The Marriage Game: A Novel

Book Description

In a dazzling celebration of the power of friendship and love, acclaimed bestselling author Fern Michaels brings her trademark wit and warmth to an action-packed story featuring a group of diverse women who bond Survivor-style under the most unlikely of circumstances...and find romance along the way.

When Samantha Rainford -- newly wed to Douglas Cosmo Rainford III -- returns home from her honeymoon to find divorce papers waiting, she's shocked and heartbroken. Then she discovers that she's not the first to be abandoned -- she's one of four (or maybe more) ex-Mrs. Rainfords -- and decides it's time to put into practice that old truism: Don't get mad, get even.

With the help of her longtime girlfriend Slick, a glamorous fashion model, Sam gathers together a highly unlikely team: Mrs. Kayla Rainford, an architect who moonlights as an exotic dancer; Mrs. Zoe Rainford, a plumber; and Mrs. Olivia Rainford, a former cheerleader and cartoon artist. Sam and Slick flunked out of FBI training school, but they still learned a few things there -- like how to plan a mission. And the fivesome is determined to do whatever it takes to bring down Douglas Rainford III.

Whatever it takes means attending a top-secret private special-ops training camp in the North Carolina mountains, where Sam meets fiercely disciplined ex-CIA operative Kollar Havapopulas. Six feet three and handsome as a Greek god, "Pappy" is the best at what he does -- transforming civilians into highly skilled fighting teams. What he's less adept at, however, is telling a woman how he feels, and before long he discovers he's developing some very warm feelings for Samantha Rainford -- an attraction that seems fated to be a total disaster. Two personalities as strong as Sam and Pappy are sure to strike sparks, but will the fire that burns between them consume everything in its way?

Customer Reviews:

As Always another Great One.........2007-09-07

I did not want to put this book down. As always - I was captured from the first page. Great Job!

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!!!.......2007-08-12

Wow, Glad to see I am not the only one who thought this was the most ridiculous book they've wasted their time to read. What woman, much less five, would go willingly to a 'secret location' and commit a year of their lives with a man who breaks into their house (well, Sam's house) in the middle of the night? That's only the first completely implausible plot here. I bought this book and read it because one of my friends loves Fern Michaels. I'm not sure why. This book was stupid, stupid, stupid!!! I'm gonna donate this to my local library as soon as possible so none of my friends even see this deplorable book in my stack of books read or to read.

Very entertaining!.......2007-07-19

I just finished The Marriage Game and totally enjoyed this fun-filled group of women, all the while keeping in mind this was pure fiction and great laugh-out-loud entertainment! I will continue to read Fern Michaels future books!

Oh My God!.......2007-07-17

This was, without a doubt, the most inane, pathetic book I have ever attempted to read. In what I realize, now, was a joke, a friend gave it to me to read while recovering from surgery. Needless to say, I could not finish it. Who reads this trash?

Zero Stars?.......2007-07-05

This book suffers from an unbelievable storyline - How do a CPA and a washed-up supermodel wind up at the FBI academy? - and the plot goes downhill from there. It also suffers from poor editing which leads to major contradictions in consecutive pages. This is the first Fern Michaels book I have read...and the last.

Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name: A Novel

Average customer rating:

Short, to the point, not a lot of substance
Boring
Very powerful novel
Vendela Vida's clean, spartan prose makes every word count
A Wonderful Talent Not Yet Fulfilled

Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name: A Novel
Vendela Vida
Manufacturer: Ecco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0060828374
Release Date: 2007-01-02

Book Description

On the day of her father's funeral, twenty-eight-year-old Clarissa Iverton discovers that he wasn't her biological father after all. Her mother disappeared fourteen years earlier, and now Clarissa is alone and adrift. The one person she feels she can trust, her fiancé, Pankaj, has just revealed a terrible and life-changing secret to her. In the cycle of a day, all the truths in Clarissa's world become myths and rumors, and she is catapulted out of the life she knew.

She finds her birth certificate, which leads her from New York to Helsinki, and then north of the Arctic Circle, to mystical Lapland, where she believes she'll meet her real father. There, under the northern lights of a sunless winter, Clarissa comes to know the Sami, the indigenous population, and seeks out a local priest, the one man who may hold the key to her origins. Along her travels she meets an elderly Sami healer named Anna Kristine, who has her own secrets, and a handsome young reindeer herder named Henrik, who accompanies Clarissa to a hotel made of ice. There she is confronted with the truth about her mother's past and finally must make a decision about how—and where—to live the rest of her life.

Joan Didion said of Vendela Vida's last book: "And Now You Can Go is so fast, so mesmerizing to read, and so accomplished that it's hard to think of it as a first novel, which it is. Vendela Vida has promise to spare." With Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name, Vida more than lives up to that promise as she gives us a remarkable protagonist who is both fierce and funny, and an unforgettable literary thriller that questions whether we can ever truly know where we've come from—and if it is possible to escape our pasts.

Customer Reviews:

Short, to the point, not a lot of substance.......2007-06-12

the reviews for this were so grand, I had to read it for myself. I agree that there is not a wasted word or phrase in this story. Every word does count. But there isn't much there. Girl's mom leaves. Girl tries to find her mom. Girl discovers things about herself. It's your basic trying to find yourself novel, with one main character, and lots of other minor characters, with no real substance into any of the others. A good short read, it took me only a few hours to get through it, but now I'm ready for something with more meat. this book is kind of like a short resting point before you jump into something bigger.

Boring.......2007-05-21

Did not care for this novel, sorry I bought it. The best thing about it is it's title.

Protagonist Clarissa comes across as not especially bright.

Very powerful novel.......2007-05-02

Many readers have admired Vendela's spare prose. Unlike most other readers, I was at first put off by what seemed to me like the hard, awkward prose of a non-native speaker. Nonetheless, I was quickly drawn into what I ultimately found to be a compelling and even haunting novel. I did not like the main character who I found to be at times gratuitously cruel. I did not like many of the characters. However, Vendela draws you into a world of difficult, hard events in which her characters make hard, surprising choices that achieve for them a kind of redemption and which made me question the easy, accepted choices we make in our lives. I only gave this book a 4 instead of a 5 because ultimately I was not won over by Vendela's prose although the story and even the characters were for me compelling. I could not put the book down once started and I know I will never forget it.

Vendela Vida's clean, spartan prose makes every word count .......2007-03-24

I read an excellent review of Vendela Vida's latest novel in People Magazine and decided straight away to give it try. I was not disappointed. I fairly blitzed through this book - others here mention going cover-to-cover in one sitting. It took me two, but it's the type of work that encourages you to read 'just one more chapter' before putting the book down. And, in fact, you never do put it down. Though only 226 clean (almost spartan, in fact) pages, you won't feel cheated. Vida makes every single word count. You never have to amble through overstuffed, toss-away passages.

In the process, I learned quite a bit about Lapland and its people. Vida did some excellent first-hand info-gathering there. Her legwork really manifests itself in a knowledgeable fashion. The map - courtesy of Paul J. Pugliese - provides clarity and is a touchstone for readers throughout the text. I highly recommend this book.

