Even though I realize that sometimes it's useful, I'm not really big on dream interpertation. Many times we have dreams and they don't mean anything other than we have a vivid imagination. Other times, we have dreams and we just know they mean something. Sometimes I've flipped through "dream books" in an attempt to figure out if it really meant anything. Now, I wouldn't take everything Mary Summer Rain says for truth, but I have to admit that this "dream book" of hers is a handy little reference and is much easier to understand than other texts I have referenced. It also seems to make sense.

Like the spaghetti sauce commercial says, "It's in there!" I had one of those dreams where I was trying to solve a problem having to do with a spacecraft heatshield and a mechanical engineer. A friend of mine had this book on her livingroom table, so I looked up these things, not really expecting them to be listed. To my pleasant surprise, they were. I was able to interpret the dream from what I found in this book. I've looked at a number of other dream interpretation books, and this one seems exceptionally complete.

I have many dream books and this is the best book ever printed on dream interpretation. It is easy access and quite accurate for interpretating your dreams

This wonderful book is a reprint of the 1895 Montgomery Ward & Co. catalogue. Everything is there, along with the pictures for each item, looking just the way they did more than one hundred years ago! My family and I had a high old time thumbing through this book, laughing at the funny styles of clothing, the strange items our forbearers needed (or thought they needed), and generally being amazed at the prices. This is quite a fascinating book to read, one I recommend to any history buff!

This "Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalogue and Buyer's Guide" from Spring/Summer 1895 is better than a time capsule. Most of my ancestors were still on the far side of the Atlantic that year, but for my maternal grandfather's ancestors here are 25,000 items (most of which are illustrated by woodcut) that they could have either had in their homes or dreamed about owning. From straight-edged razors and high buttoned shoes to tea gowns and the New Improved Singer Sewing Machine. Historically, Montgomery Ward prided itself on being the friend of farmers and the official supplier to the Grange. Ward was the first to offer a product guarantee that became the key to earning the respect of rural consumers and building the business. However, in 1887 Ward's main competetior Sears put out his first catalog and upped the ante by showing the customer what they would be buying before they bought it (okay, he also offered lower prices). By the time this 600-page catalogue came out in 1895 Ward was following suit. Flip through it and see what sort of amenities were making their way out to the farms at the end of the 19th-century. You could buy a buggy for $60 or spend $200 on a piano. Here you can get a bathtub, chairs, watches, hats, and even a Star Raisin Seeder. How about a solid-gold eighteen-karat wedding band for only $5? Looking through these pages will give you a sense what it was like in 1895, when the average worker had to put in 16 hours to earn enough money to buy a hair brush or 260 hours for a one-speed bicycle. Just looking through the pages of books you could order was enlightening. Actually, this is more like a time machine than a time capsule.

Like the Sears Roebuck catalogue, which sits beside it on my shelf, this unabridged reprint is an indispensable tool for anyone who wants to know the kinds of items that might have been found in a typical middle-class home a hundred-odd years ago. In some ways it's even superior: the illustrations have reproduced more clearly, with their details better visible, and the type, though you may still want a magnifier to read it, is also more easily made out. Prices are of course included, though you'll want to allow for the fact that MW was at that time not a conventional retail house, but confined to mail-order, which allowed it to undercut the "traditional" merchants just as Net sellers can today! There's a full index right at the front, where you can easily look up whatever you may be interested in at the moment; or you can simply open the volume at random and start browsing. And, unlike Sears, it even has a toy section! Like all Dover books, its paper and binding are superior in quality, and will doubtless last very well. Since the items listed don't duplicate exactly, I strongly suggest purchasing both catalogues. As a writer of historical fiction, I use both frequently. Highly recommended.

I enjoyed this causually written account of Mickey Mantles' summer of 1956. It's like sitting on the front porch with Mick as he tells you the events and feelings of what he and the yankees experinced that year,on and off the field.and he spares you his war stories by leaving it at "we went out and partied that night". He talks about his triple crown, his homerun race agianst Babe Ruth(also in the back is a season schedule of dates,hr's,pitchers faced,site, opponents, and runners on base).Mick also discusses the 1956 world series agianst the dodgers and descibes the perfect game by don larsen. Also there are game and team photos. i think you will enjoy micks account of his favorite year.

