*Women on the Run* is fictional account of the real-world lives of six contemporary women. It is a very well-written and powerful exploration of these women's lives. Janet Campbell Hale is one of the best known and accomplished Native authors today and *Women on the Run* continues in her tradition of gritty realism and moving imagery.

Western Europe was transformed by new geographic worlds opened up by voyages, and new scientific worlds opened by science. Wonder & Science analyzes colonial reports, works of natural history and travel, and popular writings to gather details on how concepts and worlds were challenged and remade. Chapters cover some great authors and thinkers in England and France: individuals who made their marks on a changed world.

This book was great!I was disappointed when Jilly broke her leg and couldn't ride Wonder in the Breeder's Cup Classic,but I was very happy when Ashleigh was going to ride her.At first I thought her parents would say no,but after Charlie talked to them,I knew they would have to say yes. I was scared that Ashleigh wouldn't know how to handle the situation that she and Wonder were in,but she did and went on to win the race.I wqas very happy when Mr.Townsend gave her part interest in Wonder at the end of the book.

this book gave a really good perspective on yellow journalism. the book also gave very good and detailed information. i reccomend this book to anyone doing any sort of research on yellow journalism

As a West Virginia resident and one that lives near the Ohio river, I find myself thinking about Mary and her journey home. I find myself wondering what the river looked like to her. This is a fantastic book. I have passed this book on to several people and they all tell me that they can not put it down.
If you read this book you will find yourself asking, "what is going to happen next".
What is so remarkable is that this is a true story. I found myself crying when Mary left her newborn baby behind. The perils she and Gretel endure are unbelievable. I would hope that I would be able to persevere as she did in such trying times. I don't think a man could have done any better.
West Virginia history classes need to teach about this wonderful women and not focus so much on learning the counties. I could not believe that this story takes place in our beautiful state and had never even heard of this woman.
The Hallmark channel showed a TV movie based on the book but played lightly on the hardships and was not a true adaptation of the book.

The first time I read this wonderfully gripping novel was about 15 years ago, and when I started reading it, I could not put it down. Now, 15 years later, I have had the same experience. It kept me up at night and I found myself in the same state of awe as the first reading.

Mary Draper Ingles was a 23 year old pregnant mother and wife, when the settlement she lived in was invaded by Shawnee Indians. They killed her mother and took Mary, her 2 sons, and her sister-in-law captive, leading them deep into unsettled territory. While on the trek to the Shawnee camp, she gave birth to a daughter.

After being in captivity for months, Mary escaped in the company of an old Dutch woman. Together the two survived a walk of one thousand miles through untamed territory in the beginning of winter w/no food, no warm clothing, no weapons, nothing - except the Ohio River as her guide to "home". Eventually, literally starving to death, the old Dutch companion started seeing Mary as a "meal", and it was Mary's determination and wits that kept her from being Gretel's next meal.

The Shawnee Chieftain, Wildcat, kept Mary's 2 young sons - the youngest died shortly after being seperated from his mother, and the oldest stayed w/the Shawnees for around 13 years, before Mary's husband, Will, finally managed to locate him and get him back. She made the very hard and unimaginable decision to leave her baby daughter w/Otter Girl, for she knew there was no way her baby would survive the trek home. When she finally did get back to civilization, she was unrecognizable, starved, and frozen. This is a remarkable story of determination, focus, drive and strength of character of one 23 year old woman! It is well written and as I read it, I find it very easy to "experience" all she experiences. I am in total awe of this great woman and story of her survival. I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone - for I cannot imagine it not touching the heart of any who read it!

I've read this book three times and teach it to my twelfth grade English classes. Mary Ingles is an inspiration of the possibilities of endurance of the human spirit. Victim of a brutal Shawnee attack in the summer of 1755 she is force marched from Virginia to Shawnee, Ohio while nine months pregnant giving birth on the trail. She is sold into slavery and taked to the area near Big Bone Lick State Park in Kentucky. Together with an old Dutch woman she escapes and begins a 1,000 mile trek home through unknown and hostile wilderness. In 43 harrowing days she goes from 125 pounds to under 80 pounds as she faces the elements, starvation, wild animals, hostile Indians, implacable nature, and a companion that turns cannibal. The reader shares the agony of the journey with Mary as she must go the final miles on her hands and knees. The most amazing thing about the story is it is true. Like his other historical novels Thom has done his research and he makes the history come alive for his reader.

