I enjoyed reading this book, and learned a lot of things. What I learned the most is how to be strong and never give up.

Angel Brown

I was happy to have corresponded with the author a while back and have read the book. This is a type of book like The Dream Merchant in that respect. In this book, you have a young girl who goes into a coma and meets some unique people who encourage,challenge, and sometimes emphasize the importance of having a dream and never giving up. It seems as though it is a book for children, but I, as an adult has also been drawn to it as well and have recommended it to others. My daughters saw the book and now they want a copy of their own.

Destiny Unlimited is truly a life changing novel. The main character is placed in a position were she (Amethyst) has a journey to take. The story starts off with Amethyst going over one of her friends home to play and finds out that her friend really wasn't her friend, but someone who wanted to show off all the material things they had. Amethyst was somewhat upset and wanted to go home. Well, instead of her going home, she wanted to be dropped off in the park. The park was not far from her home and she felt safe in the park. As she was walking home she ran into a man in the park who she wanted to know why he looked the way that he did. (Like a bum).

Well that bum turned out to be one of the most interested people she met along her journey. Some of the other characters also gave her good directions that would eventually help her get through her journey in one piece and return back home with her mother. Some of the things I have learn throughout this whole novel is... having faith and beliefs in what you do will get you through. Then keep your expectations obtainable and make commiments you can keep. Once the seed is planted,imagine it's strengh and proclaim I - AM - A - Genie! (IMAGINE)

Thank you Vanessa Davis Griggs for writing such a novel. My tongue is the pen of a Ready Writer! Keep writing these powerful novels for they will make a mark on today's society one way or another!

When I first saw the title of this book I was a bit taken aback. In all honesty I expected commentary on how the white man is out to get up and coming blacks. I was pleasantly surprised when I began reading it. This book is an excellent source of information for people of all races. The advice given in the book is truley effective in the business world. I would reccomend this to anyone.

This book is worth the investment. If you are interested in being an entreprenuer or even succeeding in your career, I highly recommend this book.

If you're thinking about starting a business you must first think "success!" Since reading this book, I've learned the real meaning of success(not to mention starting my own business). This is definitely the BLACK BUSINESS BIBLE.

Cortney Davis, nurse practitioner, poet, creative nonfiction writer, has written a remarkable book about the science and poetry of healing, about protocol and ritual, gnosis and diagnosis, and, above all else, the blossoming of hope. The laying on of hands.

Her book is a lyrical manifesto of Carl Jung's observation that "every personality has a story. Derangement happens when the story is denied. To heal, the patient had to rediscover his story." A good nurse is one who knows that it's just as important to hear her patients' stories as it is to palpate abdomens or check reflexes. In the exam room, that sacred space, four women tell Davis their stories. Like a good novel, Davis builds believable characters using dialogue and humor and dramatic scenes and then weaves her own story into theirs.

Healing literally means "wholeness," with the words "holy" and "heal" both deriving from the Anglo-Saxon "haelen," meaning "whole." Davis brings her rejected and discarded patients into the circle, and listens with an inward ear for those parts of them that have been silenced. Healing is restoration of communication within one's self, a restoration of balance, a willingness to change. Davis is a healer in the true sense of the word.

I have recommended this fine, beautifully-written book to all my friends, and to all my colleagues in the health-care profession. I tell them that though this book stitches together the stories of a nurse-practioner and four of her women patients (fictional composites, to protect the privacy of the author's real patients), it is a book that reaches beyond the subject of the female experience in the medical world. Cortney Davis writes compellingly about humanity--about the vulnerability of both the human body and the human spirit. In addition to her obvious gifts as a writer, she offers the reader the gift of her strong, sensitive spirit.

