Owner: The Bent Bookmark URL:http://thebentbookmark.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Fri, 07 Sep 2007 11:19:24 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Book reviews, book excerpts, quotes, and more. Site statistics:Click here
Eating the Menu Instead of the Meal 2007-09-07 07:23:00 Roadsigns: Navigating Your Path To Spiritual HappinessNonfiction, by Philip GoldbergPublished: 2003An excerpt:"At best, the intellect can take you to the door of the Holy; it cannot take you across the threshold. For that the mind itself must be transcended. Only in the cessation of thought can the Ultimate be encountered. Only in the shift from busy thinking to quiet feeling can love, devotion, reverence, and other qualities associated with spiritual awakening be accessed. The wise ones chuckle at our vain attempts to find realization by gorging on books and ruminating about enlightenment. They compare it to eating the menu instead of the meal or confusing the finger pointing to the moon for the moon itself. They are telling us not to get so hung up with maps, itineraries, and travel guides that we never hit the road." Read more:Instead
Broken Hearts 2007-09-06 18:14:00 The Piano ManNovel, by Marcia PrestonRetail: $21.95Published: April 2006Claire dropped the letter on her lap and sat for a long time with her eyes closed. When she could see again, she picked up the letter and reread it. The man would be forty-three now—if his body hadn’t rejected Nathan’s heart. If he was still alive, did he ever wonder about the young man whose heart he carried? After losing her teenage son in a car accident, Clair O’Neal finds an old letter from the wife of the man who received her son’s heart donation. That connection sets her on a quest to find the man and see how he is doing, and, if he is taking care of the gift he was given. The letter describes a happily married man who loves to play the violin. But what Claire finally discovers is a beaten down bitter chain-smoker who plays piano tunes in a grubby bar. These two lonely people broken by life’s unexpected pounding are drawn together in unlikely yet tender ways. The Piano Man is an extraordinary nove Read more:Broken
, Hearts
Losing Our Freedom to Fear Not Terrorism 2007-09-28 07:46:00 Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism
Non-fiction, by Hanes JohnsonRetail: $26.00Published: 2005There was a time of sinister fear in this country when writers, actors, politicians and others were in danger of losing their freedom. Some, indeed, did lose their careers and their livelihood. Senator Joseph McCarthy was a one-man wrecking machine, out to scare the daylights out of the country and to shred the careers of those who disagreed with him. Historian Hanes Johnson uses that background to highlight today's fear obsessed leaders who in his opinion are creating a similar society of dread, cynicism, distrust, anger and discord. He calls for a new approach where we have a rational discussion on how to deal with the real threats we face as a nation.Though published a couple of years ago, this book carries an urgent message of wisdom and intelligence for all of us who care about the future of America. Read more:Freedom
The Genius & Flaws of Mark Twain 2007-09-27 07:24:00 Mark Twain
: A LifeBiography, by Ron PowersRetail: $35.00Published: 2005Some years ago while doing post graduate work in Madison, Connecticut, I drove up to Hartford to visit Mark Twain
's famous house. It is a huge three-story edifice unique for its time. I saw where he did his writing, and I went in and out of the many rooms where his children played and grew up.I used to have a picture of Twain that I bought in the gift shop at the Hartford House and Museum. It showed him sitting in a wooden rocker on the porch of his home. Dressed in his typical white suit, he sat there reflectively, smoking a cigar. I loved that picture but somehow in moving from one place to another I lost it.Although this biography came out a few years ago it remains a breathtaking portrait of one of history's unforgettable characters and one of the nation's most famous citizens.Twain has been called "our culture's founding father," and no other writer has been more quoted, taught, or reprinted except for Shak
My Work is Loving the World 2007-09-26 07:36:00 ThirstNon-fiction, by Mary OliverRetail: $22.00Published: 2006If you have not read the poetry of Mary Oliver you have missed an education in nature, in the beauty of language, and in the sheer joy of life.Oliver, a Pulitzer Prize winner and a National Book Award recipient, sees things the rest of us too often ignore or simply dismiss as unimportant.She has spent her life observing the details of our world, especially the tiny miracles of nature’s magnificent mysteries. What she sees and then interprets in her writing will catch and hold you, like the sight of a shooting star, or the awe you experience in a field of bluebonnets.The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard once wrote, “A poet is an unhappy being whose heart is torn by secret sufferings, but whose lips are so strangely formed that when the sighs and the cries escape them, they sound like beautiful music.”I know what Kierkegaard means, and for the most part, he’s right. But Mary Oliver is no usual poet and is by no mea Read more:Loving
