The diaries published gave me some insight into how the pioneer women stabilized the home. Their lives were full of dreary mundane daily tasks that had to be done for survival. These women often looked at the migration to Iowa as a family opportunity to make a new life. Having grown up in Iowa, I can visualize Iowa as a new frontier and remember the culture I grew up with. The culture in Iowa of pitching in and helping the community grow has not changed.

The book is pretty funny. The authors sarcasm and wit makes it an enjoyable read. The only draw backs were the typo's that you come accross every so often that's been put there on purpose to give the book a raw, first draft kind of feel, as if you're reading it right from pages that the main character himself had provided for you, unedited. It was a nice creative touch but can get distracting sometimes. Overall its a good read, it goes by fast even at 500 plus pages and you get pretty caught up in the main character and his life and almost want to meet him, as if he actually exists!

This book covers the material well. Some of the later chapters tend to loose the reader with a bunch of jargon. Overall, the book facilitated my learning of the material. I am still wondering about a solutions manual to accompany the text.

This book's main part is a collection of cards meanings from different major tarot book authors, collected with the purpose of getting to a card's meaning by integrating the different texts written about the card.

This is, indeed, very useful - it's like appreciating a precious cut stone by looking at it from different angles and directions.

I like reading the descriptions, e.g. poems by Aleister Crowley, heavy text by Waite, Angeles Arrien's text, and Mary greer's text.

Actually, I like this book so much that I take it along with my tarot deck to refresh my memory and view of cards.

This is a very good approach, but with a slight problem - the descriptions are for different decks (e.g. Rider Waite, Thoth, and Motherpeace), so a reader would get the general idea of a card but must still know the nuances of the deck she works with and which nuances belong to other decks.

TIMESWEPT BRIDE has a very slow start, but keep reading. It gets better and better. It is a time travel which makes sense. Eugenia Riley explains every detail from the heirloom ring to the saving of the money in the bank. The heroine Priscilla thinks of herself as unattractive, but with Ms. Riley's wonderful writing, I could see her through the eyes of Jake Blarney. The story is so well writen I could hear the roar of the tidal wave. There are lots of characters with strong personalities and characters with gentle hearts. A very good escape book.

This is a great workbook for people in relationships. It's a workbook that helps couples to work out their differences in a positive way. It is not filled with obvious answers or pat advice, but instead guides a couple through argument "techniques" designed to increase communication and decrease strife. I highly reccomend it to all couples.

contrary to what it may seem, this book is not a revised edition of the last (paperback) storyteller's handbook. it is an all new book containing lots of all new information, including frequently asked question section. While the book isn't the easiest read, it contains a great deal of valuable information, including some plot springboard ideas. Weather your a veteran storteller or a newbie, i would highly reccomend this book as an addition to your storytelling refrence library.

Granted, Anais Nin, having spent her life veiling and concealing truths, is a most difficult individual to research. This fact, however, offers no excuse for the writing style of this book. The use of the present tense serves to obscure the meaning of references to the present day. In the text, does "today," mean the year being discussed, or the year of writing? In additon, Fitch mercilessly peppers a paragraph with names, only to use an imprecise pronoun in attributing a quotation. Who was it that said that again? Random comparasions to other writers, (i.e. anne Sexton) spring up in one sentence, neither led up to nor substantiated. Bare facts are laid down side by side with purple prose and phrasal flights of fantasy.
In short, the self-consciousness, name-dropping, and obscuring of facts makes this book only slightly less obsfucating than the writing of Nin herself.

This book is a thoroughly delicious read for the Nin fan. Noel Riley Fitch's fine scholarship, deft analysis, and solid writing make vivid what is surely one of the most fascinating lives of the 20th century. As the title indicates, this books focuses on Nin's love/sex life, but it uses all available diaries and fictional works to piece together what can sometimes be a real puzzle. And, unlike the biography by Deirdre Bair, Ms. Fitch has an obvious affection, admiration, and appreciation for Nin which does not compromise the objectivity of her analysis.

The one possible problem in Fitch's analysis is that she makes the presumption that Nin was physically violated by her father. There is no doubt whatsoever that Nin was emotionally abused by the man, but Fitch is the first to suggest actual sexual molestation. Though she makes an excellent case for this possibility, her daring thesis caused a bit of an uproar amongst Nin's family and close friends who believe Fitch played fast and loose with the facts. I can understand their concern; it is a serious thing to accuse someone of such a crime. Still, Fitch's argument is so compelling that I don't believe it can be easily overlooked.