A Wonderful Talent Not Yet Fulfilled.......2007-03-10

Vendela Vida has a way with words, a veritable gift, and she bestows this sometimes snappily ironic, sometimes woe-is-me sardonic, gift upon Clarissa Iverton, the young narrator of Vida's beautifully written--but oh so consciously written--novel Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name. The book is spare, deliberate, cold. Clarissa is supposed to be (I think) impulsive, lost, and not-to-be-blamed-for-being cold. As the story unfolds there are hints that Clarissa might be able to achieve some balance between unwavering froideur and emotional dynamism. And as the story opens, and Clarissa feeds us her back-story, the odd and unexamined behavior of family and friends keeps us just enough off-balance that it's easy to read just for plot. We can accept Clarissa's genetically endowed, inalienable right to constitutional coldness because, on that point, the plot is persuasive--an egoistically sadistic, abandoning mom; an overly attentive boyfriend who has consistently lied to Clarissa about her true origins; a dad who dies without revealing that he's not her biological dad. Betrayed by every person she ought to be able to trust, Clarissa makes a credible victim. Plot-wise, that is. We automatically hand her our sympathy; it shouldn't take very much to keep it.

But accepting the character's status as entitled victim is not the same thing as feeling transported by a tale that examines human suffering, human hatred--there are some terrible people here--and human carelessness. This novel settles for the depiction of Clarissa's cramped consciousness, suggesting that the cramping is the result of other people's lies and failures; it does not aim to carry us beyond the trap. A gut-level curiosity compels Clarissa to find her biological father, but the struggle over whether or not to forgive anyone-- her dead step dad, her misguided boyfriend, even herself--never even arises in the morally closed landscape of Vida's tale. With slightly more editorial care, Vida could have nailed an unreliable narration--she could have made Clarissa an obviously self-serving fabulist--but, as it stands now, the young woman seems sardonic and vain, modestly smug and pleased over her fine prose, but never emotionally dynamic, troubling, or vulnerable enough to demand the reader's ongoing engagement. Geography is what makes her story pop open. If Clarissa hadn't gone someplace as intriguing as Lapland, I never would have followed.

By hermetically sealing Clarissa's story inside her single consciousness, much of the potentially fabulous material provided by that trip to Finnish Lapland remains unrealized, unexamined. A sizeable polyglot population appears within the pages of this very short novel--and there's lots of travel--but because Clarissa never ventures outside her own self-centered head, we're stuck inside it too. The Other lies forever outside our mutual range. I'm fully aware that this may be exactly the plight that Vida is trying to convey through her tale--that a trauma at the source of a person's origins may prove to be so damaging that such a person might never regain sufficient trust to crawl out of her own brain again. She may become unattractive, vain, self-centered, and boring no matter what happens in her life. And, yes, when she does sit down to tell her story, maybe all she can spin is a perfectly modulated, prettified tale with a soupcon of hipster-ish ennui thrown in. Maybe that's credible, but Vendela Vida's obvious talent could accomplish much greater things. A wonderfully written, ultimately disappointing venture.

Average customer rating:

Hysterical Fiction
Excellent Teen Novel
Great read for adults too!
Great Story
A Pleasure to be savored...for Adults as well

A Northern Light
Jennifer Donnelly
Manufacturer: Harcourt Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0152053107

Amazon.com

It's 1906 and 16-year-old Mattie Gokey is at a crossroads in her life. She's escaped the overwhelming responsibilities of helping to run her father's brokedown farm in exchange for a paid summer job as a serving girl at a fancy hotel in the Adirondacks. She's saving as much of her salary as she can, but she's having trouble deciding how she's going to use the money at the end of the summer. Mattie's gift is for writing and she's been accepted to Barnard College in New York City, but she's held back by her sense of responsibility to her family--and by her budding romance with handsome-but-dull Royal Loomis. Royal awakens feelings in Mattie that she doesn't want to ignore, but she can't deny her passion for words and her desire to write.

At the hotel, Mattie gets caught up in the disappearance of a young couple who had gone out together in a rowboat. Mattie spoke with the young woman, Grace Brown, just before the fateful boating trip, when Grace gave her a packet of love letters and asked her to burn them. When Grace is found drowned, Mattie reads the letters and finds that she holds the key to unraveling the girl's death and her beau's mysterious disappearance. Grace Brown's story is a true one (it's the same story told in Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy and in the film adaptation, A Place in the Sun), and author Jennifer Donnelly masterfully interweaves the real-life story with Mattie's, making her seem even more real.

Mattie's frank voice reveals much about poverty, racism, and feminism at the turn of the twentieth century. She witnesses illness and death at a range far closer than most teens do today, and she's there when her best friend Minnie gives birth to twins. Mattie describes Minnie's harrowing labor with gut-wrenching clarity, and a visit with Minnie and the twins a few weeks later dispels any romance from the reality of young motherhood (and marriage). Overall, readers will get a taste of how bitter--and how sweet--ordinary life in the early 1900s could be. Despite the wide variety of troubles Mattie describes, the book never feels melodramatic, just heartbreakingly real. (14 and older) --Jennifer Lindsay

Book Description

Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has big dreams but little hope of seeing them come true. Desperate for money, she takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown entrusts her with the task of burning a secret bundle of letters. But when Grace's drowned body is fished from the lake, Mattie discovers that the letters could reveal the grim truth behind a murder.

Set in 1906 against the backdrop of the murder that inspired Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, Jennifer Donnelly's astonishing debut novel effortlessly weaves romance, history, and a murder mystery into something moving, and real, and wholly original.

Includes a reader's guide and an interview with the author.

Customer Reviews:

Hysterical Fiction.......2007-08-09

The Amazon reviewer writes that "the book never feels melodramatic," and the SLJ writes that "Donnelly's characters ring true to life," and, "an outstanding choice for historical fiction fans." Perhaps the reviewers at Amazon and the SLJ are young teenagers?

A Northern Light is not a bad book, it's just not what I hoped or expected it would be, based on descriptions and reviews. First, it's a YA book through and through. Some might call it a coming of age story, but it is so chock-full of "lessons" for adolescents that it seems more like a classroom than a story. In almost every chapter, and every week, of young Mattie's life, there is an eye-opening and paradigm-expanding "experience," all of them methodically sequenced in order to help Mattie - and the young readers of this book - step into less-than-innocent adulthood. There are all the usual lessons of coming of age YA novels, such as boyfriends, girlfriends, kissing, desire, sex, and love. There are additional lessons in pregnancy, birth, postpartum depression, disease, lust, adultery, greed, and racism. And then there is a rather odd and protracted lesson in masturbation and exhibitionism.

As I said, the lessons get in the way of the story, or rather, the story is the vehicle for the lessons. I do not consider this historical fiction, as there are precious few lessons in history, and the characters do not "ring true." For example, there is one black character, Weaver. Weaver and his mother are the only two black people that Mattie has ever seen or known. Weaver's father was lynched. Weaver is Mattie's best friend and he is the smartest kid around, on track to go to a fine university on scholarship. Everyone likes Weaver, he is friends with all the white folks, he goes to the same schools, is welcomed in everyone's home, and works at the same jobs as the white kids. But Weaver brandishes physical rage against anyone who shows him any kind of disrespect. Weaver always manages to escape the consequences of his destructive behavior, because everybody, including the sheriffs and the judges, like him so much. This hardly rings true to life.

