I purchased this book a few years ago and just love it! The recipes and holiday ideas are terrific - (check out the christmas dough ornament recipe - talk about quick and easy! I promise you will never make that old bread dough ornament recipe again!). I especially appreciate the art in this book...so much work has gone into each page. At Christmas time I display the book on a small easel for all to see. I get more compliments from this "decoration" than any other in my house. Every year I have someone new to give it to as a Christmas gift. They instantly become Susan Branch fans!

This book is so charming! I received it as a gift from a dear friend many years ago and I re-read it every Christmas! Recipes, ideas, and holiday thoughts pulled together with Susan Branch's truly unique artistry make this a favorite.

I have collected all of Susan Branch's books over the years and have found them all to be delightful. I especially like the Christmas Book for it's ideas, illustrations and of course the recipes. Please convey my best holiday wishes to Ms. Branch and your company for continuing to produce such quality in her books. Sincerely yours, Nancy Goff

This is the greatest, most beautiful book, calendar! I am going to be giving one of these to everyone for gifts! This book can brighten your day every time you open it, with the beautiful drawings and sayings. You will not be disapointed.

I just discovered Susan Branch's stickers/books/stencils/stamps/etc. I ordered this book for next year, and want to get one for my sister. It's so cute, and there are lots of Susan's drawings and watercolored leaves, flowers, and hearts...I can't wait to start using it. Couldn't find this in the bookstores anymore, so I ordered it from Amazon and got it within 3 days.

what a treat and a beautiful book to pick up and just look through. I just received this by post 2 days ago and have already started recording events in it each night before I go to sleep.....and then I read through the whole book again...many late nights in store. What a shame Susan Branch is not readily available in New Zealand, but what a delicious find! Keep them coming Susan.

I have never written a book review before, but this book inspires me to share my pleasure with everyone. This is, without a doubt, my favorite book. A friend told me about it several years ago and, bless her soul, lent me her copy of the trilogy. After reading it and living through the journey of Harry, Adam, Benedetta, Gilleis, and of course, my favorite, Isambard, I was transported back to this historical time. The pictures it paints are so vivid, so engulfing, that I couldn't tear myself away, and even at 899 pages, the journey was too short. After experiencing this brilliant story, I had to own a copy for myself. Though it was out of print at the time, I contacted the publishher (FREQUENTLY) until they released another printing. This is the only book I own that I have never lent to anyone - I can't bear to part with it! I have re-read this book at least 4 times, and I'm planning on diving into it again this summer.

My mother encouraged me to read the trilogy. In college she had the 2nd book and the girl across the hall had the other 2. They traded the books back and forth so they could read all 3. Before she left, my mom gave her friend the Green Branch saying that she'd buy her own copies of all 3. It took her nearly 20 years to find the books, since they are still out of print. When my mother found the books (hardbacks containing the trilogy) at Half-Price Books, she bought both copies they had. Right away she read them. The other copy she gave to me. It seemed a daunting task, but when I took the time to read the books, I found they were the best I'd ever read. Reading The Heaven Tree Trilogy is truely an experience. The books are such that once you get into the book they never let you back out. (Nor do you want back out) It is the most wonderful literary experience to read the books. What must writing them have been?

How lucky I was to have been living in England in the late 1980s when I discovered Edith Pargeter/Ellis Peters, because these books were in print in paperback (how I wish I had hard copies!). I have read and re-read these books, and all of the Cadfael books, and just about every other book she has written - I even bought the Cadfael mysteries in Swedish (lived there after England) because (1) I had that collecting EP boks bug and (2) it immensely improved my vocabulary!

This story is complex, compelling, riveting; human in scale, yet encompassing great themes; and it's a roaring good read. I laugh, I cry, I wish I were as wonderfully talented as Madonna Benedetta, or as loyal as Gilleis...and every time the boys seek sanctuary in Shrewsbury, I think "If only Cadfael were there, he would find a way to help them." Yes, I am obssessed, but in a good way!

I am impressed by Ms Pargeter's knowledge of mediaeval history, and even more so by her ability to create living, breathing characters to bring it alive. Because of her, I have read a great deal of serious, non-fiction history about the war between Stephen and Maude, and about the melding of Norman and Saxon into England. And because her sympathies are so clearly with both Welsh and English in the tangled border area, I have been able to burnish my strong pride in my Welsh heritage, while learning to forgive those who trampled it to bits. Because history is never as simple as it seems from this end.

I highly recommend these books. I sent copies to a friend of mine for his birthday one year and I hope he treasures them too!

