I am a huge fan of Tasha Tudor. I received her book "Tasha Tudors Garden " for Christmas. I have read it already and I must say it is so full of information and the photos of the gardens and Tasha herself are absolutely wonderful. The author takes you into Tasha's world and talks about all of the things that make Tashas gardens so famous and loved by many gardeners around the world. Tasha has a great love for her plants and her animals. This book takes you to the heart of the person behind the blooms. I would recommend this book to any one who truely enjoys gardening and flowers. It is a real treat to read .

I heard Ms. Martin speak at the National Wildlife Federation in Virginia just after she wrote this book. At the time, I had no idea who Tasha Tudor was. I loved the talk and the slides Ms. Martin showed us during her lecture. I bought the book because I wanted to remember these pictures for a long, long time. They are beautiful.

I showed the book to my granddaughters Hannah and Amelia who immediately recognized Tasha Tudor, since she illustrates children's books. The children and I enjoyed looking at the photos of Tasha's daily life. We see her working in her garden at different times of the year, feeding her goats, or walking with her Corgis (The Corgis are everywhere--probably why I love the book. You can garden and have dogs!)

In one photo, Tasha sits in the midst of a clump of pink lillies sketching a pretty model dressed in an 19th century antebellum gown of light grey silk. Another photo shows a closeup of a pretty blue bowl filled with fresh red raspberries resting on green mint leaves. In another photo, Tasha sits with a cup of tea in a delicate blue and white china cup and saucer.

The book contains examples of Tasha's artwork created for the children's books. There's not a lot of text. Think of this the photo album of your favorite Aunt. I own hundreds of art books and gardening books, and this is one of the prettiest.

Tasha Tudor was my favorite childhood illustrator. What a delight to discover this photojournal of Tasha in her own home & garden- now I see where her artwork came from! Art-quality photos of Tasha, her grandkids & still lifes with flowers & fruit from her gardens. A beautiful book to cherish for a lifetime!

This is an absolute must for anyone wanting to experience the old North East Kingdom feel. Having lived in the Kingdom myself I could relate to the way of life expressed even though the book was placed many years before me. Also having met Mr. Mosher it lends a peaceful tone that is not matched anywhere in the world. Any of his other writings are well worth the time taken to read them. It was a pleasure to be able to shake his hand and thank him for the beautiful treasure he had blessed us with.

I was recommended this book by a friend while climbing Worcester Mountain near Middlesex, Vermont. I grabbed it just before a solo overnight on a section of the Long Trail. The only copy the store had was an autographed (for cover price), but the owner assured me that Mr. Mosher would appreciate my stuffing the book into my pack for a hike in the Green Mountains. I trusted the person who recommended the book, but was not prepared for how good it is.
One part Beat, one part magical realsim, one part historical fiction. All this (and more) combined with an engaging writing style that keeps the pages turning. More than any other book, I felt completly satisfied at the end. Every word sits gently in my memory, so that I won't need to re-read it for a while. It now sits on the shelf in the company of 'The Dharma Bums' and 'Sometimes a Great Notion'.

I first read this book in college in 1987, and go back to it every few years when I need to be reminded how wonderful life is. It is beautifully written, incredibly funny and very, very moving. I don't know why this book isn't more widely read, it certainly deserves to be.

I read a review in our local paper and bought this book for my husband as a stocking stuffer. I fell in love with it! We have a beagle mix and she makes some of the faces Lucy makes, but we could never be quick enough with our camera. This a keepsake for all dog owners. I look at it over and over and it's a real "feel good book". It's also a great, simple childrens' book. Great idea, great photgraphy.

Welled up with tears as i turned each page. Geoff really got through on paper what it feels like to love a dog.

Geoff Hansen has a remarkable gift for capturing the broad range of emotions expressed by his charming beagle, Lucy. This talented photographer invites everyone to share in the pure joy of watching his little friend explore her world. This collection of photographs successfully combines art and dogs. Anyone who loves either should own this book. They won't be disappointed!

Kate Maloy has the life I want to live. We have similar backgrounds, including age, gender, past marriages, Quakerism and more. So perhaps I should seek that life -- it's out there, she proves so in this book.

This is not a light or superficial book -- it is rich and shines with deep thoughts and reflection. She includes all the wrinkles, twists and lines that real life brings to us. In this book she shares the kinds of things you might think about, but not speak, the contents of a personal journal, introspective and quite true.

