I love this cookbook! Its used almost every week whether I'm cooking for my family on a Tuesday night or dinner guests on Saturday night. Its gourmet meals made easy! The short stories from Lewis Grizzard and other Southern authors also makes "Saturday morning reading" fun. (Doesn't everyone read cookbooks on Saturday morinng??) This is my favorite!

True Grits is a wonderful cookbook. Not only does it have great (and easy) recipes from the south but it is also a beautiful book. It is the perfect gift for cooks who enjoy southern cuisine and appreciate coffee table quality cookbooks.

This book is a winner! It is not only full of beautiful pictures, but also contains fabulous menu suggestions for any occasion. I have received rave reviews from all of my guests. You must try the chicken pecan quiche and the spinach and strawberry salad. It has become the first book that I turn to every time!

This book is written by an author that will truly be recognized as one of the best innovative writers of our decade.
Two thousand minnows is a story that captivates your heart and soul. Sandra Leigh has such a wonderful way to translate her story from a childs perspective. So insightful, but yet so innocent.
I admire her courage to go for her hearts desire...
A must read for everyone!!

Two Thousand Minnows is an amazing story about family, about hopes and dreams, and about never giving up. This book made me laugh and cry and reminded me that we should always follow our hearts! Thank you Sandra for writing such an extraordinary book.

Two Thousand Minnows is a completely enthralling story - I just couldn't put it down. There are moments in the story that are totally unbelievable, when I just had to shake my head in disbelief. Thank you for writing such a beautiful book that touched my heart, made me laugh and helped me remember what it was like to be a young human-being in this unpredictable world.

This book is truly a comprehensive collection of recipes. I work as a home economist, and this book contains most of the recipes that the public requests. It sits on my desk with my "easy-to-reach" references. As is typical of Southern Living cookbooks, recipes are presented in an easy-to-read, organized format that makes cooking a pleasure, even for the novice. I give this cookbook as a gift for weddings, graduations, and housewarmings. One of the best I've ever run across in my work. I have my own copy as well.

I have several Southern Living cookbooks including several years of the annual editions and the 20th anniversary edition. This is by far my favorite. The recipes are grouped by category rather than month as in the annual editions which I hate, it makes it hard to browse for a dinner recipe. One of the best things about this book is it has recipes for everyone from the beginner to the advanced chef. I can't name the number of times I have used the reference sections also. The substitution list is the best and I love the introductions and tips listed all over the book. Where the annual editions are really geared towards an experienced chef this book has so many basic tips that I would strongly recommend it for a beginning chef as well.

This is a no fail cookbook. It's the book I turn to when it "HAS" to be right. I have never been disappointed with the results of a recipe. Bon appetit!

What makes for a spiritual life? Merle Feld avoids pop psychology, new-age angels, and inner-children in her deeply personal and intensely human journey. The sacred is often revealed in the mundane, the divine in a moment in time. Through deceptively simple and often in an almost conversational mix of poetry and prose, Feld's spiritual life is found in relationship.

Her relationship with her past and the family she was born into, reveals the earliest struggles with her sense of self growing up in a poor Brooklyn secular Jewish family. She asks herself the questions that she will repeat in one form or another as she moves from one world to another, growing from one period into the next phase of her life. The questions are basic. Who am I? Who are you? Why are we here doing this together? Each of her roles in life, among them, daughter, wife, mother, mentor, artist, poet, playwright, feminist, activist, peacemaker, Jewish woman, and friend are subject to questioning of self and spirit.

Her insights are deeply touching particularly when she expresses the darker emotions usually omitted from books claiming to be spiritual. She never shies away from anger, fear, or resentment when they are true to her experience. She gives us permission to appear less than angelic to ourselves when we experience that shock of recognition, "Oh yes, I felt that, too." Her courage to express it directly reminds us that a spiritual life must be grounded in honesty with our humanness. What she has done is to take those emotions and turn them into art. In doing so she honors that place in her life and encourages us to embrace all the contradictions in our own selves.

