Shadow Dance: A Novel

Book Description

Jordan Buchanan is thrilled that her brother and best friend are tying the knot. The wedding is a lavish affair–for the marriage of Dylan Buchanan and Kate MacKenna is no ordinary occasion. It represents the joining of two family dynasties. The ceremony and reception proceed without a hitch–until a crasher appears claiming to be a MacKenna guest. The disheveled and eccentric professor of medieval history warns that there’s “bad blood” between the couple’s clans, stemming from an ancient feud that originated in Scotland, and involving the Buchanan theft of a coveted MacKenna treasure.

Jordan has always led a cautious life and has used her intelligence and reason to become a successful businesswoman. So she is intrigued but skeptical of the professor’s claims that the feud has been kept alive by the grave injustices the Buchanans have perpetrated over the centuries. But when Noah Clayborne, a close family friend and a man who has never let a good time or a pretty girl pass him by, accuses Jordan of being trapped in her comfort zone, she determines to prove him wrong and sets out on a spontaneous adventure to the small, dusty town of Serenity, Texas, to judge the professor’s research for herself.

Maneuvering through a close-knit community in which everyone knows everyone else’s business, Jordan never anticipates the danger and intrigue that lie in her path, nor the threat that will shadow her back to Boston, where even in familiar surroundings, her life is at risk.

A powerful thug who rules by fear, a man who harbors a simmering secret, and an unexpected romance that pierces all defenses–beloved author Julie Garwood weaves these dazzling elements into a brilliant novel of romantic suspense. Shadow Dance is a searing tango of passion and peril.

Customer Reviews:

didn't even finish it.........2007-10-09

i am saddened to say that i couldn't finish the book. like many other avid jg readers i too waited with abated breath for noah's story and was quite disappointed that i couldn't even get past the first couple of chapters. it was pretty slow.. soo slow i felt no connection to the characters what so ever..
i couldn't give it just one star as it is jg, who has written my absolute most favorite book in the world.. the ransom.. so i gave it two stars just because i have faith that jg will come back with something better

Shadow Dance - One Of Garwood's Best.......2007-09-29

Again Julie Garwood has enchanted me with one of her books about the Buchanan family. She has written another superb book that readers who appreciate romantic suspense will enjoy. Keep up your wonderful story telling.

Julie...You REALLY Missed this Boat!.......2007-09-10

I have been eagerly awaiting Noah's story since Mercy, when it became obvious that he would be a recurring character. He is clearly a contemporary version of Cole Clayborne with his quick one-liners, witty charm, and undeniable way with the ladies. I was incredibly disappointed--actually a little heartbroken--to finally get my hands on Noah's story and find that he played second fiddle to a very dull Jordan Buchanan. In her previous contemporary novels, JG has done a thorough job of developing Noah as a likeable, believable, and all-around HOT character (although he is pretty slutty). After crafting such a solid foundation upon which to build Noah's potentially incredible story, Julie wasted him and all that his romance could have been with Shadow Dance. Noah was completely closed to the reader for most of the book. He was bland, unexciting, ordinary, and forgettable. I'm sad that Julie's readers will never get to witness the exciting romance that Noah could have had--with all of the charm, wit, temper, thunder and fight that I expected when he finally fell (in love). He didn't have to fight for a thing in this book. Pity. I was really hoping for some red-hot spark. What I found was much less. Poor Noah.

Julie Garwood could do better.......2007-09-04

I have read and own everyone of Julie Garwood's books I love her she's one of my favorite authors her female heroins are always funny and have some odd characteristic that I love, but not this one she just seem like the runt of the family a family that always seem spirited and strong not week.I like the Buchanans triology and I always new Noah the Buchananas trusted best freind would get his own story but how sad for Noah it was a stale one......

Shadow Dance.......2007-08-09

I loved reading any book by Julie Garwood. But getting to be updated about decendants of Cole from For the Roses was so great. I thought that this was an awesome read and could not put it down. I hope Julie continues to write about this amazing family in her future books.

Shakespeare and Co.: Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Dekker, Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, John Fletcher and the Other Players in His Story

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Shakespeare & Co.
Shakespeare and Co: Marlow, Thomas Dekker, Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, John Fletcher and the other Players in His Story

Shakespeare and Co.: Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Dekker, Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, John Fletcher and the Other Players in His Story
Stanley Wells
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0375424946
Release Date: 2007-04-10

Book Description

From one of our most distinguished Shakespeare scholars, here is a fascinating, lively, anecdotal work of forensic biography that firmly places Shakespeare within the hectic, exhilarating world in which he lived and wrote.

Theater in Shakespeare's day was a burgeoning “growth industry." Everyone knew everyone else, and they all sought to learn, borrow or steal from one another. As Stanley Wells suggests: "To see Shakespeare as one among a great company is only to enhance our sense of what made him unique.”

Wells explores Elizabethan and Jacobean theater, both behind the scenes and in front of the curtain. He examines how the great actors of the time influenced Shakespeare's work. He writes about the lives and works of the other major writers of Shakespeare’s day and discusses Shakespeare’s relationships—sometimes collaborative—with each of them. And throughout, Wells shares his vast knowledge of the period, re-creating and celebrating the sheer richness and variety of Shakespeare's social and cultural milieus.

Shakespeare and Co. gives us a new understanding of how the Bard achieved unparalleled singularity as the greatest writer in the language.

Customer Reviews:

Shakespeare & Co........2007-07-16

Stanley Wells is one of the great Shakespeare scholars of this, or any other, generation. His work on the Oxford edition of the Complete Works, the Textual Companion, the Dictionary of Shakespeare and, if I can mention a personal favorite, Shakespeare for All Time, assure his enduring reputation. It was with keen anticipation I picked up this book, then, and I was not disappointed. The book is not groundbreaking, by any means, but is pleasant, erudite, and consistently interesting. It is the best introduction I know to placing Shakespeare in the theatrical currents of his time and tracing his interactions, such as they can be known, with his less famous, though greatly gifted, contemporaries Marlowe, Jonson, Dekker, Middleton, Fletcher, Webster and the rest.