In I Knew a Woman Cortney Davis leads us where every woman fears to tread; through the swing doors and down the corridors to an often far-to-busy-to-see-us women's clinic reception desk. The poorer the clinic the more tatty and out of date the magazines, scattered like bird seed to keep our minds occupied while we wait. But there is rarely any item in them to calm the nervousness that women feel on checking in. After the wait your name is called, you go to a room, undress to wait again. Nothing unlocks the nervousness that numbs the mind. Nothing that is, until Davis or one of the legion of nurses like her enters the room. But what is it that these nurses really do for women? I think the answer is that as much as we open and give them, they receive us as complete women.
Long ago Davis honed the art of nursing her complete patient and over the last decade she has also practiced the art of writing. In her poetry and prose she gives us back ourselves, a mirror image of our womanhood. See, she seems to say, see, this is you and this is all of us, do not be afraid.
Davis is a poet as well as a prose writer and in I Knew a Woman her prose has reached a new level of lyrical movement. During the late fifties, as medical knowledge and science began to explode the person inside the patient was often getting left behind. Dr. A.F. Clark-Kennedy of the London Hospital wrote a small book called Patients as People; Medicine in its Human Setting. (Faber and Faber London 1957). He wove the stories of patients and their disease together showing young doctors and nurses how each related to the other. It was not until the seventies that physician writers such as Richard Selzer invited us to look again and remember patients as people. Davis has claimed her place alongside these two fine literate physicians as a writer of such caliber. I Knew a Woman is a book to be read by everyone; teachers, nurses, physicians and woman patients. Davis led us into the clinic with her poetic prose and we leave I Knew a Woman with a stronger and more open heart.
Muriel Murch
Author Journey in the Middle of the Road.
Living with Literature community radio.

Kathryn Ellen Davis' debut novel Polyester Pride is about a young women who grows up poor in Northern Maine, seeing marriage as the dream and the highest goal for her life. But when she marries her high school sweetheart, he turns out to be an alcoholic given to regular physical abuse. Her rough awakening and search for inner strength, pride, and freedom compose a powerful tale of struggle and independence in this impressive, compelling, and highly recommended story.

Kathy is a wonderful writer she had me really into her book.
I felt as though I was living in maine while I read.
Great story writer she will be going places .
I felt like I know her keep up the good work .

Linda_man

This novel is one of the most realistic portrayals of Downeast Maine that I have ever read. Living in Downeast Maine and experiencing many of the trials and tribulations that are portrayed in this novel, are what makes Polyester Pride a definate five star for me. I can't wait for the sequel.

Wonderful story! I felt like I was watching a movie. A really good movie. This book goes back to the things that were once inportant in life: Honor, Friendship, Love, Romance, Respect and just plan trying to do the right thing even when it hurts. Please write more!

Wow! What an adventure. I fell in love with all Lewis. I wish someone like that really existed. I loved the story and didn't want it to end. I'm all tingly inside. I'm gonna have to read this loving story again!

Just a wonderful book. The ending through me for a loop. It was hard to put down once I got started. Great story, great characters. I recomend it for anyone.

"Wumble Jungle" as my two-year-old calls it, is a day-long safari that introduces young children to different wild animals. It features catchy rhymes that may or may not make sense (but this doesn't bother my two children, 5 and 2), and bright cheerful pictures. It's become part of our stable of bedtime story reading material. Keep an eye out for Andreae's other book, "Giraffes Can't Dance". I read it in my son's class and got applause from enraptured children at the end of the tale.

Nice bright pictures, cute poems....my daughter loves it!!

I read Rumble in the Jungle to a 3rd grade class for "Read Across America Day." I figured it might be a little below their reading ability but the humor and pictures made it all worthwhile! They loved the goofy rhymes (one is about an animal "being cool.") I'll be buying it for my own kids, ages 2 and 6!

This was really like a videocam on somebody's private life. Just that it gets turned on and off randomly. It makes sense, if you just keep in mind that this guy is never up to any good, whatever he's doing.

Someone had left this on the seat in the Red Line when we got stuck the better part of an hour on the bridge. There is a limit to how long you can sit and look at MIT so I began reading it.
It seemed to be a pretty quick book, the kind you would hide behind on the subway to avoid any kind of contact with the other passengers. But I ended up reading the whole thing, finishing late that night while my upstairs neighbor was dancing to a Bruce Springsteen CD.
I cannot describe the sense of grief I had after finishing this book. Taking Merlin Black's (i.e. Miles Davis) final affair as its starting point, the author picks up various points in the trumpeter's life, using psychological rather than plot connections to explain who this man really was. Talk about an anti-hero! And yet you accept Merlin's sleaziness as his natural condition, rather like dealing with a life-long disease. It becomes impossible to judge him.
I would highly recommend this book.