When I read this book I could not put it down. The detail of the 1956 season that Mickey goes into is unmatched because the words come right from the source, MICKEY! I think you must be a baseball fan to enjoy this book, but you definitely don't have to be a Yankee fan. I strongly dislike Steinbrenner's Yankees, but this is before he ruined the organization. Who doesn't have a small spot in their heart for the oldtime Yanks? This book tells you about the relationships between Mickey and Billy Martin as well as Whitey Ford, straight from Mickey's mouth!! Mickey hired the great Phil Pepe to help edit his book, and Pepe's editing always makes the reading just keep flowing. Outstanding read, and I recommend it to any baseball fan!

This book is one of the best books I have ever read. Not necessarily the best book ever written, but the best book I have ever read. It is my favorite book because it is about my favorite subject, baseball and of course the New York Yankees. Someone who does not like baseball or the New York Yankees as much as me would probably not like the book as much as me. But for a real baseball fan, it is a must read. The '50s were a great time for baseball, and the Yankees, and this book documents one of those spectacular seasons. To keep interested in this book, you must be a baseball fan, and at least like the Yankees in order for the book to be a good read. I say this because the Yankees are so good, that a lot of people despise them because they are so outrageously good. Either way I loved the book, it informed me on a time of baseball when I was not around to witness it, and now after reading the book, I feel I lived it. I felt like I was there, I watched Mickey win the Triple Crown, I watched the Yankees win the World Series. I was there. This was a great book, and I would recommend it to anyone with a heart of baseball, such as I do.

Jill goes out to the country to visit her grandma every summer. She has a friend out there namesd B.J. Their best friends. They tell stories to eachother and the latest information about the ranch. Jill is mad at B.J. because she is acting more mature by wearing lipstick, dresses and nailpolish. She is also hanging around with boys. All the things Jill doesnt do yet. So Jill doesnt really hang around with B.J. because she is haning around with the new boy in town Trey. Jill is just doing her own thing. Trey was looking for B.J. one day and Jill was the only one there so Trey hung around with her and she found out that Trey was pretty cool. So Trey showed Jill some of his stuff on astronomy which was his hobby. And Jill thought it was really cool. The fourth of July is a big thing where Jill's grandma lives. There are fireworks a party and lots of fun. Well something happens to Jill and Jill told B.J. her secret. Jill and B.J. havnt been very close this summer so you'll have to read the book to find out the end.

The book is about a 12 year old girl named Jill and she goes to her grandmother's texas ranch every summer and expects to see her best friend B.J , but this summer she is in for a big suprise. She finds out that B.J not only looks better , but is into boys , nailpolish , make-up , and not into climbing trees and riding bikes. Jill is going through a rough time this summer and gets talked into doing alot of things she does not want to do , but she learns that their is alot more to growing up then boys and make- up , you also learn lessons. So I would recommend this book to anyone. I loved it i read it 3 times.

Being from Hawaii, I feel the author does a good job of bringing the situation to life. It's as if I were there with the characters. I recommend it to teachers, librarians and parents.:>

Charles Dudley Warner appears to have lived an enviable life. He was educated when most men did not have an opportunity to become educated. He was editor and publisher of the 'Hartford Courant' and lived in Hartford next door to Samuel Clements. Warner was not only a neighbor but a good friend of Mark Twain with whom he co-authored THE GILDED AGE, and with whom he seems to have shared a sense of humor. Warner's writing is insightful and funny, but not always politically correct according to 21st Century U.S. standards. Allen Gurganus introduces the book with an overly long essay.

In MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN Warner shares 19 weeks of life in his garden (one growing season). His garden is located in Hartford at the edge of a game preserve. During the course of the summer, President Grant is in Hartford and stops by for a visit. As the men sit in Warner's yard, Grant says he can hardly wait to retire to his own garden as he is fed up with politics. Warner has been fighting pusley in his garden and he and Grant discuss the advantage of inviting immigrants who eat pusley and would soon rid the country of both problems.