, World
Books Are Treasure Chests 2007-09-25 08:02:00 There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure
Island. -- Walt Disney Read more:Books
Tattoos & Angels 2007-09-24 07:41:00 The Electric MichelangeloFiction, by Sarah HallRetail: $13.95, PaperbackPublished: 2005I came across this novel recently and wanted to encourage anyone reading this post to consider trying it.Carolyn See, the book critic for The Washington Post, called this novel, "amazing work."Part of it is the author's lyrical, rich language and style. Part of it is the story itself, full of those gritty, odd aspects of life that highlight our humanity. And part of it is the characters in the novel, people who are flawed, beautiful, humorous, complex and thoroughly enchanting.Cyril Parks, known as Cy, grows up in the 1920s in a tiny coastal town in England with his widowed mother whose seaside hotel is a respite for people seeking fresh air and the curative powers of nature, especially men from the mines laboring with consumption.Cy learns the art of tattooing from Eliot Riley, an untamed, loose canon who exhibits genius in his tattooing art and idiocy in his drinking sprees.Once Cy has mastered th Read more:Tattoos
, Angels
The Lies We Tell Ourselves and Others 2007-09-22 08:56:00 The Price of SilenceFiction, By Camilla TrinchieriRetail: $22.00Published: 2007Filled with suspense, sinister family secrets, tangled relationships, as well as cultural and human insights, The Price of Silence is a moving, enveloping novel.A young foreign student is murdered. Her loving teacher is implicated. The teacher's husband (also a teacher) and son, though shocked by these circumstances, have their own unknown deeds still to be revealed. Combined with Trinchieri's terrific writing, all of this makes it a book readers will find well worth their time.In the following excerpt, Tom Perotti, the suspected murderer's husband, is starting to wonder if perhaps the long years with his wife have been little more than lies.An excerpt:I have, as a teacher, as a father and husband, always preached that what we, as human beings, must strive for is the truth, that the knowledge of the truth--of cultures, religions, relationships, even mundane events--would shape us, would make up the essenc Read more:Others
What is Wrecking Our Nation 2007-09-21 07:01:00 America's Promise Restored: Preventing Culture, Crusade, & Partisanship from Wrecking Our NationNon-fiction, by Harlan UllmanOnline Price: $26.00Published: 2007This distinguished author has written a book that anyone truly interested in the future of our Republic should read.A military expert and insightful political thinker, Harlan Ullman warns that America may very well be facing its worst internal dangers since the Civil War. Ugly partisanship, primitive political tactics, naive and unyielding ideological demands, ignorant and crude religious intolerance, and other divisive issues are, according to Mr. Ullman, ruining our nation's influence in the world and crippling our political and legislative freedoms at home.Here is a balanced, intelligent, and thoughtful assessment of what America needs to change and how to do it.Below, Ullman writes about terrorists and revolutionaries and how both have historically fought for religious and political freedoms. He later describes how our
Single @ Midlife 2007-09-20 06:58:00 Naked on the Page: Misadventures of My Unmarried MidlifeNon-fiction, by Jane GanahlRetail: $24.95Published: 2007Former newspaper columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, Jane Ganahl opens up a sort of diary of her life of being single and middle aged. She is at that juncture when, like most of us who have already been there, she begins to wonder what the heck does any of this mean. And, what’s left? So she enters a pilgrimage of feelings and desires and tries as her publisher says “to reconcile her midlife body with her teenage heart.”Ah, the passage of time and the loss of youth, how it inevitably tortures us into some of the most humiliating moments of our adult years.This is a fun read filled with both hilarious anecdotes and wise lessons.An excerpt:Actually, this Grotto party might be just what the doctor ordered. I am in need of both a jump-start and an ego boost. Lately the only men to flatter me with attention are e-mail suitors like the Louisiana Lawyer. It seems like a
