Sarah is a twelve-year-old Puritan girl living in Massachusetts in 1651. She is dreadfully unhappy because she fears her widowed father plans to marry a strict woman who dislikes Sarah and considers her to be poorly behaved. Playing on Sundays is strictly forbidden by the Puritan church. But one Sunday after a snow storm, Sarah and her best friend, Elizabeth (whose parents are considered to be somewhat freethinking for Puritans) can't help themselves, and they start to play in the snow, when they notice someone watching them and flee. Later, Mistress Goddard (Sarah's potential future stepmother) comes forward and announces that she saw Elizabeth and her brother Roger (she thought Sarah was Roger because she had borrowed his coat) broke the rules of the Sabbath. Now Roger will be punished when Sarah is the one who broke the rules. Can Sarah find the courage to come forward with the truth? I highly reccomend this excellant, detailed historical novel.

This book about a girl 12 years old in a puritan community and how she lives with her dad and her best friend Elizabeth. I loved this book.

This is an excellent book! As soon as I picked it up I couldn't put it down. It was very exciting to read. I reccomend this book to anyone who likes exciting books.

I am one of those people who has read Walden over and over again over a period of decades, and have owned several editions. This is by far the best I have seen. It is quite helpful in the explanations it provides for some of the more obscure passages, is beautifully put together, and is simply a pleasure to read.

Thoreau was part crank and part visionary, like a crazy uncle. I am glad to have known him through his books. Taken with a grain of salt, his perspectives are refreshing and often illuminating. He helps his readers see there are indeed different ways to look at the world.

For 2 years and 2 months, Thoreau decided to live life in the Concord Wilderness near Walden Pond, as an experiment. He wanted to see if complete self-reliance was possible. As an experiment in pure solitary living, unaided by the trapping and encumberances of society, Thoreau failed. But as a book of profound insight and beauty, Waldon ranks supreme in the history of American literature, and the bulk of his insights and observations stand. I say failed, because Thoreau often spent evenings at the town pub, drink and talking, where from he would stumble home drunk without the aid of lamp light to find his way. Moreover, asside from a doting mother who would often bring him homemade victuals as a break from mountain berries and salted meats, he often stayed over with the Emersons when the loneliness was particularly biting. So clearly Thoreau was never as detached from society as he would have us believe, and yet that is neither here nor there. Thoreau was an amazing writer, an observant naturalist, brilliant social critic, and perhaps the most singular individual America has ever known - and for that Thoreau cannot be beat. edition of Waldon is particularly good, in that Hardin has done exactly what all editors should do. In keeping with the Thoreauvian motto, he has made the text simple and accessable, clarifying points with annotation and references. After reading Waldon, you might also want to check Harding's biography of Thoreau, which I highly recommend. Among other things, you will learn about his trouble with women. (Interestingly, like many philospohers, Thoreau died a virgin.)

Just as Alexander carried a copy of the Iliad in a precious cask, I have cherished a dog-eared and well marked copy of Walden for a quarter of a century. Now at last we have a binding worthy of one of the greatest books of all time. The embossed cover, the lavishly illustrated endpapers and page footers, the vast number of drawings from Thoreau's pen, and the detailed Masorah-like marginalia elucidate the familiar text and enrich the reading experience. The many references in the notes to Thoreau's Journal have lead me far afield into the various editions of the Journal (at least those I can afford). This is a first rate edition which I hope to carry with me the rest of my life.

I read the book prior to my first buying trip to Brimfield. Mr.Brown passed on some interesting history on the shows. Also, the assorted chapters revealed something of interest in almost all aspects of the flea market. I even had the pleasure of meeting the famous "lady in the white hat!" If you love antique shows as much as I do, you will enjoy this book.

If you've ever wondered what the famed "Brimfield flea markets" are all about - now you can find out. Mr. Brown uses a compilation of newsworthy articles and human interest chapters to unveil the mystery surrounding the fields of the tiny Massachusetts town. Each May, July and September the rural village is transformed into a world-renown marketplace, and Mr. Brown is located in the center of it all. A book worth reading.

