A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland Indiana (Today Show Book Club #3)

A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland Indiana (Today Show Book Club #3)
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A Girl Named Zippy

I liked reading a memoir that was just plain fun

A bit lacking in zip...

Just What I Needed ....

Delightful and witty!

A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland Indiana (Today Show Book Club #3)
Haven Kimmel
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0767915054
Release Date: 2002-09-03

Book Description

When Haven Kimmel was born in 1965, Mooreland, Indiana, was a sleepy little hamlet of three hundred people. Nicknamed "Zippy" for the way she would bolt around the house, this small girl was possessed of big eyes and even bigger ears. In this witty and lovingly told memoir, Kimmel takes readers back to a time when small-town America was caught in the amber of the innocent postwar period–people helped their neighbors, went to church on Sunday, and kept barnyard animals in their backyards.

Laced with fine storytelling, sharp wit, dead-on observations, and moments of sheer joy, Haven Kimmel's straight-shooting portrait of her childhood gives us a heroine who is wonderfully sweet and sly as she navigates the quirky adult world that surrounds Zippy.

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Laced with fine storytelling, sharp wit, dead-on observations, and moments of sheer joy, Haven Kimmel's straight-shooting portrait of her childhood gives us a heroine who is wonderfully sweet and sly as she navigates the quirky adult world that surrounds Zippy.

Customer Reviews:

A Girl Named Zippy.......2007-10-01

Cute and thoughtful. An easy read that makes you remember how things were different way back when.

I liked reading a memoir that was just plain fun.......2007-08-29

I was able to laugh through this memoir..I have since picked up her second memoir and I am saving that for a rainy (or snowy) day when I can kick back and read it all day long-

A bit lacking in zip..........2007-08-07

It seems as though everyone these days feels compelled to write an autobiography, and Kimmel was no exception. Born in 1965 in small-town Indiana, the author recalls her childhood, when she was known as "Zippy" for her talent at racing from place to place.

While some of Kimmel's story is intriguing -- her best friend Julie, strangely mute; her friend Dana, who arrives from L.A. in the second grade, wearing a black leather jacket -- much of her recollections are just run-of-the-mill little-girl recollections. While most of us can relate to lazy summer afternoons, browsing comics at the store or visiting friends, there's usually got to be some compelling reason to want to read about others' experiences doing the same. As far as I could see, there was really no unique "hook," or anything that made me think, "Wow, this person is worthy of a book!"

Don't get me wrong; it's not a BAD book. It's just not likely to stay in your memory for more than a day.

Just What I Needed ...........2007-06-27

I just picked this book up at a rummage sale. Whoever donated it to the sale has my undying gratitude because this book was the sweetest and funniest book I have read in quite some time. I am a fan of memoirs and biographies but this one is so unlike any others that I am now hooked on Kimmel's writings. I want more Zippy!

Like Zippy, who is four years older than I am by the way, I grew up in a small midwestern town but not as small as hers! I would be considered big city girl in comparison! But the midwestern attitude is so familiar that reading this book was like traveling down memory lane for me! She's the youngest in a family of three kids. Her older brother and sister were already in Junior high by the time she arrived. Her mother refers to her lovingly as an "after thought." That is how the book started out (well, almost). Named Haven at birth, her dad decided to call her Zippy since she could never sit still. You can say that her memories of childhood reeked of love, laughter and cigarettes.

Zippy is precocious. Zippy is curious. Zippy is Zippy, a character that you will never forget. My favorite part is the scene where her sister told her that she's adopted. Outraged, she stomps in and asks her mother if that's true. Her mother stops reading for a moment and says, yes, you are. A band of roving gypsies with a pack of wolves that stand up and preach during a full moon came through the area. The whole conversation had me repeating it to my husband as it was so hilarious and something exactly like what my father would spin out to me when I was a child.

I haven't raved about a book in a real long time though I have read lots of really good books ~~ but this book is something I am going to urge my book club to read sometime in the next year. It is something I think we'll enjoy because not only is it funny and engaging, but it talks about a childhood that is now lost in the mists of time. Building your own bike? Who does that anymore? There are many instances in this book that I remember doing as a kid or have heard my parents do when they were kids. I know that Christmas is more different today than it was in the early 70s. It seems to be a simpler time back then even though it was harder especially after the Vietnam War ended. It was a time of change but Zippy had a happy childhood and those memories are funny and bittersweet.