One thing I do, on the road, is track this man Miles. I have been everywhere, this man has been. Every nasty dive that's now a parking lot, every apt. bldg., if he was there, I've been there. And sometimes I stop in a library, NYPublic by Grand Central usually, and look up the newest book on Miles. Until this book, which is kind of rare, I never got further than twenty pages.
Now this book fit with the pattern that I can see, going the places he went, and thinking of his music, which I memorized, all of it. I've talked to some people who actually knew him, but not big light people, and the picture you get is like the one drawn by this man Walter Ellis. He wasn't a nice guy, but mad all the time and even kind of violent when he wasn't too messed up to kick. This is the real picture. And Ellis starts the story when Miles was flopped, a sorry rich man who hadn't played trumpet in five years. By flashbacking to all the separate times he got somewhere and then got down with the dogs again, he gets you into this man's mindset, which was failure and all kinds of ways to fail in dealing with failure. And when you understand that, you'll understand the music.

This great book shows in text and photographs the various and beautiful ways that African artifacts: traditional fabrics, sculpture, paintings and drawings, popular and ubiquitous souvenir items and - most importantly - African-inspired motifs and designs, can be incorporated into (or the inspiration for) sophisticated contemporary room decor.

The authors have worked for the international design company Ikea, so their slant is design, rather than anthropology. They come at it in an energetic and engaging way. The result is a source book that is a visual treat, and a great home tour. The rooms - living, bed, kitchens (in which W. African design elements are adapted to ceramic tiles, with gorgeous results) and more - are lively, smart, and modern.

You notice in reading the text, and drooling over the abundant photos of the beautiful and stimulating rooms, that well-known European textile designers of the sixties (the Finnish company Marimekko, for example) owe a debt of gratitude to indigeneous African cloth designers. This is something I hadn't ever realized.

A lovely, inspirational, and worthwhile book.

I have lived, worked and travelled extensively in West Africa since the early 1970's and this is the first comprehensive book which assisted me in incorporating my beautiful art and artifacts into a living design for my home. I loved all the gorgeous pictures and the practical tips. The variety of design styles was also a welcome reminder of the diversity of Africa. I can't wait to read the next book by Sharne Algotsson. I only wish there was a magazine devoted to this subject as well.

I have traveled to West Africa and the Caribbean. This book helped me incorporate the artwork and artifacts I brought back from my trips into my day-to-day design. The things I have are no longer just "souvenirs," but are now part of an overall look and feel of my home. Now, when I travel, I have an eye for what I can do with my "stuff" when I get it home!

The authors and photographers have done a wonderful job.

This was a fun little book to read about the NR-1. After reading it, I could not understand why more deep sea submersibles were not nuclear powered. The idea that all these others staying down for only 6 to 8 hours while the NR-1 could stay down a month should have told all deep sea submersible builders that nuclear power was the way to go.

You don't get to read about all the missions and it doesn't really explain why there are not more NR-1s. The only reason seems to be the initial cost. It's hard to believe that after how sucessful this one was that they did not build a fleet of them.

They never explain how deep it can go which I was curious about because I would like to know if it could have visited the Titanic. I am surprised that there was never anything about this on the History channel now that it is out of the bag with this book hopefully they will do something about that.

It was a good real life adventure story.

Dark Waters tells the story of the design, construction and early (late 1960s to late 1970s) operations of the U.S. Navy’s smallest and most classified nuclear submarine, NR-1. Co-written by “plankowner” crewmember, Lee Vyborny, and a professional journalist, Dark Waters tells the inside story of the delayed, far-over-budget initial construction, the crew’s selection and torment by the infamous Admiral Rickover and the difficulties of putting a totally unique vessel into operational service. NR-1, which is still in service, has a tiny 130 horsepower nuclear power plant, displaces a mere 409 tons (compared to 6,900 tons for the Navy’s Los Angeles Class SSNs), and operates with a crew of 12 or fewer. Its most unique aspect is an ability to operate and maneuver indefinitely at depths up to 3,000’ and search out and recover lost objects (e.g., a top secret missile from a sunken aircraft) or pry open our adversaries' military secrets (e.g., a Soviet underwater detection system in the Mediterranean).

