I thoroughly enjoted reading this book. I have read it several times and have not gotten tired of reading it. Any fan of the X-MEN or Wolverine comics will enjoy the background story of Wolverine. The book had many mysterious parts to it which encouraged me to find out more about Wolverine. A must have for any Wolverine fan.

My two year old son keeps asking us to read this book. He's fascinated with trucks and never gets tired of hearing this story. The whole series is excellent--if your child is into construction or trucks buy this. When they won't sit still for anything else -they will when you read this one.

"Sooner or later Christians tire of public meetings that are profoundly inauthentic, regardless of how well (or poorly) arranged, directed, performed. We long to meet, corporately, with the living and majestic God and to offer him the praise that is his due." (D.A. Carson)

OK, my knee-jerk reaction to this book was, "Finally, some THOUGHTFUL words on worship!" But let's face it, books on evangelical worship are a dime-a-dozen these days with little new being said and a lack of thoughtfulness (not sincerity). As for books on worship and the theology of worship: the standard has been significatly raised.

Not so with this book! Dr. Carson's introductory essay alone is worth this book. But, there is a lot more that it offers: following some insightful remarks by the editor (Carson) there are three theoretical/applicable studies written by Mark Ashton (Anglican -- Cranmer), R. Kent Hughes (Free Church), and Timothy J. Keller (Reformed).

Each writes from their own tradition (as a pastor), providing a semi-apologetic and a passion for the approach. Further, each writer includes sample services to help show what each tradition "looks like" in practice.

I recommend this to:
1)those tired of reading the same old stuff on worship
2)those unfamiliar with the theology of worship (this is a good intro)
3)those unfamiliar with different doctrinal/denominational traditions
4)church elders and leaders who plan worship
5)those desiring more...

Got writer's block? You won't after being inspired by all the wonderful approaches to triggering writing ideas in this book. 63 exercises in all categorically grouped in a sensible format. Includes encouragement and instruction on keeping a writer's journal.

I am a recent MD graduate and I always wondered how I could improve on my writing and communicating skills. Let's face it, we are all very good to have gotten through medschool but at the same time we all have room for improvements!

This book shows you how to write better and more effectively, too. Also, a great section deals with presentations and how to make them more understandable to the audience.

There are great chapters dealing with publications and how to write good and clear scientific articles. This is great for all of us who strive for more publications! I always wondered how some medical articles were so unclear; I guess those guys didn't read this book!

Zagat's Hawaii is the bible for fans of fine dining. The rankings and reviews are almost always right on. A great guide for anyone who really enjoys the diversity of Hawaii's cuisines

I was becoming disappointed in Garwood's books because of the "Me, puissant hero. You, ineffective heroine." style she was adopting. With this book, she has achieved a great triumph: she penned a believable, romantic and above all, humorous tale.

Too many novels have trite dialogue or exaggerated sex scenes and Garwood manages to steer clear of both. "For the Roses" entertained me so much that I had to put it down more than once so that I could stop laughing at the antics of the characters. I especially loved her heroine, Mary Rose Clayborne, because the young woman was intelligent, sassy and sweet. She also has a strong streak of common sense not often found in the gloriously beautiful and reckless heroines that populate lesser author's works. Mary Rose is definitely NOT monotonous or vain.

I like the structure of the novel, with its chapters interspersed with letters written by the Clayborne family to their matriarch and Mary Rose's namesake, Mama Rose. The characters come alive through the letters and we gain an insight into their personalities that we would not normally have.

Bravo, Ms. Garwood! This is the most excellently written novel of yours I have ever read.

Julie---we are not worthy!!!!!!! I have read For the Roses several times (I have it in hardcover for the "I Love this Book--If you Touch them you DIE" shelf). I have recently finished the Red, White and Pink Rose series and have loved every brother--cant wait for you to tell Coles story!!! I even named 4 trees after the brothers. All of my friends who have read your books and I agree "I wish she would write faster" but then again we know that your books are something special to look forward to. EVERYONE read this book--you will not be sorry, you will love all of the Clayborne brothers, and Mary Rose with her sweet giving spirit. Then go on to read the other novelas that Julie has wrote about the Claybourns. Once again---I am not worthy of the joy your writings have brought into my life. Thanks :

This story and the entire series was beautiful. It illustrates what family is all about. Family is not just about blood its about LOVE,TRUST,RESPECT & LOYALTY. If this was required reading in high school maybe we wouldn't be a nation full of Jerry Springer guest. The selflessness of the young men in this story is inspiring. These young men show that even if life has been tough on you there is hope. This book and the entire Claybourne series really touched me. Julie Garwood is a sure thing!! I love all of her stories. ****WARNING JULIE GARWOOD FANS**** the movie ROSEHILL that is suppose to be based on this wonderful book in my opinion was awful!! They made Mary Rose out to be very selfish and mean. They KILLED OFF COLE!!! They never showed the family bonds that were created and were the main part of this lovely story. In essence everybody grew apart in the movie. They even leave you feeling that Adam will die of consumption eventually.. It was sad and depressing and I feel it didn't capture the magic of this book!!!