Just as the negatives are embraced, Feld also reveals tenderness and joy. Her evocative depiction of Shabbos with her family invites the reader into the sacred time that nourishes the spirit. She makes us aware of the efforts involved in creating sacred space and time, efforts of intention and demonstrations of labor. We learn that to create a spiritual life, one must want to have one. There is a shifting of consciousness and a commitment in action whether baking challah for Shabbos or later working with Palestinian women in Israel. This relational spiritual life is expressed both in brave action and then in honest reflection.

I would encourage anyone to engage with Merle Feld on her intimate and profound spiritual journey. In reading the book one encounters her not only in the roles she has carved out for herself; the reader's spirit is enriched by the words of a wise teacher, the vision of an artist, and the compassion of a loving heart.

Merle Feld shares her deepest feelings, her questions, her growth and change. While her prose describes her life, her poetry elevates it so that we enter her world and resonate with her emotions. I keep it next to my bed so that I can pick it up and read a bit at random. You don't have to be as feminist or Jewish to enjoy this wonderful book.

An amazing story of self-discovery, " A Spiritual Life, A Jewish Feminist Journey" by Merle Feld, fills her book with beautiful prose and poetry. I identified with this book immensely as the author echoed my inner thoughts that I never took the time to write. Ms. Feld voices the struggle to grow and develop into a special person, concerns about doubts how woman relate to others, professional growth and motherhood. She discovers a gift with words and poetry and along the way - confidence. Her book, a triumph of realization and actualization, expresses her developing passion, hones social action and true friendships. Read this book from cover to cover or open the book and select a poem at random. Each poem allows an opportunity to remember who we are, engage in a dialogue with self and friends, to encourage where we need to be in our lives. Several favorite passages discuss marriage, Israel, re- interpretation of some biblical stories, Shabbat and agonies about menstruation. This book will make you a new friend. Excellent!

I was looking for a good overview book of the Vietnam War and this really fit the bill. The author put together a well thought out, easy to read and well-written book that does a good job of giving the reader the high points. The author was a solder in the combat and spent a number of years in the military so he has an authoritative position to speak from. He does a great job of keeping the book away from being overly laden with military jargon or the Rambo style of combat writing. The book is focused on the American effort and thus skims the pre U.S. troop entry into the war. If you are looking for a deeper history on the start of the war with the French or the overall American involvement in Asia then this book will disappoint.

The treatment he gave to the major battles was good. He presented an easy to follow account of the battle, what lead up to it and the outcome. He also touched on some of what was happening back home with the politics, but only briefly. I think the most interesting parts of the book for me was the details of the air war, more specifically how the bombing kept escalating and then the final bombing push by Nixon. My only complaint with the book is that it was an overview that was a bit too light on the facts for me. The book was only 270 pages long, and book size do not necessary determine quality, this book could have been a little bit more in-depth. It seemed to me that to get a better understanding a few more pages could have been added without the overview turning into a in depth study.

This is not a picture book or a "....I been there" book. Objectively and carefully details the war step by step. By presenting the facts, Palmer allows you to decide....but that is not his goal. Clearly written to give the reader a non-partisan look from the first decisive battle (Ia Drang), to our continued efforts to support the South Vietnamese with U.S. airpower. Points out that TET was a hard fought win on the field for the Americans, but allows us to see the fatal political damage it inflicted on our leadership -- political and military, thus the "turning point." Not as detailed as Karnow and does not go as far back in history, but gives us a definitive look at the use of our military and its new hardware. If there is one book that is a must for a Vietnam War Collection, this is it....how we got there and why we left.

I don't read books hardly ever, but we read this for a military history class, and I finished it in 2 days. This book gave me new insight into a battle I knew nothing about..I had always heard we lost the war, which I took as a military loss. But, after reading this book, I believe we totally won militarily, but lost the war politically. It's hard to imagine how many people are without a brother, father, or husband because our government couldn't make one intelligent decision!!..Read this book and you will see it from someone who was there, not some historian who thinks he really knows what happened.

