The Big Ballad Jamboree

Customer Reviews:

Bad, bad, bad.......2006-08-01

This is one of those books that sounds really good but turns out to be boring and stupid. There's just something really appealing about the combination of Elizabethan history, the plague and the fairie world and it's clear this author is attempting to imitate Judith Merkle Riley with a funny, cute blend of fantasy and history. But this book does not manage to combine the elements of fantasy and history its plot relies on together into a realistic picture. In fact, there is so little historical information in this book I'm surprised it was even listed as historical fiction.

The fairies in this book are odd, their story is never explained, and nothing is really said about the great conflict between their two sides and the changeling fairy King they all want back. The people working for them don't make sense, the conflict doesn't make sense, and the whole plot doesn't make sense. The whole aspect of the story that deals with fairies is written as if it was told by an outside observer (who doesn't know much) to the author and then written down, which just means that all in all I understood about a fourth of what happened in this book. And that fourth wasn't even good. It jumps several years forward in time for no good reason, the characters are impossible to care about, and what was Christopher Marley doing in this book? The whole playwright part of this book was weird and awful-like the author just inserted conversations playwrights might have had and threw in some fairy dust. This is just a badly written and poorly executed book.

If you want something about the fair folk look elsewhere. This book probably shouldn't have been published as it is. With a lot of writing work, a clear back story and a less obscure plot, way more explanation on the fairy stuff and better writing it might have been ok. As it is it is just a collection of strange events leading to a rushed conclusion.

One star only. This is a bad book; I was terribly bored reading it.

Strange Devices of the Sun and Moon.......2002-08-31

I note the positive reviews and blurbs all over the cover, but I didn't think much of this book.

The Faerie Folk have come to Elizabethan London, bringing problems in their wake, especially for Christopher Marlowe and for Alice, whose son turns out to be a changeling.

I found the language use here to be a bit mundane, meaning that a mood was never really developed. Plot events jolted from one to the next, without a sense of flow. Characters, especially secondary characters, seemed faceless and lacking in personality.

I was bored, therefore, and cannot recommend the book.

interesting mix of worlds.......2001-10-10

I picked up this book because I thought that a fantasy story set in the London of Elizabeth I would be an interesting read. While I enjoyed it, I soon realized that such an extraordinary mix of genres and themes could not appeal to a very wide audience. One finds in this world a very historical novel trying to merge with a typical fantasy story of the fairy world. In the novel itself the merge is more of a clash than a smooth blend, and the same can be said for the literary style. Given that I am a student of history and literature as well as a fantasy fan, I rather enjoyed the concept and had fun making my way through the process.

In the book, one is presented with a picture of Elizabethan London. Court intrigue, meetings in pubs, bookselling rights, and the scare of the plague all are part of the basic setting. The author has done her homework and seems at times to almost go out of her way to include some interesting tidbits of history. Real figures from history, such as Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Kyd, make their way into the story. (But fear not, while the author does take liberties with these personalities, they are not subject to the same brutal misrepresentation as befell Chaucer in A Knight's Tale!) Amidst this historical cast, one encounters Alice Wood - a widow who is struggling to keep her husband's business of bookselling running. It is her missing son, Arthur, that draws the fairy folk to London and involves her and her friends in the battle between the light and dark fairy.

It took me awhile to really become involved in this story. There are so many subplots at the beginning that one doesn't know which to follow or become attached to. Nevertheless, they all are witty and entertaining and eventually one sees how they all fit together. I enjoyed the story as it developed and appreciated the rich description and philosophical musings as well. This book is not for everyone, but for those who find Elizabethian London and the fairy realm fasinating, I would highly recommend it.

Elizabethan Faerie Tale.......2000-01-20

Entertaining story of court intrigues, alchemy, magic, poets and playwrights, and the Faerie Folk in Elizabethan London; even Christopher Marlowe makes an appearance. I bought the book because it was listed as recommended in the Alternative Sexualities in Science Fiction and Fantasy online compendium; and it was a good read, but Marlowe is something of a minor character.. in fact, I'm not sure why he's in the book at all: any character could have played his part [ though it did make for flavor and fun reading ].