Marriage - A Fragile Envelope 2007-09-19 07:24:00 Mad DashFiction, by Patricia GaffneyRetail: $23.00Published: 2007Anyone who has been through a separation in their marriage or a divorce will immediately identify with Andrew and his wife Dash.That marriage occasions many difficulties is not unknown to couples no matter how long it's been since they said their vows to each other. This pair is no different and reading about the slow unraveling of their love and the chance that it might somehow be sewn back together is both painful and insightful.Patricia Gaffney's fluid writing captures all the details that make conversation and experiences between people memorable.Below, Dash has stormed out of the office of Dr. Fogleman, a therapist they have seen for the first time. Like many couples who wait too long to seek help, all the damage has already been done, and hoping a third party might be able to undo it is an unlikely dream to come true. Besides, Andrew has said in the session that he is doing fine since the separation.An excerpt:I h Read more:Envelope
The Future of Books 2007-09-18 07:16:00 Up to now, books still represent the most economical, flexible, wash-and-wear way to transport information at a very low cost. Computer communication travels ahead of you; books travel with you and at your speed. If you are shipwrecked on a desert island, where you don't have the option of plugging in a computer, a book is still a valuable instrument. Even if your computer has solar batteries, you cannot easily read it while lying in a hammock. Books
are still the best companions for a shipwreck, or for the day after the night before. Books belong to those kinds of instruments that, once invented, have not been further improved because they are already alright, such as the hammer, the knife, spoon or scissors. Umberto Eco, "Vegetal and Mineral Memory: the Future
of Books," from a lecture at the opening of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, 2003.
Clueless about Wine? 2007-09-17 07:05:00 Clueless about WineNon-fiction, by Richard Kitowski & Jocelyn KlemmRetail: $16.95, paperbackPublished: 2007 (Revised)An excerpt:Saving Opened WineIt may not always be possible to finish a whole bottle of wine at one sitting. Or maybe you have some left over from your dinner party. Instead of pouring it out, or sitting up all night drinking the dregs, here is what you can do to protect your opened wine:Use a hand-operated vacuum pump to remove the air. Most pumps come with rubber stoppers that have a one-way valve. You put the rubber stopper where the cork was, place the vacuum pump over it, and pump it a few times to create a vacuum. It helps delay oxidation and extends the life of your opened wine by a few days.A slightly more expensive option, but less labour intensive, is to use inert gas. Most wine stores sell this product in a canister--an extremely light canister that almost feels empty. You 'spray' the oderless, tasteless gas, using a think straw-like nozzle, into t Read more:Clueless
Mini Review 2007-09-16 17:14:00 A Faith Worth Believing: Finding New Life Beyond the Rules of Religion Non-fiction, by Tom Stella. Published March 2005 Retail: $14.95. A clear-sighted and much improved approach to religious faith. I no longer believe that I must, by adhering to the rules of religion, strive to win God's favor. Rather, I must learn to be attuned to God present within all creation, writes the author. Read more:Mini Review
Three Strong Females 2007-09-15 09:49:00 We Are All Welcome HereFiction, by Elizabeth BergRetail: $22.95Published: April 2006This is the story of three strong females in 1964. Paige Dunn, paralyzed from the neck down from polio, is a feisty woman of amazing independence in spite of her limitations. She has boyfriends. She paints and writes songs. She loves lying in the sun. Diana Dunn is her 13-year-old daughter. She is filled with adolescent angst, a developing sexuality, and a desire to flee the ongoing care she needs to give to her mother. Peacie is a serious-minded African-American who cares for Paige during the day. She also has little patience with Diana and her teen issues. When Diana’s boyfriend decides to support black voters and risk his own safety, the three women pull together with amazing results. Read more:Three
, Strong
, Females