In an age such as ours where otherwise serious people can become preoccupied with crank, dilettantish ideas like the Oxford wrote Shakespeare nonsense so much in circulation, how likely is it those same serious people have taken the time to read Shakespeare's less well known fellows? They have, perhaps, read Dr. Faustus in an English lit survey class, and know about Marlowe because, after all, HE might, just maybe, be the one who really wrote at least some of Shakespeare's plays, but certainly they have not read either part of Tamburlaine, or A Trick To Catch The Old One, or The Shoemakers Holiday. Need enough, then, that a thoroughgoing, popular introduction to the lives and masterpieces of some of Shakespeare's contemporaries deserves a home on our bulging Shakespeare bookshelves.

The first sentence of the Preface says "This book attempts to place Shakespeare in relation to the actors and other writers, mainly playwrights, of his time in an accessible and where possible entertaining manner" (ix). And so it does, with, speaking for myself, at least, emphasis on "entertaining." I found the book enormously likable. If you are familiar with the period and the authors being treated, you will find nothing new, but a non-specialists book surveying a rather broad field does not attempt to present novel interpretations, but rather can be relied on to deliver the state-of-the-art scholarly understanding of these authors and their works in a pleasant style. Wells's scholarly status guarantees the most dependable understanding of the times and writers, and his gifts as a writer makes reading a joy.

Shakespeare and Co: Marlow, Thomas Dekker, Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, John Fletcher and the other Players in His Story.......2007-05-24

A fun, fast read...If your looking for who wrote Shakespeare other the Shakespeare you will be disappointed...Prof. Wells though speculates on who may have collaborated with Shakespeare on some plays a little more freely the other academics might but don't look for a smoking gun...the best passage in the book in my opinion is Prof. Wells description of the death of Marlow, it is vivid and would make a great story for any High School Lit. teacher to use to spice up her/his Jr. Eng. Lit. class.

If you are into Shakespeare I think you will find "Shakespeare & Co.:..." a great read.

The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Visions of Glory

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The Hobo Philosopher
Fantastic read
Never Question Your Sanity ,,, It's not You
.......not a secret anymore......
A BRILLIANT BIOGRAPHY - WELL DONE!

The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Visions of Glory
William Manchester
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0316545031

Customer Reviews:

The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-21

This is William Manchester at his best. This is fascinating reading and fascinating writing. Of course Winston Churchill was quite a character but to be honest I didn't know that fact until I read this book and its companion volume.
After reading this book I put it to my mind that I would read everything that Manchester wrote. I've got a couple more to go. You can't miss with this purchase. A great story, great writing, and good history. What more could you ask for?

Fantastic read.......2007-06-18

I am a little half way through the book, but it already is one of the best books I have ever read. The book deserves all the accolade. Manchester's approach to biography is a little different from many others in that he did not shy away from coloring the narrative with events that were yet to occur. He always hinted the historical significance of events in light of what happened later. I find this extremely helpful. For example: Churchill's fascination with early airplanes, his conception of tanks when dealing with a domestic riot are just two examples. These illuminated Churchill was indeed ahead of his peers in recognizing important trends.

The buildup to WWI is masterful. The book weaves Churchill's struggle with the Irish Home rule question together with the naval arms race with Germany in 1913. Since we know WWI started in 1914, the realization that Churchill and the British government were struggling with a domestic problem (which surely was exploited by the German Kaiser) enhances our understanding of the immediate pre-war times.

I knew the old US of A was not a world player before WWI. This book adds to that impression. Until the outbreak of the war, the US is just not on Churhill's radar: it does not show up much in his writing, travel, and speech. Yes, he did a book tour in the US, but that was before he started his political career.

Can't wait to read the second half of the book.

Never Question Your Sanity ,,, It's not You.......2006-12-22

This book should be read (before, after or with) The End of the World as We Know It. The scenarios are almost interchangable.

.......not a secret anymore.............2006-12-11

Actually it is very sad to mention this blunder against humanity:

When the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in October and November 1914, Britain's communications with India and the East via the Suez canal was immediately placed in jeopardy.
There was a secret agreement with Germany signed in August 1914 by the Young Turks that was troubling the Russians and taken as warning of the forthcoming trouble to The Tsar. The Russians regarded their Caucasian terrirories were also placed in jeopardy.
Consequently, the British and French, in order to protect their future `colonies' and bisect the `sick man of Europe', had to act forcefully. They opened another front in the South with the Gallipoli (1915) and Mesopotamian campaigns.

Anxious to score his first military encounter with `the enemy', Winston Churchill, in his capacity as Lord of Navy, prematurely urged a combined French and British naval incursion into Gallipoli. But the Turks were successful in repelling the British, French, and Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. and pushed their eventual withdrawal and evacuation.

((By contrast, in Mesopotamia - Iraq- after the disastrous Siege of Kut (1915-16), British Empire forces - mainly of Indian troops - reorganized and captured Baghdad (March 1917). Further to the west in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, initial British failures were overcome when Jerusalem was captured in December 1917, and the Egyptian Expeditionary Force under Field Marshal Edmund Allenby, broke the Ottoman forces at the Battle of Megiddo in September 1918))

Russia, the protector of the Greek Orthothox Armenian population, sent her best troops in the Caucasus. The Turkish, Vice-Generalissimo Enver Pasha, supreme commander of the ex Ottoman Empire armed forces, was a very ambitious man. His aim and everpresent dream was to conquer central Asia. Enver Pasha, like Winston Churchill, was not a practical soldier. He launched an offensive with 100,000 soldiers against the Russians in the Caucasus in December of 1914.
His main enemy was the severe Weather conditions.
Insisting on a frontal attack against Russian positions in the mountains , Enver lost over 80% of his troops at the Battle of Sarikamis, in the heart of the tough winter season.

In 1917, Russian Grand Duke Nicholas assumed senior control over the Caucasus front. Nicholas tried to have a railway built from Russia (Georgia) to the conquered territories with a view to bringing up more supplies for a new offensive. But, in March of 1917 (February in the pre-revolutionary Russian calendar), the Czar was overthrown in the February Revolution and the Russian army began to slowly fall apart.
Hence, the protector of the Armenians was gone.