She understands the Fair Folk and Elizabethan England.......1998-09-11

A marvelously gritty and precise picture of London under Elizabeth I, and a complex and compelling mystery story involving a rare woman member of the Stationer's Guild whose child may be the answer to the battles between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts of Faerie. Lisa Goldstein gets it just about perfect. Also see her exquisite story in Sandman: Book of Dreams.

Book Description

Densuke's life amoung the members of the Eiken club continues though the seasons. As long as Kirika and the others keep tormenting him, even getting through gym class or a day shopping at the mall can be an adventure. As New Years comes closer, Densuke looks for his opporunity to ask out Chihiro. However, Chihiro's sister, the athletic Yuriko Shinonome, has just transferred to school. She's got her eye on Densuke and a plan to get

Customer Reviews:

Eiken the manga fares better than Eiken the anime . . ........2006-05-04

While I did not care much for the Eiken anime that came out a couple of years ago, the manga is much better and even tries to tell a story. All of you favorite over-developed Eiken club members are back along with hapless Densuke. My favorite chapter in this volume has to due with the club's accident prone adviser/teacher trying to cook a meal for the club. Very funny stuff, but most defiantly for the 18+ manga readers out there . . . .

Fantastic.......2006-04-27

Another great volume of Eiken! There's a lot of good comedy and fanservice. If you've been following the series so far, be sure to get this one! It's full of sexy girls.

Average customer rating:

Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook

cute but disappointing

Waited for Years for This...

Great comfort favorites!

Tasty, tasty, tasty.

Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook
Ken Beck , and Jim Clark
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Plastic Comb

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Reference | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
South | U.S. Regional | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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Aunt Bee's Delightful Desserts

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The Andy Griffith Show Book 40th Anniversary Edition

Granny's Beverly Hillbillies Cookbook

ASIN: 1558530983

Book Description

Contains more than 300 recipes served by Aunt Bee and others on The Andy Griffith Show. Includes wonderful, rare photos from the show and interesting sidebars. Illustrated and indexed.

Customer Reviews:

Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook.......2007-01-12

Being from a small town and now living away from it this book is like having my little aunties giving me their secert recipes... God rest their soul! I wish I had been old enough to ask them for them personally, but I found a lot of them in these two books. This is one of the two Mayberry cookbooks I own.

cute but disappointing.......2005-04-27

I think the black and white episodes of the Andy Griffith Show are probably the best examples of American TV ever made, so I was thrilled to order this book. There are no photos at all which makes it tedious to flip through. Also, every recipe insists on having a character's name in the title. It's cute for the first few pages but gets tiresome very quickly. I can't imagine Ernest T. Bass cooking anything and if he did I don't believe I would want to try it. However, there are many, many pieces of dialogue reproduced exactly as they were said on the show and it is delightful to read them! How funny simple American dialect can be... This book is a fun momento of the classic Americana sitcom, but don't expect to cook much from it.

Waited for Years for This..........2003-05-21

I've seen this cookbook sold in book collector's magazines, but always lost track of how to get it. I am so glad to add it to my collection of cookbooks. I plan to try most of the recipes, but will leave the possum recipes to the Darlings.

Great comfort favorites!.......2003-01-09

I received this cookbook as a shower gift ten years ago from my 90-something year old great, great aunt. At the time, I thought it looked a bit hokey...it just goes to show that we young cooks have so much to learn from those that have gone before us! It has all of my family's favorites -- it is usually the place that I can find the recipe for all of those good things I remember from my childhood. I have over 60 cookbooks, and it is one of my most-used! This one is a "must-have".

Tasty, tasty, tasty........1999-09-17

A wonderful cooking tool - I have an autographed copy

Average customer rating:

Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook
Ken; Clark, Jim Beck
Manufacturer: Rutledge Hill Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: B000NW7W8I

Postcards from Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook

Average customer rating:

Postcards from Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook
Jim Clark , and Ken Beck
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Card Book

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Blank Books | Journals | Accessories | Formats | Books

Postcards | Accessories | Formats | Books

Postcards | Book Accessories | Our Favorites | Gift Ideas
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Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook

ASIN: 1558532315

Book Description

Favorite photographs and recipes from the best-selling cookbook based on The Andy Griffith Show. Contains thirty postcards.