This book comes highly recommended. If you need a laugh, this book is a good place to get one! It is just a really good read and perfect for a summer read!

6-28-07

Delightful and witty! .......2007-06-04

This book is a fascinating escape; it brings the reader back to childhood and also reminds us of questions we have long since given up asking. A great hammock swinging summer read!

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

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Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Average customer rating:

I couldn't put it down!!!
greatness again....
one of my favorite books ever!
Modern day prodigal son story
Perfect title and theme. Perfect novel...

Return (Redemption Series, Book 3)
Karen Kingsbury , and Gary Smalley
Manufacturer: Tyndale House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0842382895

Book Description

The Redemption series won Christian Retailing's 2005 Retailer's Choice Award for Best Series!

This touching novel reunites readers with the Baxter family and focuses on the only Baxter son, Luke. He is determined to leave his faith and his past behind and embrace a new, free-thinking future. But what he doesn't realize is that his past holds a secret even he doesn't know. When Luke finds out, his comfortable new life is turned upside down, and he must turn back to his roots.

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Customer Reviews:

I couldn't put it down!!!.......2007-07-09

This is my 4th Karen Kingsbury book and I cannot get enough. This book was so good I was done reading it in 2 days and I probably would have finished it sooner if not for my kids. Super read, can't wait to get the next one!!!

greatness again...........2007-01-10

Loved it....lives up to what I have come to expect of Karen Kingsbury.

one of my favorite books ever!.......2006-10-24

Return is the 3rd book in Karen Kingsbury's Redemtion series. This book is mainly focused on Luke, the Baxter's only son, straying from God after some traumatic events, including 9/11. He rejected his Faith, his family, and the girl he loved. Instead he turned to a life leading to destruction, and he messed with a false religion--freethinking. "Freethinking meant he could avoid his family if he wanted to. According to freethinking, whatever thought he went with was the right one." "Luke's life was strange and dark and empty and alone." This book is a heart-wrenching story of a family's love and devotion to one another through thick and thin. It makes you feel like you are living life right alongside the Baxter family. Karen Kingsbury does an amazing job of getting the reader involved in the book--you won't be able to set it down!

Modern day prodigal son story.......2006-01-28

Return is the 3rd in the Redemption Series, following Redemption and Remember. Return focuses on the Baxters' son Luke. He becomes "disenchanted" with God and turns 180 degrees from the values of his family. As always, the interactions between the Baxter family members not only make an engaging story, but also teach the reader the importance of trusing God. This is my favorite series of all time, and I do read constantly! It evokes strong emotions in the reader, because there is bound to be someone's behavior or some life situation that really hits home. It is a book you'll never forget! Buy the entire Redemtion Series at once so that you won't have to pause between books. Here they are in order: Redemption, Remember, Return, Rejoice, and Reunion. And even after that there is a spinoff series that promises to be just as rewarding: the Firstborn Series, also involving the Baxter family but with some new characters and situations--outstanding!

Perfect title and theme. Perfect novel..........2005-09-09

I can't believe how true to life the issues are that the author's characters' deal with in her novels. No pain is sidestepped. No pat answers are offered. True healing and forgiveness are experienced. Consequences of sin are suffered. This is real life with a whole lot of hope. The resolutions made sense and weren't easy fixes. I got choked up nearly as often with this book as I did Remember. Also, I read the entire novel in two days (around working my full time job.) Wonderful read. I especially loved the contrast between liberal thinking and true faith. Highly recommended.

She Got Up Off the Couch: And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana

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i almost lost my sentient mind, i was laughing so hard
A Great Book
She Got Up Off the Couch
Pretty good but I guess I just don't "get it" like other reviewers
The Best Memoir You'll Ever Read

She Got Up Off the Couch: And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana
Haven Kimmel
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Haven Kimmel's memoir She Got Up Off the Couch might have been called The Further Adventures of Zippy, since it picks up where her bestselling A Girl Named Zippy left off, and is reeled out in much the same vein. The person who got up off the couch is Zippy's mother, Delonda, who for years sat on the titular sofa, ate, read, and watched TV until she weighed 268 pounds and life was nearly unbearable. You would never know the bad parts from Haven Kimmel, who always concentrates on the bright side, even though she lived in a house without heat, food, indoor plumbing, a dependable water supply or even a modicum of cleanliness. Kimmel loves her parents inordinately, even at their most unlovable.