Winston Churchill blunder in Gallipoli, opened patched over wounds and re-ignited animosities between the Turks and their Armenian neighbors. In 1915, the Armenians were the victims of his cowardice. The Turks committed a HOLOCAUST against the Armenians that immediately started after WC debacle in Gallipolis.
The mass murder of the Armenians was indeed the first Holocaust of the twentieth century.

A BRILLIANT BIOGRAPHY - WELL DONE!.......2006-07-27

This is a brilliantly written biography of one of the most fascinating characters in history. Like most of Mnchester's work (I must admit to being a big fan), this is a very readable biography, well researched and holds the reader's interest from page to page. We see so much of Churchhill in his role as a WWII leader that we tend to forget there was a young man, living, learning and growing before the back and white films we see today. It is good to be reminded of this from time to time. It is also, for those interested, to learn how a world leader of Churchill's calibre came into being, how he developed and why he was the way he was. This work gives us great insight to those questions. Cannot recommend this work highly enough.

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Utter Tripe
Methinks it is like a weasel.
Best Shakespearen Play Ever!
it's settled.
Teachers and General Public

Hamlet (Folger Shakespeare Library)
William Shakespeare
Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 074347712X

Customer Reviews:

Utter Tripe.......2007-10-18

What kind of idiot writes this tripe? This is allegedly a "Play" by some long-dead "Master".

Well, let me tell, you: it's boring and derivative. It's about this Prince who doesn't get his father's throne, and feels all depressed about it for a while, and fights back against his uncle (who took the throne and married the prince's mother), to show everyone that it was actually the uncle who killed his father the king.

Excuse me? Haven't we heard this before?

Yep: Disney's "The Lion King".

This is "The Lion King" dressed up in period clothes. Instead of "Simba", we've got "Hamlet". Instead of "Scar", we've got "Claudius". Instead of "Nala", we've got "Ophelia".

And it's in "Denmark", instead of the African Plains. Denmark? Is that even a real country anymore? Anyways, it's called Europe, now; That's a part of London.

And don't get me started on the language this writer used! It's all like it's from the Bible and stuff. Get rid of that, and use real words: Take a lesson from someone like Stephen King.

Don't waste your time with this; watch "The Lion King", and you'll get it. And while you're at it, there's a bridge in Brooklyn I'm selling.

Methinks it is like a weasel........2007-09-22

I'm going to take some hits for this (by rabid Shakespeare fans mostly), but this play, whether read in a straightforward manner, or analyzed to the hilt, is just somewhat better than mediocre.
Most folks who would read this work know that Shakespeare's plays are broken down, at the top, into two groups: tragedies and comedies. Hamlet is a tragedy -- the limited humor that one finds herein is pretty darn subtle, (e.g., the comment about Englishmen all being mad). I do not criticise "Hamlet" for that actuality, in fact, I prefer the tragedies. However, the play, as plays go, is simply just so-so. I think folks get 'caught up' in the fact that this is SHAKESPEARE, and therefore, they are SUPPOSED to like it if they have an ounce of culture.
For people who wish to delve into ecclectic classic works (of all genres), "Hamlet" is difficult to read (unless you're a genius, you sort of have to stumble along and concentrate on what has been said), due mostly to the archaic language. I think, to be a fan of Shakespeare, one must assidiously STUDY Shakespeare... and for those folks who just want 'to read some Shakespeare,' I think that "Julius Caesar" is a much better place to begin.
The story about Hamlet is essentially a good tale, if a bit drawn out, but some of the details are what make it most interesting. Also, I like any story where madness is a facet of the discussion (I LOVED "The Brothers Karamazov," Dostoyevsky!)
But to assert that this work is a wonderful read just because it's Shakespeare, is why I say: Methinks it is [just a bit] like a weasel.

Best Shakespearen Play Ever!.......2007-08-27

Hamlet is a must read...end of review.
No, seriously who can't pass up...
"to be or not to be that is the question. Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outragous fortune or to take on a sea of troubles and by opposing end them. To die to sleep..."
You'll have to read the play to find out the rest.

it's settled........2007-08-25

oh yeah. what the world needs is my opinion on "hamlet," by william shakespeare. seems that the jury is still out on whether this is a good book or not. well, here it is: my seal of approval. great stuff mr shakespeare. i hope that i helped your writing career with this review. you go, guy.

Teachers and General Public.......2007-07-29

Despite its setting, Hamlet speaks to the average individual in ways that Julius Caesar or Macbeth do not, although they are obviously also very worthy in different ways. If you are either a teacher of disenfranchised (girls, in particular, but also boys) students or someone who has felt the hand of opression, this can be a very liberating text--not because of what actually happens, but due to the rich discussions/contemplations that it provokes around how *not* to end up like either Ophelia or Hamlet. Free or extremely inexpensive texts are available on-line; however, I have found the Folger edition particularly useful in helping me and my students understand some of the finer points.

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Particularly Apt for Me
Teacher Man - Slightly Disappointing
school'd
"Listen. Are you listening? You're not listening"
Boring

Teacher Man: A Memoir
Frank McCourt
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0743243781

Amazon.com

For 30 years Frank McCourt taught high school English in New York City and for much of that time he considered himself a fraud. During these years he danced a delicate jig between engaging the students, satisfying often bewildered administrators and parents, and actually enjoying his job. He tried to present a consistent image of composure and self-confidence, yet he regularly felt insecure, inadequate, and unfocused. After much trial and error, he eventually discovered what was in front of him (or rather, behind him) all along--his own experience. "My life saved my life," he writes. "My students didn't know there was a man up there escaping a cocoon of Irish history and Catholicism, leaving bits of that cocoon everywhere." At the beginning of his career it had never occurred to him that his own dismal upbringing in the slums of Limerick could be turned into a valuable lesson plan. Indeed, his formal training emphasized the opposite. Principals and department heads lectured him to never share anything personal. He was instructed to arouse fear and awe, to be stern, to be impossible to please--but he couldn't do it. McCourt was too likable, too interested in the students' lives, and too willing to reveal himself for their benefit as well as his own. He was a kindred spirit with more questions than answers: "Look at me: wandering late bloomer, floundering old fart, discovering in my forties what my students knew in their teens."