Average customer rating:

Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook
Jim; Beck, Kenneth; Pitkin, Julia M. (editor) Clark
Manufacturer: Rutledge Hill Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J4J0NU

Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook & Aunt Bee's Delightful Desserts

Average customer rating:

Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook & Aunt Bee's Delightful Desserts
Ken Beck , and Jim Clark
Manufacturer: Rutledge Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000UEEFDY

Product Description

Two cookbooks based on the popular series "Mayberry."

Average customer rating:

This really touched my heart and soul !

WOW!!!!! What a WONDERFUL book!!!!!!

Extraordinary Indeed!

heart-warming for a dog lover

My Angels Wear Fur
Devon O'Day
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Essays | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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Out of Harm's Way

ASIN: 1401600298

Book Description

"Over the years, animal rescue and adoption have transformed my life over and over and over," says author Devon O'Day. In My Angels Wear Fur, her first collection of stories that chronicle the many animals she has rescued, Devon O'Day tells readers about:

Tennessee Tess: A stray dog delivered to her front door by a man working on a construction crew in the neighborhood and who ended up living the glamorous life in Hollywood with O'Day's sister, actress Faith Ford.

The Boxer of Mercy: A brindle boxer who delivers dogs in need to O'Day's front door. As soon as he knows the other dog is in good hands, the boxer disappears.

More than 30 well-written stories will warm your heart and make you understand what O'Day means when she says, "There is a God-like quality in animals. They love without judgment. They are loyal and caring and they see through each of us...to the hidden souls of our real beings."

Customer Reviews:

This really touched my heart and soul !.......2003-11-15

I just love dogs and I have a special place in my heart for all animals.This book really touched me. I'm really glad there is someone like Devon who takes care of these pets who need homes.
I too, was chosen by my sweet little Zoe, she acutally came into a steel warehouse and one of the guys brought her to the office where i worked, I instantly fell in love, she was so skinny and dirty. Now, she is healthy and happy! not to mention spoiled. We love her and my old cat even loves her too!

*The story of Darlene was sooo sweet! I hope she is somewhere taking care of someone and getting all the love she deserves !

WOW!!!!! What a WONDERFUL book!!!!!!.......2002-11-26

God put animals on this earth for us to love, cherish, and to keep safe. What a wonderful collection of stories!!! You'll laugh over one story, then cry over the next!!! I'm not a cat-lover; but this book makes me want to learn more about this creature!!!! Devon writes about her "angels"; but, it seems to me Devon herself is an angel who has shared her heart as well as her stories. I only hope more stories will follow!!!
Way to go, Devon!!!!!

Extraordinary Indeed!.......2002-11-02

This book is a superlative collection of stories involving a variety of animals, narrated in extraodinary dialogue of humor, insight and sometimes nostalgia! If you like pets, this book is a must! If you enjoy quality writing and pleasurable reading, this book is imperative! Attractive photos enhance this wonderful volume of fascinating, awesome chapters in the lives of a myriad of species!

heart-warming for a dog lover.......2002-10-15

I received this book for my 40th birthday. Like Devon, I am a dog lover. The stories she tells are of an animal-lover par excellence! I started reading the stories, with one of my three dogs in my lap, and begin sniffling, then sobbing. I wanted to go out and save every anmial! The spiritual ties are real; I, too, have experienced God's unconditional love from my furry angels. Thank you, Devon! I look forward to volume 2.

Average customer rating:
Music Collectibles: 6th Ed.
House Of Collectibles
Manufacturer: House of Collectibles
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0876375255
Release Date: 1986-10-12

Average customer rating:
Official Price Guide To Music Collectibles - 6th Ed.
House Of Collectibles -
Manufacturer: House Of Collectibles Publishing -
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QS6C8A

Customer Reviews:

Easy Nine Patch Quilting.......1999-12-11

This book is a great book in that it has a variety of patterns for all levels of quilters. I personally have made several of the patterns in the book. The directions are simple and easy to follow. I think they should put this book back in print!