Having been the first Susan Branch book I've used, The Summer Book will always be my favorite. She reminds us of the little things in life that we should enjoy and cherish. Enjoyable for all ages (I'm only 23), you will yern for a more peaceful and sweet summer after all the craziness in our modern lives. More than just a cookbook, she shares her delightful thoughts on a summer garden to her personal summer memories. But of course, I must mention that the recipes in this book are absolutely delicious! She makes every moment fun and enjoyable.

Susan Branch's art gives "The Summer Book from Heart of the Home" a fabulous quality. It's a book you won't be able to put down. The illustrations are so great you just keep looking at them, discovering new things each time around. The recipes cover a wide spectrum, and this is a cookbook for people who want their recipes presented with true style. This book would make a great gift for anyone who appreciates all the best in life.

My absolute favorite cookbook! I bought this a few years ago and my copy is dog-eared and splotched from so much use in the kitchen! Our favorite recipe is the roasted vegetables...so easy and healthy. And, when you get the winter blahs...just take out your copy of this book and your heart will be warmed and you'll look forward to summer with all of Susan Branch's illustrations; wonderful ideas for your home and life; and the recipes. It makes you want to take a trip to Martha's Vineyard. A must have...a great gift!

A first rule of thumb when approaching Cabell's 18-volume opus, the Biography of Manuel; every book will be about Cabell's relationship with his wife. Cabell is obsessed with marriage, and objectifies all of his female characters to fit one of his imagined female roles; nag, whore, or unapproachable beauty. Cabell's characters always return to their nagging wives, for familiarity's sake if nothing else, with never a suggestion that it might be possible to have a long-term relationship between a man and a woman in which both are creators and in which both learn from each other.

The book Jurgen is from the same mold. Jurgen the pawnbroker moves from one of Cabell's stereotypical women to another. The book became well-known because of the godawful sex sequences, in which Cabell archly refers to Jurgen's sword, staff, or stick -- the resulting call for censorship made the book famous, but that doesn't mean it was Cabell's best. I thought The Silver Stallion and, in some respects, even The Cream of the Jest or The High Place to be better examples of Cabell's writing.

I would recommend that anyone who likes fantasy read at least one of Cabell's books, because he writes like no one else. This book had the usual Cabell wittiness and sardonic feel, so if it's the only one you can find, certainly try it.

Early in his journey, Cabell's Jurgen comes to a place known as 'The Garden Between Dawn and Sunrise.' In the garden live all the imaginary creatures that humankind has ever created: centaurs and sphinxes, fairies, valkyries, and baba-yagas. Jurgen is surprised when he sees his first-love wandering around the garden, but his guide replies "Why, all the women that man has ever loved live here...for very obvious reasons."

Moments like this, simultaneously jaded and genuine, sentimental and cynical, are the most delightful parts of 'Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice.' Nominally the story of a medieval pawnbroker's quest to find his lost wife, 'Jurgen' becomes a bildungsroman in reverse as, on the way, its hero regains his youth and visits the lands of European myth, from Camelot to Cocaigne (the land of pleasure) -- each land shows Jurgen a way of life, and he rejects each in favor of his own sardonic stoicism, for he is, after all, a "monstrously clever fellow."

That phrase describes Cabell as much as it does Jurgen: the author is remarkably erudite, and, like a doting parent hiding easter eggs, drops in-jokes through the book on subjects as far-ranging as troubadour poetry and tantric sex. Cabell corresponded with Aleister Crowley in his day, and, in ours, is an influence on Neil Gaiman ('The Sandman,' 'Neverwhere,' etc.). The book itself caused quite a splash when it became the centerpiece of one of the biggest censorship trials of the early 20th century: something to do with Jurgen's very large *ahem* sword.

Social satire and an idiosyncratic cynicism in the guise of a scholarly romance-fantasy, 'Jurgen' is what would have happened if J.R.R. Tolkien and Dorothy Parker had gotten together to write a book.

In the 1920s, James Branch Cabell (rhymes with "rabble") was considered by many to be one of the greatest American writers, based on this novel. Tastes changed with the coming of the Great Depression; worse, Cabell never again came close to writing a book of this quality, despite his many attempts. Whether or not Cabell is a great writer (and I incline to the view that writers should be judged by their best rather than their mediocre works), Jurgen is a great book, full of insight and a joy to read. The eponymous protagonist is a middle-aged pawnbroker who is given an opportunity to relive his youth. In his travels he encounters, among others, Guenevere, the Master Philologist, the Philistines, his father's Hell, and his grandmother's Heaven. In the end he has an opportunity to question Koshchei who made all things as they are. I heartily recommend this novel. Although it is in an older fantasy tradition, it is at least as readable and enjoyable as the best contemporary fantasy, and its literary quality is far greater. I have re-read it many times.