As he did so adroitly in his previous memoirs, Angela's Ashes and 'Tis, McCourt manages to uncover humor in nearly everything. He writes about hilarious misfires, as when he suggested (during his teacher's exam) that the students write a suicide note, as well as unorthodox assignments that turned into epiphanies for both teacher and students. A dazzling writer with a unique and compelling voice, McCourt describes the dignity and difficulties of a largely thankless profession with incisive, self-deprecating wit and uncommon perception. It may have taken him three decades to figure out how to be an effective teacher, but he ultimately saved his most valuable lesson for himself: how to be his own man. --Shawn Carkonen

Book Description

Here at last in paperback is Frank McCourt's critically acclaimed and bestselling book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Teacher Man is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises of teaching in public high schools. Teacher Man shows McCourt developing his unparalleled ability to tell a great story as, five days a week, five periods per day, he works to gain the attention and respect of unruly, hormonally charged or indifferent adolescents.

For McCourt, storytelling itself is the source of salvation, and in Teacher Man the journey to redemption--and literary fame--is an exhilarating adventure.

Download Description

"Nearly a decade ago Frank McCourt became an unlikely star when, at the age of sixty-six, he burst onto the literary scene with Angela's Ashes, the Pulitzer Prize -- winning memoir of his childhood in Limerick, Ireland. Then came 'Tis, his glorious account of his early years in New York. Now, here at last, is McCourt's long-awaited book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Teacher Man is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises he faces in public high schools around New York City. His methods anything but conventional, McCourt creates a lasting impact on his students through imaginative assignments (he instructs one class to write ""An Excuse Note from Adam or Eve to God""), singalongs (featuring recipe ingredients as lyrics), and field trips (imagine taking twenty-nine rowdy girls to a movie in Times Square!). McCourt struggles to find his way in the classroom and spends his evenings drinking with writers and dreaming of one day putting his own story to paper. Teacher Man shows McCourt developing his unparalleled ability to tell a great story as, five days a week, five periods per day, he works to gain the attention and respect of unruly, hormonally charged or indifferent adolescents. McCourt's rocky marriage, his failed attempt to get a Ph.D. at Trinity College, Dublin, and his repeated firings due to his propensity to talk back to his superiors ironically lead him to New York's most prestigious school, Stuyvesant High School, where he finally finds a place and a voice. ""Doggedness,"" he says, is ""not as glamorous as ambition or talent or intellect or charm, but still the one thing that got me through the days and nights."" For McCourt, storytelling itself is the source of salvation, and in Teacher Man the journey to redemption -- and literary fame -- is an exhilarating adventure. "

Customer Reviews:

Particularly Apt for Me.......2007-10-07

I am in the middle of a life-career change. I'm going to be a teacher.

A friend of mine lent me this book a while ago simply because she had read it. I don't think she had any idea how pertinent it would be for me.

This is the circuitous tale of Mr. McCourt teaching in the schools of New York City. He starts (and spends a good deal of time) teaching in vo-tech schools and eventually ends up in one of the premier private schools in the city.

Throughout the book, his self-deprication is humorous and apparent, as is his appreciation for the people he teaches. Yes, he's frustrated, often. But at the same time, he's the strangest english teacher I've ever heard of.

Reciting recipes as a part of creative writing? That's weird. Sorry.

I really found the tales amusing, and I can understand how he'd be a wildly popular teacher: he has the Irish Bard's gift of the tale. Teachers like that often do.

This is, however, not his first book, and it seems like he's searching for some tales to fill this tome. Not by much, though.

A solid 4 stars.

(*)>

Teacher Man - Slightly Disappointing.......2007-09-18

Frank McCourt's poverty-stricken youth in Limerick, Ireland, so aptly described in the Pulitzer Prize winning Angela's Ashes actually comes to his rescue in his chronicles in Teacher Man in New York City's public high schools. His first day as a high school English teacher at a vocational school on Staten Island is a whirlwind of confusing strangeness, as if he just stepped off the boat all over again. His college education did not prepare him for these exuberant adolescents, the likes of which he never knew in Ireland because he left school at thirteen to help support his mother and brothers. His stories saved him: the rambunctious adolescents, who spoke a seemingly foreign language and behaved according to the rules their own secret, sub-cultural sect, actually sat down and listened when he told them his stories. Magic. The magic of good storytelling.
This magic spell of the storyteller saves Teacher Man from the ill effects of its lack of depth. Humorous anecdotes compensate for the absence of substance in the classroom. Indeed, McCourt accomplishes much in revealing the daily struggle of teachers, an "in the trenches" portrait of five classes a day with over 150 students. Clearly, the author describes the plight of the overworked, underpaid educator, a member of the "downstairs maid of professions", and readers will sympathize. But, the realities of sandwich throwing, wisecracks, and requests for "the pass" to use the bathroom overwhelm the lesson plans. And so, especially at the start of his career, Mr. McCourt regaled them with stories simply to keep them quiet. Although silence is valuable in the classroom, the curriculum must be addressed as well.
To his credit, McCourt does learn to become a good, perhaps even a great, teacher. Small snippets early on hint that he does possess the natural talent to translate confusing concepts into analogies his students can comprehend. For example, one epiphany relates his discovery that "grammar is the way language works" just like psychology is the way a person's mind works. Students get this, just like they understand the structure is like the structure of a ballpoint pen - both need something to make it work. A pen needs a spring like a sentence needs a verb. Another brilliant idea that sets his students to work is the "excuse note" writing exercise. After a hilarious study of their own excuse notes, many of which are forged, Teacher Man asks his students to write excuses from Adam and Eve to God, from Al Capone to the authorities, from Hitler to the Jews. These bursts of inspiration compensate for the drudgery, such as correcting mountains of compositions (170 students multiplied by 500 words each) that amount to reading the Encyclopedia Britannica.
McCourt's career contains segments of unemployment, the acquisition of his Masters degree, and a failure in attaining his Doctorate at Trinity College in Dublin. Interspersed throughout the memoir, the author includes both humorous and depressing incidents concerning his personal life, including an unsatisfying marriage and a bout of psychotherapy. McCourt reaches his stride as a teacher (not a "taskmaster") at the prestigious Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, where his principal encourages him to be innovative and his creative writing classes spawn ingenious techniques to motivate his students. Students sing recipes and learn to write stories others want to listen to. In 1976 Mr. McCourt earns an award as one of America's Teachers of the Year.
Although Teacher Man may lack pedagogical content, the memoir entertains and causes one to consider the problems of the American educational system and the difficulties teachers encounter on a day-to-day basis. The author maintains an open mind and always learns from his students. He learns that being honest is paramount as a teacher. His honesty prompts him to tell his life's story, and in doing so, his students are motivated to write honestly themselves. For that alone, Frank McCourt deserves the accolade of Teacher Man.