Average customer rating:
George Herms: Then and Now: Fifty Years of Assemblage
Anthony Seraphin , and George Herms
Manufacturer: Seraphin Gallery
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Pop Culture | Graphic Design | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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Secrets of Rusty Things: Transforming Found Objects into Art

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Altered Curiosities: Assemblage Techniques and Projects

New Directions in Altered Books

ASIN: 0971928908
Release Date: 2003-04-02

Book Description

One of the founding members of the California Assemblage movement in the 1950s, George Herms and his colleagues made a name for themselves through their use of the discarded, greatly influencing the Pop artists to come. A 20th-century philosopher who uses objects instead of words to deliver quixotic thoughts, Herms, through his work, starts easy conversations with the viewer, making gentle, sometimes funny statements. All copies of Then and Now are signed.

Average customer rating:

www.ghanaweb.com: Business News of Monday, 1 October 2001

Great Read!!

Inspiring and insightful

Amazing story of Africa captured in the life of one girl

Honest and thought-provoking

Learning to Love Africa: My Journey from Africa to Harvard Business School and Back
Monique Maddy
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0066211107
Release Date: 2004-04-13

Book Description

From the remote mountains of Liberia to the epicenter of New York City, Monique Maddy's life has been an extraordinary journey from an idyllic community to the chaos of city living. But Learning to Love Africa is far more than an exile's dream of return. Sent to the west at the tender age of six by her doting father, Maddy has spent her entire life struggling to reclaimher father's dream of progress in his beloved homeland.

Born in Yekepa, a tiny village transformed into a utopian global community by a Swedish multinational corporation, Maddy introduces us to her remarkable father, Emmanuel, an enterprising driver-turned-restaurateur, and her mother, Julia, the descendant of an equally remarkable family of Mandingo entrepreneurs. With loving descriptions of life in this developing world, Maddy introduces us to the sophisticated business skills of her ancestors and shows how her family's acumen and emotional strength became a launching pad for her own ambitions.

In haunting passages that describe her schooling first in England and then in America, we see Maddy's gradual transformation from country girl to savvy intellectual. But her first attempt to return to the continent of her birth, under the auspices of the United Nations, leads only to embittered frustration when it becomes clear to her that the bureaucracy of the international organization will do little to actually improve the lives of Africans -- and will often make their already difficult existence even more miserable.

Disillusioned, Maddy returns to the United States to attend Harvard Business School where she hatches a bold plan to start a telecommunications company in Africa.

Rallying her fellow Harvard students, Maddy sets off to the continent of her birth once again. Learning to Love Africa tells the story of her two-fisted battle against the corruption of African politics and economic life on one hand and the complacency of her Harvard intern team on the other. Unbowed by the obstacles in her way, Maddy tells a rousing tale of what it takes to build a business where the political framework for capitalism doesn't exist, and how to persevere in bringing Africa into the twenty-first century.

Along the way, Maddy recounts with poignant regret and horror how her homeland slips into anarchy and civil war while her father's dream of a better life evaporates and his business and home are destroyed in the conflict. Emotionally charged, vividly described, and deeply felt, Learning to Love Africa is a memoir of despair for Africa, which seemingly has been written off by the developed world, and of tempered optimism for the future Maddy knows Africa can achieve.

Customer Reviews:

www.ghanaweb.com: Business News of Monday, 1 October 2001.......2006-02-18

REVIEW BY IAN MOUNT
www.ghanaweb.com: Business News of Monday, 1 October 2001

The Last Place to Start a Company
Monique Maddy tried and failed to launch a telephone service in Africa. She's moving on. Africa isn't.