A Wildly Addictive Read 2007-09-14 07:03:00 HeartsickFiction, by Chelsea CainRetail: $23.95Published: 2007The Irish poet and novelist, Oscar Wilde, once said, “The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means.”A point well taken in most fictional thrillers. But Chelsea Cain’s novel of graphic cruelty and fast paced plotting is different. That all might end well here would almost certainly have to be fictional, considering what these people go through. And the truth is, not everything ends with a nice bouquet of roses in this one.Heartsick centers around four major characters. First, is the diabolical serial killer in the story, Gretchen Lowell. She’s beautiful, brilliant, highly educated, and seriously deranged. Second, is Detective Archie Sheridan, a hard-nosed veteran cop who bird-dogs Gretchen for ten years until she captures him. Next, is newspaper reporter Susan Ward, a determined and tough young woman who gets in over her head. And finally, there is a second killer who has a very beastly hu Read more:Addictive
The Value of Libraries 2007-09-13 06:58:00 "The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species. I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries." — Carl Sagan, Cosmos Read more:Value
, Libraries
A Children's Story for Everyone 2007-09-12 07:09:00 The Miraculous Journey of Edward TulaneFiction, by Kate DiCamilloRetail: $18.99Published: 2006If you have never read for your own pleasure, or to your children or grandchildren, the story of Edward Tulane, you have missed a treat of unimaginable delight.Although it’s a story for school age children, it has many lessons for people of all ages.Edward’s adoring owner, Abilene, would never conceive of life without her china rabbit. He ate at the table with her and her family. He watched her go to school each morning. He sat protectively over her at night while she slept. But sometimes the things most precious to us have a way of reminding us of life’s unpredictable moments.On a cruise with her family, a couple of little bullies taunt Abilene over her cherished rabbit. A scuffle ensues and in an instant both Abilene’s and Edward’s world change in dramatically disastrous ways.Happy endings do now and then happen, but not without long stretches of sometimes terrible experiences, as Read more:Children
President Clinton & Giving 2007-09-11 07:05:00 Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the WorldNon-fiction, by Bill Clinton
Retail: $24.95Published: 2007"I wrote this book to encourage you to give whatever you can, because everyone can give something. And there’s so much to be done, down the street and around the world. It’s never too late or too early to start. In this book you’ll encounter givers old, young, and in between, rich, poor, and in between. You’ll read about innovative organizations, about new ways of giving time and money, and about old-fashioned acts of individual generosity and kindness. I think you’ll find people with whom you can identify, groups you might want to join, companies you might want to buy from, projects you might want to start on your own. It is impossible to mention all the individuals and organizations doing good work in America and around the world. There are millions of them." Read more:President
, Giving
We Are Not For Nothing 2007-09-10 07:36:00 The Human Touch: Our Part in the Creation of a UniverseNonfiction, by Michael FraynOnline Price: $32.50Published: 2006“So we are perhaps not after all such nobodies. We are not for nothing,” says the imminent British novelist and playwright Michael Frayn in this substantial philosophical explanation of what we’re all doing here.Anyone with an inquisitive mind has wondered from time to time about the meaning of the universe. Not just how did it actually get here, but what is our part in it? Are we actors in a cosmic play following a script we didn’t write? Or do we individually have the power by our own actions to make the world what it is?Frayn wrestles with these and other fundamental questions and provides some remarkable, humorous, and comprehensible answers. English historian Noel Malcolm has called The Human Touch a “large book about life, the universe, and everything, which is just as clever and twice as stimulating as any professorial tome.”Whenever we stand at the e Read more:Nothing
Our Best Teachers Are Human 2007-09-09 00:23:00 Saying Yes To Life (Even the Hard Parts)Non-fiction, by Ezra BaydaPaperback, Published: 2005An excerpt:"To always view authority with suspicion, to believe it’s unhealthy to ever submit to another, to see yourself as wholly independent, to believe you are completely free - this is delusion. And this delusion prevents true learning on the spiritual path. But neither can we place spiritual teachers on pedestals, imagining them saintly, finished, above the travails of our daily world. This delusion that the teacher is perfect arises out of the childish mind that still wants to be saved. But spiritual teachers aren’t perfect; they too are ongoing processes. In fact, unless teachers continue to work at their own edge, with their own fears and difficulties, they can no longer be effective teachers, because they are no longer connected with others."Ezra Bayda is a Zen teacher and author living in San Diego.