school'd.......2007-09-18

Teacher Man was I think the best of the three. You have so much sympathy for Frank as he tries to teach America's youth while being teased for his "Irish Brogue" the fenetic spelling of how the kid's talk easily let's you hear the dialogue in your head, as well as get a real feel for their cultural backround, the Mexicans, the Italians, the Blacks it's fantastic, I'd say that book taught me a thing or two about life in general.

"Listen. Are you listening? You're not listening".......2007-09-12

A smile. A reminiscence of the good old school days. How many times did our teachers address us with that remark? If you are a teacher, how often did/do you say it to your students? Countless times. Mr. McCourt recounts his 30+ years as a teacher in various high schools in New York. For those of you who were, are or will be teachers, and for those who were, or are students, or if you simply like real-life stories, this is the book for you.

Honing his teacher's skills as the years went by, Mr. McCourt delivers a true insight of life in the classroom, with its laughs, its tears, its frustrations, its joys. This book is constellated with memories of his past, which he would often talk about to his pupils who always listened avidly and eagerly and were encouraged, in turn, to open up and believe in themselves.

His passion for teaching is all there in those laughs, tears, frustrations and joys. Unquestionably, teaching was what Mr. McCourt was meant to do, no matter how undervalued a profession it often was/is, but if you love it, that passion is the fuel igniting everything.
His writing is, as usual, witty, harrowing, poignant and humorous at the same time. He explores his own weaknesses and strengths squarely, learning as he teaches, facing hundreds of challenging minds every day.

After "Angela's Ashes" and " 'Tis ", this is perceived by the author as the last book about himself. Should it be the case, please allow me to quote him once again by saying that I'm so glad that he "sang his song, danced his dance, told his tale". Auspiciously, he'll write some more.

Boring.......2007-09-05

One of the most boring books I've ever read. I had to force myself to keep on reading, then when I started just skipping large sections of it I knew it was time to quit. I didn't finish it and I'm not sorry!

Romeo and Juliet (Folger Shakespeare Library)

Average customer rating:

A rightful classic
A good introduction to the tragedies.
Romeo & Juliet summary by fernando f.
romeo and juliet version. mo student review by mahed m.
stupid student review by gabriel c

Romeo and Juliet (Folger Shakespeare Library)
William Shakespeare
Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0743477111

Book Description

Each edition includes:

Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
Scene-by-scene plot summaries
A key to famous lines and phrases
An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language
An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit www.folger.edu.

Customer Reviews:

A rightful classic.......2007-08-08

This was my first Shakespeare and it certainly won't be my last. While some people dislike this book for the "love at first sight" "stupidity" of the two, I think you need to try to get past that. I definitely agree that Romeo and Juliet are morons, but it makes for a nice story. Would you really want to watch a play about two people who court each other for years, get married to the happiness of their families, and have prosperous children? I sure wouldn't.

So what if know in their right mind would ever act like? The play is written beautifully and it doesn't lag.

A good introduction to the tragedies........2007-05-25

Romeo and Juliet is a beautiful story, and it is a marvellous play to introduce young people to the beauty of Shakespeare. Who doesn't like to read or hear about star-crossed lovers? Who hasn't already heard the legend? The play is easy to read as the plot moves along rapidly, and it's beautifully written. Romeo and Juliet are so tragic in their love, and the silly feud between their two families is so destructive and senseless. Read it for the story, but enjoy it for the beautiful prose.

Romeo & Juliet summary by fernando f........2007-02-20

Romeo and Juliet was an epic story the meaning of the story to me was two lovers with parents keeping them away from each other. I personally really liked the book because it tells people how you can't hide true love because then it would just make things worse for the both. What I don't like in the story how they have to argue over stupid reasons if there in love then there in love let it be forget about all those problems you used to have and think about how good the future could be. Then again why did the families start arguing in the first place to start of with? Both of the families are alike they got money and they also have many family members looking after them but they get in things there not suppose to. The whole theme of the story took place in Verona Italy that's were the two lovers grew up and have been there most of there lives. So therefore both of them end up seeing each other all they want is there family to just get along and they wont have to worry about them having to sneak out to see each other in the middle of the night so if I had to rate this story I would give it a 10 because it teaches you to never hide your love for some one and I agree with that.

romeo and juliet version. mo student review by mahed m........2007-02-20

The story is about 2 young people who are in love. And there parents hate each other, and that effect show much time spend together, I personally think that your parents have an effect on how u live. But I guess in Verona that's not how it works. But I personally think the movie is better than the book. Because it is shorter and I don't have to pay attention on it.the setting takes place in Verona.

stupid student review by gabriel c.......2007-02-20

Romeo and Juliet is a story about to lovers that meet at first sight. The biggest problem they have together is that both of the families have been fighting and hate each other since they both have been born. It all started when Romeo been depressed ever day moping around and feeling sad all of the time because he loved Rosaline and she did not love him back. So one day Romeos cousin told him about this party and that Rosaline would be there so they left and Romeo saw Juliet there and followed her to her house and both exchanged thoughts about each other and decided that they will get married but secretly. So they had to come up with a plan to pretend that Juliet was died so the can get married and the planned failed and they both ended up killing themselves. Play was very stupid it sucks no one should read it because there is no point of reading this because all this play is taking up your time.