The real mystery of this story is the murder, the real-life murder of Grace Brown. At the end, I wondered why the author included it. The murder and its investigation do not play an important role in the story. For most of the story it's barely in the background. And yet, Mattie has letters from the victim showing that Grace was murdered, and even after Mattie realizes this, she goes on with her adolescent life as if she didn't know. She decides to give the letters to the sheriff only at the end, but there's no explanation as to why Mattie waited that long. I think perhaps the best parts of this book are the real-life letters that Grace Brown had written, which are included in the story as Mattie reads about one each day. Given that we know Grace's fate, the letters evoke even more empathy, and make this book worth reading, almost.

Excellent Teen Novel.......2007-08-06

This novel is probably one of the best coming-of-age novels I've ever read. It details accurately the life back in the twenteeith century, as well as giving two stories at the same time. This book is recommended to everyone out there; I know you're going to love it because I did. Excellent teen debut novel from an excellent author.

Great read for adults too!.......2007-07-27

I loved A Northern Light. Mattie is a fully drawn main character and the author paints a compelling picture of life in the Adirondacks in the early 1900s. The first chapter really draws you in.

My only (minor) complaint is that the jumping back and forth in time got a little confusing. The book starts out only about a day before the point where it ends. Almost everything in between is in the past, but it's hard at times to know for sure what is in the past, and what is real time in the chapters between the beginning and the end.

Other than that, it's a great read for older young adults and just plain adults as well!

Great Story.......2007-07-16

When I picked up this book at the half price bookstore, I did not realize it was a young adult book. The book summary on the back of the book got my attention. I read the book, and what a surprise! A very good story. I like that it tied into a true story. Makes me want to read more about the real story, An American Tragedy (Signet Classics) I loved the character development. Jennifer Donnelly is a great storyteller. There were sad moments, happy moments, laugh out loud moments and just good thinking about "life in general" moments. I really enjoyed her style of writing so much, I went and bought The Tea Rose. Once again, the prologue already got me wanting more!. I have read 80 pages of this book and I am throughly enjoying every page. I was lucky enough to find a copy of the next book, The Winter Rose which is difficult to get at the moment. Cannot wait to read it, and I understand that there will be a third book, The Wild Rose. (Triology). I highly recommend this author. Great summer reading.

A Pleasure to be savored...for Adults as well.......2007-07-03

This was a wonderful story. I loved the characters and the time period and the setting.

I loved the Mattie Gokey, our 16 year old narrator, who struggles to make choices that will shape the rest of her life. She is a bright and gifted young woman who is the eldest sister in a farming family.

The story takes place in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. Where Mattie eventually goes to work at the Glenmore Hotel on Big Moose Lake serving the rich tourists in the dinning room.

She waits on a young couple there and sadly before the end of the day the woman, Grace Brown, is pulled from the lake, dead. Earlier in the day she had given Mattie a bundle of secret letters. Mattie realizes that they hold the answers to what really happened to Grace and her missing companion.

Why this was marketed as a young adult novel I don't know...I thought it was well written, rich with detailed narrative and dealt with serious issues; adultery, marriage, feminism, parenthood, racism, death and murder. There are several different story lines with conflict and tension, all realistic and realistically resolved.

I also liked the fact that the story line revolving around Grace Brown was inspired by historical facts.

I thought this was a really enjoyable read. The only criticism I can make is that I thought Jennifer Donnelly could have added more physical descriptions of the many different characters in this story. Otherwise is was just perfect.

Under the Northern Lights (Alaskan Quest #2)

Average customer rating:

A "Stay up late to keep Reading" kind of book.
Cold yet heartwarming
Alaskan Adventure
Start with book one!
Super Addition to Series

Under the Northern Lights (Alaskan Quest #2)
Tracie Peterson
Manufacturer: Bethany House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0764227742
Release Date: 2006-07-01

Book Description

Bestselling author Tracie Peterson continues her saga of life and love in the rugged Alaskan Territory with the second volume of the ALASKAN QUEST series. When Pinkerton agent Helaina Beecham's obsession with capturing a dangerous fugitive dulls her judgment, she is kidnapped and carried off into the wilderness just as an early winter is approaching. Now her only hope is that Jacob Barringer--the man who has captured her heart--will find her before it is too late. (Alaskan Quest Book 2)

Customer Reviews:

A "Stay up late to keep Reading" kind of book........2007-02-10

Tracy's books are very interesting and at the same time very relaxing to read. For a while you can escape the cares of your world and travel and experience another world. One feels they know the people she writes about in her stories as personal friends. I have enjoyed all of her books that I have read and plan to purchase all of her books as time go by.

Cold yet heartwarming.......2006-12-21

Tracie Peterson's Alaskan Quest series reintroduces us to Jacob and Leah Barringer, first seen as children in her Yukon Quest series. Now grown up and independent adults, the two still live up in Alaska and have come to adore their new home. In Under the Northern Lights, the second book in the series, Leah has just married Jayce Kincaid and is ready to settle down and have a quiet life with him. Unfortunately for her, Jayce's evil twin brother Chase kidnaps her and Helaina Beecher, the Pinkerton agent searching for Chase. While the two women have to fight for survival against Chase, Jayce and Jacob go out to search for the women they love in hopes of rescuing them. When something happens that nearly destroys Leah, the four have to to depend on faith in order to move on.

I love seeing characters reappear in books. I wanted to know what happened to Jacob and Leah at the close of the Yukon Quest series when they were children. Now as their adults, the pair have had to share their own hardships and triumphs. Alaska is always a great setting because it's so vast and big and like Hawaii, familiar yet different at the same time. I'm glad that Helaina's character changes throughout the story. In the first book, she is very stubborn and headstrong because she's trying to prove to herself and others that she can survive on her own. In this book, Leah has to force her to realize that finding Chase is not the most important thing in the world. I also felt sorry for Leah with what she went through. The turn of the events at the end though are rather interesting and I bet her and Jayce would have appreciated modern technology for their situation! She rightly feels bitter and I believe that she is allowed to. The only thing I didn't like was she felt guilty over feeling bitter but I feel that in her situation she had an absolute right to. I love when I feel like I'm drawn into a book and that happened several times while reading this one. I actually felt cold when reading certain scenes and had to get a blanket. Recommended for Peterson fans and anyone who enjoys a good historical fiction story.

Alaskan Adventure.......2006-11-05

This is a great story about how life is lived in the villages of Alaska. It has suspense, and holds your interest. I can't wait to read the next book. Great series

Start with book one!.......2006-08-23

Under The Northern Lights is the second in the Alaskan Quest trilogy by Tracie Peterson, and it picks up where book one, Summer of the Midnight Sun, ended

Leah Kincaid is kidnapped by her husband's twin brother, Chase Kincaid. Chase is also holding Helaina Beecham prisoner--and Helaina had been given the task of arresting Chase. Leah's husband, Jayce, and her brother, Jacob, follow the fugitive and his captives. Leah is able to escape with Helaina, leaving Chase behind in the frozen Alaskan landscape.

Jacob is drawn to Helaina, but because she doesn't share his faith, he fights his attraction. Helaina is struggling with her own issues, including the deaths of several family members and her pledge to bring Chase to justice. By the time she realizes her feelings for both Jacob and Alaska, it may be too late.

Under The Northern Lights is well written and the Alaska territory of the early 20th century is as large a character as Leah and Jayce are. The cold and whiteout conditions are vivid; you can smell the seal and caribou cooking over the fire and hear the yip of the eager sled dogs.

It was difficult for me to follow the story, having not read the first installment. I didn't know what Chase or Helaina had done to engender the other character's animosity. Knowing their history would have added to my enjoyment of the novel.