Warner has various encounters with: hunters tracking quail who stray from the game preserve, one of whom claims he is looking for a lost chicken; small boys who eat berries from his vines and gather nuts from his trees; birds who attack his pea pods, the neighbor's hens who range too freely until he is looking for one to fill a pot; and the owner of a cow pastured in his yard. In spite of drought, theft, and green worms, at the end of the summer Warner is able to put aside enough vegetables to feel he has accomplished something and then his wife Polly takes credit for the work.

Of interest to me is that more than 100 years after Warner published his book, U.S. gardeners can still complain about some of the same things Warner complained about--and more. Most gardeners know that the U.S. has been infested with a whole array of pests and diseases that were not around when Warner gardened. For example, three new plagues including the Varroa mite have attacked American honey bees since the 1980s. Partly these attacks are owing to the introduction of containerized shipments that cannot be inspected and may hold verboten materials (plants, animals, insects). Partly these problems are owing to flagrant violations by individuals who believe U.S. laws concerning the transport of "foreign" plants do not apply to them. Warner's worries about green worms in his celery, witch grass in his potato hills, and pulsey seem mild in comparison.

I was intrigued by the title and sold by the exerpt. Charles Dudley Warner is fun. But skip the opening 30 pages or so. It's not that the other gentlemen don't write well, but they're not exactly fun. Besides, I didn't buy it to read a discussion of his more boring, 'professional' work in all those pages numbered with tiny Roman numerals. So go directly to Warner's first essay (which is the exerpt) on page 11.

Nicely written and witty book about the pleasures of gardening and its relationship to other aspects of life.

What happens when a group of ordinary men find themselves in the middle of chaos, disorder, and violence? This is the question explored by author, Joseph L. Phillips, in his new book, THE SOLDIERS OF SUMMER. The main characters, Welles, Devlin, and Griffin, a group of New York City police officers, journey into the throes of chaos at a two-week summer camp for the Army Reserve. Mr. Phillip's offers his readers an intimate look into what "can" or "might" happen to a person and the choices growing out of such unexpected events. Set in 1978, THE SOLDIERS OF SUMMER, is a crazy beer-soaked romp that travels from New York to Canada and back again, skillfully incorporating the anti-war sentiment of Vietnam into the storyline. It mirrors the world in which we live as well as some people we would rather not meet! A poignant and disturbing look at the various sides of human behavior and character, THE SOLDIERS OF SUMMER is a novel intended to enlighten and challenge its readers, as well as to make them take a deeper look at the positive and negatives sides of humanity. The "good guys" head off to summer camp in good spirits, while trying to recover from hang-overs, in the comical opening scene. The characters are realistic and will be familiar to many as an old friend or the neighbor down the street. They are the "average guy", caught-up in his middle-age-years during the late 1970's. Phillips gives extensive background scenes on the characters, relating their mishaps and obstacles to past experiences in a way that aids the reader in understanding the complexity of the characters, their motivation and their goals. A good book for audiences who enjoy genre fiction novels of this nature, THE SOLDIERS OF SUMMER, is not without some problems. Mr. Phillip's presents an interesting, action-packed story, but he leaves the reader confused and distracted by some of the "telling" interspersed in the story. Elaborate sentence structure, and a seemingly "too literate" langauge from characters at certain points in the story, detract from the flow of action. However, Mr. Phillip's does an excellent job overall with the dialog and is most often real, true and vibrant. This brings the characters to life and creates clear personality traits and tendencies that the reader will recognize and identify with. There are some passages that leave the reader a little off-track and confused. Still, THE SOLDIERS OF SUMMER succeeds in its effort to tell a story about real people who must deal with situations unusual and foreign to them. The fact that these people are police officers simply makes the tale more intriguing. Even with its problems, THE SOLDIERS OF SUMMER is a vivid tale that engages the reader as it explores the harsher side of humanity. A good book for the "summer reader" to take along to the beach with them.

