The story itself was soso. I've read better.



3. In her book about her childhood with an abusive and neglectful drug-addicted mother, Sullivan does not only paint in black and white. There are no absolutes. Her mother is not horribly evil all the time--no, sometimes she knits and makes lunches. Unfortunately the times that she locks herself in a bedroom, or spends food money on drugs, or exposes her daughter to an abusive boyfriend are far more frequent.
   
   Sullivan hurts, and tries to hide for most of her young adult life, but as we've come to expect in memoir, she heals as well. Thanks to a supporting cast of her "father," (who she had the good fortune to pick herself), friends old and new, and most of all the self she wants to be, she kicks her own drug and alcohol addictions.
   
   I read memoir to remind myself about what is inside the people we see each day. Most have overcome something or are struggling with something at the moment. Sullivan's story makes us think and reminds us of the power of hope, but also not to paint everyone's past with the same brush.



4. I haven't finished a book this quickly since I was twelve and read Beverly Cleary by the week. THE SKY ISN'T VISIBLE will hold you by the throat. It is gripping and tragic--making it that much more hopeful in the end. It takes a bold and talented writer to tell a disturbing story in such an endearing way.



5. a poignant and stirring account of a woman's highly interesting life. The story is imbued with complex psychological dramas and philosophical musings that offer much to the generation of people who grew up in the eighties and nineties. She maintains a sense of humor and literary creativity throughout the book. I was intrigued, disturbed, humored and enlightened by this unique and intelligent book of discovery.
   
   I look forward to checking out the other works by this talented author.

5 comments about Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose.

1. I hate to say this but I really like this book. It's like a guilty pleasure. More than a year ago, I found it at a book store in my favorite shopping mall and decided to take a peek in it. After a few pages, I found myself laughing and took this book home. When I finished it the first time, I thought "This is a really funny book. What kind of a person is this. Quite self-absorb. Still, it's really funny." Then, it was left on shelf. Anyway, yesterday I was bored, too lazy to find a new book, I picked it up hoping to get relax, instead I got to think hard about it. Really look behind the book, I think she's pretty smart. She doesn't seem to work that hard, just go out partying and maybe famous for being in a sex tape, but the girl's now really making money for going to a party, releasing purfumes, endorsing products, designing stuff, etc. Even having a record deal! What kind of a person will make money just to go to party and have some fun, which you're going to do that by yourself anyway? And hey! for many of you who don't like her, I think some of you already bought (aka giving her your money) her stuff, right? Something in the book are totally ridiculous like "choosing a family you are born into,... blah blah blah..." but some are pretty sharp. Of course, this is not "The Alchemist", but I don't think she'll feel embarass to say when she was young, she'd written something like this. Just give it a good laugh and a try. After all, it's just a guilty pleasure!



2. This book is a how-to on how to be an heiress. While some may argue that Paris Hilton only put her name on this work and didn't author it, I can assure you that she has penned it herself, like totally. It is overwhelmingly obvious that an experienced, educated writer did not type this up. She describes how one should behave and present herself when aspiring to become an heiress, even going so far as proclaiming that she believes everyone chooses their life on earth before they are born. She was smart enough to pick a life full of wealth, fame and privileges, why anything less? While I believe everyone does choose their life before birth... it is certainly not based upon anything materialistic or egocentric. Lessons to learn are the focal point, well, the only point. After all, what of those in poverty or places of violence, etc.?
   Furthermore, I DO NOT understand how someone with hundreds of millions of dollars has absolutely NO intention of earning a college degree. This book reads like a how-to straight out of junior high. There are no misspellings or problems with grammar, capitalization or punctuation, of course, but search inside this book and see that the content is very immature for her age. Did she even graduate from high school? All of her career aspirations revolve around fame and admiration: acting, modeling, singing, writing a book on how to be like her, etc. Look at me, me, me, me!! That's HOT! Well, it's not so hot; what about a priceless college education and a degree no one can ever take away from you? If one looks at real royalty all over the globe, attaining an education is an absolute MUST. If I had as much money as she did I would attend classes until I died or ran out of things to study, whichever came first. College? AS IF!



3. It's not the cheapest variety of kitty litter or the most absorbent, but kitty litter is the best way to use this book. After reading a couple pages in a local bookstore I came to the conclusion that Paris Hilton needs to stop trying to get into the spot light. Talented people need it for good entertainment.



4. It's a sad, sad world. It hurts my heart as well as my brain to know that there are girls out there, adults and teenagers, who look up to a person like this. Paris Hilton is the opitome of what is wrong with America. She is materialism personified. This waste of oxygen has no redeeming qualities about her at all and she threatens the intelligence of millions of people every time she opens her mouth.
   
   The fact that a book as been written about Paris Hilton personally offends me. However, it's the fact that people have BOUGHT this book that mortifies me. If you supported this book, you should truly be ashamed of yourself.
   
   0/10



5. It's true what another reviewer said . . . there are people who live only for image, without substance, then you've got those who are intelligent and stay out of the limelight. And like the reviewer said, the first type of person, the "image" type, "gets old" fast -- both literally and figuratively. What is left once the person gets old and has nothing left to show? Answer me that. It is very disconcerting to me that young girls look up to this creature or humanoid named Paris, whatever term you prefer. It makes no sense. When I was younger there were no such crass and base people to be idolised, and thank God for that! We idolised Joan Jett or The GoGos or even Cyndi Lauper -- these were truly creative and interesting women. Things then seem so innocent now, don't they? I feel so sorry for young people today, they are bombarded with Paris Hilton and other forms of cheap, worthless entertainment daily, without respite.