During the ten year operational period Vyborny writes about, NR-1 suffered many “near-death” experiences due to equipment failures and the inherent hazards of operating a tiny submarine “on the edge” for extended periods. Several tales of the crew’s ability to get themselves out of tight jams (there was no way anyone on the surface could help them) are riveting, inspiring examples of men living up to the highest traditions of Naval service. These sailors’ little known “inner space” explorations are as intriguing and inspiring as many of NASA’s outer space exploits of the same era.

Unfortunately NR-1’s post-1970s operations are barely mentioned in Dark Waters. Likewise, reference is made to increased Navy-civilian NR-1 science operations, but few concrete examples are provided. Unfortunately the book contains some factual errors. For example, Vyborny asserts NR-1 “has become the oldest operational boat in the Navy.” Even assuming, which is not clear from the context, that by “boat” Vyborny means submarine, that is not a correct statement. USS Dolphin (AGSS 555) went into commission in 1968, several months before NR-1 was launched; despite a fire and near-sinking last year, the Navy so far has kept Dolphin in commission (DBF!).

As a former Navy Spook I sometimes cringe when books like Dark Waters, Blind Man’s Bluff, etc. disclosure formerly classified Cold War capabilities and operations. At the same time I’m proud of the heroic and inspired efforts, as well as willingness to endure danger and discomfort, that lead to our Cold War victory, and believe these stories need to be told. I recommend Dark Waters to anyone interested in submarine technology, deepwater exploration, nautical adventure and Cold War history.

Lots of details in this page-turner, half of which is a first-hand account from the author and the rest retold through others. Right up there with Blind Man's bluff.

This beautiful picture book biography recounts the life and career of jazz musician, Edward Kennedy Ellington -- better known to all as the Duke.

When the Duke's parents enrolled him in piano lessons for the very first time, he flat out did not want to go. At that time he had visions of playing baseball; but his parents insisted that he learn to play the piano. The music lessons were slow and not a lot of fun. It wasn't long before he quit taking lessons altogether and kissed the piano goodbye. Little did he know then that the melodious rhythms of Ragtime would draw him back to this instrument again and lead to his success as a great musician, composer, and orchestra leader!

Andrea Davis Pinkney does an outstanding job sharing the Duke's story with young readers. Her husband, Brian Pinkney, matches her wonderful text with vibrate illustrations, which translate the Duke's music into a series of bold colored spirals, waves, curls, and swirls that literally leap off of the pages of the book! Without a doubt, this husband and wife collaboration will guide readers in appreciating the rhythm and beat of the Duke's life and music. This book is truly a musician's delight!

I just finished reading the Pinkney's "Duke Ellington" to a first grade class in our predominantly white rural school northeast of Seattle. Being trained as a musician, but now working as a librarian, I loved the way this text really swings. When I noticed much of the slang was going over the heads of the children, I'd ask them if they knew what certain words meant. Interestingly, the one African-American girl in the class was hip to most of the jive.

Sure some of the terminology went right past these kids, but they got into the groove, which is carried along soulfully by the vibrant illustrations. Like another reviewer here, when I was done reading this to the kids, I wanted to hear "Take the 'A' Train." Fortunately I had a CD of "Duke Ellington's 16 Most Requested Songs" sitting in my library, so I popped it in, and these kids were a-hoppin' and a-boppin'.

I think next time, I'll play the CD first. Hopefully, I'll be able to settle 'em down afterwards to hear this jazzy biography.

"Duke Ellington" is a biography of the legendary composer. The book is directed towards younger readers. Andrea Davis Pinkney's text is well complemented by the rich, colorful illustrations by her husband and collaborator, Brian Pinkney.

The book begins with Ellington's childhood, and describes his early interest in music and the beginning of his career. The Pinkneys portray his triumph at the Cotton Club, his musical partnership with Billy Strayhorn, and other aspects of his life and career. The book concludes with the triumphant premiere of Ellington's great composition "Black, Brown, and Beige" at Carnegie Hall in New York.

One of the aspects of the book that I like best is Andrea Pinkney's use of hip slang that recalls the era being portrayed. Example: "Yeah, those solos were kickin'. Hot-buttered bop, with lots of sassy-cool tones." And Brian Pinkney's illustrations combine vibrant color with an appealing "antiqued" look. Overall, an excellent educational book for young readers.