The book Dear Ellen Bee by Mary E Lyons and Muriel M Branch is a great book. You can't leave the fifth grade wihout reading this book. Dear Ellen Bee is a book about two union spies named Miss Bet and Liza.Liza is a freed slave and wants to be an artist,but Miss Bet wants Liza to be a teacher so therefore Liza and Miss Bet argue alot. If you like the civil war you'll really like this book. I hope you'll read it!

Hi I am in the fifth grade and I read Dear Ellen Bee. It is a civil war scrapbook and there is a girl named Liza. She is black and her teacher is white her name is Miss Bet. Their two Union spies and they are the main characters in this story. Miss Bet wants Liza to be a teacher, but Liza wants to be an artist, Liza goes to college for a teacher. Well that's all I can tell you or it will spoil the book for you. I hope you read it.HAVE FUN!!!

Hi I am a 5th grade student. I am going to tell you about the book that I read called Dear Ellen Bee. I liked the book because it is about a little girl named Liza and a teacher named Miss Bet. In the book it talks about two union spies. If you read this book you wuold think it is worth 5 stars. Well I think it is worth 5 stars. I think you would like to read this book. Me and my group made a poster and gave it 5 stars. It was realy FUN to read this book!!!

In his epic account of America during the Civil Rights Era, Taylor Branch provides a compelling portrait of the rise to prominence of Martin Luther King, Jr. This Pulitzer Prize winning book is historical narrative at its finest. Branch focuses on the life of King, the African American politics of the era, as well as the local, state, and national politics affecting the civil rights movement.

Michael Luther King, Jr., was born to an elite African-American family on January 15, 1929. At the age of five, his father would change his and his son's names to Martin Luther King, in honor of Martin Luther after the elder King traveled to Germany. The younger King was raised with the highest of expectations. Highly unusual in his time, the King family had the means, through their powerful position as a leading Atlanta black family and through the enterprising and industrious ways of MLK, Sr., to put MLK, Jr. through college up to the level of earning a P.H.D. from Boston University. This education both shaped the younger King in the traditional ways of learning, as well as through the social contacts he gained, and through the experience of living in the relatively liberal north.

In 1954 at the age of 25, two weeks after the Warren Supreme Court handed down the landmark decision in Brown, et al., v. Board of Education of Topeka, King gave his first sermon as pastor-designate at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. In taking this job, King was defying his father who wanted his son to eventually take over at his own church, Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church. Moving into the deep south, and away from the elite black community of Atlanta, King was in for a rude awakening as he was exposed to the depths and strengths of entrenched racism.

King soon rose to national prominence as the leader of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). With the arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat to a white man, the MIA mobilized the black community in Montgomery into what became the largest act of civil disobedience among blacks up to that time. Branch's account of the Montgomery bus boycott, like the entire book, is riveting. Through great bravery, hardship, and persecution, the blacks triumphed and the Montgomery buses were finally integrated. King was just one of many blacks who provided leadership and showed courage through this ordeal, but because of his skills as an orator and his position as the leader of the MIA, he found himself thrust into the national spotlight.

The book culminates with the march on Washington in 1963, and the assassination of President Kennedy that same year. Throughout, King is portrayed as a brilliant leader, a fiery orator, a man willing to go to jail for what he believes in, and a man who is successfully and brilliantly riding the tides and changing currents of his times. However, Branch does not portray King as a solo operator. The events of the Civil Rights Era, starting roughly with the Brown decision, and going through the assassination of King in 1968, are a series of events with multiple personalities and acts of bravery against institutionalized persecution and entrenched bigotry. The southern mayors, governors, police chiefs, policemen, firemen, and the angry white southern mobs are shown as the villains of a racist society. President Eisenhower and to a lesser degree President Kennedy were reluctant participants in the inflammatory racial politics of their time. Attorney General Robert Kennedy took a more active role in civil rights than any of his predecessors at the Department of Justice, but he too was hemmed in by the politics of his own party. Richard Nixon, Ike's vice president and the Republican candidate in 1960, was more in tune with the plight of blacks than Eisenhower was, but Branch portrays Nixon, along with the other leading politicians of both parties as always acting out of political calculation. The most sinister man on the national level was J. Edgar Hoover, the entrenched FBI chief who would stop at nothing in his sick plots of snooping into the private lives of anyone he deemed of interest. King ranked high on that list.