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The Coast of Myopia
Fun Reading
A Monumental Work
The most important theatrical event of the past 60 years
Unexpected disappointment

The Coast of Utopia (Box Set)
Tom Stoppard
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0802140033

Book Description

The Coast of Utopia is Tom Stoppard's long-awaited and monumental trilogy that explores a group of friends who came of age under the Tsarist autocracy of Nicholas I, and for whom the term intelligentsia was coined. Among them are the anarchist Michael Bakunin, who was to challenge Marx for the soul of the masses; Ivan Turgenev, author of some of the most enduring works in Russian literature; the brilliant, erratic young critic Vissarion Belinsky; and Alexander Herzen, a nobleman's son and the first self-proclaimed socialist in Russia, who becomes the main focus of this drama of politics, love, loss, and betrayal. In The Coast of Utopia, Stoppard presents an inspired examination of the struggle between romantic anarchy, utopian idealism, and practical reformation in this chronicle of romantics and revolutionaries caught up in a struggle for political freedom in an age of emperors.

Customer Reviews:

The Coast of Myopia.......2007-07-25

Tom Stoppard's three play series "The Coast of Utopia" was mounted at the Lincoln Center where I was privileged to see the dramas on separate nights. The plays about early nineteenth century Russia were brilliantly staged; the scenic effects were breath-taking; the acting was superb; and the thrust stage was used in novel ways with fast-paced exits and entrances; and the revolving stage, elevators and trap doors were integrated successfully with the action.
Here in this three volume set, we have the texts in which Stoppard tries to dramatize philosophical and ideological conceits. He writes in English, but unfortunately much of it turns out to be unfathomable gibberish. A brilliant turn of phrase becomes merely bombast. His sense of humor is sharp, but his sense of the dramatic is blunted.
We have anarchists, anti-Czarists, nihilists and serfs, landowners, sparkling women, and would-be bomb throwers who are content with editing polemical magazines. Stoppard's abstractions, high level generalizations, obtuse theories, obfuscations, and cloudy reasoning swirl in and around the theatergoers' heads. Although in the theater the lines go by with dizzying speed, the armchair reader will have time to parse and reflect.
Years ago I saw a marathon nine hour "Nicholas Nickleby" adapted from the Dickens novel on stage. It was magnificently acted and staged. It was dramatic and emphatically lucid. Dickens wanted to be a playwright and an actor, and it shows in his theatrical novels. Stoppard apparently wanted to be a philosopher, and it shows in his erudite plays. When one attempts to dramatize ideas, one runs the risk of creating cotton candy: fluffy, gauzy, and nebulous.
Some of the characters are based upon real personages of the period like Turgenev, and the views they spout come from their writings. Stoppard had the great good fortune to have first-class actors saying his lines. Readers who have the time and patience will find these play scripts well worth reading, and if they have the good fortune to see them in live performances, they will be doubly rewarded.
The Daemon in Our Dreams
Nine Lives Too Many
Nicholas Nickleby
The Rice Queen Spy

Fun Reading.......2007-06-12

I was delighted to finally be able to read these plays after reading so much about them. I don't live anywhere near New York and it would be impossible to see these plays either in a 'marathon' performance or separately. But reading and imagining (aided by the production photos in the TCG magazine) made it a good, though vicarious experience.

A Monumental Work.......2007-04-22

Stoppard's Coast of Utopia is marvelous, and reading the plays before you see them enhances the experience. For his canvas, Stoppard uses Russia in the mid 19th century, a period of tremendous turmoil that saw the Decembrist uprising of 1825, the death of Nicholas I, the emancipation of the serfs, and growing revolutionary sentiment in that huge and backward land. The other backdrop for Coast of Utopia is the political and social unrest in Europe, including the various revolutions of 1848, and the development of socialist/communist political theory.

For his story, Stoppard traces the lives of various of the young Russian intellectuals (for whom the term intelligentsia was coined) who saw their country's backwardness, oppression and poverty and dreamed and dared that it could be different. The central characters in The Coast of Utopia are Alexander Herzen, Michael Bakunin, Nicholas Ogarev, Ivan Turgenev and Vissarion Belinsky, but other historical figures also play roles.

The Russian intellectuals who sought change in Russia were hampered by many obstacles; harsh censorship, which made open political dialogue a crime punishable by exile or worse, an utter absence of democratic institutions, a huge peasant class that was largely ignorant of and oblivious to their efforts, and the Tsar and a coterie of landowners, bureaucrats and priests who were largely satisfied with the status quo.

In The Coast of Utopia, Stoppard adroitly mixes social themes with political theory and history. As one might imagine, as these Russians groped for ideas about how their country should be reformed, there were differences of opinion. Initially, the reformers, such as Herzen, favored gradual reform, led by the Tsar; as the 19th century progressed, more radical thought, influenced by Marx, came to predominate, and more moderate voices, such as Herzen's, were drowned out by the increasing call for violent revolution. Stoppard does a fabulous job in showing the various intellectual currents that ran among the exiles by having them argue out their theories on stage in the course of the play.

All this might sound talky and dull, but it's not, for two reasons. One is Stoppard's genius at showing how real people discuss these ideas. One minute we have two characters debating Hegel; the next minute they're attending their children, just the way real life interrupts all sorts of activities. And the lives of the main characters were sometimes untidy, and for that reason interesting; we see their joys, their sorrows, their love affairs and their occasional melancholy on being separated from Russia for so long.

The second is the staging of the plays; I could go on and on, but I was utterly wowed by the Lincoln Center production, it is magnificent and at times transcendent.

But ultimately what makes Coast of Utopia so interesting is that it's a series of plays about ideas, what is the best way to modernize and democratize a backward society. Of course, we see this play through the lens of history, after the revolution in Russia and after communism has been justifiably relegated to the dustbin of history. So we know how disastrous the actual revolution proved to be. But one of the strengths of Stoppard's work is that he doesn't fall prey to easy triumphalism about the later result. Instead he shows these men, mostly in a sympathetic light, trying to imagine a better society for Russia, and then taking the first steps toward making that better Russia come to pass. Without a doubt, Stoppard sees Herzen as his hero, and Herzen, with remarkable prescience, clearly saw the risks of the absolutism to come. But despite his sympathy for Herzen's humanistic views, Stoppard also gives fair voice to the radicals, so that a balanced picture of the political thought of the era emerges.