For anyone interested in understanding Anais Nin, this book posits a provocative theory while also pulling together the facts of her life.

I agree that this is not the best biography of Anais Nin. Yet, we have to realize that she is not the easiest person to write a book about. I admire Noel Riley Fitch for attempting. I love reading about Anais--she was an amazing woman. And I think she knew more about the TRUTH then we think she did. She created atmosphere and breathable relationships. This biography tells of her friends and enemies alike---her success and failures.

One good thing about this book is that it holds many a laughs for someone with even minimal intelligence. And onto the "plot"!

You have your stereotypical beefcake named Marco, who, whenever described, holds a striking resemblence to the supposed author of this book. Marco is your average Italian pirate/womanizer who is his own boss and even the boss of a quaint pirate island somewhere in the Caribbean where prostitutes are welcome to visit and have children with Marco's crew.

Marco, on one of his escapades, comes across a rather dilapidated, almost-run-by-criminals island where he saves twelve-year-old Christina, who, upon first being introduced, doesn't appear half bad. Marco gallantly swoops her and her stereotypically annoying crone of a guardian, away to his island. Blah, blah, blah, six years pass.

Marco still is an irritating, virtually one-dimensional character who has to walk through doorways sideways because of his overbearing muscles (I particularly loved his episode with the mercenary-like cook and her constant want of a raise, and how he said something along the lines of "Woman! You try my temper!"), while Christina has turned into a spoiled brat. Of course, she's a voluptuous, golden-haired eighteen-year-old who is lusted after by every memeber of the crew, so all her moral short-comings are overlooked. I swear, I have never come across a .... character. And not even in the good sense of the word. There were numerous occasions where I wished I could jump into the book, punch her in the face and then laugh at her while she cried for Marco because her hair got mussed and her immaculately tiny nose was now less than perfect.

All in all, you have just about every stereotype imaginable. The steamy whore who thinks she can run the hero's life. The annoying child-turned-woman who thinks she owns the hero's life because of a frivolous promise, the ugly, bearded Spanish pirate rival, the heiress of an American colony company, and her jealous guardian who wants her dead so he can get the money.

I think the only likable character was the darn cheetah, who, in a Sigfried and Roy-esque manner, was a pet. And she is oh-so nicely name...Pansy.

Anyone who honestly enjoyed this book needs their head examined. I got it as a gag gift, and I couldn't even get through it all, and ended skipping parts.

I bought this audio book because the price was inexpensive and I kind of liked the audio cassette recording of Fabio's book Rogue and since one of my favorite movies is about pirates I thought I would like this but I didn't like Pirate, I thought Christina was a spoiled brat and she was an airhead, I thought Marco was obnoxious, basically all the characters are so unlikable!

I must admit, this book could have been worse. While it did have a great number of problems, it was ok.

The main problem was that this was like a book from the 80s without the rape. The entire thing was a cliche, a pirate who lost his entire family and wanted revenge. He saved a girl and put her on his island where she became extremely spoiled and bratty, and she wanted him. Of course, he can not marry her because he would have to give up his revenge and would never make her a good husband. Yada yada yada. Inevitably there is another pirate, jealous mistresses, and a suitor mixed in. Will our heroine be able to convince the hero to marry her? Will this occurence happen before horrible things happen to both her and him.

This book was honestly written like an 80s book, but I think Fabio wanted so badly not to use plot elements such as rape that the situations became unrealistic. The girl was on a pirate ship where she is humiliated daily and all the pirates are able to ogle her, but none touch her because the captain wanted to seduce her? Right. Likely story. Not that this bothers me, the lack of unpleasant situations I mean, but it made the book seem silly. It was also without any humor, which is something I desire in my romance novels. And the amount purple prose was staggering. Ride my mast? Never heard that one before.

However, one reason I liked this book was because of the plot of a pirate who takes a girl to his island hideaway to protect her and falls in love with her. Although the heroine was rather spoiled, she was a brat in a good way if that is possible. She was at least able to go after what she wanted, which made her admireable. The hero was of course devastatingly good looking, with a suspicious resemblance to Fabio, and there was a happy ending.

What I suggest. Don't read this book unless you have nothing better to do. It was a nice try, but was not quite up to snuff.