"Parting the Waters" is a long book, but it is an easy and quick read. Branch brilliantly gives the reader a taste of America during the years of 1954 to 1963 from the perspective of the civil rights issue. He also portrays Martin Luther King, Jr., now a national martyr and hero to blacks and whites alike, as an extraordinary human being who rose to the challenges of his times and helped lead all Americans closer to the promised land of equal opportunity.

This book - the first in a projected series of three volumes - begins a comprehensive history of the civil rights movement, focusing on the role played by Martin Luther King. It is not a biography of King per se but Taylor Branch has a lot to say about how King, through personal effort, became a great leader. King was, of course, a great orator, and Branch is pretty adept at analyzing his methods. But almost anyone who has heard King or read him knows that he was channeling something greater than himself.

What King wanted for himself was a life of scholarship. Yet, as Jesus said on the Mount of Olives, "not my will, but yours be done." In a brilliant anecdote, Branch relates how King was elected, almost accidentally, to head the Montgomery Bus Boycott. At a mass meeting that evening, King gave an inspired speech. At the end of the speech, the audience sat, stunned. People reached out to touch him as he left the building. "[King] would work on his timing, but his oratory had just made him forever a public person. . . . He was twenty-six, and had not quite twelve years and four months to live." The obstacles in Montgomery in 1955 were many, and only a few weeks passed before King sat in despair, his face buried in his hands. He prayed, saying "I've come to the point where I can't face it alone." As he spoke these words, he experienced a transcendent religious experience that gave him the strength to continue his struggle. No man is perfect, but King knew his duty, and did it.

Beyond its insights into King's character, this book offers readers a survey of our country at a critical juncture. When the civil rights movement began, the balance of interests in the United States had left the South in the grip of the great evil of segregation. King himself shifted the balance. At the same time, thousands of ordinary Americans, devoted to nonviolent struggle, suffered tremendous privation, loss of livelihood, beatings, and sometimes death, making it impossible for the federal government to ignore the plight of Southern blacks.

Finally, through Branch's history, we meet a large number of what could almost be called interesting minor figures except that they were not minor at all. One of these is Vernon Johns, a brilliant farmer-preacher who preached the social gospel. In a memorable scene, Johns is asked to address a group of white and black preachers who are meeting to discuss the role of the church during a time of racial tension. He says, "The thing that disappoints me about the Southern white church is that it spends all of its time dealing with Jesus after the cross, instead of dealing with Jesus before the cross. . . . If that were the heart of Christianity, all God had to do was drop him down on Friday, let them kill him, and then yank him up again on Easter Sunday. That's all you hear. You don't hear so much about his three years of teaching that man's religion is revealed in the love of his fellow man. He who says he loves God and hates his fellow man is a liar, and the truth is not in him. That is what offended the leaders of Jesus's own established religion as well as the colonial authorities from Rome. That's why they put him up there. . . . I want to deal with Jesus before the cross. I don't give a damn what happened to him after the cross." At this point, no one's too happy that they invited Johns to speak. Lest we think that Johns was just an eccentric, though, Branch also refers us to Johns' "Transfigured Moments," which can be found on the web and shows Johns to be a serious man of considerable understanding and imagination.

In addition to its merit as history, Parting the Waters is a great read, and deserves to be read slowly. If you can do this, the time you spend with this 900-plus-page book will be extremely rewarding.

Presenting an authentic and comprehensive picture of the mammoth civil rights movement in the United States in the post WWII era is a daunting task, yet noted author and journalist Taylor Branch has succeeded masterfully with this, the first of a two-volume history of the struggle of blacks in America to find justice, equality and parity with the mainstream white society. Tracing the rise of the singular leader personified in the young Rev. Martin Luther King, Branch sets the stage for a wide range of events, personalities, and public issues. This is truly a wonderful read, fascinating, entertaining, and endlessly detailed in its description of people and events, and quite insightful in its chronicling of the fortune of those social forces that created, sustained, and accomplished the single most momentous feat of meaningful social action in our nation's contemporary history.

His range of subjects is necessarily wide and deep, and we find coverage of every aspect of the tumultuous struggle beginning in the deep South, and gradually working its way north and west until most of the urban northeast also surrendered to the battle cry for civil rights and justice under the law. In many respects this borders on being a biography of Martin Luther King and his times, yet Branch so extends his coverage of the eddies and currents of the movement itself that it appears to be by far the most comprehensive and fair-minded treatment of the civil rights movement published to date. Whether covering the issue of Martin Luther King's own personal life, his internal philosophical concerns, or his appetite for young white women, the reader is engaged with every element of this and a thousand other personalities, issues, and events that carved out the history of our country for almost twenty years.