Under The Northern Lights ends on a cliffhanger and I expect the next installment will need books one and two to put the events in context. There are many arguments both for and against unresolved endings. It's been said that the ending of one book sells the next one. If you enjoy being left dangling, you can pick this book up and enjoy it. If you need events in chronological order, make sure you start with book one, Summer of the Midnight Sun. Then read Under the Northern Lights, and be ready to follow it with the final installment, Whispers of Winter.

Armchair Interviews says: A good book that would be made better if the reader starts with the first in the series as the second book doesn't make many things clear to a new reader.

Super Addition to Series.......2006-08-09

In her second book of the `Alaskan Quest' series Peterson continues the saga of the Barringer siblings, Leah and Jacob, in an exciting entry that will stand completely alone.

After a lengthy journey traversing the Alaskan territory newlywed Leah Barringer Kincaid walks into her home to discover her husband's identical twin brother Chase, a murder, whom both her husband and brother are chasing. Kidnapped by Chase who preys on Leah's protective instincts she is reunited with the insufferable Pinkerton Agent Helaina Beecham whom Chase had already kidnapped. Leah wants only to escape but Helaina's focus is solely on bringing Chase to justice. When Helaina falls critically ill, Leah attempts to reason with Chase in trying to bring him to an understanding of her loving God but after Chase sexually assaults Leah even her faith in God in letting such a monstrous thing happen to her is severely tested. Partly blaming Helaina for all the bad things that happened to her, Leah's faith in God, her rage over the injustice done her and her battle for vengeance vs. forgiveness would be tested in innumerable ways as would her husband Jayce as he continues the pursuit of his brother.

Later as Helaina recovers, she begins to gain a better understanding of the damage done by her impulsive and selfish behavior has caused to the people around her. With gentle guidance from Jacob Helaina comes to discover an inner strength and a new spiritual awareness of God. Even more so, Helaina would find herself tested as she realized that Jacob was a man worth fighting for when she learned she must find and save him from a cruel Alaskan `iced-in' winter.

Tracie Peterson continues to gift her fans with incredibly inspiring stories of life and love weaving adventure, excitement, and highly charged emotional examples of Christian faith into a fully robust tale that never slows down. Without being overly preachy she presents excellent scenarios that easily guide the reader with food for thought in dealing with life, while seeking reassurances that the paths one takes are the right choice for them. Her stories make you feel that you always have a place and source to turn both in joy and sorrow for strength and sustenance. In this new series she combines excellent writing, superb research, and fabulous adventures in an incredible frontier setting to add zest to the excitement and adventure of living in the frozen wastelands of Alsaka. Fans of Peterson should be thrilled with this latest entry in the Alaskan Quest series again leaving you with a cliff-hanger and wishing you didn't have to wait so long for the next entry to come!

Marilyn Rondeau, RIO - Reviewers International Organization

Average customer rating:

If you don't have anything else to read...
Extraordinary!
Slow and unbelievable
Hush Little Baby, Don't You Cry ...
Trying to See it From another Prespective....

Coast Road: A Novel
Barbara Delinsky
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0684845768

Amazon.com

In the famed romantic tradition that only Barbara Delinsky can deliver, you'll meet emotion-packed characters who make you forget whatever it was you were doing before you picked up Coast Road. In this story, workaholic Jack McGill is brought to his knees when he learns that his ex-wife Rachel is in a coma after a car accident. When he rushes to her side to be a dutiful father to his children, he is met with abrasive verbal abuse not only from his children, but also from Rachel's best friends.

By the time the doctors tell him they don't know how long Rachel will be in the coma, Jack has reacquainted himself with his children, and fond memories have surfaced of his ex-wife and her creative artistic talent. Through Rachel's best friend, Katherine, Jack learns about a secret Rachel had hidden from him during the days they were married. The secret, revealed through artwork, is one of the many factors that thrust Jack into "introspection mode." He reevaluates his life, digging deep into his heart's desires, and decides to quit his job and stay at Rachel's side, even if she never wakes up.

Coast Road deals with some very difficult subjects, such as miscarriage, divorce, traveling husbands, breast cancer, and the ramifications of living in a coma. However, once you get past the research exposition and the bantering, you'll laugh and cry (a lot) at what this once-separated family goes through. Delinsky paints vivid pictures of Rachel, who remains in a coma for about 99 percent of the book, but you'll see that it sometimes takes a life-threatening accident to rekindle the fires of love. --Candy Paape

Book Description

Coast Road. Where life's greatest gifts come to us by accident.

Barbara Delinsky has always had a gift for creating tales of extraordinary emotional power and depth. Now this New York Times bestselling author of Three Wishes surpasses herself once again in a novel that takes readers on a journey as richly textured, colorful, and poignant as the northern California landscape in which the book is set.

Rachel Keats and Jack McGill were artists, deeply in love when they married, until the rush of life took its toll. After ten years of marriage, they divorced and went their separate ways. Jack stayed in San Francisco. Rachel moved with their two young daughters to Big Sur.

Six years later, an alarming middle-of-the-night phone call demands that Jack put aside his own busy life and career as a leading architect to rush to his ex-wife's hospital bed. While she lies lifeless, Jack maintains a bedside vigil and finds himself getting to know Rachel better than he ever did -- through their daughters, her friends, and, even more revealingly, through her art. Meanwhile, the beauty and grace of the redwood canyon where she has made their home also work their own special alchemy upon Jack. He begins to see Rachel, his daughters, and the story of his marriage with new eyes.

Coast Road celebrates those things in life that matter most -- the kinship of neighbors, the companionship of friends, and the irreplaceable time spent with children and family. In this masterful new novel, Barbara Delinsky depicts with exquisite accuracy the ties that bind each of us to those people and places we hold most dear.

Download Description

Six years ago, Architect Jack McGill picked his career over his family, but now a car accident has left his ex-wife, Rachel, clinging to life. Rushing to her bedside, Jack learns about a woman he never really knew--and sees the story of his marriage with new eyes.

Customer Reviews:

If you don't have anything else to read..........2006-08-15

I happened to read this book because it was at the beach house we rented for vacation last week. The description made the book seem interesting, but it was very one-dimensional & the characters were so stereotyped that they are not believable.

For Rachel to have loved (still love) Jack so much, she found it very easy to suddenly pack up & leave him. Also, the writer should have thought out a better way to communicate for Rachel - Katherine seemed very harsh & abrasive. I also found it hard to believe that Rachel was such a loner in the city, but quite the joiner since moving to Big Sur. Nothing really flowed together right to make the story believable.

If you don't have anything else to read, give it a try, but don't buy it.

Extraordinary!.......2005-11-23

Delinsky has a way of making normal/ordinary life occurances extraordinary! She has "painted" her characters so well that I could relate to them as if I had known them all my life. The issues the characters face are common. But their reactions are not! Emotional, passionate, and redemptive... a great read!

Slow and unbelievable.......2005-03-16

Although I don't read romance, I gave this a try at the advice of friends. While there is a plot with some merit, the characters are all caricatures - one person, one personality trait. One daughter is sweet; one is rebellious. Rachel is beautiful; Jack is selfish. Even the grandmothers are one-dimensional; one is a frump, one is a shallow socialite.