FROM HELL is writer Alan Moore's and artist Eddie Campbell's stab (pun intended) at Jack The Ripper. But this isn't your usual story about the Whitechapel murders. Alan Moore doesn't conceal the killer's identity until the very last page, he reveals it in chapter two; FROM HELL is not about who the killer was. FROM HELL is a treaties (worthy of a ph.d) about why the killer did what he did, how he did it, and about all the people who knew about it; Mostly, it's about the latter. Alan Moore is a serious conspiracy theorist (respect...); His conclusion is of Royal connection, police corruption, and Freemason involvement. Everybody has got their hands dirty; London is presented as a decrepid and rotten society. I have not yet seen the filmadaptation of FROM HELL, but I've read that there is a shot in the film which "begins with the London skyline, pans down between towers and steam trains, and plunges into a subterranean crypt where a Masonic lodge is passing judgement on one of their members" (from Roger Ebert's filmreview). This is what the story is about; A society that is ruled by the few; By the men who hides in the shadows; By the true architects of history (as said in FROM HELL).

Alan Moore tells a story that sends you spiraling into madness, into the mind of the killer and the society of the killer; Into Hell. The sketchy black and white drawings of Eddie Campbell conjurs up a world of filth, and not the romantesized version of Victorian England that we have all grown accustomed to; "London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained," (from Sir Arthur C. Doyle's A STUDY IN SCARLET). Both Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell have based their work on an impressive amount of research; FROM HELL is about as accurate as any other non-fiction book about Jack The Ripper. But this implies that FROM HELL demands that you're intrigued by the circumstances surrounding the case, and that you don't mind reading through hundreds of pages with long dialogues that are weighed down with facts; If you're only after a quick scare and a murder mystery, then you'll probably be disappointed with FROM HELL. Its audience are the numerous 'ripperologists'. If you fit into this latter category, then you'll relish FROM HELL.

Prostitutes are at the grimy bottom of the social ladder in almost any society. Their murders are neither uncommon nor usual causes for alarm, but in 1888, a string of slayings of this loathly population in Whitechapel, one of many atrocious slumps of Victorian London, shook England to its core. The vile acts of Jack the Ripper, the sickening surgery he performed on five whores, made proud English society question what kind of a monster could arise from its cracks. Jack's escapes from the police and an entire city searching for him forced London to question its competency. The wild curiosity the killer, the first tabloid star, drew made England question its taste. The savage and sick nature of his act, the boastful letters he sent to the press and police (one letter contains included a human kidney) caused many to question the entire human condition. In 1888, the first serial killer, that disturbing, shocking, sexually motivated type of killer was unleashed on the world.

Over one hundred years after the Ripper killings, Alan Moore, puts the events of autumn 1888 under his literary microscope with a comic book masterpiece, From Hell, and makes them as shocking, stomach-turning and frighteningly thought provoking as they were in 1888, in ever. Moore, a practical Ripper historian who fills forty-two pages of this volume with research notes, analyses the historical, intellectual, societal, psychological and metaphysical importance of the Ripper killings.

Moore, joined by appropriately sketchy art of Eddie Campbell, narrates the theory that the cadavers found laying in pieces in Whitechapel once belonged to a gang of prostitutes who bribed the crown with knowledge of a secret marriage between Queen Victoria's grandson and a Catholic commoner. Royal physician, Sir William Gull, disposed of the women and takes a few creative liberties.

All characters in From Hell are beyond compelling: Gull, a Freemason and Hannibal Lector-type intellectual who reaches the darkest regions of the human mind and spirit, which are revealed to also be the most profane. Mary Kelly, Gull's final victum, who is made brutally aware of the futility of her life's station and the harshness of her world as she watches her friends die one by one and waits for her turn. Frederick Abberline, the Scotland Yard inspector assigned to the Ripper case, whose traditional morals of merit are tested as he wades through the steaming dung of society.

