"Still Life in Crete" by Anthony Cox is a humorous and off-beat look at migration from Kent to Crete by an early-retired British couple. It is big on food and wine and toungue-in-cheek observations of life away from the grey skies of England." - Extract from the "Lonely Planet Guide to Crete" (second edition).

"Recommended for lovers of Greek cuisine, Crete and 'enthusiastic' prose!" - ATHENS NEWS book review

It's early days yet to bracket Anthony Cox with genially acerbic Bill Bryson, but "Still Life in Crete" is in the same companionable genre as the glib globetrotter: full of sharp observation visually and verbally, with a nice line in cynicism this side of world-weary. Understandably, neath drear British skies in his unmodern cottage amid cabbage stench, ex-journalist Cox dreamed of escape. Crete, with its siren promise of flower-decked, sea-girt vistas, distinctive culinary delights and £-cowed currency, sounded just the job. The Kent sale proceeds and pension, plus his wife's tele-cottaging, would guarantee comfort with style.

Realising the dream was less easy, but constantly challenging, as he entertainingly reveals with a relish for every facet of the odyssey, from madcap outward journey and the usually warm, sometimes maddening character of his new neighbours near Hania and their coffee, olive oil and grape-fuelled lives, to the vagaries of local building regulations and lawyers' little ways, and the impact of tourism on this history-rich island. Plus the way his two dogs put the "pug" into repugnant.

Nonetheless, the scene-stealer amid the beguiling abundance is Cox himself, not too innocent, too knowing or too pushy and self-righteous. Just the classic, ever-welcome Englishman abroad. Not Hellenic, just differently civilised, happy to share his insights into a richly diverting culture and a life-changing experience.

The book is guaranteed "100% Greek myth-free", but it offers the tasty PS of a handful of recipes.

Next book Cox must let his sketching skill run beyond thumbnail modesty, perhaps illustrating a broader descriptive canvas. How about "A Funny Thing Happened on the way to Athens..."?

A wonderfully exciting and educational book taking the reader to Egypt. Lots of adventure to please both boys and girls mixed in with helping children learn to cope with loss. It's an attention holding book for adults as well. Great writing! A book for every child's library shelf.
Evelyn Horan - teacher/counselor/author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl Books One - Three

"The Story of Bes" was a brilliant book. Not only did was it witty, but also educational. This book would not only be good for kids, but grown-ups as well. I found it to be extremely clever. Shelli Wright Johnson is a magnificent new author. I hope there are more books where this came from. Get writing on those sequels!

"The Story of Bes" was an amazing book. It was brilliant and witty. I think this book would be enjoyable to people of all ages! Shelli Wright Johnson is the hottest new author. I hope she writes sequels. Everyone should buy this book. Its not only entertaining and enjoyable, but educational. And not in a boring way. Plus it teaches kids that everyone goes through changes in their lives, but they don't all have to be bad.

This is a must,must,must! It was an incredible book. This book need to be taught to sons by our fathers. This is a book worth passing down to upcoming generations.

Bro. Browder picks up where he left off with his first powerhouse of essays. He is a on a mission to help people of African descent free their mind. And he is doing a tremendous job. In this book he gives his analysis on racism, white supremacy, health, spirituality, corruption of the media and many other topics.

... BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. WELL, HERE ARE SOME SPECIFIC MEANS.

I have started 4 companies in the past, my first nonprofit 2 years ago. I didn't know anything about them and this book taught me everything I needed to know to get going. I am frequently asked how to start a nonprofit by friends and I always just point them to this book. Even if you intend to use a lawyer to incorporate (which I recommend, also), this book will educate you on the things you need to know to understand the process.

This is a great book which walks you through the steps of nonprofit incorporation, but just be careful and allow enough time to double-check crucial information with your state Attorney-General's office.

this book really gives you all the required info minus the lawyer fees. even gives you the web links to the states that have incorporation forms online. Now i just need to find 3 more people dedicated to my cause to form one in my state

"The Other Israel" is truly a gem and will probably be the best read of the year. Not only for the historic perspective given, but also for the way these writers have literally bared their souls on a subject they feel so strongly about.

In today's oversimplified coverage of the Middle East conflict that we see on the media, "The Other Israel" will take you on a journey to places you've never been before, and may very well make you doubt what you once believed.

These 37 essays are a contribution by Jewish novelists, historians, journalists, activists, as well as several military officers who have refused to serve in the occupied territories. All who hope that their voices will be heard around the world, and especially by their own people who, like most in America, will have their perceptions shaped by what the government tells them, what they see on the media, and often more than not, what they don't see.