Delonda takes a College Entrance exam, passes it and enrolls at Ball State, where she completes a degree in two years, goes on for a Master's and gets a job as a high school teacher. That sounds fairly straightforward but it wasn't easy. Bob Jarvis, Delonda's husband and Zippy's father, gave her no help at all; in fact, he ridiculed her and ignored her progress. Eventually, he found someone else while Delonda was busy reclaiming her life. We could read this as a tale of the times, where a woman takes charge of herself, loses 120 pounds and, against all odds, gains an education and a livelihood. It is all of that, and more.

Life in Mooreland, Indiana, in the 1970s is not very exciting, but Zippy finds wonder everywhere and often laughed until she "tipped right over." There is an unquenchable spirit in the girl, and then in the woman, that keeps popping up despite a very sketchy upbringing. The neighbors fed and bathed her, she wore the same pair of pants to school every day for an entire school year--without benefit of laundry. Her brother and sister lit out at the first chance they had--though Melinda ends up only a few blocks away and becomes another safe port for Zippy. She is a victim of benign neglect, not malice or meanness.

Her tales of church camp, days with her friends, driving with her Dad, going to a play with her Mother, her love for her niece and nephew and her discovery that her Dad is having an affair are all told in typical Zippy-style: they are humorous, poignant, exuberant, and often breathless. Stay tuned: this book ends when Zippy is only thirteen. Hopefully there's more to come. --Valerie Ryan

Book Description

After twenty years of burrowing into the corner of the family couch, eating junk food, and reading science fiction, Indiana mother Delonda Jarvis did something that shocked her family: she went to college. Or, as her younger daughter, Haven Kimmel, writes, she "stood up, brushed away the pork rind crumbs, and escaped by the skin of her teeth."

Despite having no money, no car, and a resentful husband, Delonda managed to obtain a master's degree in English. The former teenage bride also dropped one hundred pounds, learned how to drive, and became a breadwinner. But as she reclaimed herself, her marriage disintegrated.

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A true pleasure for old fans and new ones alike, She Got Up Off the Couch is a gorgeous encapsulation of an innocent time when a child didn't understand that her mother was depressed or felt stifled, but just noted on her way out the door that Delonda was a fixture in the living room. Kimmel captures the seminal moments of her mother's burgeoning empowerment with the full strength of her distinctive, deft storytelling, and with the overflowing sense of humor that made A Girl Named Zippy a favorite of readers everywhere.

Customer Reviews:

i almost lost my sentient mind, i was laughing so hard.......2007-10-04

After A GIRL NAMED ZIPPY, i didnt think i could love another Kimmel book as much as SGUOTC. I was wrong: it's every bit as uniquely brilliant and screamingly funny as Zippy, with tender moments that come at you from the SKY. No sequel comes to mind that IU've cherished so as SGUOTC. The specially chosen photographs for every chapter made it so satisfying and real; I honestly feel as though I know this town, I know these people, and as always with Kimmel's stories? I want more! STILL. I could easily devour a book about every one of the stages of adulthood from this talented author. This book focuses on Kimmel's mother, Delonda, an ordinary SEEMING mother -- a mother who sits on the couch reading voraciously and one day she GETS UP OFF THE COUCH. and away we go! Delonda evolves into an intelligent, complex and almost holy character and role model. I was also charmed and intriged by Kimmel's father, Bob, and engrossed with the eccentricities of all of Kimmel's glorious girlhood friends. The way she talks about her hair is enough for the price of the entire book. LOVED the Rooster haircut and the wig hat with the red braid. It's a delectable and marvelous alchemy, the way Kimmel throwns down words into magic and fashions storylines into feelings that strike at one's heart with cobra-like accuracy and deft wit. The intricacies of girlhood, small towns, the seventies are explored; Kimmel's genius for dialogue is once again poured onto the page with liberal amounts of generosity and kindeness and the laugh-out-loud moments that make reading a joy. I don;t blame Katie Couric for choosing Zippy as a TODAY SHOW book, but this one is just as good and even deeper in some ways that kept me engaged and thrilled throughout. Highly recommended for readers of all ages and genders and species.