Ed Silvoso does an incredible job of weaving together the solid biblical basis and practical outworking of how to reach entire cities for Christ. It's so SIMPLE - We've missed it! Ed Silvoso shares his incredibly practical insights that are based on the scriptures and tested and proven on the battlefield. What sets this books apart from others on similar subjects is that it presents a working model for city reaching not simply theoretical knowledge. You will quickly warm up to Ed as he humbly shares his battle scars and triumphant victories in hopes that everyday readers will be challenged and equipped to reach their cities for Christ! It can happen! Every Christian should read this book!!!!!!!!!

All pastors and christian leaders should get this book! Ed Silvoso knows what he is talking about. He's been there and through God's grace and help he has participated in taking whole cities for Jesus. Ed writes and presents what the Lord has shown him as a doer of the Word and not a hearer only.

If you want to be part of taking your city for our Lord Jesus Christ you must get this book.

Please email me if you desire more information: peralta_mike@hotmail.com

This is a book by a practitioner of missions and evangelism. Ed. Silvoso wrote this book from his own experience of reaching the cities. This book has provided practical strategy as well as biblical insight for those who want their cities to be transformed with multitudes turning to the Lord.

There is no dichotomy between prayer and evangelism. The one who prays cannot run away from the evangelistic task of reaching the people for Christ. And the one who evangelizes cannot do so without being a praying person. Both prayer and evangelism are closely knitted together that prayer evangelism is the biblical strategy provided for leading the pre-believers and seekers into the Kingdom of God.

I commend this book to every Christian who wants to be a partner in gathering the Lord's harvest. And those who make an attempt to read it thoroughly and thoghtfully are likely motivated to look at the vast harvest field with renewed insight.

James Thurber is undoubtably one of America's greatest writers ever. "The Thurber Carnival" is an brilliant collection of his works.

I was introduced to Thurber's works two years ago,by a short story of his that was included in my English textbook. I was instantly charmed by his writing. Ever since, I have read everything of Thurber's that I can get my hands on. Through my readings, I have discovered several key things:

1. James Thurber was NOT just a humorist/satirist. Of course, I have stayed up late reading his stories laughing out loud, yet there is more to the stories. Thurber not only chronicled people of his time, but people of all times. His works show that the little eccentricities most people possess are the very things that make them interesting. Take this excerpt from the story "Recollections of the Gas Buggy", included in "The Thurber Carnival":

'Years ago, an aunt of my father's came to visit us one winter in Columbus, Ohio. She enjoyed the hallucination, among others, that she was able to drive a car. I was riding with her one December day when I discovered, to my horror, that she thought the red and green lights on the traffic signals had been put up by the municipality as a gay and expansive manifestation of the Yuletide spirit. Although we finally reached home safely, I never completely recovered from the adventure, and could not be induced, after that day, to ride in a car on holidays.'

2. That excerpt brings me to my next discovery: James Thurber had quite a way with words, which to my knowledge, no author since has been able to near. Thurber's words transport you to another world, an amazing world, where everyone even slightly insane is portrayed with kindly satire. The character Briggs Beall, from the story "The Night the Bed Fell," is a perfect example of Thurber's wit.

3. An additional point I discovered is that Thurber's works need to be shared. I treasure this book so much that I brought it with me as traveled to Nebraska to visit my friend, just so I could read parts of it aloud to her. Whether it is a driving adventure with a Russian boat specialist("A Ride With Olympy"), an amusing maid("What Do You Mean It Was Brillig?"), or the light bulb smashing Elliot Vereker("Something to Say"), Thurber's stories need to be shared.

For these reasons, as well as others, "The Thurber Carnival" is a most wonderful book. James Thurber's writing is nearly magical, as well as his characters. This is a great book to pick up again and again, if only to read one of its great stories.

I grew up with this book. First published in the mid-40s, it lived in the center of a built-in bookcase over my father's desk in the family room, and I was drawn to it time and time again during my childhood.

At first, I was convulsed by Thurber's uniquely hilarious cartoons. His dogs and his women are priceless...drawn in a style that nobody has ever been able to duplicate or capture.