As a collective, the essays represent a growing discontented movement within Israel itself that questions the morality of the occupation, the mindset upon which it has endured, the terrible hardship on the Palestinian people, and the effect on Israeli society as a whole.

No longer able to ignore their moral convictions, and acutely aware of the turmoil beset both sides, these writers expose the failings of the past peace processes, the myths that have been perpetuated over the years, and the apartheid conditions the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land has created. They condemn what the occupation has done to the moral fiber of their military, along with not only the price they pay as a society, but with their standing in the world community as well.

None of these essays are terribly long, and some are amazingly short. But they are sophisticated in that they manage to convey complicated accounts of history along with deep personal perspectives in a relatively short amount of space due to the exquisite writing. Almost all are haunting. Some are point-blank in your face accusations and I was caught off guard, but I witnessed more in these pages then any documentary video I've seen on the subject. If these pages don't strike some deep nerve within you then nothing will.

As you read, it will become apparent that these essays took much courage on the part of the writers, knowing full well that they might, at the very least, be labeled as 'self hating Jews' and at the very worst, traitors by the hard right Zionist wing. The essays were written last year just falling short of the current roadmap process, but nonetheless will still give an incredible insight into what has been going on over there.

Often the writings depict the internal struggle within the authors themselves. On one hand there is a great need to be part of the greater Jewish solidarity, the wish for their country to live peaceably and prosper, while on the other as one essayist points out, the anguish that comes from "knowing all this, yet crying little, and keeping quiet too often."

Finally, a book written by insiders in regard to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Certainly a rare find. This book is actually a compilation of papers/essays/letters written by numerous authors all of Israeli Jewish decent. Noted authors include Uri Avnery who fought in the '48 war and served in the Knesset, Ishai Menuchin who is a Major the Israel Defense Forces reserves, Dr. Yigal Shochat who served as a fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force during the War of Attrition, as well as numerous well-known and published professors of Political Science, all of whom teach at universities across Israel.

The book subverts many myths about Israeli politics in the OPT, but it does not do so in a black and white manner as so many other books do. It is a critical analyses of how certain decisions by those in power are creating a threat not only to Israeli citizens within Israel proper, but also a to Israel's democracy itself. This book criticizes key flaws in Israeli politics in regard to the Palestinian issue and provides solutions in their place; rather than simply attack Israel for all it's worth.

In addition to the logical, critical, thought-provoking, Jewish-perspective information this book provides, it also serves to effectively undermine anti-Semitic attitudes towards Israel. Many other books simply criticize Israel without providing alternate solutions given from Israeli Jewish perspectives.. those types of books end up in the hands of some anti-Semites who use the text (most often taken out of context) as metaphorical ammunition. This book is no such source for such idiocy.

To criticize one's own government is nothing new, but to do so in such a well-articulated manner, without ostracizing 1000s of years of Jewish culture, and all the while defending democracy while putting your public reputation on the line is not only genius; it's heroic. Read this book!

A book that challenges so much that one hears about the "justice" of Israel occupying Palestinian land is an important, necessary book. Although the title makes somewhat grandiloquent claims on the part of its individual writers (there is no risk whatsoever to these people, in terms of social position or even income, in writing these articles), it is important for Americans to hear other perspectives coming from Israel. Most of the articles are worth reading, although Anthony Lewis's contribution to the volume unfortunately shows his characteristic clunky prose and banality of polemic. But that is a minor quibble to make. This is a fine book.

Somewhere in France, Michel Montaigne was working on his immortal "Essays." Gibbon described him as the only man of liberality in the 16th century, aside from Henry IV. His honesty, his good will, and his probing nature have recieved the acclaim of posterity.

Somewhere in Italy, the same time, a more representative portrait was being painted -- the Autobiography of Cellini. While it has the same honesty, it lacks the grace (written in a colloquial style), the liberality, and the meditation of Montaigne. It is probably more represantative of the Renaissance man, and of modern man altogether. Reading Cellini, one comes to understand what Camus meant by the "culture of death" at work in Western history.

Written as a novel (seen, in fact, as a progenitor of the Romantic novel), the Life of Cellini is a remarkable glimpse into the Italy and France in the times of Michelangelo and the Medici. Characters like Francis I of France, Duke Cosimo, Pope Clement VII, and artists like Michelangelo and Titian come to life in brilliant colors. But one shouldn't mistake the intent of Cellini's book as painting a portrait of his times -- no man on earth was ever so in love with himself, and HE is the subject of this book (I had to cringe every time Cellini, about to describe something fantastic, stops and declares "... that is the work of historians. I am only concerned with my affairs..." and leaves off).