A Great Book.......2007-09-16

This was the first of Haven Kimmel's books I read. I'm now on my third. She's absolutely delightful.

She Got Up Off the Couch.......2007-08-29

I laughed until tears ran down my face. Haven Kimmel has a wonderful way of telling a story with comments that jump right up and hit your funny bone. I'm looking forward to reading more from her.

Pretty good but I guess I just don't "get it" like other reviewers.......2007-06-26

I guess this book was a victim of bad timing. If I'd read it BEFORE I read The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (PWDO) I might have been more sympathetic towards Delonda and enjoyed it more. I know that few women can live up to the example set by Evelyn Ryan in PWDO, she is supernaturally energetic, resourceful and capable. But it ruined me for both A Girl Called Zippy and She Got Up Off The Couch. Throughout both books (and I read them back to back, right after I read PWDO) I wanted to smack Zippy's mom and yell, "get up and do something about your crappy house, narcissistic hubby and dirty kids!" I had to keep reminding myself that I would probably react to her circumstances like she did - escape into books and deny that my life was crumbling around me. In Delonda's defense, I would have traded my mom for Delonda and her benign neglect in an instant. As I think about it, I would have traded my dad and step-dad for Bob Jarvis in about a nanosecond. No doubt about it.

I wish I had liked the little girl, Zippy. I really wanted to like her...but I didn't. She seemed like a mean little brat, self-centered and someone I would have avoided like the plague. And for the life of me, I cannot figure out what the other reviewers found so funny. I chuckled a few times but that was it. Another reviewer said that too many things were left unexplained and I agree. People appear and disappear and you don't know if it's because Zippy just didn't think about them all that much or because they were minor players in her life (ex: Olive, Big Fat Bonnie, Bob's Mom). I would have like to know more about these people.

This book was OK, but not one of my favorites. I enjoyed the nostalgic feel of it (I'm Zippy's age and I grew up in Ohio, which is pretty much a clone of Indiana); I certainly identify with the music she liked, the way she talked, the celebrities she had a crush on and even the bike she rode. That part was great fun and the reason I gave this book 3 stars.

The Best Memoir You'll Ever Read.......2007-05-31

This book is simply wonderful. I read "A Girl Named Zippy" first, but you certainly don't have to. I actually liked this book better than the first. The characters are much more developed and this was a much more sentimental view of the people and places in Zippy's life. The book is hilarious, beautiful, and you will see many of your own childhood experiences here. Anyone who grew up in a small town will feel right at home. I don't know how to express my love for Zippy and her books; it's unlike anything I've ever experienced. I am fiercely protective of my copies...you will be, too.

Cooking from Quilt Country : Hearty Recipes from Amish and Mennonite Kitchens

Average customer rating:

Terrific Cookbook!
--Very enjoyable--
98% relaible
Cooking From Quilt Country is perfection
This is a wonderful cookbook.

Cooking from Quilt Country : Hearty Recipes from Amish and Mennonite Kitchens
Marcia Adams
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0517568136
Release Date: 1988-02-13

Book Description

Includes nearly 200 family recipes from America's heartland, a culinary folk history of the Indiana Amish and Mennonites. This celebration of farm life is a companion volume to the PBS series hosted by Adams. 64 full-color photographs.

Customer Reviews:

Terrific Cookbook!.......2007-07-29

The recipes are hearty and filling, taste and look great too. My husband raves each time something new comes from this book!

--Very enjoyable--.......2006-04-20

COOKING FROM QUILT COUNTRY is a pleasure to read. The title comes from the fact that Amish and Mennonite people are famous for their quilt making skills.

This book gives a little background of the Mennonite and Amish sects and how they came into existence. The roots of the two groups originated with the Protestant Reformation and the Swiss Anabaptist movement. The leader was a Dutch priest by the name of Menno Simons.

This very informative book is filled with wonderful recipes and many photographs. Because the Mennonites and Amish have traditionally been farmers, they're also known for their wonderful foods. There are recipes for everyone here, but I was especially interested in the different vegetable dishes that are presented.