This book is a children's classic, containing all the elements of a fairy tale. There's a villain, a good person, a magician, a princess in disguise, and a "happily ever after" ending. Except, unlike a fairy tale, it could have happened.

Sara Crewe's officer father sent her to an English boarding school when she was seven. Because she was rich, the ambitious headmistress of the school, Miss Minchin, spoiled her. Then Sara's father lost all his money and died, leaving Sara a pauper in Miss Minchin's care. Miss Minchin put her to work at what was essentially slave labor, scrubbing floors and shoveling coal from dawn to dusk at no pay and very little in the way of food and other necessities of life. Sara was about to despair, when mysterious things started showing up in her room. Hot meals laid out for her in the morning and evening. Then a rug for the bare floor. Then a warm nightgown to wear, and a new blanket for the bed. She didn't know what was happening, and assumed it was magic.

It was a fine book, very good for children I think. My only problem is that Sara, like most of Frances Hodgson Burnett's characters, seemed too good to be true. She was never angry at Miss Minchin for treating her cruelly. When she found fourpence in the street, she bought food and gave almost all of it to a beggar girl even though she herself was starving. And so on. But other than that it was great.

This book has familiar fairy tale figures, such as a wicked stepmother-like Miss Minchin, a fairy godfather, and an orphan protagonist who is a princess in disguise. It's the story of a little girl who endures some setbacks but reaches a happy ending not only for herself, but for those around her whom she helps even when she's pretty downtrodden.

The writing is charming and Sara comes through as a person who is determined to maintain her values, through good times and bad. She has a definite personality and that is a good role model for any child. She stays true to her beliefs in being kind, mannerly, charitable and above all, herself.

The magic in this book is unsurpassed in children's literature. When Sara comes home, wet and cold and neglected, to find that a magician has transformed her world, you can't help but be enchanted. I will admit to reading it again now and then as an adult. The charm is still there.

Just a fun factoid; A Little Princess was originally a shorter story titled Sara Crewe, in a volume of children's novelettes by Burnett.

If you remember seeing Shirley Temple in the 1939 "The Little Princess," this is the same basic plot with a wonderful new twist. The story is based on the beloved classic by the same author of The Secret Garden.

The movie opens with some stunningly beautiful scenes from India and all too suddenly Sara Crewe must leave with her father who is being called away for military duties. Sara has to go live in a New York boarding school. Through her experiences she learns to survive in the world and takes each day as it comes. Her vivid imagination is a pure delight and when she tells her magical stories, they are played out in a fairy tale like way onscreen. This contrasts with her real life at the school.

Sara's fun-loving spirit does get her into trouble from time to time. Overall, she is just used to living with her father and being free to do mostly what she likes. In her new school she has to follow many rules. She draws strength from her father's words to help her believe in herself. He tells her that she will always be his little princess.

A wonderful movie which shows that if we make the best of our circumstances, we will be blessed in the end. Five stars for storytelling magic!

Charlotte Bronte's JANE EYRE is one of the most readable of Victorian classics. VILLETTE is something different. It could be a good bet for a reading group -- there's a lot to discuss in it. It's a deliberately slow and un-melodramatic story; the narrator, Lucy Snowe, evidently intentionally does _not_ tell about some of the most dramatic incidents in her life,instead focusing on her emotional privation.

In this book, it seems there are three levels of humanity. There is the majority, focused on material dazzle -- who are made of "vulgar materials." Superior to them are those whose hearts and minds are capable of some development, but who are spiritually limited. Lastly there is an elite, who, perhaps through much suffering and the tutelage of the wise, discover their own inner integrity, and so become free even while being bound to the "prison" of the body. In short -- don't be misled by the Christian terminology; this is a gnostic novel, even if Bronte never heard the term "gnostic."

It has a tough-mindedness that makes many novels seem sentimental. And it really is rather bleak, in seeing this world as unredeemable. For a Victorian fiction with obvious spiritual/religious relevance, what a Christless thing it is.

"Villette" is a more complex, mature novel than "Jane Eyre" and, to many readers, a more unsatisfying one. Unlike "Jane Eyre", "Villette" is no Cinderella tale, and there is no Rochester to stir the heroine's -- and the reader's --emotions. In "Villette", Bronte gives us Lucy Snowe, whom she resembled in many ways: plain, prim, no-nonsense, practical to a fault, and suffering the pains of unrequited love. Unlike the happy ending which delighted us in "Jane Eyre", Lucy finds a hope of happiness at last with M. Paul Emanuel, only to have her prospects shipwrecked literally and figuratively at the end of the book. Many readers have a problem with Bronte's liberal use of French throughout the book which disrupts the narrative, and her forays into Gothic romanticism, which seem contrived and artificial. A more serious problem, for this reviewer, is Bronte's insularity and her narrow-minded frame of reference which rejects anything un-English and un-Protestant. Even with these flaws, "Villette" is a deep, thought-provoking portrayal of the pain of lost illusions.

its rather hurried and ambigious ending, which leaves the reader having to form his/her own version of the ending ie. whether a happy or sad one. (Read the Signet Classic, the afterword by Jerome Beaty explains that Charlotte Bronte actually wanted a somewhat sad ending to the story, but her father wanted it to be a happy one, so Bronte compromised by leaving the ending 'hanging' so that the readers can decide for themselves how the story ends.)