Their actions are not believable. Rachel couldn't find a single friend or anything to do in the city, but in the middle of nowhere she's the center of the whole community? She loved her husband so much but she couldn't even tell him about his own child? Jack is so clueless about teenagers that he couldn't see trouble in his daughter's plans to spend the night with a bunch of kids he didn't know? Katherine is so "open" that she needs to rudely lecture Jack the first ten times they meet? And he takes it - obviously feeling that he deserves this rude behavior?This is a male-bashing female fantasy in which the evil man needs to be redeemed by becoming, essentially, female. The fact that so many reviews are positive about this book makes me think that a lot of women think people should act this way, or do in real life. Come on, sisters! Men are different than women. Let's look for some more dimensional characters in our entertainment.

Hush Little Baby, Don't You Cry ... .......2005-03-11

COAST ROAD being the 6th novel I'd read of BD's work, I had begun to notice that her fiction creates a state of mind similar to what one of my readers (a US Marine) described about my work, "I was reading and reading, and all of a sudden I realized I had forgotten I was reading and felt I was just thinking my own thoughts."

Delinsky's fiction is so naturally and seamlessly real that I had, with COAST ROAD, decided to quit trying to pick out what works about her writing techniques, and to allow myself to just "be there," ironically slipping into a peaceful dream-like luxury similar to that of resting in a coma along with Rachael, receiving rather than responding, while her family and friends shower her with the balming presence of every variety of perfect love.

Almost as cathartic as the regeneration of the soul-link between Jack and Rachael was the beautiful, believable transformation of 15-year-old Samantha from a highly annoying super brat into a sensitive, appealingly gutsy young woman. What I admire most about this novel, though, is that it is told from a man's point-of-view, exposing simply and gently how tremendous emotional growth could occur in even the most Macho Male.

Even shored up by 5 previous Delinsky novels, I was concerned that a story about a woman in a coma would have to be sad and depressing, possibly even boring at times. This book was anything but. Sensitive, yes, sad but redeeming, and intensely engrossing in a way of deep, pensive satisfaction. It's another landmark winner of a book.

Trying to See it From another Prespective...........2004-07-15

In this story, Jack McGill, who has choosen his career over his family numerous times gets a wake up call when he discovers that his ex-wife Rachel is in a coma after a car accident. Jack never stopped loving Rachel, and for the first time in his life he puts his career on hold and goes to Rachels bedside, and to his two daughters. He discovers both his daughter and his wife are not the people he always thought them to be and that he somehow "missed the forest for the trees". With verbal abuse as well as a lot of guidance from Rachel's new friends, and his own daughters, Jack begins to reevaluate his life.

Coast Road touches on many different topics, such as miscarriage, divorce, traveling husbands, breast cancer, as well as what it is like for those around a coma patient, but don't let that deter you. This is a well written rewarding read.

Northern Lights
Average customer rating:

Alaskan High!

Great Read

Wonderful story, engaging characters, poor mystery.

A good story, but too long!

Good Story

Northern Lights
Nora Roberts
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Similar Items:

Red Lily (In the Garden)

Blue Smoke - Large Print Edition

Blue Dahlia (In the Garden)

Angels Fall

Spellbound

ASIN: B000FZDKTI

Book Description

The colorful, compelling novel about two lonely souls who find love-and redemption-in Lunacy, Alaska.

Download Description

"Lunacy was Nate Burke's last chance. As a Baltimore cop, he'd watched his partner die on the street-and the guilt still haunts him. With nowhere else to go, he accepts the job as Chief of Police in this tiny, remote Alaskan town. Aside from sorting out a run-in between a couple of motor vehicles and a moose, he finds his first weeks on the job are relatively quiet. But just as he wonders whether this has been all a big mistake, an unexpected kiss on New Year's Eve under the brilliant Northern Lights of the Alaska sky lifts his spirit and convinces him to stay just a little longer. Meg Galloway, born and raised in Lunacy, is used to being alone. She was a young girl when her father disappeared, and she has learned to be independent, flying her small plane, living on the outskirts of town with just her huskies for company. After her New Year's kiss with the Chief of Police, she allows herself to give in to passion-while remaining determined to keep things as simple as possible. But there's something about Nate's sad eyes that gets under her skin and warms her frozen heart. And now, things in Lunacy are heating up. Years ago, on one of the majestic mountains shadowing the town, a crime occurred that is unsolved to this day-and Nate suspects that a killer still walks the snowy streets. His investigation will unearth the secrets and suspicions that lurk beneath the placid surface, as well as bring out the big-city survival instincts that made him a cop in the first place. And his discovery will threaten the new life-and the new love-that he has finally found for himself."

Customer Reviews:

Alaskan High!.......2007-09-03

Set in the very small town of Lunacy, Alaska, you will soar through the sky, drink the beauty of the snow crusted mountains and witness the northern lights in all their splendor. Nate Burke, former Baltimore cop, leaves the guilt and grief of witnessing the murder of his partner to become the Chief of Police of Lunacy. Meg Galloway, born and raised in Lunacy, independent and head strong pilots her small plane for a living. Her Mother, Charlene, owns and operates the hotel and resturant where the town folk often gather. The mystery begins and a murder revealed when 3 teenagers become trapped on a remote mountain ledge and a secret tucked away many years before is discovered. A great read! (If you are a resident of Lunacy, would you be called a Lunatic?!)

Great Read.......2007-06-25

I have to say I liked this novel of Nora Roberts maybe the best so far and I've read several. Maybe I enjoyed the Alaskan setting and the beauty of it in the descriptions by ms Roberts. Like another reviewer I'm not into the Women's Movement (I love being taken care of)and don't always like the strong independent woman ms Roberts portrays. However, in this case I think Meg's independence and strength helped Nate come out of his "dark hole". There was plenty of romance between Nate and Meg (some reveiwers thought there wasn't enough? h-m-m) I didn't care for Charlene's sleeping with all the men but also realize this was part of this character and her fear of getting old. I think she was a better person than she realized. I enjoyed the way Nate took over the job of police chief and dealt with the problems of the community and solved the mystery of the murder of Meg's father. This book grabbed me from the beginning and though a little long and kept wanting to get to who had committed the murder (though I had a good suspicion which was correct), there was enough going on to keep the interest to the end. I don't care for ms Roberts spernatural novels so was relieved this was a more realistic book. Any of the events could have happened. I think this book was well worth the price. I wouldn't minded an epilogue of a couple years down the road as whether Nat and Meg had a little one and if Charlene and the Professor made it and what happened to the killer and etc. However, guess that's what the imagination is for. I think I also liked this book because people were more down to earth normal. A lot of the books everyone is so off the wall rich or careers that are beyond the norm that it was nice to read of every day people in a community trying to make a go at life as most of us do. All in all I just really liked the book.

Wonderful story, engaging characters, poor mystery........2007-06-17

I've recently started reading Ms. Roberts' work and it's interesting to go from her older books to this one and see how much she's grown as an author. I want to review this one instead of her older ones for that reason.

I do have one big problem with Ms. Roberts' narration style, and it's what prevents me from giving this four or five stars, but I'll get to that last. First I want to touch on what's good in this book, and there is a great deal of good, here.

Ms. Roberts is one damn fine story teller. Let's just say that up front. From the moment the story opened with the mysterious journal entry, I was hooked. She has a way of capturing scenery, everything from the cold, deadly beauty of the mountains in winter to the plane ride from hell. I like flying and reading about that plane trip from Nate's perspective made me queasy. Ms. Roberts' descriptions bring stunning visuals to mind and it felt like more than just good description, it was as though I was there, seeing it myself, the deep snow, the miles high mountains, the glaciers and frozen rivers. The far north comes alive in this book and I envy Ms. Roberts her talent in this.