In most comics, traditional morals are seen as a virtue, but From Hell is no ordinary comic book. It travels down the societal ladder in an attempt to step higher on the philosophical. It is a masterpiece, a gracefully narrated epic that splashes in the grime of history and moral netherworlds with a deep sense of poignancy.

The most recent offering from Alan Moore, the author who, alongside Neil Gaiman, was responsible for bringing comic books to their fullest potential as art on par with novels, From Hell is a brilliant, moody, and well-researched re-telling of the Jack the Ripper story. Moore takes an interesting twist on the story - and one he himself admits that he believes is false - but the point of the book isn't so much a whodunit as a treatise on the combining of fact and fiction into myth, and the nature of sensationalism and crime in the 20th century.

From Hell features an amazing cast of characters and the story is told in sixteen chapters - two of which are a prologue and an epilogue. Moore weaves historical facts together to form a cohesive story, and draws on dozens of sources, both Ripper-related and otherwise. From Hell suggests that the Ripper was, in fact, William Gull, Physician Ordinary to the Royal Family and a member of the Freemasons (this fact is revealed very early on in the book, unlike the movie which IS a whodunit). Where high-level criminologists like FBI profiler John Douglas (inspiration for the Crawford character in Silence of the Lambs) seem to think that the crimes were motivated by a fear of women, Moore focuses on the calm, ritualistic nature of the murders, and the important connection between the victims - that they all knew each other.

Although in this book the crime itself was a Masonic ritual, I think it should be noted that Moore isn't trying to smear the Masons, and that should be obvious to anyone reading From Hell. His contention, one that more or less fits the 100-plus years worth of facts, is that William Gull was gradually going insane and had visions about Masonic deities - shreds of old ritual from Freemasonry's past that he blows out of proportion and begins to manifest, at least in his mind. There was nothing anti-Freemason in this book, but I realize people have to find something to get bent out of shape about.

The crowning achievement of this volume isn't the way Moore creates a perfect fit for Gull as the Ripper, but the appendix at the end in which he details the painstaking amount of research that went into this work. He has a reference for nearly every factual detail, and readily admits when he makes things up or dramatizes certain events for the story. It's an excellent resource for Ripperologists and scholars interested in Moore's book, and its inclusion is what makes From Hell such a fascinating read.

I absolutely recommend From Hell, especially if you enjoyed the film - the book is far more detailed, and doesn't sacrifice any historical accuracies to make a better story, as the movie did. If the film is a starting point, this graphic novel is the logical conclusion. Get it today; you will not be sorry you did.

Gravity is a very fast, exciting read that combines science fiction, biology, NASA and some problems for the characters.
In the story, a biological sample begins to infect the crew onboard the International Space Station. The victims have bloodshot eyes, muscle cramps, and then violently die, spreading the organism around to infect others.
On the ground, a space shuttle crashes, and NASA is forced out of the picture by the military, who want to cover up the infection and protect the people on the ground. The surviving crew members are quarintined on the station, while infection eats them away, one by one.
I found this to be a very dramatic read, with nice mixes of the Hot Zone, Cobra Event, Apollo 13 and Aliens. There is also quite a bit of science, which well supports what is going on in the story. Gerritsen's characters are really well written, with all of their problems and weaknesses. I also enjoyed the research parts, reminisent of the Hot Zone.
However, this book did have some problems. The first people to die were the ones that weren't that interesting. Its as if they are just there to hold a place.
Also in the book, everyone seemed to worry way too much about routine shuttle lift offs. This might go wrong, that might go wrong. The space shuttle is one of the most efficient machines around.
Emma and her husband's relationship was pretty dry. Apart, they hated each other on the ground, while together, they seemed to be okay with each other, even though their relationship was shot and they hate each other. When Emma is up in space, her husband can't stop worrying about her.
Lastly, I would have liked to see more of the Alien organism, after the first stage.
Overall, not a bad read. Its hard to put down, but hardly above the avarage, or extraordinary.