Apart from the above dissapointment, this is a marvelous classic and beautifully written, a great and indepth analysis of the workings of the human heart and mind. I loved it better than Jane Eyre (except for the ending: Jane Eyre's is more complete and satisfying). You'll love the character of M.Paul - despite his eccentric behaviour, he's really a darling with a heart of gold, which Lucy Snowe soon discovers!

I recommend that you buy the Signet Classic version which has the English translation to the over 400 French phrases found in the book.

I read Jane Eyre for my AP Lit. Class in the 12th grade. I figured, oh just another boring book. WOW! was I completely mistaken. ALthough long, Jane Eyre could have been 1,000 pages and I still would have read every page, with joy. The growth Jane Eyre, the novels main character and Protagonist, goes through throughout the novel is amazing. Born into an unloving world, with rejection and anger at every corner, Jane is forced to keep herself company and therefore, her only friend is herself. Adopted by her uncle, who soon dies, Jane is forced to live with her aunt Reed. I dont want to summarize about all this stuff, I am going to get down to the nitty-gritty. The novel mainly centers around Jane and her love for Rochester. When Jane becomes eighteen, she is hired to govern at the mansion of Rochesters, and to guide and teach his daughter, Adele. The marvelous love story between Jane and Rochester is as intense as anything you will ever read. At times while reading the novel, I would have to put the novel down and take in what I was reading. The passion and heart exhibited by these two characters was at times unbearable. If you want to read a true novel, full of power and emotion, read Jane Eyre- the best novel ever written. :-)

When I first read Jane Eyre, I (and I think many others) was taken in by the odd combination of romance and ominous overtones that makes Jane Eyre such a unique book. Of course, the Victorian-era writing and social commentary also made an impression.

But upon reflection, underneath all of this is a story of people with difficult lives learning to find and accept each other and hopefully coming to peace and happiness despite long odds. Maybe my second reading just comes from a twenty-first century mind reading things into a nineteenth century book that just aren't there. But to me, the book does have the feel of a modern story of hardship as well as a Victorian story of people trying to overcome their backgrounds to find love.

Jane Eyre tells the life story of an orphaned girl sent away to a harsh boarding school by a cruel aunt. Despite the harsh nature of the school, Jane thrived at the school since she is finally out from her aunt's crushing dislike for her. She graduated and took a job as a governess for a girl in the care of a mysterious man who spent much of his time traveling abroad, Mr. Rochester.

At first, the two do not like each other. This is compounded by the fact that Jane thinks she is plain looking and not worthy of his company. But the two develop a peculiar friendship, and there are many signs that their feelings are deeper. But Mr. Rochester is busy courting other ladies at the time. Mr. Rochester also seems to have a secret that he will not divulge to Jane but may have serious consequences for her.

Jane's job as a governess and the friendship that develops make it seem that the book will quickly become a Jane Austen book (which of course, would not have been a bad thing) in which the man and woman from different classes find love with one another, but from the point of the friendship blooming, Jane Eyre takes a few remarkable twists and turns that I had not expected and that make for real page-turning.

But it is as much the quiet desperation of both Jane and Mr. Rochester and their struggle to find each other despite this that makes Jane Eyre a book truly worth reading and treasuring.

I read this book in junior high school and, like so many other girls, fell head over heels in love with Mr. Rochester; after all this time, the book is still a terrific read. The first part is classic Cinderella with an interesting twist. Jane is an orphan who is abused and mistreated by her rich and evil stepmother and her nasty cousins; unlike Cinderella, Jane stands up age age 10 and fights back. She is promptly shunted off to a school for girls from poor families, where she spends the next eight years. Needing a change of scene and environment, she answers an advertisement for a governess and enters the household of Mr. Rochester. Rochester, however, is no Prince Charming; he's 17 or 18 years older than Jane, hard, bitter, cynical, selfish, and, unknown to all but a few, encumbered with a wife who is the prototype of the "mad wife in the attic". Rochester is a romantic at heart, however; he is captivated by Jane's innocence and simplicity. We all know how the book comes out so there is no sense in rehashing the plot; suffice to say that Bronte is a marvelous storyteller. The one problem I have with Jane Eyre is the same that arises in Bronte's other books, and that is her stifling insularity; she seems unable to find value in anything that outside her own narrow, English Protestant frame of reference. However, this is a small caveat in this book. "Jane Eyre" is a classic romantic novel that has entranced generations of readers and looks good for generations to come.