Full of photos, quotes, commentary and good writing, this book is a simple pleasure for everyone interested in flea markets. Dubbed the grandaddy of all markets, Brimfield just keeps getting bigger and better. I've been there and I know, but thanks to Mr. Brown's book, readers everywhere can realize what the hoopla in Brimfield is all about. RECOMMENDED READING *****

By letting us into her thoughts as she moved from hope to resignation, Gale Warner has allowed us to witness close-up the emotional process of dying. I've read this book over and over, trying to really grasp what it must have been like to have understood, and written "We are entering a new reality" (the time when she recognized and had to fully comprehend that she was not responding, would not recover, and that death was imminent.) Whether or not you share her profound relationship with the natural world, her assertion that she has had sufficient joy and experience in her life really does ring true. I've never read anything quite like this: it is an amazing gift.

I feel it's a privilege for me to have followed Gale Warner on her journey: What was her journey? A journey we'll all have to embark on, sooner or later (hopefully, later), since we're all going to die. Gale Warner was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 30 and lived 13 more months. In these months, she wrote in her journal about her thoughts, her insights, her struggle, her pain, and finally her acceptance and serenity: But it was never easy, never simple. Gale Warner saw cancer as the ultimate test of her faith (her particular, private sort of faith). She worked and struggled with her own mortality. In her own words-

"Limits. In order to boil water, you must put it in a pot. The pot sets a limit and so does cancer. When you learn you are not immortal, that you may only have a few years to embrace life, you start doing so. The photo of the Earth on my wall shows its beauty- and its limits. It would not be the same if those same colors and swirls were sloshed all over space".

"Dancing at the edge of life" is an important book, because in the end, everybody has to find their own answers or anyway, start asking their own questions. I would recommend this book to anyone and of course, not only to people with cancer. You don't have to get diagnosed with lymphoma to start thinking of the "big" questions, you don't have to wait to have cancer in order to learn how to live.

Another reason that makes this memoir important, is that Gale Warner must have been a very special, intelligent & sensitive person. She had worked as an environmental journalist & was also an accomplished poet. A person that fully embraced life was ultimately able to fully embrace the journey towards death.

Gale Warner's story is positive proof that each of us, if we make a conscious choice, can see and feel the Spirit of God in everything and everyone, in spite of, and especially during, adversity and pain. It is the little moments, Gale's descriptions of that divine CONNECTEDNESS, consistent and enduring, that touches me the most. Her tender, poetic prose allows us to glimpse the radiant, spiritual essence that is the birthright we all share. During these troubled times, the world finds itself somewhat short of role models, but with the loving gift of "Dancing at the Edge of Life," Gale remains a lasting example. In her own words, she was and is "a daughter of the four winds, a child of the moon and rain and sun ... sister of the whale, and the juniper." I suspect that she now shines brightly in the heavens; each person who reads this book will feel the warmth of her glow, and best of all, will want to share it with others.

Yes, Robert Finch writes with an intensity that comes with his passion for his life on the Cape Cod peninsula. But many of these essays describe creatures and natural phenomena that take place in other locales as well -- it's just that we're too busy or too apathetic to observe them. He sees. And then he tells us about his encounters, just as easily as if we're sitting across the table from him at a casual eatery.

My favorite passage is beach-oriented and describes a old cottage being overcome by natural forces: "Sand sifts slowly, like age, over everything, softening, obscuring, and finally obliterating each distinct thing into a semblance of itself and the next thing. In this sense, sand is the ultimate progressive poet, whispering, 'This chair is like this table, is like this bed, is like this sink -- and each thing is, more and more, like all the others, until finally they are all -- like me'." (p. 153) Of course! Why didn't any of the rest of us think to say or write that?

Save this volume for a time in your life when you need the peace of Nature to drape itself over you and slow down your blood pressure. These stories are worth savoring. Then go out and "see" for yourself.