Beyond description, though, are the characters. Everyone from main characters like Nate and Meg to secondary ones like the Mackie brothers, or even Pat Galloway who we only ever meet through his journal entries and through the recollections of other characters; three dimensional and well developed, all of them. They have distinct personalities, mannerisms and oddities and none of them seem interchangeable with each other. They're all distinct individuals and people I could wrap my mind around, understand and empathize with. These are some well done characters.

Even better are the relationships between the characters, already established ones and new ones that grow and develop. Nate, coming in as an outsider to be police chief, has to quickly learn the way things work and the backgrounds and peculiarities of a small, isolated town. And seeing it from his point of view, I felt like I too was an outsider, learning along with him, drawn into this town, its people, politics and gossip. It was a wonderful journey, learning and coming to understand alongside Nate, coming to care for the town and its people just as much.

And those are Ms. Roberts' strengths, story building, characters and character development. She's marvelous at them and they never fail to keep me reading despite the very big flaw in her writing that would normally have me setting aside a book unfinished.

Multiple points of view.

Many people will say this isn't a flaw, just a different manner of story telling. I'd say they're wrong. Yes, many authors do use multiple points of view and some few manage it well enough not to weaken the overall story, but Ms. Roberts isn't one of them.

In her early writing (and one of the reasons I elected to review a more recent novel rather than an older one) this flaw was far more pronounced. To the point that not only were there multiple point of view switches in the same scene, but everyone in that scene, including the dog, had to have their point of view aired.

The problem with this is that it takes away any need to think on the part of the reader. Showing everyone's point of view is akin to spoon feeding every bit of the plot to the reader, and it's, frankly, a bit insulting. It's like saying the reader isn't intelligent enough to figure out what's going on without being explicitly told. And it's also lazy writing. The author opting to simply tell what's happening via points of view rather than working to show it through description. Given that Ms. Roberts excels at description, I find this very sad. If she were to stick with one point of view, she'd be a truly excellent writer instead of merely a good one.

In this novel, that flaw was less obvious than in earlier works, the points of view shifting only occasionally in the same scene. An improvement, really. But the proof of how it can weaken a story to rely on multiple points of view at all comes the very first time a section of the story is given over to the "mysterious" voice of the murderer. The problem is, thanks to Ms. Roberts' wonderful character development and attention to character details, I knew instantly who the murderer was, and that wasn't even half way through the book. Using another point of view completely gave away the mystery, utterly spoiling it. It's a good thing I was so hooked on the characters themselves, otherwise I would've taken the book back to the library unfinished. The characters, their growing and changing relationships and the town itself was what carried me through the rest of the book, everything outside of that dealing with the murderer just became bland, because I already knew who it was and the attempt to carry on the mystery just made me roll my eyes and want to get back to the real story, Nate and Meg and Nate learning to fit in and belong.

As I said at the start, despite this major flaw, the story is extremely good and this book is well worth reading. Just don't go into it looking for more than a good character story, certainly not a mystery. Given that this book shows signs of improvement over her early works, though, I'll hold out hope that in books to come she'll be working on eliminating this regrettable flaw in her otherwise wonderful writing.

A good story, but too long!.......2007-04-28

I did enjoy this book by the time I finished it. However, the first half was a little...ho hum. It was hard to get into the story. It was my first Nora Roberts book and was a little disappointing until the story finally got going. There was a lot of the first half I think could have been cut out. I give it four stars.

For first-time readers, choose something else to begin with like Homeport, the Dream Trilogy, or The Reef. All are very good.

Good Story.......2007-02-21

Northern Lights was a good story set in beautiful, but cold Alaska. NR described it beautifully. The murder mystery was very good and defiently kept me wanting to read more. I loved the use of Star Wars names and trying to guess which was which. Nate was a good charactor. I liked the small town feel and the secondary charctors it defiently felt like older NR books. Meg's was an okay charactor not completely orginial she felt too much like other NR charactors. Still good thought.

Nora Roberts CD Collection 3: Birthright, Northern Lights, Blue Smoke

Average customer rating:

Enjoyable listening

Nora Roberts CD Collection 3: Birthright, Northern Lights, Blue Smoke
Nora Roberts
Manufacturer: Brilliance Audio on CD
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

United States | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Romantic Suspense | Romance | Subjects | Books

Nora Roberts CD Collection : Hidden Riches, True Betrayals, Homeport, The Reef
Nora Roberts Three Sisters Island CD Collection: Dance Upon the Air, Heaven and Earth, Face the Fire (Three Sisters Island Trilogy)
Nora Roberts In the Garden CD Collection: Blue Dahlia, Black Rose, Red Lily (In the Garden)
Nora Roberts CD Collection 1: The Villa, Midnight Bayou, Three Fates
Nora Roberts Key Trilogy CD Collection: Key of Light, Key of Knowledge, Key of Valor (Key Trilogy)

ASIN: 1423323122
Release Date: 2007-02-28

Book Description

Birthright:
Recruited for her expertise on an Antietam Creek dig, archaeologist Callie Dunbrook encounters danger - as a cloud of death and misfortune hangs over the project. She finds a passion that feels equally dangerous, as she works with her irritating, but irresistible, ex-husband, Jake. And when a strange woman approaches her, claiming to know a secret about Callie's privileged Boston childhood, some startling and unsettling questions are raised about her very identity.

Northern Lights:
With nowhere else to go, Nate Burke accepts the job as Chief of Police in a tiny, remote Alaskan town. Meg Galloway, born and raised in Lunacy, has learned to be independent. After her New Year's kiss with the Chief of Police, she allows herself to give in to passion. And now, things in Lunacy are heating up. Years ago a crime occurred - and Nate suspects that a killer still walks the snowy streets.

Blue Smoke:
The blaze that night at her family's pizzeria changed young Reena Hale's life in more ways than one. As Reena gazed into the fire, her destiny began to take shape. She would study, struggle, and walk the gauntlet to one day become an investigator herself. But she is not the only one fascinated by the flames. Someone else is obsessed not with conquering the fire but with controlling it, owning it, using it to exact vicious revenge…

Customer Reviews:

Enjoyable listening.......2007-05-13

I bought this CD collection because I love Nora Roberts books and I am on the road a lot. I enjoyed listening to Northern Lights and Blue Smoke, but didn't care for the narrator for Birthright. If I didn't like the story itself so much, I probably wouldn't have been able to endure listening to it till the end.

If you like listening to books on CD I would still recommend buying this collection. I felt 2nd and 3rd stories were well narrated. You may like Birthright, but I just couldn't warm to the narrator's voice for the main characters. I still gave this cd collection 4 stars. I will definitely keep my collection.

Average customer rating:

Yes, yes, yes. Read these books. In order.
This book is amazing !!!! A Gem !!!
Five Star Author
A great book!
This can't be happening!

Deep Harbor (Northern Lights Series #2)
Lisa Tawn Bergren
Manufacturer: WaterBrook Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Midnight Sun (Northern Lights Series #3)
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Firestorm (Full Circle Series #6)
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Pathways (Full Circle Series #3)

ASIN: 1578560454
Release Date: 1999-03-16

Book Description

From the richly forested banks of the Washington Territory; to the burgeoning city of San Francisco; and across the turbulent, danger-filled waves of the open sea–you will experience an epic saga of perseverance and pain, faith and calling in Deep Harbor.