She has managed to make the most of her life, and this book is a wonder to read. Her writing style is one that invites the reader along, and I felt (as you probably will) as if this was part of a conversation with a close friend, part with myself, part simply a life viewed through a warm and inviting window.

She writes about so much, this book is incredibly full -- I'm not done yet reading it again and again.

A quote I love, "Long before I ever met Alan, I wondered if any man of my generation could love a woman his own age, could feel passion (and compassion) for her aging, vulnerable flesh, could open himself to a soul-deep love even as he himself loses muscle tone, stamina and hair -- could well and truly stand naked in front of another and not be ashamed. Now I know there is at least one such man on the planet."

Sigh. This Friend speaks for me.

An uplifting, warming reading for cool nights and warm days, too.

I'm not a Quaker and I've never attended a Meeting. Although I consider any religion that calls its practitioners Friends a step in the right direction, my motivations in reading SBN were strictly secular. I was first drawn to the book because I have enormous respect for the publisher. The cover also spoke to me. The simplicity and purity of it. A single stand of snow covered trees. And I've always been intrigued by bridges as metaphors, so the title was perfect. There's no doubt that SBN is a book of the spirit in the sense that it's a look at the effects of Quakerism in the writer's life. And this is a strong theme of the book. To say otherwise would be misleading and disingenuous. But the book is so much more than that, too generous with its reach, too honest in its outpouring of contemplations, too bighearted and open-minded to be pigeonholed as a theological dogmatic text. It is indeed a soulful book, but it offers its deep solitude, silence and solace to all. For some unknown reason I dipped into the book haphazardly, rather than reading it linearly, which did not ruin the experience for me. Covering a rapid and transitional year in her life, it alternates between journal-type entries and short and long meditations on all things human: emotions, food, television, our education system, everyday life, and even the internet, which becomes another form of metaphysical uplifting for the author. It turns out she's met her new husband on the web. Some of their communications back and forth, via re-mail, are included in the book. That atypical love story is just one of the truly fine, honest - and surprising - things that the author reflects on. They all conjoin into the story of a lifechange. An intelligent, quietly passionate, appealing, and insightful story of the process of continuing to make oneself a better person through faith in life and in each other.

I'm Kate Maloy's ex-husband. She speaks about me in her good book, A Stone Bridge North, anonymously, because she was considerate enough to try to protect the guilty.

Because I figure in her book, but not in especially complementary terms, I figure that potential buyers or readers of her book might be interested in my take on it.

It's a captivating story of emotional venture and spiritual adventure, with author-centered but gifted, exquisite reflections on the meaning of the struggle - in terms with which anyone can empathize - to enrich a life, a marriage, a sense of self, one's soul.

It's also a guarranteed page-turner, a compelling story of the roles of reflective struggle and the mystery of grace in amazing turns of life.

The story of how Kate found the wonderful man who became her soul-mate and new husband is, simply, amazing by any standard.

Any person who ever wondered how - by concerted effort or by gentle grace - life can, indeed, take magnificent turns needs to read this book. And take heart.

Dorothy Canfield Fisher is simply one of the smartest psychologists, long before Freud came on the seen. In her book, Understood Betsy, Ms. Fisher not only crafts a wonderful story of how a little sheltered and fearful girl under the care of one aunt, grows into an independent thinker, and joyful person under the care of her other relatives when the former aunt is taken out of the picture.

Elizabeth Ann, known as Betsy to her farm relatives, was orphaned as a baby. Her city relatives scoop her up to save her from being reared by the 'Putney Cousins' (our heros in Vermont). But fate sweeps Elizabeth Ann away from the only woman who *understands* her, and takes her to the dreadful farm in Vermont, where children have been known to *do chores*. How does Betsy fare?

That's the children's part of the story. For the adult, especially one who is unfamiliar with children, the lesson is given that you *can* love a child into the the fearful person you yourself are. But you *can* also love a child to let that child find things out for herself, and become aware, that she is aloud to find things out for herself. Isn't it amazing that children have brains, and they do not have to be programmed by 'pre-warning' them of every consequence to their behavior?

Please read, and see Betsy grow into a useful engine (for those of you who know Thomas the Tank Engine). Please read and learn yourself, how to help your children, by learning to leave them alone to find things out for themselves.....

I almost wrote "My Favorite Children's Book", but that would be misleading, because I can still read and enjoy it now. It doesn't condescend to children and appeals mainly to genuine emotions, not sentiment, so it really holds up over time.