The Challenges of Fame 2007-09-08 15:26:00 American Legacy: The Story of John and Caroline KennedyNonfiction, by C. David HeymanRetail: $27.95Published: July 2007This massive double biography of John F. Kennedy Jr. and his sister Caroline is another masterpiece of information and insight into the famous Kennedy family.Heyman, a Pulitzer Prize nominee and best selling author, collected more than a thousand taped and transcribed interviews with both supporters and critics closest to the famous Kennedy children.In one of many moving passages the author tells how Caroline was told about her father's death. Maud Shaw, nanny to both John and Caroline, and someone they spent a lot of time with and dearly loved, was asked by Jackie's mother to break the news to Caroline. John was only a toddler at the time and would not have understood the tragedy.Heyman describes how Miss Shaw pleaded not to be the one to do it, but was not given any other choice. Later that evening the children brushed their teeth, were dressed into their pajamas,
Findng Lost Faith 2007-10-02 07:27:00 Stalking the DivineNon-fiction, by Kristin OhlsonRetail: $14.00, PaperbackPublished: 2005During most of my life, writes Ohlson, I had considered faith a kind of sickness, something that softened the brain and allowed the soothing delusion of divine power. Now I wanted faith, but I wasn’t sure if I hadn’t inoculated myself against it for good. A freelance journalist and fiction writer, Kristin Ohlson tells in this enchanting book how she finds faith again in the most unlikely place—in the company of 16 obscure nuns luminous with love and compassion. Read more:Faith
Small-Town Wisdom for a Big-City World 2007-10-01 07:31:00 Porch Talk: Stories of Decency, Common Sense, and Other Endangered SpeciesNon-fiction, by Philip GulleyRetail: $15.95Published: 2007An excerpt:Years ago, I made a rocker. I didn't have a plan or blueprint; I just had the idea of a chair in my mind and went from there. The first time I sat in it, it rocked back too far and dumped me on the ground. I gave it to my brother-in-law.My favorite chair is one my grandfather gave me. It is nearly two hundred years old. He rescued it from a priest who was getting ready to throw it on a burn pile. The average priest knows nothing about chairs.I once owned a rocker made around 1875 by the Shakers of Mt. Lebanon, Massachusetts. The Shakers who made the chairs never signed them, fearing it would appear boastful. I wasn't nearly as modest. When I made my chair, I signed it, hoping someday it would serve as proof of my existence.There is a certain transcendent joy in creating a thing of beauty. But even more fulfilling is to become a being Read more:Small
, Wisdom
, World
The Perfect Book 2007-10-13 08:54:00 Hard RowFiction, by Margaret MaronRetail: $24.95Published: 2007Margaret Maron's popular and best selling books deal with southern life, family dynamics, women in demanding careers, as well as crime, murder, and mystery. This is another one in her Judge Deborah Knott series. The Judge is facing the challenges of a new husband, a step son, and the usual odd and twisting cases that arrive in her courtroom. Illegal immigration, divorce, gruesome killing, missing people, and other interesting things keep the pace moving in this novel that has been described as "the perfect book."An excerpt: Dwight hung up the phone as several officers crowded into his office to get their instructions. Using the large topographical map of the county that covered most of one wall, he located Apple Creek and traced it with his finger till it crossed Jernigan Road. It was well south and east of Dobbs and, as Deborah had just pointed out, nowhere near Ward Dairy Road or Bethel Baptist where the other human limb Read more:Perfect
When Friendships Ruin 2007-10-12 07:32:00 Songs Without WordsFiction, by Ann PackerRetail: $24.95Published: 2007A story of a long friendship interrupted by old wounds and newly discovered revelations. Childhood friends, Liz and Sarabeth, have provided one another affirmation and nurture for years. When Liz's daughter wades into risky behavior the two women find themselves at surprising odds and in serious conflict. Suddenly all those years of friendship may have been more superficial than either woman ever dreamed possible.A follow up novel to Packer's immensely popular The Dive from Clausen's Pier, this one demonstrates the author is a solid talent. Packer writes clearly and evokes the kind of emotions we all struggle to understand and control.An excerpt:Back in the car, she sat still for a moment, watching as a homeless man passed by pushing a shopping cart piled high with bloated bags. Half a mile away was the new Emeryville with its terrifying Ikea, its nightmare version of a suburban shopping mall. Here, in front of Ma