Stoppard has acknowledged his debt to Isaiah Berlin's Russian Thinkers in writing The Coast of Utopia. If you are interested in the ideas in The Coast of Utopia or the history of 19th century Russia, Russian Thinkers is well worth reading.

The most important theatrical event of the past 60 years.......2007-03-11

Stoppard's eloquence and wit are only the beginning. The subject is monumental and speaks to our times. Wisdom emerges at the perfect pace. Catharsis at the end. I have seen the trilogy and will see it twice more in marathon experiences. Reading the text beforehand enhances the understanding of the contest and of what takes place. If you don't recognize the importance of The Decembrists, please review some history before seeing and/or reading the trilogy. If you don't know at least a bit about Tsar Alexander, please look at wikipedia and go from there. Very timely and relevant and ominous.
And if you read the inspiring text either before or after the experience, the catharsis will be even more powerful. If you havent't seen the epic, this is a must-read.
Thank you, Tom Stoppard (and ensemble) for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"Rock & Roll" goes further.
IMO, this is a transformational work which materially enhances Stoppard's prospects for already likely Nobel Prize.
What next? What a genius.
Unforgettable lessons to be learned dramatically.

Unexpected disappointment.......2007-02-20

I am pasting here my letter on the topic sent today (Febr, 19, 2007) to "The New York Times" in response to the review of Mr. Stoppard's work by Ben Brantley:

I admire Ben Brantley for his skill of writing a seemingly positive review of Tom Stoppard's "The Coast of Utopia" (Febr. 19) filled with such phrases, unfortunately fully justified, as: "I wouldn't call it a major work of art" or "But as for major insights of philosophical or historical weight, that's not what "Utopia" is about."

First, my background: since seeing Mr. Stoppard's "Arcadia" in London about 10 years ago my wife and I have become great admirers of its author, we have never missed any of his plays until now when, after attending the first two parts of "Utopia", we decided to skip the last part (though we've read it). Also, with our school education in Russia, we understand a thing or two about the history of the Russian political thought.

With this background, it is painful for me to use the word "failure" to describe the last Mr. Stoppard's venture but regretfully I cannot find another word. A noisy long production - everything could be said in just three hours - with more than 60 characters, it exhibits no unity, no central idea and eventually no purpose. There are three major books on the topic written at that time: "The Fathers and the Sons" by a liberal Turgenev, "The Possessed" by a conservative Dostoevsky and "My Past and Thoughts" by a centrist Herzen ("Utopia" is in significant degree is simply a stage version of Herzen's book), and they give a much better idea of what really happened in Russia at that time. Orwell's "1984" may be considered as an important 20th century commentary to the first three books.

Of course, the fall of communism does call for some reconsideration and the new insight. As a man who combines both Eastern European and the Western cultural traditions, Mr. Stoppard was uniquely placed to give us such insight, and we eagerly waited for this his work. What we got instead may be best described by Mr. Brantley's words: "...you could find a snapper, shorter version of the same idea in a fortune cookie."

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Essential is the key word to all these reviews
notes only!
The essential guide
Thorough, but not best for the novice reader
Break it Down

Ulysses Annotated
Don Gifford
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520067452

Book Description

Here substantially revised and expanded, Don Gifford's annotations to Joyce's great modern classic comprise a specialized encyclopedia that will inform any reading of Ulysses. Annotations in this edition are keyed both to the reading text of the new critical edition of Ulysses published in 1984 and to the standard 1961 Random House edition and the current Modern Library and Vintage texts.
Gifford has incorporated over 1,000 additions and corrections to the first edition. The introduction and headnotes to sections provide general geographical, biographical and historical background. The annotations gloss place names, define slang terms, give capsule histories of institutions and political and cultural movements and figures, supply bits of local and Irish legend and lore, explain religious nomenclature and practices, trace literary allusions and references to other cultures.
The suggestive potential of minor details was enormously fascinating to Joyce, and the precision of his use of detail is a most important aspect of his literary method. The annotations in this volume illuminate details which are not in the public realm for most of us.

Customer Reviews:

Essential is the key word to all these reviews.......2006-11-13

When I first tucked James Joyce's ULYSSES under my arm, Don Gifford's ULYSSES ANNOTATED was tucked under the other. (My biceps became very well developed because of this.) It took me an entire summer to read the books side by side but how worthwhile it was. Gifford's essential line by line, almost word by word, guidance made ULYSSES less overwhelming than if I had tried to tackle it alone. Once I got through ULYSSES the second time (the following spring) I was able to go to the more overarching analyses of Joyce's masterpiece. Stuart Gilbert's ULYSSES and Richard Ellmann's ULYSSES ON THE LIFFEY were particularly helpful.

notes only!.......2006-05-17

Just a heads up that this is NOT an annotated edition of Ulysses (as I mistakenly thought in purchasing)(duh). It is 600-some pages of notes only and does not include the text of the novel.

The essential guide.......2005-01-11

I am still digesting "Ulysses." I read it while walking around Dublin a few years ago. It was marvelous to trace the steps of Leopold and Molly, and to see what they "saw," but the novel remains a distant pleasure to the reader. I must admit it is not the most accessible book ever written, but it gets four stars for its intent ... and that it is better than "Finnegan's Wake." Be warned: This book is not for the casual reader. But this annotated edition makes it all worthwhile. You'll get genuine, comprehensible guidance. If you must read "Ulysses," this edition might be most helpful.

Thorough, but not best for the novice reader.......2003-05-04

Gifford's book offers fascinating glosses and contextual annotations for Ulysses, but was not quite what I was looking for to help me with my first attempt at the book. The annotations are mostly disjoint explanations of specific allusions and references.

There are other guides to Ulysses that are better suited for the novice Joyce reader, helping the reader to keep track of the plot, the progress of the Odyssey and Hamlet corelations and explaining the shifts in style through the book. This kind of hand-holding may be unnecessary for more sophisticated readers, but for my first read, it was essential!