The plot, briefly, is about a nine-year old orphan, Elizabeth Ann, who lives with her aunt and a cousin. When her aunt falls ill, Elizabeth Ann has to go live with some rural Vermont relatives, whom the rest of her family has never liked. At first Elizabeth Ann is afraid of them, too--they immediately shorten her name to Betsy--but she eventually overcomes her shyness and blossoms in the rural environment. She also learns to be much less nervous and uptight.

What really makes this book stand out are its digressions. The author, Dorothy Canfield Fisher, often informally addresses the reader: one chapter is called, "If You Don't Like Conversation in a Book, then Skip This Chapter!" The most insightful sequences show Betsy discovering that not all learning takes place in school; measuring butter with her aunt, she is astounded to discover that "an ounce" exists in real life. She thought it was only found in textbooks. But you have to read the book to see how well this is pulled off.

When I was a child I owned an edition with an afterward by Peggy Parrish, which pointed out how modern the book was for its time (it was published in 1917.) Indeed, the women and men share all the tasks, and Betsy is forbidden from nothing because of her gender. That makes this book a really excellent and inspiring gift for young girls, although its message of equality is never heavy-handed.

Occasionally there are sections that are too sentimental, and not really necessary to the story, but the rest is so good that this is easy to forgive. Conclusion: Buy it for a child, but read it for yourself first!

I first received "Understood Betsy" when I was 8 years old, over 20 years ago, and I still remember some of the passages and characters as if I had read them yesterday. I read and reread this book countless times throughout my childhood.

Written in 1916, "Understood Betsy" immmerses the reader into rural life in the 1800's. Elizabeth goes from the city to live with farmer cousins, who call her Betsy. She then becomes a girl who learns to do things for herself, think for herself, and take care of others.

Most interesting, the book shows the older view of treasuring common day moments, such as making the applesauce or playing dolls. If you always enjoyed the "Little House" and "Caddie Woodlawn" books, then you will LOVE "Understood Betsey", which delves even more into the everyday life of girls in that time.

"Letter from Peking," a novel by Pearl S. Buck, is narrated in the first-person by its main character, Elizabeth MacLeod. Her narration begins from her home in rural Vermont in 1950. Elizabeth has been separated from her husband, Gerald, due to the poltical upheaval in China; he has remained in China to attend to his duties at a university. Gerald is the son of a Scottish-American and a Chinese woman.

As the novel unfolds, Elizabeth reflects on her past life with the absent Gerald. She also tells the story of her ongoing relationships with her and Gerald's son, Rennie; with Gerald's elderly father; and with other people in her life.

"Letter" is a fascinating look at how international political forces can act like a "tidal wave," affecting families profoundly. The book is also an intimate look at a marriage from a woman's perspective, and a compelling study of a biracial young man (Rennie) who is struggling with his dual heritage while making the passage to manhood. There is also an element of political intrigue and danger, although the focus of this book is family relationships and emotions.

Although the dialogue is occasionally a bit stiff, overall I was very impressed by the subtle artistry of Buck's prose. She has an eye for details: an old man's dragon-headed cane, the birth of a calf, "arching maple trees blazing with autumn fire," etc. At its best she attains a delicate, economical poetic prose. This is a fine novel by a writer who, in my opinion, deserves more attention.

'Letter From Peking' is a wonderful story, who I think is one of the best books I've ever read. The main character, Elizabeth MacLeod has to face many heartbreaking memories as she receives this letter. The author has done a very well job by putting some of Elizabeth's memories back and forth, from China to the present. Even though I'm only a twelve year old Korean boy, it wouldn't matter which book I read, neither sad nor happy. It all matters about the story, and how it goes. I know a lot of Chinese history, so it made sense to me, in this book. It is a pity that this wonderful book has gone out-of-print, but if you have a used bookstore, run, don't walk. You should really get this wonderful book. If you actually succeed in getting this book, you have gotten a very special classic treasure.

People should really run to a nearby used books store. This is one of the most inspiring and touching book I have ever read. Even though I'm a Korean and of course, an oriental, 12 year old-boy, I think this is one love story that touches everyone. The author has done a very, very good job of taking one piece and placing somewhere else like rearranging the story. It has the memories of the speaker who was in China, which in this case Elizabeth MacLeod.Its a pity that it is out of print. But you should check every used bookstore. If you are successful of finding Letter From Peking, you have earned a prized treasure.

i have read big bucks the benoit way at least a dozen times.the best deer hunting book i have ever read.i live and hunt in north dakota no matter where you live and hunt you can learn from this book.as far as i am concerned larry and his family are the best deer hunters in the country they hunt in the toughest whitetail country there is out there tracking no matter what the weather is doing. HUNTING HARD EVERY DAY .taking home the biggest 200+ bucks they can find. bryce towsly and the benoits done a great job putting this book together. im hoping there will be more from the first family of deerhunting thankyou and keep bringing home those big bucks.