How to Stop Overthinking Everything 2007-10-11 06:57:00 Women Who Think Too Much: How to Break Free of Overthinking and Reclaim Your LifeNon-fiction, by Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Ph.D.Retail: $24.00Published: 2003If you find yourself consistently analyzing everything in your life, this book is for you. If you are guilty of second-guessing, tired of being cynical and negative, always finding the problem but rarely the solution, here is a book of solid, practical help.Professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, Dr. Susan Nolen-Hoeksema has done extensive research dealing with a variety of women's issues, including overthinking everything.For anyone wanting to make reasonable decisions without being driven by negative emotions, this book provides plenty of useful strategies.An excerpt:Women can ruminate about anything and everything--our appearance, our families, our career, our health. We often feel that this is just part of being a woman--that it's a reflection of our caring, nurturing qualities. This may be partly true, but overthi Read more:Everything
The Best You Can Be 2007-10-10 07:34:00 Self-help continues to be a huge genre. Most of us are consistently looking for ways to improve, to grow, to mature, to become more wise, less impatient, and sincerely compassionate. If you are interested in any of that, here are some books to consider:The Flip Side: Break Free of the Behaviors That Hold You BackNon-fiction, by Flip FlippenRetail: $23.99Published: 2007Called the most influential man you've never heard of, Flippen leads a successful corporate and personal training company. Some of his clients include Wall Street brokers, famous sports figures, and even the staff at Joel Olsteen's Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. But the processes offered here are truly for anyone, whatever their background. The book has a special focus for those who are considering what to do with the rest of their lives.The Six Keys to Unlock and Empower Your MindNon-fiction, by Marc SalemRetail: $14.95, paperbackPublished: 2007I'm not sure how to describe this book other than to say, you mig
Finding Happiness at Sea 2007-10-09 08:04:00 The Cure for Anything is Salt Water: How I Threw My Life Overboard and Found Happiness at SeaNon-fiction, by Mary SouthRetail: $23.95Published: 2007It's interesting that someone named South would lose their direction in life and end up in a boat where a compass can save you.This little memoir is for all of those readers who dream of doing something really daring, or for those who simply want a change and are willing to do what change always requires: taking some very considerable risks.Mary South leaves what many would consider a comfortable life and takes off to the sea. Weary of her career in publishing and her residence in rural Pennsylvania, she sells everything and buys a 40-foot trawler.Her experiences get a little self-consuming, but her writing is enjoyable and the people she encounters and the things she goes through in search of her bliss make the book interesting.In the following excerpt she describes some of the tedium of her work and her uneventful life as clinchers for
Feast on These 2007-10-08 07:39:00 Here are three great novels from last year. If you haven't already read them, give them a try! There is some terrific writing here!The Garden of Eden and Other Criminal DelightsFiction, by Faye KellermanRetail: $24.99Published: 2006Here is a rare collection of the famous mystery writer's short stories. Two of them include never before published crime stories featuring Kellerman's popular stars Decker/Lazarus.DustFiction, by Martha GrimesRetail: $25.95Published: 2006A flamboyant bachelor last seen in a club called "Dust," ends up murdered. Ms. Grimes' classy, well known investigator, Richard Jury, steps in to solve the case, except that he finds himself in an extraordinary set of circumstances, some of which are confusing and dangerous.The Eagle's ThroneFiction, by Carlos FuentesRetail: $26.95Published: 2006This is the one all fans of Fuentes were waiting for. Majestic writing filled with all sorts of gritty, fascinating, and enticing characters and their exploits, surrenders, Read more:Feast
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