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After closing the last page of A CERTAIN SUMMER by PATRICIA BEARD, I had a strong desire to learn more about World War II. When I ask myself why this desire to gain more knowledge about a war is so deep, I think it's because of the wonderful way Patricia Beard writes a book. From the timeI began to  read the novel there was this feeling that my body had slipped away to Wauregan, the community on Long Island, and become a neighbor and friend who knew everything happening to Helen, a woman whose husband is counted as missing during WWII overseas across the street from a bakery in a house, etc. I also felt close to her son, Jack, the men in her life Frank and Peter and also, her housekeeper and friend, Kathleen. Really, I think it's impossible not to become one in spirit with these people while reading the book. Also, I loved Max, the war dog, who is now licking his war wounds like the soldiers coming back home from the battle fields. None of these

iledefrance "When they boarded and toured the ship, Peter, who had come to see them off, explained to Jack that the Ile was the first ship decorated in the Art Deco style. "It was inspired by 1925 Paris Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes....It was simple, and it also paid a kind of reverence to the machine age, so the furniture and some of the art had a streamlined quality. It was simple, and it also paid a kind of reverence to the machine age, so the furniture and some of the art had a streamlined quality."

lindacrill After Linda Crill's husband dies, she knows it is necessary to change her life. She decides to learn how to drive a motorcycle. She has never ridden one. She joins a group with one other lady and two guys. They leave from Vancouver, Canada with the intention of riding 2500 miles. This is their final goal before returning to their homes. The book is written in a wonderful style. It is nonfiction. However, it seems like a novel. I hated to stop reading it to go out or to do a chore. It is an inspiring book because Linda Crill is fifty-seven years old. She has been a CEO. She is also picking a challenge which will test her in every way possible. I just could not believe this woman would choose to drive a motorcycle. If so, I felt very worried for her. I've always wondered why people choose a quest like climbing a mountain, skiing down the steepest slope or walking long distances alone. After reading Blind Curves, I understand why these brave people pick such choic

Whenever I write or talk about relationships and this happens on a daily basis, I realize the importance of the subject. Family relationships hit the heart in an especially deep way. Like individuals change throughout the years families change too. Sometimes a family can feel too small, too large or magically just right. Whatever is happening in our families it's definitely got wings to spread to every member whether there is a feeling of being forgotten or feeling unnecessary to the rest of the group.Catherine begins to feel this way in the novel " CATHERINE'S PURSUIT by LENA DOOLEY NELSON. Catherine begins to feel incomplete. " Grief ripped through her. Tears streamed down her cheeks. To find out she had sisters and lose them all within a few minutes. She didn't feel like celebrating her birthday. Insted she wanted to mourn the sisters she lost before she even knew she had them." After her mother's death she finds out from her father that she has tw

These two authors just keep getting better and better. Every time I stopped reading FRIENDS & FOES by ReShonda Tate Billingsley & Victoria Christopher Murray to do a chore or run an errand was frustrating. I wanted to get back to New York, Houston, Chicago or The Virgin Islands where Rachel and Jasmine were having a really exciting adventure. Perhaps, Rachel wouldn't call it an adventure, but looking from a distance at thugs and guns and a disappearing dead body might seem downright fun. At least, the authors know how to make such goings on fun. I knew this was going to be a fun novel when at the very beginning who should show up on the pages but Oprah . I had to keep reminding myself this is not really Oprah, silly. It's just a novel, but it all seemed so real except for the fact I have seriously doubts whether Oprah would find herself outside of Harpo in the parking lot with two angry women throwing words as hot as fire. President Obama and The First Lady are m

Don Herold (Adapted) When the late Nadine Stair of Louisville, Kentucky, was 85 years old, she was asked what she would do if she had her life to live over again. "I'd make more mistakes next time," she said. "I'd relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been on this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones. "You see, I'm one of those people who live sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottl

Doctor Ismael N. Nuno, M.D. is a Heart surgeon in California. I must mention he is Latino because the surgeon is very proud of  his roots. He loves his roots deeply.  In The SPIRIT of the HEART Stories of Family, Hope, Loss, and Healing Dr. Nuno writes about the memorable patients, families and surgeries he has worked with throughout the years. It seems like his heart is as huge with kindness as his patients hearts are desperate for a surgeon to help them survive when it looks like they can't survive another week, month or year. Dr. Nuno is very humble. He never gives himself total credit for their survival and their ability to enjoy life for a longer time. He divides that extraordinary gift with a Higher power. It's an inner talk with himself. How much does science have to do with heart transplants and how much is not science. This inner talk became more personal, I think, after Dr. Nuno lost his mother, wife and daughter to heart trouble. He knows what h