I have always been more the fan of literay works with emphasis on characters than the genre novels that seem to dominate today's market and in The Soldiers Of Summer I have found one. Mr. Phillips, a retired police officer, takes us on what could have been just another cop tale but this one has a twist. These men are members of the Army Reserve doing their two weeks summer camp during the summer of 1978. It should be a vacation but it turns out to be a nightmare they can only cope with by sequestering themselves into their own tight knit group where whiskey and their camaraderie becomes their only source of relief. They also have their own personal demons to deal with from problems on their job, lingering nightmares for some from the Vietnam War, to broken marriages and relationships that have made their lives a bitter pill to swallow. There are a few comedic interludes along the way, a weekend trip to Lake George that ends in a fight and a trip to Canada that goes awry. This novel has all the makings of a damn good movie also along the lines of The Last Detail, and if someone doesn't snap up the rights they're crazy. This is a great read with characters that will stay with you long after you've put it down, so don't let this one slip by.

I'll admit it, I've always liked books by ex-policemen about life in the cop shop and beyond. Joseph Wambaugh's Lines and Shadows is still one of my favorites. The Soldiers of Summer, however elevates the genre several steps beyond ordinary fiction and into the realm of literature. Joseph Phillips, who patroled the streets of New York in the 1970s and 1980s, in the pre-Guiliano wild days, paints a portrait of policing that is at once compassionate and compelling, with riveting characters who will remain in your head long after you put this book down. His prose style is short, sweet and to the point, enough so that Hemingway would be proud! Even if you're not an avid fan of cop books, this one's worth a read. Give it a try--you won't be sorry.

It's amazing that a story written in 1941 is still so good. Of course the details and the background are different from today's world, but the problems Carol faces are ones that any girl can recognize. She's a little shy, a little awkward with people her age for she's been raised by her grandmother. Fortunately, she has a close friend in Penny, a bubbling, happy girl from a large and loving family. Carol is spending the summer with her. She struggles to fit in with Penny's friends. She is shyly interested in Penny's older brother and doesn't know if he likes her or not. She has an ongoing worry about her father. Since her mother died, she's hardly seen her busy father and wonders if he loves her or has forgotten her. Naturally all of the problems are worked out and it makes for an enjoyable easy read. I first read this as an early teenager, fell in love with it, discovered it was the first book of a series and patiently tracked down the rest. Meanwhile, I reread this one several times.

I first read these books over thirty years ago (as did, apparently, many other women of a certain age;)) and *still* love them. Yes, the time period is very different, but the heart of the tale (of all the Parrish/Jordan books, actually) still remains universal. We all struggle through the same gamut of emotions as young adults, trying to find our place in the world and we all (mostly) need the love and support of our family members as we work our way towards being grownups.
War was not an 'instant broadcast' thing back in those days (Beloved Walter Cronkite (if you're old enough to have read these books thirty years ago, you're old enough to know who 'Uncle Walter' is!) wasn't even on the news yet!) and it *is* interesting to gain a perspective of the world that existed without the social and technological advantages we have now.
Not to mention that, if you *do* have pre-teen/teen daughters, this is a completely wholesome and totally appropriate way to feed those dear little imaginations.
I am so pleased to see a continuing interest in this series of books by this delightful writer....it would be a shame to have such good material shelved and forgotten.

A simple story of first love. The memory of it has stayed with me for over 30 years. How often can you say that? How wonderful to find it still exists. This book will take you back to a time when love didn't seem so complicated. Although written decades ago, it still tugs at your heartstrings.

This book deals honestly with the question, "What do I believe when God doesn't respond the way I thought He would?"

It's the story of two best friends, one of whom gets cancer. When everyone in the two friends lives pray, asking for healing, and God doesn't heal--what then?

The women's frienship and their relationships with their children, and others is very inspiring.

This book has an emotional intensity that is very compelling. It is also quite refreshing to read of someone grappling HONESTLY with tough questions.

"Garden of Dreams" is one of the loveliest books about women, friendship and family that I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Jill and Caye will stay in your heart long after the last page is turned.

How do friendship, love and faith carry us through when life throws us a curve we were not expecting. Leslie Gould has written a powerful first novel, telling the story of two best friends, Jill and Caye, and how they deal with the every day issues when illness threatens the very existence of the life they have come to know. What happens when Jill finds out she has cancer? What is the secret she is keeping? How does Caye and her family cope when she devotes so much time to Jill? These are all questions that Ms. Gould answers with real candor. Anyone who values the importance of friendship, love and faith will enjoy this book.