98% relaible.......2005-12-04

book received in great shape and took less then four days to receive

Cooking From Quilt Country is perfection.......2005-08-02

Cooking From Quilt Country is by far the best cookbook (and I have many) that I have ever seen. Whether you want to lose weight or gain weight , recipies can be adapted for your own use and taste . Best of all, recipies can be done "by the book itself". I would honestly say this could be the only cookbook one woulld ever need and definitely would make a lovely gift!

This is a wonderful cookbook........2005-06-18

There are dozens of recipes I want to try. I tried the custard cornbread and there will be no going back---this is my new favorite cornbread recipe. And I had an excellent recipe which was often requested, but this is head and shoulders above it! And what a beautiful book! The photos are superlative. Wonderful for both reading and cooking.

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Karen Kingsbury book series
Redemption
Real European Flavor
Remember
Remember by Karen Kingsbury

Remember (Redemption Series, Book 2)
Karen Kingsbury , and Gary Smalley
Manufacturer: Tyndale House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Fiction | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Terrorism | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

September 11 | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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Return (Redemption Series, Book 3)
Redemption (Redemption)
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Reunion (Redemption Series, Book 5)
Fame (Firstborn Series #1)

ASIN: 0842356290

Book Description

The Redemption series won Christian Retailing's 2005 Retailer's Choice Award for Best Series!

Remember is second in the five-book Redemption series by Gary Smalley and Karen Kingsbury that centers around the Baxter family. As readers follow the hopes and struggles of the family, they will explore key relationship themes as well as the larger theme of redemption, both in characters' spiritual lives and in their relationships. Each book includes study questions for individual and small-group use as well as a "teaser" chapter of the next book in the series.

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Convinced she could make it on her own, Ashley Baxter has kept the most important people in her life at a distance--her family, the man who loves her, and the God she is sure can never forgive her. Now, just as she begins to open her heart, the events of September 11 rip into Ashley's world and she is led to heartbreaking and hope-filled decisions that will forever change her life. This story vividly illustrates that we must value others more than ourselves, and it drives home one of Gary Smalley's key messages: Honor one another.

Remember is second in the five-book Redemption series by Gary Smalley and Karen Kingsbury that centers around the Baxter family. As readers follow the hopes and struggles of the family, they will explore key relationship themes as well as the larger theme of redemption, both in characters' spiritual lives and in their relationships. Each book includes study questions for individual and small-group use as well as a ""teaser"" chapter of the next book in the series."

Customer Reviews:

Karen Kingsbury book series.......2007-09-02

Ordered the first 4 books in the seiries. Already had the 5th book. All the books were received in excellent condition. I have only just starte with the first one.

Redemption.......2007-05-13

As always, Karen Kingsbury continues to give me gifts of great books - this book follows in her usual incredibly insightful writing. I own the entire series and several others.

Real European Flavor.......2007-04-09

Travel through Europe with the heroine of this novel as she quests to discover what really happened to her former lover.

Remember.......2006-07-26

This is an excellent series by Karen Kingsbury with Gary Smalley. It is easy reading and keeps you intrigued from start to finish. Sharing the series with my daughter.

Remember by Karen Kingsbury.......2006-03-16

This is a great book and a wonderful series. I recomend this series to everyone.

Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black

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i cried so many times...
One of the best books I have ever read
To Read and Talk About
In the flesh, the man is a wonder.
GREAT READING FOR MANKIND

Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black
Gregory Howard Williams
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Pearl's Secret: A Black Man's Search for His White Family
The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother
The Sweeter the Juice: A Family Memoir in Black and White
Slaves in the Family (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
DEAR SENATOR: A MEMOIR BY THE DAUGHTER OF STROM THURMOND.

ASIN: 0452275334

Customer Reviews:

i cried so many times..........2007-01-23

this is such an amazing book that really flips the perceived norms of race. so many things happened to this boy as he was growing up that it is a miracle that he was sane enough to write a coherent memoir. there were so many times that literally moved me to tears. i emphatically recommend this book, you won't regret it.

One of the best books I have ever read.......2006-12-27

Life on the Color Line should be required reading for every American, especially anyone who wants to put their life's problems in perspective.