Robert Finch's words not only portray the flora and fauna and geography of Cape Cod, he shows the reader what the Cape really is. Those of us who've only visited during the season and thought we "knew" the place should be ashamed. Mr. Finch is a part of the Cape, and the Cape is a part of him, and this reader can only stare in wonder at the majesty and beauty of the world he describes.

What a remarkable year this has been for writing about nature in New England. First the dazzling debut Bullough's Pond, now this thoughtful collection of essays. Can't wait to see what the fall lists have in store.

...i have to admit that i was somewhat frustrated with the book's ending. From the very beginning i was expecting Giardina to take Luca's frustrations to a higher level instead of just conveniently blaming all his sexual confusion on his parents. I thought it was really wishful thinking on Giardina's part to have written an ending so perfect and convenient with the two children being punched out to complete the 'awww...' factor. It was such a let down, contradicting the book's earlier, realistic portrayal of human emotions and life in general - The restraining of ones thoughts, the desire to fit in , the inability to address our fears and that nothing turns out the way we want it to. Nevertheless, I was glued to every page, especially the childhood years and i really took a liking to Lou and Bob's relationship. i thought it was really sweet. Anyway, as much as the ending may have been disappointing, I would definitely recommend the book.

The issues of sexual identity are paramount in this quiet, subtle and gorgeously written novel from the master storyteller Anthony Giardina. Class and intimacy, along with the confusion of sexual identity, also wreak frightening confusion in the life of an Italian-American boy growing up in 1960s Massachusetts. 11-year-old Luca Carcera finds his life upended by a series of baffling changes, and the use of the introspective first person narrative is ideal for highlighting his frustration at these changes.

Adult, mature and VERY thought provoking, I was totally entranced by this great novel. Giardina shows fine attention to subtle character development, and can keep the story moving at a very brisk pace. Setting the novel in the early 60's was interesting, where I'm sure the issues of gay family relationships were handled very differently than today.

On finishing this book, I immediately found and read copies of his two earlier novels. We should consider this a testament to this fine writer.

I could write a review about how good I think this book is and how glad I am that somebody finally wrote on this subject, but I will just say that when it seems everyone is black and white minded, after reading this novel, I'm happy to see that not everyone is.

Thank you, Anthony Giardina, for being alive and writing this.

-Thomas Nordlum iftherebethorns@hotmail.com

As someone who lived on the island of Nantucket for 10 years, as one of the working people who cleaned the summer people's houses and worked three jobs in the summer, I know all too well the life that the author describes. But although it is a hard life, it was a wonderful one and I don't regret it. This book made me very nostalgic for that life. The author has a dream-like quality in the way that she writes. I hope she writes another (and longer) book.

Seldom do we get the chance to read a book that feels like the author is sitting next to you and telling her story, but not in a "oh, enough about me! How do you like my dress?" way.Nope, Carol Wasserman seems like an old friend.Simply put... This book rocks! It is funny, it is familiar, it is warm...the perfect after the holidays book, a perfect anytime book. I did not want it to end, but I finished it with the hopes that when I finished it, I'd hear she just published another.

More, please. And, Thank You.

While the book really grabbed us due to it being vaguely Parallel to mine and my wife's lives, that's not the point. If you live in the rental from hell a.k.a. "A Winter Rental" and you survived, well then this is a must read. I remember years ago whe our kids were young. As the spring came the kids could play outside. The property owners would show up and start working on the house. How comfy is this when you're a little late on the rent? Carol's description of this exact situation made me cover my face with a pillow and sob. She describes the exact gut wrenching feeling that happens to all winter renters! That and her yearly visit to town hall to show Aubrey is still indeed dead are some of the most powerful moments I've seen in literature in a long time. This is such a great work that it must be spread so others will do it!