I read one of your books it was called The Summer Birds.This particular book put some questions in my mind.One of them was,Why could only certain peole see the boy?I like fictinal books.I like them because people can do special things.Are their any more books I should read?

I read this book when I was in sixth grade. It had a profound effect on my life. After I read the book, I fell in love with reading. It was a school libray book, and I only read it once, but it was one of those books that I won't forget. I rember vividly details of this book, especially the relationship between the boy and the other children in the town. I would love to have a copy of this book for my own children one day.

In the Summer Birds, the first book about the Makepeace sisters, Charlotte and Emma find a boy on the road who teaches them to fly, and then teaches the rest of the village children. This book is a good introduction to the characters in Emma in Winter, as well as a superb introduction to Charlotte, her way of thinking, and the way she is. Unfortunately, unlike in the other novels, what happens isn't explained as cathartic; that is, in the others, it's prefectly clear the Makepeace sisters' experiences are ways of healing and protecting themselves from their parent's death. Thus, the novel isn't as 'deep' as the others. What I liked most about The Summer Birds, as well as the other books in the trilogy, is that I relate so well to Charlotte: I was constantly teased in grammar school and called a prig because I never got in trouble and was too shy to even speak up in class. I think most children go through this in one form or another. But either way, this novel clicks immediately with the reader...

Portrait painter, Annie Somerville, now in her mid-40's lives a quiet existence in an English village with her barrister husband, David and teenage children. Unexpectedly, she receives a letter from the family of a childhood friend, Julia, who she hasn't heard from in nearly 30 years. It seems that Julia has willed her a locked, mahogany box, which she must come to Toulouse, France to reclaim. Annie is puzzled by this, since she has had no contact with Julia for all these years, and her letters to Julia went unanswered.

At the urging of her family, Annie agrees to travel to France to reclaim the box, where she learned that Julia and her husband had died in an auto accident when Julia was driving on a winding, mountainous road near their home. Annie waits until she returns home to open the box, and finds it filled with a collection of letters and postcards, and a few bedraggled pieces of jewelry. She doesn't know why Julia wanted her to have these items, and can't bring herself to investigate the contents of the box at once.

Annie forces herself to remember the events of the last summer that she spent with Julia's family in France, which culminated in the tragic drowning death of Julia's mother. Annie and Julia were both 14 that summer, and were best friends but Julia was often unhappy and sulky and disappeared to be by herself for hours. Annie was just beginning to discover her love of art, and Julia seemed jealous of her talent and aspirations.

Annie is haunted by the memories of that summer, which come gradually back into focus as she sifts through the memorabilia in the box and tries to remember the girl that Julia was and imagine the woman that she became. She is distracted and unable to focus on her work or her family. She attempts to paint a portrait of Julia, but can't seem to bring her into focus. As her troubling memories sharpen, she is finally able to complete the portrait and understand what happened to Julia and why her letters were never answered.

This small book is a gem, intriguing in its simplicity, yet rich in detail.

Annie Somerville is now a middle-aged woman, an artist, living with her family in England...but years ago she was a schoolgirl with a volatile, disturbed friend named Julia. Annie has blocked out Julia and a dark secret about her from 30 years before, until one day she receives a telegram...Julia has died and has left Annie a box. Annie, with much reluctance, travels to France to fetch the box, and suddenly the secret from all those years ago is torturing Annie's subconscious, trying to burst forth. Will Annie let herself remember?
This book started out really slow, and several times I almost put it down. Give it a chance, though. Once you get into the meat of the story, you will be riveted and anxious to find out just what it is that happened with Julia that so disturbs Annie.
This was a very good story, and I am anxious to read more of Sarah Woodhouse's books.

I chanced across a single copy of "My Summer with Julia" in a bookstore. What a splendid little novel, and one that left me weeping on several occasions. So rich in detail and wise in view, a testament that conventional work can be vibrant. A synopsis would not do the book justice, for its loveliness and insight lie in the eddies. The author does not try to explain more than we can know psychologically or spiritually. I want to know something about the author (e.g., is that a pen name?) and, of course, to read more of her work.