I just happened to pick this book up because I loved the cover. It also happened to have a blurb by my favorite author, Stephen King, across the front and I quote, "She is better than Palmer, better than Cook...yes, even better than Crichton." That's a pretty high recommendation, so those 2 factors encouraged me to read this book and boy, does it live up to the potential! Emma Watson, a brilliant research physician, has been training for the mission of a lifetime: studying life in outer space. Emma's ex-husband, Jack McCallum, has also shared her dream of space travel, but a unforeseen medical condition leaves him grounded and very bitter. He must watch Emma take the chance of a lifetime and watch her go into space without him. Once Emma reaches the space station, however, things begin to go wrong. An experiment runs deadly, stranding Emma aboard the station with no way to get home without threatening the Earth's population. The rescue attempts have all but failed, and one by one the astronants are dying...what happens next will amaze you! This is a fabulous read, nice and easy, but yet, keeps you on the edge of your seat. After reading Gravity, I went back and read Tess Gerritsen's other books. You will too, and you won't be disappointed

I'm one of those people who picked up this book because it just had too cool of a cover to pass up (that, and I'm a Robin Cook fan, so I was challenging King's cover quote). So, is Tess Gerritsen better than Cook? Hard to say; can't really compare the two. Tess leans more towards the sci-fi, while Cook sticks to terrestrial diseases. But, that doesn't make Gravity any less thrilling! This is one of the few books to actually give me the chills! Strong characters, vivid and graphic pictures of what exactly the crew members of the ISS are facing combined with superb research and writing skills make Gerritsen an author I'll be returning too. I eagerly look forward to reading her other books! Gravity is a roller-coaster of a read and one you won't soon forget.

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.

I began reading JC books in the late 80's and could not get enough. The PBS Series still holds my interest and attention.
Having lost my copy of the original transcripts I purchased this edition without regard to the Editor and find this edition and this editing misses something from the original.
I am sure it will serve many that are unfamiliar with JC, but I want the un-edited version as it changed my life forever.

Since this book is basically the transcripts from Bill Moyer's excellent televised interviews with Joseph Campbell, "The Power of Myth" frequently comes off as a "Reader's Digest" coffee table condensation of Campbell's life and work. Since the interview, by its very nature is limited in its scope and focus, "The Power of Myth" simply does not possess the depth of Campbell's other work.

This really is no matter as what is present provides the reader with a fine introduction to Campbell's passionate devotion to World Myth. Campbell's life thesis, that man posseses the innate desire and need to create myth, is a compelling idea the binds us all to ourselves and each other.

"The Power of Myth" is NOT to be taken as a religious tome. In that context, it certainly does come off as a cockeyed New Age concoction of non-commitment. It is meant, however, to be taken as a work of deconstructionist literary criticsm that seeks to celebrate the common threads running through all cultures and perspectives.

Campbell openly celebrates man's ability to imagine as well as his devotion to ideas. He does not seek to debunk or trivialize the devout (one must be careful to realize this as they read Campbell). His scholarly intent as I see it, is to encourage and nurture the seed of faith inherent in all and encourage everyone to embark on their own heroic adventures of discovery.

"The Power of Myth" serves as an excellent bibliography of sorts as it lists the many great folktales and religious texts which demand re-reading. Campbell urges his audience to read for themselves and search for their own discoveries.

If one is searching for a far more in depth study of myth, I cannot praise enough Campbell's excellent "The Hero With A Thousand Faces". As is, "The Power of Myth" is a fine starting point.

This is the transcript of the Bill Moyers interview with Joseph Campbell done with him years and years ago-a stunning interview-a stunning book. Readers will enjoy the book format because let's face it-when Crazy Joe Campbell was talking-sometimes we needed more time than which was given to "absorb what was said." From talking about the Great Seal on the American dollar bill and it's mythological connections-to pouring over a letter from Chief Seattle to George Washington about the purchase of land, this book is never uninteresting.