It was only later, as I grew older, that I could appreciate Thurber's written humor. The "Thurber Carnival" (and it is) is a compilation of essays and excerpts from "My World--and Welcome to It," "The Middle Aged Man on the Flying Trapeze," and others. These were Thurber's earlier works that were very much a product of their times, but oh, so funny! Thurber was one of the great commentators on the vagaries of everyday life. Along with Robert Benchly et al., he set the tone for an entire generation. I still have this book, and I absolutely cherish it. It's hard to do Thurber justice in a review. All I can say is--buy this book and wallow in it. You'll be glad you did.

"The Thurber Carnival" was a beloved companion of my early youth; I laughed out loud again and again at the stories of "My Life and Hard Times," the hilarious "Fables for Our Time," "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," and other classics. What was really important to me about Thurber was that he came from the same part of Ohio that I did, and actually had had relatives and attended family reunions in Sugar Grove, Ohio, where I grew up. That meant all the world to me, because it showed me that someone who had ties to Sugar Grove could be a famous writer. Now, I love Thurber's work more than ever; as an adult, I can better appreciate the nuances of a story like "The Catbird Seat." Thurber's work is a precise, funny, yet deeply serious portrait of an America which had just recently completed the transition from a frontier to an urban society. Women, having just won the right to vote, were flexing new-found muscles; men, divorced from the need to wrest a living from the soil, felt suddenly unmoored and emasculated; a new breed of self-help authors arose to make a quick buck from the newly uncertain populace; and oceans of alcohol fueled the newly stirred resentments between the sexes.Thurber recorded it all, in a prose style as elegant and lucid as any in the history of American literature. "The Catbird Seat," "Fables for Our Time" and the self-help parodies of "Let Your Mind Alone!" are every bit as fresh and pertinent as when Thurber wrote them 60-odd years ago. Unfortunately, some aspects of his work--most glaringly his portrayal of African-Americans--have not stood up so well. But one can only say of Thurber what the Duc de Saint-Simon said of Louis XIV: "His virtues were his own, his faults were his times'." The best of James Thurber ranks with the best of Mark Twain, Ring Lardner, Woody Allen and any other American humorist you can name.

While reading this book, I was fascinated by each of these men but even more so of James Newton, the author. Reading this book I found that it was full of history, humor, and unfounded wisdom. I began taking notes for my own personal edification. This is truly a must read.

This book originally caught my eye as an addition to another book I read called Edison: A Life of Invention by Paul Israel. I wanted a book that would cover a little more of Edison's personal life, and this book did just that. However, James Newton's close, dedicated friendships with all of these great men of the twentieth century is truly amazing, and I learned more than I would probably learn otherwise about some of these important historical figures.

The entire book is fascinating, and surely different parts will appeal to different readers. I was particularly enchanted with a poignant description of how Charles Lindbergh handled dying as he lay on his deathbed. I was also fascinated with how environmentally conscientious some of these men were, particularly Edison and Lindbergh, but also Ford. For example, Ford was very interested in making automobile parts out of soybeans in order to reduce the need for metal parts. It seems that all of these men had numerous ideas and ideas for inventions that were way ahead of their time - perhaps some of them still are.

Newton's writing is quite good, and I only have one very minor criticism: it seems that he preaches a little bit and dwells on the religious facet of his relationships with these people. Of course, I'm sure this was a very important part of his relationship with these men and their families, but it seems that there is a grand, overarching agenda he has in constantly illustrating their connection to God and religion.

If you are interested in any of these historical figures and their fascinating relationships with each other, this book is definitely the best book you will find on the subject.

This book originally caught my eye as an addition to another book I read called Edison: A Life of Invention by Paul Israel. I wanted a book that would cover a little more of Edison's personal life, and this book did just that. However, James Newton's close, dedicated friendships with all of these great men of the twentieth century is truly amazing, and I learned more than I would probably learn otherwise about some of these important historical figures.

The entire book is fascinating, and surely different parts will appeal to different readers. I was particularly enchanted with a poignant description of how Charles Lindbergh handled dying as he lay on his deathbed. I was also fascinated with how environmentally conscientious some of these men were, particularly Edison and Lindbergh, but also Ford. For example, Ford was very interested in making automobile parts out of soybeans in order to reduce the need for metal parts. It seems that all of these men had numerous ideas and ideas for inventions that were way ahead of their time - perhaps some of them still are.