I can't say for sure, but the veracity of this book must be almost incontestable, for the most part. Cellini was simply too shameless to be too much of a liar. A few times he tests our credulity: "mistakenly" leaving France with the King's silver, an arbesque "accidentally" firing and killing a man, etc. For the most part, however, we get the whole truth, and in fact more than we wanted to know.

Despite the fame and prestige Cellini comes to, he is little more than a common street rogue and villian. In the course of the book, he murders three people in cold blood, each murder worse than the last (the third time he shoots a man in the throat over a saddle dispute... on Good Friday). He delights in describing his violence ("...I meant to get him the face, but he turned and I stabbed him under the ear."), and he revels in warfare, brawling, and the misfortune of his enemies. Aside from the three murders, there are innumerable foiled and aborted murder attempts. Cellini's sadism reaches new heights when he forces one of his laborers to marry a whore, then pays the woman for sex to humiliate the man. In his descriptions of his crimes, his many run-ins with the law, and his violent disposition, Cellini seems completely unaware of himself and without shame. In fact, the intent of the book is to show him as the virtu -- a hero of divine virtue in a world of lies and deceit.

The portrayal of King Francis alone makes this book worthwhile. He is everything historical events point him out to be. Generous, jovial, and shrewd. The descriptions of the years Cellini spent as Paul III's personal prisoner are another high point, unfortunately capped by the lengthy and horribly tedious poem, "Capitolo," where Cellini clumsily elaborates on his suffering.

As a history and an autobiography, there are few greater works. But aside from its historical and literary value, the Autobiography of Cellini was just fun to read. The audacity and conceit of this horrible man is almost comical, and the loose and efficient prose makes it a smooth read.

Cellini's story reads better than a novel. He is the quintessential Renaissance man. In his service to popes, kings and a slew of dukes he was a goldsmith, painter, sculptor, soldier and he may have had more near death experiences than any other that I have ever read about. Of course, his tale leaves himself always and forever blameless in each conflict, betrayal or other unfortunate episode that he finds himself in, which is tremendously entertaining. At first, the reader is seduced into believing that this man has been wronged countless times by a world full of the most slippery types of people. By the middle of the book, however, it dawns on the reader that Cellini must have played some part in creating the misfortune and danger that he is constantly in. Cellini's writing evokes vivid images of the places and people that he meets. One of the most engrossing stories in the book is Cellini's imprisonment and later escape from the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, where he was confined by order of the Pope (who, according to Cellini, was bent on having him killed in order to prevent his own embarrasement). His escape from the place is a mix of (apparently) classic methods (he climbs down the side of the building using knotted bed sheets!) and terrible misfortune (he breaks his leg, is nearly killed, and is also attacked by mastiffs while crawling away for his life!). Very soon after having escaped the prison, though, he was again imprisoned by the Pope in a wretched and dank little cave in the Pope's own garden (where Cellini claims to have had mystical visions). Cellini has many other adventures in Italy and France (and on his journeys back and forth). Each tale is centered on how he creates his artworks in the service of some nobleman, how the nobleman is always astonished at the work, how Cellini is then betrayed by someone he was kind to (which, through no fault of his own, often puts him in the bad books of the patron). Cellini frequently ends up in a fight where he either wounds or kills the person, and then goes on his happy way. There is a great deal that one could say about this book and its author. It will suffice to state here that the book is a wonderful read, it offers excellent insights into life in the 16th century, and (as is true on my part) it makes the reader crave just half the adventure that this fellow has had.

This book covers the eventful life of a passionate craftsman who lived through major events of the Renaissance. In Florence, Rome, and Paris, Cellini managed to gravitate to the most powerful political and artistic personalities, but his relationships with them were always bumpy. Cellini had an artist's temperament and more - his passionate temper and sense of righteousness, combined with the unscrupulous nature of many he encountered, caused constant friction and turmoil which make the book a nonstop and occasionally violent thriller. The book's one disappointment for those interested in history is the lack of extensive description of the places where he worked and travelled. It's centered on Cellini, his relationships and activities, and his craft. He does however have a great description of the defense of Rome in 1527, in which he was firing artillery from the top of Castel St.-Angelo. George Bull rates five stars for a great translation which captures the spirit of the original, its passion, wit, sarcasm, bitterness and insight. Given the work was written with Florentine colloquialisms, this is an achievement. Highly recommended.