And to give Bill Moyers due credit as well as an excellent journalist who always knows the right question to ask-and whom unlike a lot of journalists today-actually cares about what he is and was covering. In fact, sometimes Moyers says something quite insightful on his own-it is the coming together of two great minds in a question and answer format-that produces the end result of genius-pure genius. If you are unfamiliar with the Bill Moyers interview, I would recommend purchasing it on here, the 6 tapes, or waiting until PBS airs it again-they always do. Afterall, it's one of PBS's all time ratings grabber. The reason I say that is hearing the way Joe Campbell speaks, seeing in flesh just how engaging of a man he is-allows the reader to "imagine him speaking through the book." To me-that makes a huge difference.

This book is a winnner all the way-regardless of what religious background you hail from-what sort of philosophy if any you engage-this book will certainly impress you the reader. It could actually change someone's life in the context of stimulating someone's interest enough in mythology-to begin looking into it. Or, it can broaden your insight into your own spiritual life in of which you have already established. Any way you toss this book up-it's heads. So buy it.

I loved this book but it was so sad! I was practicly crying when Wonder had to be put down. Wonder was my favorite horse. But now my favorite horse is Star, Wonder's last foal. Sorry if I gave something away, but it is pretty obvious by the title.
This book is about how Wonder has to be put down after having her last foal. Ashleigh has a very hard time recovering after Wonder's death and hates the foal. But, Christina, Ashleigh's daughter, loves Star, the foal. As Christina and Star form a bond Ashleigh ignores him. Ashleigh decides to send Star to Townsend Acres because she can't stand to see Star. Christina is heartbroken and super mad at her mom, until she sees Ashleigh crying over a photo of herself and Wonder.
This is a great book, but I only gave it 4 stars because it was so sad.

This book was so SAD! It is the most heart-wrenching book I've ever read. I feel so horrible for what Ashleigh, Wonder, Christina, and Star all go through. The book is well written, suspensful, and intriguing. The ending leaves you craving the next book, Star in Danger, to see what happens next to Star and Christina. I'm so glad that Christina is getting better. She can like eventing, as long as she changing her attitude towards racing, as she is! I can't wait for the next books. It won't be the same without Wonder. She was so awesome, but I don't understand why Ashleigh can't focus on the positive. Wonder had a long and wonderful life with Ashleigh. Christina needs to remide her mother that if it weren't for her, Wonder wouldn't have lived in the first place. Ashleigh's behavior towards Star is dissapointing, especially for us die-hard Ashleigh and Wonder fans, and her lack of respect for Christina's feelings is somewhat dissapointing too, though most of us wouldn't know what agony Ashleigh is in. I'm glad I felt a glimmer of that old "Thoroughbred" feeling again. Good job.

In "A Horse Called Wonder" a sickly foal is born on Townsend Acres--the farm where Ashleigh Griffen's parents found a job as breeders after they left their own farm, and sold Ashleigh's favorite mare--Stardust. After she left Stardust Ashleigh swore she would never give her heart to another horse--not even the new foal that everyone is sure will die. But in the end she can't help loving Ashleigh's Wonder, which is what everyone on the farm called the foal after Ashleigh miraculously raises her into a beautiful filly. But now Ashleigh must save her beloved horse from the auction block...

Now Wonder has come to Whitebrook with Ashleigh, who has decided to breed her prize mare just one more time. But Wonder's last foal is born under even more tragic circumstances then his mother was, and Wonder has to be put down. With Ashleigh grieving over the loss of her horse, her orphaned baby colt will surely die. Ashleigh's daughter, Christina, has also vowed never to give her heart to another horse after she found Sterling Dream and has been eventing him and working towards her dream of winning an olympic medal. But she loves Wonder's Star--she named him because of the beautiful star on his forehead--and she raises him from a shy, sickly, little foal to a promising colt. Then disaster strikes--after all her hard work Ashleigh is giving the colt to Brad Townsend--his co-owner--for training. Christina is losing the horse she has grown to love, and there is nothing she can do about it!