Newton's writing is quite good, and I only have one very minor criticism: it seems that he preaches a little bit and dwells on the religious facet of his relationships with these people. Of course, I'm sure this was a very important part of his relationship with these men and their families, but it seems that there is a grand, overarching agenda he has in constantly illustrating their connection to God and religion.

If you are interested in any of these historical figures and their fascinating relationships with each other, this book is definitely the best book you will find on the subject.

How does it feel to be the first to lead the way to new beginnings in history?

6-year-old Ruby Bridges was the first black child to enroll in a white elementary school in New Orleans, Louisiana. On November 14, 1960 Ruby walked into the school with her mother and four U.S. Marshals. The other families pulled their white children out of the school. So Ruby was left alone with her teacher, Mrs. Henry, inside their big classroom. This was the beginning of school integration.

How must this little first grader feel with so many adults yelling horrible things at her? One woman even threatened to poison her. People held a small coffin with a black doll inside to scare her. People threatened her neighborhood ' and her father lost his job. This is brave little Ruby's astounding story.

(p. 20) When we left school that first day, the crowd outside was even bigger and louder than it had been in the morning. I guess the police couldn't keep them behind the barricades. It seemed to take us a long time to get to the marshals' car.
Groups of high school boys, joining the protestors, paraded up and down the street and sang new verses to old hymns. Their favorite was 'Battle Hymn of the Republic,' in which they changed the chorus to 'Glory, glory, segregation, the South will rise again.' Many of the boys carried signs and said awful things, but most of all I remember seeing a black doll in a coffin, which frightened me more than anything else.
After the first day, I was glad to get home. That afternoon, I taught a friend the chant I had learned: 'Two, four, six, eight, we don't want to integrate.' My friend and I didn't know what the words meant, but we would jump rope to it every day after school.

Would the chaos ever end? Would the other children return to school?

This book was great; it was about Ruby Briggs experience being one of the first colored children to integrate the elementary schools in the south. It gives a wonderful perspective about how this young girl viewed racism. It also shows the reader that she did not completely understand why some many people were mean to her. It is an extreme eye opener to how strong racism was in the south, at one point it talks about grown women throwing and yelling at Ruby.

This book was great; it was about Ruby Briggs experience being one of the first colored children to integrate the elementary schools in the south. It gives a wonderful perspective about how this young girl viewed racism. It also shows the reader that she did not completely understand why some many people were mean to her. It is an extreme eye opener to how strong racism was in the south, at one point it talks about grown women throwing and yelling at Ruby.

If you have ever imagined yourself married to a duke or even just an earl, this is the book for you! It's wonderful. Jarret does a fantastic job inter-weaving the true stories of America's dollar princesses and the general how-to's of marrying into nobility.

As a professional historian, I was impressed by the research which Jarrett put into the book (I can't help but wonder if it began life as a dissertation---if so, Jarrett did a great job making her subject accessible to general readers).

"To Marry An English Lord" may sound like a how-to guide, but it is really one of the most fascinating history books on the English Peerage ever written. This book specifically follows the migration of rich American girls to England and, subsequently, to marrying a member of the English peerage. It also reveals life in both England and America at the dawn of the 20th century. This book contains the most fascinating and seldom-explored facts from the period, and really takes an in-depth look at the everyday lives of the privileged during the Gilded Age. If for nothing else, buy this book for the pictures! With cartoons, photographs, maps and paintings, you get a visual guide to the period. This book is so well organized that practically every page gives you detailed information on a specific subject, and a picture to illustrate it. Most pages also have small factoids that are some of the best parts of the book. Certainly the best part of the book is how it follows a few American heiresses throughout the book, which really makes you care about the 'characters' and gives you the full story: from start to finish. If you love Victorian/Edwardian history, or the English Peerage, you will absolutely love this book. I refer to it almost once a week and enjoy re-reading it whenever I have some spare time!

Every time I read this book it becomes more and more interesting. Meticulously researched, with great little anecdotes and etiquette tips.
This book is a lot of fun! I especially liked the many photographs of the designer gowns (most by Worth, if you please!) that are liberally scattered throughout.
If you're ananglophile you'll want to get this one!