One finds a very detailed of the Kennedy involvement in the movement, first as a purely political ploy to help to win the black vote in the extremely tight race for the Presidency in 1960, and then as an administration struggling to do what was right in the face of enormous social, political, and even economic opposition. Here too we find an absorbing account of how the FBI attempted to infiltrate and influence the movement, with J. Edgar Hoover's adroit political savvy and deep-seated racism causing great difficulty and a number of tribulations for the civil rights cause. The names and places and events described here are legion, and one gets the sense that anyone who had a conscience was involved, and many of the names mentioned later went on to greater accomplishment and further noteworthy contribution in their public lives and careers.

This, then, is a stupendous first volume of a wonderful two-volume history of the civil rights movement in the United States, and covers the period from the late 1950s when the first rumblings of the movement were sounded until just after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas in November of 1963. The second volume picks up the thread thereafter, extending out through the Johnson years and including aspects of the coalescence of the movement with the Vietnam anti-war protest. This is a wonderful book, and one I would consider essential reading for anyone with an interest in American history in the 20th century. I highly recommend both books, and I hope you appreciate reading them as much as I did. Enjoy!

While this one was published 3rd in the Aeron series, it's actually first in order. The characters are strong, and you see the groundwork for the next two, (Copper Crown and Throne of Scone) The glimpses of Keltic life and culture are also quite well done.

I have been interested in these books since I first heard about them several years ago. I finally bought The Silver Branch and decided to give them a try. I finished the book in record time and immediately went hunting for the rest of Patricia Kennealy-Morrison's books.

This story is amazing. It's not just the plot, although that gets my highest praise for being so intricate and well-written. But, the world that has been created around the plot is so stunning and beautiful that I can't describe it. You just have to go there for yourself.

I really loved this book. It is basically a prequel to two other books within this trilogy but it can be read first.
Enough background-- what I really want to say is how much fun this is to read, how smart it is, and how well written it is as well. The characters come to life for the reader and stay with them long after you finish reading the book. Dare I say "a classic"? (NOTE: This is all coming from someone who is not a sci-fi/ fantasy nut but someone who reads all genres of literature.)

This book is fantastic. One page can make you cry and the next one brings laughter. It is a delight to read and look at. The recipes are awesome and her ideas are practical and doable. I love Susan and all the great quotes that inspire us girlfriends. You won't regret this purchase and you'll be ordering more for all those women who have touched your heart.

I love Susan Branch's books and I wasn't disappointed by her latest project. This would make a great gift for your best girlfriends. It is a book that celebrates life, love, food and the special friendships that women have.

It is apparant from opening the cover, that the author is in love with her world and wants everyone to have the same warm feelings about life,nature and family as she sees it. Her genuine warm personality reaches out to all who stop to visit with her in Girlfriends Forever.In a way that makes you forget you are reading a book .....and you soon feel as if you are right there talking with Susan Branch ,the author ,While she is sharing with you some of her intiment life experiences...and the closeness and warmth biulds as you move on .page by page. this is truly a gift of love for a special friend!

I have over the years purchased the FOUR top rated home medical guides in my quest to find the best. By best I mean the one that meets all of my families needs. I tried to be as unbiased as possible in examining all four books, concentrating my efforts by comparing them for organization and content. Sadly all four have their own shortcomings. All provide solid a reference for home/family health. But some are far better than others. I rated all based on a max. of five stars possible. I compared all as to content and completeness of info provided. Actually comparing the info provided for various illnesses and diseases.

NUMBER ONE
I can not say enough about this book by far the best of the best at 4.65 stars. The nearest competitor came in at 3.9 stars. Very good graphics (color) and photos. Lots of extras, including contacts and web sites to further info. Very well organized and lots of info. Is by far the most complete and most comprehensive.

I am a frequent buyer of updated home medical books, and have pretty much seen them all. This one is quite superior! It is easy to find various medical conditions, complete in its coverage, and written in a way that the average layperson will understand. The illustrated color pictures are very well done, a rare treat, and contribute well to one's understanding of the copy. In short, it's the best home medical book I've ever seen. I recommend it without reservation.

It's difficult to review something so extensive in just a few paragraphs so I'll keep it as simple as possible.....

...Bought this book for my parents and am going to buy one for myself right now. Will probably give a copy to my cousin who's just starting college. An extremely helpful and informative medical reference guide - over 1000 pages. Very well organized. The information is presented in many different ways so that all types of readers can understand - photographs, illustrations, charts, graphs, tables - simple and thorough. If this book doesn't have the answer - it will point you in the right direction to find it.... In my opinion a must for every home reference library like a dictionary or a thesaurus.

If you have reservations about purchasing it on-line, this book is worth checking out at your local bookstore.