I HAPPEN TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED IN THIS PARTICULAR GAME BECAUSE OF THE PART THAT I HAD IN THE OUTCOME. PLEASE REFER BACK TO THE BOSTON POST PAUL HINES OR THE BOSTON GLOBE JOHN AHERN FOLLOWING THIS GAME YOU WILL FIND YOUR ARTICLE DOES NOT EVEN COME CLOSE TO THE GAME THAT WAS PLAYED. BY THE WAY JIM DUFFY HAD LEFT SCHOOL.
THE PAPER WILL INDICATE THAT I HAD FOUR GOALS AND WAS CREDITED FOR THREE. I THINK YOUR BOOK IS GREAT COVERAGE AND WOULD HAVE LIKE TO RECIEVE THE CREDIT DUE FROM PLAYING IN THE BEANPOTS.
I DO HAVE THE ARTICLES WRITTEN IF YOU WOULD BE INTERESTED. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO KNOW WHERE THE INFO YOU HAVE CAME FROM.
THANKS FRANK QUINN BC 56

ABOUT ONE MONTH AGO I INFORMED BERNARD CORBETT IN REGARDS TO GAMES PLAYED IN 1954 BETWEEN BC/ HARVARD BU/NORTHEASTERN PLAYED IN THE BOSTON GARDEN IN FEB. THAT IT WAS THE BEANPOT. AFTER BEING INVESTIGATED BY MR. CORBETT, IT WAS NOT. SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GAME WERE THE SAME, HARVARD/BC WITH THE TWO GAME SCORES BEING THE SAME, BC 4-1 BOTH GAMES. MY MISTAKE THINKING IT WAS A BEANPOT GAME...

FRANK QUINN "54"

GREAT BOOK LOTS OF GOOD READING FOR THOSE REMEMBERING THE 50 YEARS OF THE BEANPOT

While living outside of New England for many years, I always searched on the first two Mondays of February for coverage of the Beanpot. This was usually not successful. This book does a great job of capturing why the Beanpot became an important part of being a Boston sports fan, and provides a great historical account of the tournament. No other part of the the country can match the Beanpot.

Have you read Peyton Place? If so, you will particularly enjoy
Dobson's take on the (by today's standards) mild expose of
small-town sex and scandal and Professor Karen Pelletier's involvement
in the book's resurrection (and its author's incarceration).

If the
series were only concerned with Pelletier's sleuthing skills, I never
would have made it through the first (let alone the fourth)
book. Dobson's real talent is in presenting a genuinely likeable
character who has a great job, fun friends, and intriguing
possibilities for her personal life. Karen Pelletier is such a
compelling character that the reader forgives the occasional bit of
sloppy writing and the contrived plot devices that pepper the
series.

The Karen Pelletier mysteries are as addictive as
movie-theater popcorn. If you like them, try the Kate Fansler
mysteries by Amanda Cross (which set the standard for this genre),
Veronica Stallwood's Kate Ivory novels, and Edith Skom's Beth Austin
novels. I've recently discovered but not yet had the time to read two
other authors in this genre: Carole Bugge and J.S. Borthwick.

College Professor Karen Pelletier sets off a whirlwind when she nominates Obsession Falls, a 1950s sex novel, as book of the century. Before the excitement dies, a reporter tracking down the author is killed and the author accused. Karen doesn't believe the evidence and investigates. Could the mostly forgotten (until Karen reminds the world of its existance) semi-autobiographical novel bare secrets someone didn't want exposed?

Author Joanne Dobson does an excellent job describing Karen's working environment: the strange relationship between faculty and departmental secretary, and the infighting and semi-friendships amongst professors jealous of one another's success. More importantly, she gives Karen a history--broken loves, a family to whom she cannot go back, a daughter now grown and moving out on her own, and all of the little fears that make a person fully human. Once she makes us love Karen, Dobson throws her into danger. How can we help our response? (Answer, we can't--just sit back and enjoy it).

You may guess the killer fairly early but you'll want to stay with the novel to make sure Karen survives and to see how she uncovers the truth.

Highly recommended.

The mix of academic world and mystery--with high-brow elements and down-to-earth humor--in her Karen Pelletier stories should be compelling more readers toward Joanne Dobson. I discovered these mysteries after searching for something with a central female character and experiencing great disappointment from some other, better-selling authors. This is one of Dobson's best!