Determined to live “the good life,” no matter the price, Tora Anders weaves a web of lies that could cost her everything she cares for–including a successful future and the man she loves–but lead her to what her soul most desperately needs. Her sister, Elsa Ramstad, has everything her heart desires: a loving husband, a family she adores, and a fulfilling life at sea. Then tragedy strikes. Now, drawing upon her faith and all the strength she can muster, Elsa must once again discover the woman she is and who she chooses to be.

Four years after her husband’s disappearance, Kaatje Janssen struggles to raise two young daughters and tend her farm. But when help comes from the most unlikely source, Kaatje faces both uncertainty about the future and a deep secret from her past. And after years of grappling with his feelings for Elsa and the mistakes he has made, Karl is caught in a life of loneliness and emptiness. Can he finally accept the reality of what he once lost and open himself up to the possibility of what could be?

Separated by physical distance and emotional boundaries, these four bound by friendship and family find each other once again and discover that some ties can never be broken in Deep Harbor, Book Two in The Northern Lights series.

Customer Reviews:

Yes, yes, yes. Read these books. In order........2006-08-28

I love these characters, I love these stories, and I love the message of God's redemption. He can really change the very nature of a person. If you are believer, read it. If you are not a believer, read it.

(What!? It's a good, good story. You'd read it if it was a good story about New agers or Hindus, wouldn't you?)

I rate books as follows:
***** Fun and meaningful book, or changed/challenged me in a positive way.
****Really fun or meaningful; well worth the time.
***Pleasantly skimmed the surface; not memorable.
**Plodded through.
*Abandoned; very flawed

This book is amazing !!!! A Gem !!!.......2005-07-14

Deep Harbor is an excellente story, with a brilliant plot and loving characters, full of surprises, adventures, drama and romance. It touched my heart so that I've cried and smiled a lot.
Definitely I had a wonderful time reading this novel.
I highly recommend you to read this book - It's a page-turner !!!

Five Star Author.......2002-02-08

God has given Lisa a great gift of writing. Her wisdom and insight into God's love, grace and mercy to hurting humanity is SPECIAL. I have many of her books, which I have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy (because they are keepers) but as a widow, I've been truly blessed by the Northern Lights Series and Until the Shadows Flee. The people in her stories are SO real.....they become your friends. I wait with anticipation for all her new books. Guess you can tell I'm hooked. Thank you Lisa for sharing your gift with us. God bless you and keep you prolific (for my benefit) Vondia Caruso

A great book!.......2001-11-12

I really enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it.

This can't be happening!.......2000-06-23

This isn't some happy-go-lucky book that gives you the warm fuzzies. That's what makes it so great. You don't know what's going to happen next, and when it happens you're saying "This can't be happening! She can't do that!" Yet with all the plot, Lisa Bergren still is able to weave in a powerful message about Jesus Christ.

The Northern Lights: The True Story of the Man Who Unlocked the Secrets of the Aurora Borealis

Average customer rating:

An interesting book for someone interested in the aurora
Driven
Fine biography
Biography/travelogue/history of science
Thank you for writing this book!

The Northern Lights: The True Story of the Man Who Unlocked the Secrets of the Aurora Borealis
Lucy Jago
Manufacturer: Random House Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Scientists | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Norway | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

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History of Science | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Northern Lights: The Science, Myth, and Wonder of Aurora Borealis
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ASIN: 0375420274
Release Date: 2001-09-25

Book Description

Read by
4 cassettes/6 hours

A previously untold story—a brilliant examination of the life of the visionary 20th-century Norwegian scientist Kristian Birkeland.

Through the ages, the lights of the aurora borealis were believed to be the messengers of gods or signs of apocalypse or souls of the dead. Even at the turn of the century, the most sophisticated scientists misapprehended their cause. Now Lucy Jago tells the story of the science—and the romance—behind the northern lights as she traces the grand adventure of Birkeland's life.

In 1899, Birkeland set our on his lifelong, arduous, increasingly compulsive quest for an explanation of the aurora borealis. He traveled across some of the most forbidding landscapes on earth—from the ice mountains of Norway to the deserts of Africa—defying the dangers of war and political upheaval, dedicating himself to the unraveling of this mystery. And yet when he died in 1917—in Japan, under suspicious circumstances—his work was unheralded. Now his theories are considered to have been prophetic, and they have furthered our understanding not only of the aurora borealis, but also of electromagnetism, comets, and the sun.

A galvanizing, enlightening saga.

Customer Reviews:

An interesting book for someone interested in the aurora.......2005-04-03

The Northern Lights is a roller coaster ride through the extraordinary life of Kristian Birkeland. Influenced by the great minds of his time, this story recounts the struggles that he endured as an under-appreciated Norwegian scientist. His traveling from the snow-topped mountain of Haldde to the hot dessert of Egypt, is intermixed with a slew of brilliant discoveries showing the true benefit of dedication. This perseverance leads him to make exciting inventions that keep his life exciting because of the treachery and deceit that follow his success. This novel clears the name of this famous scientist in hopes that the world will never again forget the consequences of scientific prejudices.

Driven.......2005-03-31

This tale of Kristian Birkeland and his aurora quest was simply enthralling. His will-power alone was awesome, fighting against the wind and his enemies to find the truth behind the beautiful northern lights.

Who knew how dangerous the winds would be? Who would not suffer along with him in our imaginations as he and his assistants took shelter from the cold?

I found his courage and strong focus truly amazing and inspiring. It makes my life puny by comparison.

Larry Rochelle, author of GHOSTLY EMBERS: VISIONS OF TOLEDO.

Fine biography.......2004-08-29

As reviewer Carter points out, this book is a biography of Kristian Birkeland, not a scientific treatise on the Northern Lights. And as reviewer Hoge points out, the writing style is more mainstream pop than dry academia. Personally, I found it quite readable. I'm not doing serious research on the subject, so I was fine with being entertained while I learned a little more about how the scientific community worked at the dawn of the 20th century. The primary criticism I have is that Jago was rather biased in favor her subject-- maybe justifiably so, but her flag waving was a little too blatant for me at times... Also, she stretched her material a bit, probably could have been a shorter book. Still, if you enjoyed books like Sobel's "Longitude" or Larson's "Devil in the White City," you'll probably enjoy "Northern Lights."

Biography/travelogue/history of science.......2003-08-26

This book is a very intriguing biography of one of the great minds of the early twentieth century. It tells the story of Norwegian scientist Kristian Birkeland and his obsession with the aurora borealis. The book starts off with his first expedition in Lappland, observing the Northern Lights from a mountaintop observatory over a winter season. Jago then takes us through the results of the expedition, and Birkeland's dreams for further research, and his inventive projects for funding his research. She follows Birkland through the rest of his life, including his role in starting Norskhydro, his trip to Egypt, and his death in Japan. What struck me about Birkeland's genius was how he turned design failures or accidents into new discoveries and further inventions- -how a high-voltage switch became a magnetic cannon, and how a magnetic cannon was transformed into a fertilizer furnace. Jago's descriptions of Birkeland's expeditions carry the details that are usually only found in travel narratives.