After reading "Flanders" by Patricia Anthony, and loving it, I decided to read another of her books, and "God's Fires" was the one I found at the bookstore. The decision to purchase it is one that I will not regret, for it is a wonderful, and well-written, work of fiction. The year is 1662, and a feeble-minded but good-natured teenager reigns in Portugal, but the Inquisition actually rules. In a remote village strange sights appear, and an "acorn" crashes to earth, leaving two live, and one dead, "creatures". But what exactly are these beings, and what about the other signs and wonders appearing in the area? The Holy Office of the Church will get to the bottom of the mystery, or people will burn. This book shows the fine line between faith and fanaticism, courage and foolishness, and love and lust. The language is all that I had expected from the author of "Flanders", and the pure emotion of this book practically leaps off of the page at you. The Church, and certain clergymen, do not fare well in their portrayal, but then, the Church has much to apologise for concerning the Inquisition. As I said when I reviewed "Flanders", read this book!

A "star" falls from the sky near Quintas in Portugal during the days of the Inquisition and the town is shaken by rumours of miracles and an outbreak of blatant heresy---all of which we folk of the 20th century might instead leap to interpret in terms of a clash between modern science and our own popular UFO mythology, although of course our theologians and politicians would also find plenty to say. Likewise, Quintas becomes the focus of an urgent Holy Office investigation conducted by an incompatible, bickering team of harassed priests and secular lawyers whose views range from the skeptical to the credulous, the politically expedient to the mystical. The mentally retarded, adolescent King Afonso sets up camp near the fallen "acorn", convinced by telepathic dialogue with the damaged space-vessel's failing computer that God is granting him personal revelations about the nature of the universe. While the confused young king shocks the assembled clergy with his Galilean heresies, including a quaint though accurate (according to current astronomical tenets) description of the formation of the solar system, his brother Pedro mounts an efficient political coup and wrests the regency from Count Castelo Melhor. And two silent, passive, enigmatic aliens docilely allow themselves to be imprisoned, gazing upon their captors with huge, unfathomable black eyes. Imps, demons, angels, pygmies from Africa or Borneo, strange New World animals "catapulted" into Portugal by the Spanish foe in a fiendish plot to sow civil disorder?

Anthony's ruthless and provocative account of the imaginary happening provides a lucid demonstration of how the unprecedented and the mysterious can only be analyzed and (mis)understood in terms of the prevailing beliefs of the time---its religious and philosophical convictions, the state of its scientific knowledge, its political prejudices, its popular myths and superstitions.

But this is also a novel of great humanity, with a cast of well-drawn, sympathetic, and lifelike characters whose interplay is both tragic and exalting: the soul-searching Jesuit Manoel Pessoa, a rationalist without faith, who hopes at first to defuse the dangerous situation with a cursory proforma inquiry sparing the Quintans dire consequences; his lover Berenice, a herbalist of Jewish origin, who cures the town's sick and is shunned as a witch; the kindly old Franciscan Soares, who believes in the angels; the selfish and gluttonous Inquisitor-General Gomes, who overrides the tribunal with his authority to light the pyres; the tense mystic Bernardo; the enchantingly quixotic King Afonso. "God's Fires" is a story of passion and doomed lives written with insight, biting humour, and bitterness---a far larger book than its disguising science-fiction component would immediately suggest.

What a fine (if lengthy) novel. High themes and low farce combine in this genre-busting book. It ain't quite science fiction and it ain't quite historical fiction, but who cares? I would guess that fans of this book will enjoy "An Instance of the Fingerpost," and vice versa.

In Life Lines, Anthony Edey draws upon his experiences with Parkinson's Disease and Cancer to craft a poetry which is both serious and hilarious at the same time. Enhanced with line drawn illustrations by Iris Edey and a section of black & white photographs, the poetry comprising this slender volume is as unique as it is memorable. The Final Cure: I hear that I ought to tart smoking,/Just try a medicinal pack./Inhale all the nice levadopa/My little gray cells seem to lack.//I hear that the feeling-good factor/Is just what I'm missing of late./A packet of Gaulloise should fix it,/I'd happily asphyxiate.//It's really a strange contradiction/That smoking could see this thing off./Instead of a long life of shaking/I'd die nice and slow of a cough!//On balance it seems quite apparent,/The treatment is worse than the cure./Through Parkinson's may not be perfect,/It's better than smoking, for sure.

We think that the book is a real light that shines on the fundamental questions of life that many of us manage to ignore.

Life Lines, especially the poem about Sam, made us think again about what is important in our own lives.