This is the most moving book I have read in a long time and I read a lot! William's account of his childhood truly woke me up to how fortunate I am to have the life I have, despite losing my mother at age 20. No one should have to endure the painful struggles of racism, poverty, rejection, parental neglect and abandonment that Williams did, as well as a dysfunctional family to top it off. Whether Williams dated black girls or white ones, he was damned if he did and damned if he didn't.

Life on the Color Line contains many harrowing scenes. One that stood out for me was when William's white maternal grandmother refuses to pass along her daughter's messages to her children after she has left the family. She calls her own grandchildren "niggers" and refuses to let them live with her in a nice section of Muncie only a few minutes away from the black ghetto where they reside with a family friend Miss Dora.

One question that remains unanswered after reading this book is why William's mother only took her younger children with her when she left her husband. Why did she leave Gregory and Mike with their alcoholic father? It doesn't make sense that she would take some of her children to safety with her, but not all of them. The only explanation I can come up with is that Greg's mother figured her older boys were mature enough to fend for themselves. Towards the end of the book, their mother's inability to understand what kind of life she left her boys to leave left me wanting to throw rocks at her and give that woman a good beating.

I am in awe of the author's maturity, courage, and sheer will power that enabled him to overcome all these obstacles. His experiences put my own life in perspective.

I borrowed this book from the library, and now that I've reached the last page, I will definitely be buying it on Amazon!

To Read and Talk About.......2006-11-01

I learned about this book in an article in the Baton Rouge newspaper. LSU has assigned it as summer reading for many of their students and a group is working to get others in Baton Rouge to read it as well. At our church's partnership group with a local African-American church we decided to read it as a group project, and I'm glad we did. Williams' memoir tells the fascinating story of a young man who is born into the lower-middle class white world of suburban Virginia only to learn when he is about six years old that his father is the son of a mixed-race couple from Muncie, Indiana. Circumstances resulting from this news takes the boy, his father and his brother to Muncie where they live among their African-American (or colored as they were called in the 1950s) family. Billy's (or Greg) father Tony (or Buster) is an alcoholic, which makes life no less difficult as he's scorned by his white classmates and, with his white skin and Caucasian features, standing on shaky ground in his own colored community. A good-hearted woman named Dora raises the two boys as her own, as their birth mother spurns her now-black children. Dora's kindness and Greg's determination to do more than survive are inspiring.

In the flesh, the man is a wonder........2006-10-02

I had the unusual pleasure of hearing him speak at a public function when this book first came out. In fact, that's how I got my free copy. The story of this man's life is simply amazing. That came through in his honest and heart-felt reflection of the hardships he's had to overcome growing up. I've lived in San Francisco most of my life, attending public school with the normal cross section of the city's diverse ethnic crowd. I can say with a degree of certainty that I'm culturally aware of the African American experience. So it is with a bit of sadness that I regret not having met more people with Williams' ambition and determination when I was younger. To be fair, the circumstances in which his life unfolded would probably be hard to duplicate in this day and age, especially in San Francisco. But regardless, I truly believe young blacks of today, regardless of where they may live can draw inspiration from his story. We all still face a huge amount of inequality and injustice in our society today. With such polarization along political and religious lines in our national conscience as I'm writing this, it is critical to remember that race still matters. The other day, the biology department chair at my school presented a slide show of New Orleans where here Alma Mater was severely damaged by Katrina a year ago. She's a parasitologist with a Ph.D from Tulane University. The contrast between the French quarter/downtown and the poorer residential areas are striking. Those who've read Williams book would immediately draw parallels with the stark geographic division along racial lines of Muncie, Indiana - where Williams grew up. How many other cities in America are New Orleans waiting to happen? If something unthinkable should happen in Muncie today, how will the citizens of that city fare today? Will the impoverished blacks of Hunter's point/Bayview in my own city suffer the same fate as those of the lower 9th ward when the "Big One" strikes California? If more of my fellow black San Franciscans can aspire to be like Williams and strive to lift themselves and their community out of poverty and strife, we just might have a chance at doing better. One can hope.