The narration by Michael Cumpsty is quite clear throughout, and I was especially impressed by his ease with pronouncing the Danish, Egyptian, and Japanese names. One of the challenges of listening to a book of this type is following the scientific explanations orally. Although I got a basic idea of Birkeland's theories, I think reading them on paper instead of listening to them on tape would have been a little easier. I also missed the footnotes and biography that must have surely been available in the print version. Nevertheless, the tape was quite enjoyable and very informative.

Thank you for writing this book!.......2003-01-16

Dear Lucy Jago,
I really enjoyed this book! I read the complete title so I knew it was about the MAN who unlocked the secrets of the Aurora Borealis... not about the "powerful and mystical Northern Lights". What an amazing man he must have been. Thanks for showing us his human side, strengths and weaknesses. I'm still left wondering what else he might have been able to accomplish if he had lived longer (and had a more healthy life style!)
I thought this book had a good balance between the technical aspects and storytelling. I didn't want a physics book about Aurora, if I did, then I would have gotten one. I wanted a history of science book, I wanted to know the "story", I wanted to meet the people, I wanted to know the community reaction at the time. I got all that and more.
Thanks for your fine work, I had an enjoyable few hours reading it.

Kitchen of Light: The New Scandinavian Cooking

Average customer rating:

Buy it if you can find it!
What an unbelievably wonderful cookbook
Disappointment
The Other Top Scandi Cookbook
Fine scandinavian cookbook

Kitchen of Light: The New Scandinavian Cooking
Andreas Viestad
Manufacturer: Artisan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Aquavit: And the New Scandinavian Cuisine
The Great Scandinavian Baking Book
Scandinavian Cooking
Scandinavian Feasts: Celebrating Traditions throughout the Year
New Scandinavian Cooking Vol 1

ASIN: 1579652166

Amazon.com

In Scandinavia, where the land stretches far enough north that half the year can be bathed in constant light or constant darkness, the notion of a "kitchen of light" has special meaning. In the case of Kitchen of Light, the cookbook by Norway's best known food writer, Andreas Viestad, and companion book to the TV cooking show of the same name, it means the shedding of light on a long-overlooked cuisine and culinary tradition. There is more going on in the Land of the Midnight Sun than smorgasbord.

Fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients need not always be a notion married to temperate agriculture and culinary zones. The seasons of fecundity can be compressed; the nature of local can truly be wild. Such are the lessons in Kitchen of Light. There is an underlying joy throughout this book: the long winter has been beaten back and great food once again weighs down the table. Viestad takes the reader into the country and into the lives of the people who have made something of a celebration of food and cooking.

Duck Soup with Madeira ought to wake up the sleepiest palate. In centuries past, Maderia was bartered in Norway for dried salt cod. Porcini Consommé gives honor to the brief but glorious wild mushroom season. An entire chapter is given over to gravlaks, cured salmon you can do at home with spice and Aquavit. In a land where cod and potatoes are no joke, Viestad proves that a contemporary touch can be both relevant and exciting. Yellow and Red Cod with Pomegranate-Mango Salad, anyone? Feasting is well-represented, and seafood lies at its heart--salmon, halibut, mackerel, pollock, shellfish. And just when you are falling into step, Viestad turn the corner and presents the likes of Glazed Leg of Lamb with Roasted Root Vegetables.

In the end, after reading and admiring this beautifully photographed and designed book where travel meets food meets joy, you'll have a much better insight into the people of Scandinavia, and probably a deep and unresolved desire to travel and dine there. Kitchen of Light is not only enlightening, you can bring it home. --Schuyler Ingle

Book Description

Andreas Viestad is Norway's premier food columnist, a gifted cook, and a charming ambassador from the Land of the Midnight Sun. In KITCHEN OF LIGHT he introduces us to his Norway-taking us fishing for cod, halibut, and salmon; gathering chanterelles, porcini, and wild berries; offering recipes that emphasize simple, fresh, and natural ingredients, whose flavors need little embellishment to create elegant and impressive dishes.

Through a variety of personal anecdotes and flavorful recipes, Viestad shares this philosophy of nature as he shows us the best way to cure gravlaks, make our own butter, prepare a midsummer night's feast of poached salmon, even how to flambÚ a pork tenderloin with Scandinavia's favorite spirit-Aquavit.

This inspired cookbook companion to the public television series New Scandinavian Cooking with Andreas Viestad will transport home cooks and armchair travelers alike.

Customer Reviews:

Buy it if you can find it!.......2007-08-07

Friends of mine asked for this book, originally, and so I bought myself a copy out of curiosity, having also enjoyed the TV show the author hosted. I was definitely beyond pleasantly surprised, because he adds to his easygoing teaching style some history, personal memories and feelings, to really add flavor to the content. But you could get a lot from this book without reading a word, just from looking at the excellent presentation each dish is given, as well as glimpses of the environment that inspired them.

There are cookbooks that are just books of instructions. They can be complicated, even fussy, but that's what they are. Then there are books about cuisine, that give you example recipes, and the hunger to try them and create your own with the new flavors you have learned. This definitely is of the latter type. I not only want to cook these dishes, I want to visit the lands where they originated. It's a shame that this book has fallen out of print, because I have other friends I want to share it with. If you find a copy, treasure it.

What an unbelievably wonderful cookbook.......2006-06-04

If you like Scandinavian cooking, you'll love this. The recipes are easy to follow and produce results that will excite your taste buds. Not your usual cookbook fare. I highly recommend it for someone looking for something different. Excellent!

Disappointment.......2006-05-28

I bought this book from amazon just for curiositys sake. I was pretty sad as it did not hold much of bold scandinavian cooking. Best this book has to offer, at least for me was seared scallops with celeriac pyre and green cardemom flavoured red wine sauce. It was nice. Also the low temperature cooking of salmon is good thing.

But seriously these being the nice things is a little too little for me. Okay, I'm a professional chef so I might be a little picky. But I do think that I might have spent my money somehow different.

The Other Top Scandi Cookbook.......2006-02-24

I usually do not get this kind of book, you know, the glitzy companion to a PBS ("P" now stands for patrician) show. It is expensive; just not more so than the rival "Aquavit" celeb cookbook. I do not own that book because I do not want to spend even more for it, even though I have been eating there for well over a decade, maybe two. I have spent there easily twenty times the cost of the book, so this decision is irrational (in the spirit of disclosure). And I bought this book because of the show, even though watching him eat hanging over a cliff is enough to put me off lunch.

This book has quality paper, lots of photos and stuff that you do not need, such as the purple introduction. But the guy does a good job. The recipes are bright and well formed. These are dishes you can make without exotic machines and mail order ingredients, but have exotic results. You do not need to be expert in cookery.

Lots of fish and dill, of course; but not designed to slog through heavy winter. Plenty of balancing acids and such. Some lamb, a bit of deer and some foul. I am surprised by how often I reach for this book for new ideas.

If you are traditionalist and/or Scandinavian, do not look for familiar old things here. Better get the the Time/Life as I did. But you need this one also because it is true to the culture but more exciting for today. His rhubarb strawberry soup is right from my old 'hood. And if you hate cabbage, here is a way to love it. There is some of his own, clearly having nothing to do with the north, like mango and pistachio, but he does not go to new age fusion yanni cum freak-show. Who knows, Sweden is now growing crops impossible twenty years ago due to warming.

Fine scandinavian cookbook.......2006-02-24

It has interesting ideas. I have enjoyed cooking some of them. I like that so many of them are fish related.

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