Break it Down.......2002-10-11

All the surface details, references to mythology, history, politics, music, literature, etc, can be found in this book (Joyce's novel is not included within, just the annotations, but it still clocks in at 700 pages!). If you want to know exactly what Joyce was referring to--this is the place. However, it won't necessarily tell you what he MEANT (aheheh, some things must be left to the reader).

Of course, if you've never read Ulysses you don't need to know every obscure reference. Just pick up REJOYCE or THE NEW BLOOMSDAY BOOK, which have generalized overviews of the novel. This is for the deep scholars. But as Joyce said, all he expects of his readers is that they study his works for the rest of their lives.

Customer Reviews:

THIS WONDERFUL ANTHOLOGY COLLECTS THESE 20 PLAYS:.......2005-06-03

Heywood -- The Four PP
Mr. S [anonymous] -- Gammer Gurton's Needle
Preston -- Cambyses
Sackville & Norton -- Gorboduc
Gascoigne -- Supposes
Lyly -- Gallathea
Peele -- David and Bethsabe
Kyd -- The Spanish Tragedy
Marlowe -- Tamburlaine the Great, Part I
Marlowe -- Tamburlaine the Great, Part II
Marlowe -- The Jew of Malta
Marlowe -- Doctor Faustus
Marlowe -- Edward II
Greene -- Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay
Lodge & Greene -- A Looking Glass for London and England
Anonymous -- Arden of Feversham
Nashe -- Summer's Last Will and Testament
Anonymous -- Mucedorus
Dekker -- The Shoemaker's Holiday
Heywood -- A Woman Killed with Kindness

And note that volume 2 (ISBN 002339580X) contains an additional 21 plays.

This two-volume set is actually a more convenient and more economical way to collect 41 plays than piecing together single plays in the New Mermaids, Regents Renaissance, or Revels series. In fact, many of the plays in this two-volume set are not otherwise available.

This book is an embarrasment of riches -- enjoy!

Heart of the Sea: The Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy #3 (Irish Trilogy)

Average customer rating:

Heart Attack on the Seashore
My Favorite Trilogy
Love all of Nora's romance books
Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy by Nora Roberts
Jewels of the Sun

Heart of the Sea: The Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy #3 (Irish Trilogy)
Nora Roberts
Manufacturer: Jove
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0515128554
Release Date: 2000-12-05

Amazon.com

Bestselling author Nora Roberts has another classic on her hands with Heart of the Sea. This final installment in Roberts's faerie tale trilogy returns readers to Ardmore, Ireland, where the Gallagher family's pub is the heart of the community. Passionate and beautiful, Darcy Gallagher works as a waitress in the family pub while looking for a way to achieve the glamorous lifestyle to which she would like to become accustomed. Enter wealthy American builder Trevor Magee, whose Irish roots have drawn him back to the childhood home of his grandfather to build a theater. As Darcy and Trevor revel in the heated sexual attraction that flares between them, neither believes that they are the final key to end an ancient spell that separated Carrick the Faerie Prince and his human lady love, Gwen. But Ireland is a magic place, where the faeries dance among mere mortals and love blossoms under starry skies. Let veteran storyteller Nora Roberts transport you to the Emerald Isle, home of the little people and overwhelming passion. --Alison Trinkle

Book Description

Nora Roberts brings her acclaimed Irish trilogy to a close with this tale of a woman whose dreams of riches lead her to the heart's greatest treasure.

Download Description

The conclusion to the enchanting Irish trilogy.

Customer Reviews:

Heart Attack on the Seashore.......2007-07-25

This book fell off my wife's bookshelf, which made me pick it up and decide to read it. I hadn't read the first two books in the trilogy, but have read a couple of Roberts' other books. As a romance, I enjoyed the feisty aspect of the couple. I fully enjoyed Darcy's independence and appreciated that those qualities remained even after she realized she was in love. The part of the book that did not work for me was that so much of it revolved around the building of the theatre. I thought it was emphasized to such a degree that I fully expected the theatre to be completed by the end of the novel and hear an account of the first concert with the Gallagher family. Instead, we get mired in Trevor's inability to fall in love and say he loves Darcy. While I understand guys who are commitment-shy, it seemed so belabored that by the final pages I was tired of Trevor's romantic stupidity. I also thought that having a record label is a very speculative business, as is building a theatre. The fact that his family had huge amounts of money could explain his ability to dally in the arts, but it hardly seemed like the bedrock of a multi-million dollar multi-national corporation. The fairy story with the ghosts was quaint, but there wasn't much of a bang for the buck there. The legend assumes that dead people have hormones much as the living that results in a dead person mating ritual. I found that story line disrespectful. The Gallagher pub sounded like an interesting place to visit. However, the story seemed to have loose ends and remained incomplete as it abruptly concluded. I would have liked a chapter that projected the characters into the future a bit for us.

My Favorite Trilogy.......2007-06-01

I was recently introduced to Nora Roberts through her In the Garden Trilogy, which I only enjoyed two of the three. Since then, I have jumped head first into reading her books and have experienced quite a few enjoyable reads, both through individual books and trilogies. On a whim, I picked up these three books and, within days, I was finished with the third book. This would have to be my favorite of all her series and by the end of the third book, I was wishing that I hadn't gone through them so fast. The Gallagher family was a blast to read and I enjoyed everything from their family dynamic, to their pub and also the Irish setting. I've already passed them off to a co-worker and am looking forward to reading them again. Roberts also made me fall in love with Ireland through her wonderfully described setting and Irish tales. Highly recommended reading!

Love all of Nora's romance books.......2007-02-25

You can never go wrong with a Nora Roberts romance novel and this is just one more great one in the list.

Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy by Nora Roberts.......2007-02-16

Do you believe in fairies? Do you have a fondness for the Emerald Isle? Do you believe in true love? You will after reading this enchanting trilogy by Nora Roberts. Thank goodness I purchased all three books at the same time as I couldn't wait for the pages to turn. The characters are so endearing, I often felt that I was inside Gallagher's pub or walking with them over the green hills of Ireland on a "soft" day.

Jewels of the Sun.......2007-02-07

If you love Nora Roberts then, you will not be disappointed

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