It is one thing to shoot a trophy buck. It's even more amazing to shoot them year after year. This is just what the Benoits do and keep in mind it is being done in Maine. This makes it an even bigger accomplishment. If you have hunted Maine like myself, you know what I'm talking about. The big bucks up there are far and few, yet the Benoits are able to "read" the area and thus find moss backs every year. Even if you are an experienced hunter, you can be humbled quite quickly when hunting in Maine. This book details hunts in which bucks were tracked for many miles, offers many tips on how to read tracks, and when and where the bucks are going. If you want to learn more about big woods bucks, this book is for you.

This book is one of the best true hunting books I ever read! The Benoits are the True first family in deer hunting and as a north woods hunter myself I have learned lots from reading this book. This book is not about sitting in a tree stand all day or electronic trail timers or other high tech deer hunting ambush aids its about true hunting...tracking the most wise buck in the world..the northwoods buck !

I inherited this book from a deceased family member (along with other true crime books). Peter Meyer tells a compelling and thoroughly-investigated story about a true rape-murder in a sleepy town in Vermont (much like my own hometown). An unthinkable crime in an unsuspecting town. It's tragic, and for the two little girls that it happened to, I came away from this book thanking God that the surviving girl got her story out and the animals that did it were caught! Only the highest praise for Peter Meyer to have the courage to write this story and get it published for others to see that it can happen ANYWHERE!

This is the best book I have ever read in my life. I may not be a big time reader but I have read quite a few books and this one is awesome. It goes to show that danger is everywhere. My boss this knew these 2 girls mothers. It was hard. This book is truly amazing and I would recomend it to anyone.

This is the greatest book I have ever read. I am from Essex Junction Vermont and my boss knew both of those girls mothers. She said it was hard to know that kind of stuff happens. Essex is the type of place you wouldnt think it would happen. I love this book and have recomended it to everyone I know who wants to read a good book. I read it for a book review in school and got a great grade cuz I loved the book. Im in search of a copy of it.

Dorothy Sucher is a therapist by trade, and a gardener by avocation. As I read her book, "The Invisible Garden" I had a sense that she would make a good friend. She seems to have an appreciation of human limitations and frailties, and probably lives up to the old axiom "A friend is someone who forgets your shortcomings." Well, maybe not where her husband is concerned, but what can a gardener do with a guy whose allergic to the great out-of-doors and can't tell a Dandelion from a lily.

Ms. Sucher's book is not so much about gardening as it's about coming to terms with a yourself. Sure, she cultivates the garden, But she also understands it's existence is as ephemeral as the life of it's author.

Each of us carries our own memories of past gardens. I will always be reminded of my parents garden in North Carolina when I see daffodils blooming in the spring. My folks grew thousands of daffodils. I don't think my father ever met a daffodil he didn't try to grow. And everytime I see a Brunnera I think of my mother, standing over the little blue flowers and saying, "What are these things? I can never remember their name!" We all laughed because it's colloquial name is "forget-me-not."

The invisible garden consists of the cumulative memories of gardens past that you carry in your heart.

My bookclub has just finished reading this wonderful book. We all loved it; one member compared it to "Gifts from the Sea" with its evocation of quietude and solace. This is a book for gardeners, who will delight in the delicious insights Dorothy has as she hacks her way through the brambles beside her stream, as well as nongardeners, who will finally gain some insight into why gardeners delight in working the earth and transforming the landscapes outside ourselves into things of beauty. I found reading the essays enjoyable, humorous, and deeply satisfying. Each essay is easily read on its own, but together the book becomes a gardener's journal, a transcription of what goes on in a gardener's mind as she designs and transforms the land around her.