GREAT READING FOR MANKIND.......2006-07-28

GOT TO MAKE THIS A SHORT REVIEW. STILL READING. CAN'T PUT IT DOWN!!!! ALSO READ "COLOR OF WATER" AND IT WAS GREAT READING!!! BACK TO WORK. CAN'T WAIT TO GET BACK TO "LIFE ON THE COLOR LINE".
I DON'T READ A BOOK MORE THAN ONCE BUT THESE ARE WORTH READING OVER AGAIN. I THINK THEY WOULD MAKE GREAT MOVIES!!!

Skirting the Issue: Stories of Indiana's Historical Women Artists

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Skirting the Issue: Stories of Indiana's Historical Women Artists
Judith Vale Newton , and Carol A. Weiss
Manufacturer: Indiana Historical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Artists, Architects & Photographers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0871951770

Book Description

According to the ethos of the late 1800s and early 1900s, a woman's natural destiny was to be a wife, mother, and guardian of the virtues of hearth and home. Some women wanted more, however, and despite cultural expectations chose to explore their creativity and seek training in art. Often at considerable social cost these women exchanged washboards, ovens, and mending baskets for the challenges of a piece of canvas or block of stone.

In Skirting the Issue, authors Judith Vale Newton and Carol Ann Weiss present dozens of women from Indiana who chose this route. The authors include a biographical dictionary detailing the lives of one hundred of the state's historical women artists, and they single out nearly forty of them for further examination in detailed essays. They describe the challenges the artists faced, the sacrifices they had to make, and the varying degrees of success they met, and they present numerous examples of the artists' work. While this first-of-a-kind book focuses on Indiana women specifically, its stories offer excellent insights into the culture and values of the greater Midwest—and the nation at large—in the decades before and after the turn of the twentieth century.

Skirting the Issue includes more than two hundred images, including full-color reproductions of artworks and black-and-white photographs of the artists themselves.

One Deadly Night (St. Martin's True Crime Library)
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A Real Life Whodunit for True Crime Fans

GUILTY!!

How Stupid Are We Really

Recommended Reading

Reasonable Doubt?

One Deadly Night (St. Martin's True Crime Library)
John Glatt
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Murder & Mayhem | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
True Crime | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
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Tacoma Confidential: A True Story of Murder, Suicide, and a Police Chief's Secret Life (48 Hours Mystery)

ASIN: 0312993099
Release Date: 2005-05-03

Book Description

On September 28, 2000, former Indiana State Trooper David Camm made a frantic call to his former colleagues in the state troopers office: He'd just walked into his garage, and found lying on the floor the bodies of his 35-year-old wife, Kim, and their two children, Brad and Jill, ages 7 and 5.This was the kind of crime that could tear the heart out of a community. The Camm's lived the American Dream. They had what seemed like a loving marriage, a nice little house with a white picket fence, and two adorable children. To top it all off, David Camm was a pillar of the community who had dedicated his career to the enforcement of the law and the sanctity of human life. Then, this happened.Three days later, it got worse when police arrested David Camm for the triple murder. Soon, new stories started emerging: stories about mistresses and violent bursts of temper. And as the ugly truth about the Camms' marriage got uglier and the evidence against David started piling up, two families-and the community at large-took positions at opposite sides of a yawning and bitter divide.Was David Camm a dedicated, conscientious public servant-the victim of unspeakable tragedy, railroaded by an unfair system? Or was he a cold-hearted murderer who earned his three murder convictions and every one of the 195 years behind bars to which he was sentenced?Investigative journalist John Glatt finds out in this gripping new book.

Customer Reviews:

A Real Life Whodunit for True Crime Fans.......2007-07-13

Once again John Glatt has created an attention-grabbing true crime tale, yet this time with a bonus: a real life whodunit to leave the mind boggled and debates of guilt or innonence ongoing.

The story of former Indiana State Police officer David Camm and just what role he played in the deaths of his wife, Kim, and two young children, Bradley and Jill, is something that, as of yet, still remains to be determined. Despite being convicted, the conviction being overturned, and retried with new charges added, Camm is currently seeking a third trial.

Glatt does an excellent job of laying all out all facets of the case; from a flaw-filled investigation, to alleged unethical behavior on behalf of the prosecution, to the shameless shananigans pulled by the defense, Glatt details them all.

While this is one more spouse who kills (an all too often story in today's society), this particular case is most interesting because of the many twists and the minscule evidence used to convict Camm.