Life Lines was meant as a double-entendre by Edey -- "life lines" as throwing them out to save someone drowning in adversity, and lines by the words used by this man who charismatically wrote about his experiences in being treated for skin cancer and Parkinson's Disease. We've heard actor Michael J. Fox talk publicly about his life with PD, and like Fox, Edey provides a service to those who read his words. In Life Lines, Edey takes a "that's life" attitude with his health issues, and makes us chuckle in the face of reality.

Neruda is truly the greatest literary voice of Chile in its entire history, and one of the biggest of latin american poetry of all the XX century, place which shares with mexican Octavio Paz.
Neruda has been labeled in many ways, "poet of love", "politic poet", but he was beyond all this shallow aliases, he was a true poet in all the sense of the word.
This volume is a good (but not quite perfect) aproximation to the works of the poet if Isla Negra, it lacks some poems, so the selection could have been better, and also it has translation mistakes (like not translating "calle maruri" in "Maruri street". This book is an entrance to the poetry of Neruda, but not the definite word.

A MUST HAVE. Es sin duda un libro que vas a cuidar y conservar con mucho cariño. La recoleccion de poemas es brillante, exquisita, de primera. Quien no ha leido a Neruda? Lo bello del libro es que ofrece los poemas en el idioma que fueron escritos y en Ingles. La traduccion al ingles es excelente. No hay mucho que hablar sobre este libro, los poemas son una obra de arte y que esten a la vez traducidos al Ingles ya es mas que un buen regalo. No pienses dos veces en obtenerlo.

This collection of Neruda's works spans all of his career and all of human emotion. A decidedly underrated poet in the spectrum of literature, Neruda repeatedly evokes and communicates emotion through his musings on himself and the world around him. Pablo Neruda confronts his emotions head on, remaining critical of himself and the way he chooses to love and live. The poet is at his best when pouring his heart out, when describing just how his woman makes him feel, when describing just what makes her so beautiful to him. Any fan of poetry who is unfamiliar with Pablo Neruda owes it to themselves to purchase this collection or one similar to is and marvel at this master poet's best work.

This second part of the Gormenghast trilogy focuses on Titus Groan, 77th Earl of Gormenghast's youth, from schooling to his ascention to manhood. This book took me almost a year to read (one long break) - the first half of the book progresses incredibly slowly, even for Peake's normally languid pace - I just couldn't cope. I can appreciate his qualities as a wordsmith - his vocabulary is second to none but I couldn't help but think he could have shortened things somewhat- the schoolmasters' preparation to court Irma drags on and on, but her eventual marriage has virtually no importance to the main plot, and ends up seeming like a waste of time and space - 'I waded through molasses for what!'

In stark contrast, the latter half of the book contains Peake's best (I think) work of the entire trilogy, culminating in the hunt for Steerpike - which is superb. Definately a book of two halves, (bad cliche) but the reader is rewarded for their effort in the end.

It's not really possible to review Gormenghast out of context with the other two books that sandwich it: Titus Groan leads you into the world of Gormenghast and Titus Alone makes you wonder how Gormenghast, the place, exists.
This second volume continues to follow the adventures of the murderously ambitious Steerpike, the maturity and self-awareness of Titus Groan, with some colorful side-trips into a courtship, the revelation of a creature completely antithetical to all that Gormanghast stands for, and a natural disaster that heightens the intensity of the conclusion.
I would heartily recommend starting with Titus Groan (it seems the only available edition has all three volumes in one), and working through them in sequence. But make sure you avoid all the scholarly apparatus that follows Titus Alone until you've finished all three: there are a few spoilers there.
As for the comparisons to Tolkein, I'm afraid I don't see it: they as different as can be. This is not a hero's quest and where it does come down to good versus evil, it's more to do with survival: the world of Gormenghast is a world of murk and shadows, with no clear delineations or values. Titus Groan's self-awareness and the choices he makes are what drive the story. In The Lord of the Rings, there's a sense of destiny to the decisions and actions: Gormenghast is much more personal, with Steerpike's ambition, Sepulchrave's sense of duty, Flay's vigilance, Titus's maturity all helping to propel the action.
Now go read this monster.

These books rank with the greatest books of world literature, and only one of them is still in print? Every library in the world should have a copy of the trilogy. Anyway, here we find the story of the adolescence of Titus Groan. We are also given more depth into the other characters. I'd like to note that my veiw of Steerpike and Flay changed. When I read Titus Groan, I found Steerpike more a sympathetic character than Flay, here it is otherwise. I'd also like to mention on how the events in the previous book effect the life of Titus Groan in such a way that it seems as if it happened in real life. We see the conflict inside of him between the pride of his linege and the desire for freedom, that eventually has Titus flee the great castle. The conflict between freedom and desire for the home is carried into Titus Alone.