This is an enchanting book, subtle in working on many levels to capture and to hold your attention. The theme, intertwining the impact on her life of some family and friends with various aspects of gardening life, works surprisingly well. The workmanship is fine, in many senses of that word; as in grading gems, or in the weave of a great tapestry. It is something that her grandfather, or her neighbor Tom--both craftsmen in their own right, and important in her life--would recognize and admire. The style is somewhere between early John McPhee in The New Yorker, and Bill Bryson's latest book of essays, "I'm A Stranger..", between straight autobiographical and first-person commentary. It comes off very well, and you put down the book with some insight into a complex person still exploring herself and the world around her. The insight reflects into our own life, giving pause for reflection and reevaluation of important things we might have slighted in passing. Her sketches of the individuals she chooses to illuminate aspects of her own growth are simultaneously detached and loving. The chapter on her physicist husband's encounter with flowers shows the tender exasperation that any non-scientist wife of a scientist would instantly recognize. The vividness of a flashback to her grandfather's youth, spanning more than a century, pays a debt to his memory while showing us the unbroken chain of generations. So, too, the balance in "The Pond" chapter on her mother; and the nostalgia in the chapter on "Little Houses" grips each of us and thrusts us back to our childhood, where "-all the polyurethane of life-" can not intrude. A wonderful book, well worth reading.

November 29, 1999

If you are not looking for an exciting novel that you can not put down until you are finished try The Stranger in the kingdom by Howard Frank mosher. I encourage people to read The Stranger in the Kingdom because it shows you how people live in a rural area such as Norhtern Vermont. The way they treat each other are fairly good. If you are a stranger, they wouldn't treat you well because you're new they don't know what you're about, so they pretty much give you a hard time so that you don't get too comfortable. I liked the book because it tells you how people live in a rural place. In rural places such as Northern Vermont they like to have little county fairs. For example when Reverend Andrews first came to Vermont many people didn't like it becasue he was a stranger and because he was black. THe climax of this story is when the murder and the trial happens. In order for you to know who got murdered and who did it you must get this book. I guarantee you that you won't regret reading this book.

After reading Where The Rivers Flow North by Howard Frank Mosher, the decision to read A Stranger In The Kingdom was a natural one. Although the more than four hundred pages of historical fiction could easily have been scaled down considerably, the gratuitous length allowed for Mosher's infrequent but priceless gems of comedy. My expectations of the book were high. I did genuinely enjoy Where The Rivers Flow North, and hoped that this book would be similarly funny, but also insightful, and purposeful. A Stranger In The Kingdom was radically different from the other Mosher book I read. Which really surprised me, but it was very fulfilling. The plot was based on Mr. Andrews, a black minister and his son Nathan who move to Kingdom County Vermont, and are, especially at first, very well received by most, however there are the few who are unwelcoming to Reverend Andrews. The community is proud of its acceptance, however the Andrews are the only blacks in the Kingdom. "At best, its an untested tolerance we're talking about," says the father of a young local lawyer. Foreshadowing takes a large, very interesting stance in this book. The black minister moving into an all white town makes it somewhat obvious to the reader that racial issues will be addressed in the book The main purpose of the book is to demonstrate that racial conflict occurs not only in the south, but everywhere in the country. It is puzzling that while making this point about racism, Mosher makes it clear that Kingdom County Vermont is in a way "the last frontier," and that it remains very wild and that the surrounding communities view Kingdom County as a lawless society where anyone could get away with murder. This seems to contradict the main point in a way. If racism exists everywhere, why is it being pointed out as existing in a time capsule of a town? The main character of this book is not black, but a young local boy, son of the editor of the town's newspaper. The story is told, more or less, through his eyes and always in the third person. He is the one who discovers a dead body, who Reverend Andrews is later accused of murdering. The majority of the text deals with the trail that ensues, which transforms the book into a courtroom drama. However the main point deals with race relations the overall dynamics, politics, principles, beliefs, views, and opinions of Kingdom County Vermont.

A Stranger in the Kingdom is an amazing story about friendship, mystery, and overcoming the overwhelming presence of racism. Set in Vermont in the early 1950's, A Stranger in the Kingdom poses all questions of race, betrayal, friendship, and murder. When the new minister in town is found to be a Negro, opinions and fists begin to fly. However, the helping hand of the county newspaperman proves to be the aid needed in surviving the slew of people in Kingdom County. The story, told through young James Kinneson, makes a twist when a young Canadian girl comes to the county seeking employment. As things begin to go wrong, the unthinkable occurs, murder. It is here that the powerful force of racism steps up upon its pedestal. The new Reverend is placed on trial for murder and prosecuted possibly for the man he is than the crime that he may or may not have committed. Howard Frank Mosher has written a gripping story presenting prejudice, friendship and devotion, loss of innocence, betrayal, and so much more. A Stranger in the Kingdom provides both good reading material and holds the poise of a great American novel. It is truly a great book and pushes all means of friendship and the bond between people.