In closing, I'll take this opportunity to provide my opinion on Camm's guilt or innocence as other reviewers have...The evidence alone was not enough to convict, there was reasonable doubt. I believe the first jury convicted Camm on his adulterious lifestyle alone. It was a verdict that never should have been. But is Camm innocent? No, he is not. David Camm played a role in his wife and children's deaths; plain and simple. Whether he was the gunman or solictor, we may never really know; but of one he is guilty. He is not a wrongfully convicted man in the sense of being innocent, just possibly convicted of the wrong crime.

GUILTY!!.......2007-05-13

I also bought this book after seeing a dateline special on this case. David Camm was a lucky narcissist who wanted more. Unfortunately, much more happened with this case after the book was written. After looking up more information on the internet, my personal theory is that Mr. Boney was there for a very simple reason; not only was David Camm going to free himself from a marriage and child support obligations, he was going to emerge a hero by killing the man (Boney) that he discovered in his garage. I believe I saw an interview with Boney in which he states "he pointed the gun at me". I hope the terror in his children's eyes haunt him until his last breath.

How Stupid Are We Really.......2007-04-21

I truly enjoyed this book, and once again the American Criminal Justice system even with all it's advances continues to frighten me. While I can not find one shred of goodness in the heart of David Camm, and while I abhore child molesters and think they should be put away for life, i find it horrifying that a simple accusation, adultery, and a life insurance policy which we all have can land me in jail for the rest of my life simply because I am the most obvious suspect. Even with advances in scientific evidence we still allow our opinion of people shape how the case in investigated, how the DA build his case, and how the jury reaches it's virdict, and even in the face of glaring evidence to the contrary how we will stand by that belief even if it makes us look completely stupid. From the magic bullet, Sam Shephards ruined life, and OJ's six minute clean up, prosecutors and the family of victums, and the american public refuse to admit that they could be wrong or that there senario doesn't fit. Yes Camm was a sucky father, who left the care of his children of his children to his wife and day care, but as i sit here typing this today, I am looking at the picture in the local paper of a day care worker who is charged with killing three children. Is it not possible that with all the activities these children were involved with that someone at one of these institution he was so willing to let his wife leave them with had someone was molesting his daughter? They saw her alot more than he did so who would have the most opportunity. Also why will police believe the testimony of a man who has a history of attacking women and taking their personal items, and has recently served jail time for armed robbery, and looks like serial killer in the making with his supposid peeking tom shoe stea ling foot fettish,when they probably wouldn't believe him in any other circumstance so they just rebuild their theory that it was conspirecy between this man and Camm which had more holes in it than swiss cheese and the idiotic public stupidly nods their heads and agree. When you hear hoof beats you think horses not Zebras. Unless I misread in government class you must be able to prove that a person comitted a crime beyond a reasonable doubt to convict them, not prove that they didn't do it beyond a resonable doubt to find them not guilty. and when the number of reasonable doubts number atleast 11 and counting you have to let a person go. 11 people can tell you this man was anywhere else but home and somehow he's in jail? And if for the sake aurgument if he did slip home unnoticed, the question then becomes why would he go home, how would he know that his wife suspected him of doing something to his daughter, where is the phone call, the email, the letter, that says "I know what you did and I"m telling". If you can't even provide that piece of evidence, then any one with half a brain would have some type of doubt that this man didn't do it.

I don't like adulterous people, and i hate child molesters, and no one would call me a bleeding heart liberal, but what i do hate more is what has become of our criminal justice system, and it is not until most of us are on the other side of will we understand how we have let innuendo, and public opinion and not fact decide who goes to jail and who remain free. In the past decade with DNA evidence it has been proven that plenty of AFrican American men were convicted of rape often time with eye witnesses saying they were somewhere else by a biased system but even with all this scientific evidence that has been used to free people, we still refuse to use it and strength of character to say not guilty when the media tells us to say guilty. when you have juries, police, and prosecutors who are worried about pride, writing a tell all book, appearing on tv shows for money, rather than the fact, the defendent doesn't just suffer the victums do too. This has got to stop! And quick! But if all the prosecution needs is a bumb theory and proof that you have roving eye and other body parts you could end up in jail as well whether you did it or lots of us and people we love could end up in jail when we don't deserve to be.