Three short years ago, Monique Maddy was boasting that her company was going to "change people's lives" and "revolutionize things." Adesemi, the wireless pay-phone company she founded in 1993, had raised $37 million dollars, built a network in Tanzania, and moved into Ghana, and was planning to expand its service to the Ivory Coast. Maddy was the new face of African business. A Wall Street Journal article in September 1998 even proclaimed, "If the disenfranchised of Africa ever join the global economy, it won't be diplomats, politicians, or church people leading the way. It will be entrepreneurs like Monique Maddy."

It hasn't turned out that way. Maddy walked away from her company in disgust in the fall of '99. Her story is a familiar one, full of the government corruption that has become an African clichi, but the 39-year-old Maddy doesn't blame her company's demise on the bribery requests or Kafkaesque red tape. For the Liberian native, who's writing a book about third-world entrepreneurship to be published by HarperCollins next year, the real reason for Adesemi's failure and Africa's continental mire can be traced to the international development agencies that are designed to help the region. "Africa is worse off today -- in many countries -- than it was at independence, even though billions and billions have been spent," says Maddy, who herself served for five years as a United Nations Development Program officer. "As long as you have these kinds of institutions, you won't have any change."

Take Maddy's experience getting a pay-phone license. In mid-1995, a year after the Tanzanian national phone company granted Adesemi the license (and Adesemi had spent $1.5 million on its network), the phone company president said that it was no good because Adesemi's pay phones were wireless. Only after an acquaintance at the Harvard Business School, her alma mater, put her in touch with World Bank president James Wolfensohn did the matter get settled. The World Bank pushed the government just so far, however. The phone company insisted on charging Adesemi inflated rates to use its infrastructure. "When we asked the World Bank to do something about the rates, they said they couldn't tell the government what to do -- but they could lend them millions of dollars," says Maddy, referring to a $75 million interest-free loan the World Bank made to the national phone company. "They had a conflict of interest," she says.

Still, Adesemi kept at it, eventually building its network up to 600 pay phones and a pager service with 5,000 customers. The sell was easy, Maddy says, because Adesemi's phones actually functioned (the street nickname for the system was "the phones that work," she says).

When an Adesemi backer, CDC Capital Partners, refused to invest more money for the company's expansion into what Maddy argued were more profitable markets -- it wanted to see profitability in Tanzania first, despite the stacked odds -- she finally gave up. Maddy, who now lives in Boston, hasn't been to Tanzania since; her investors are selling off the network.

Not surprisingly, Maddy says her book will call for a radical departure from a system based on an international aid bureaucracy. "You basically have bureaucrats trying to develop countries," she says. "How many bureaucrats started Microsoft?"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Ian Mount

Great Read!!.......2005-10-20

Maddy writes a warm, but penitrating review of the life of her family, as well as the nation of Liberia.

She gives great insight into the exploitation of Africa by the west. She makes recommendations that companies and individuals should heed as they work in this great continent.

Her writing style is easy to read, and very to the point.

Inspiring and insightful.......2005-05-18

As someone who grew up overseas much like Monique, i deeply admire how she chose to use her acquired skills and network to give back to a continent in dire need of what rare individuals like her have to offer.

The book is enjoyable to read and deeply inspiring to anyone interested in contributing to third world development.

Amazing story of Africa captured in the life of one girl.......2005-05-17

As I read this book I couldn't help but notice how similar Monique's tale is to the story of Africa. She weaves us through a maze of emotions as we feel her joy, hope, determination only to be suddenly brought to earth with frustration, anger, desparation.

For anyone ever been to Africa rarely has a book come along that so perfectly captures the daily difficulties of survival in Africa. Though tongue-in-cheek Monique certainly understands clearly the difficulties facing that part of the world and I would hazard we'll be hearing more from her on this subject.

Oh by the way did I mention that she became a World Class marathon runner in her spare time?

Honest and thought-provoking.......2005-05-09

Monique Maddy eloquently articulates her humble upbringing in an isolated mining town in Liberia. She proves that through encouragement and a personal will to succeed, a first class education can be achieved despite limitations.

From the onset, Monique's love for Africa was the driving force for her to pursue a diplomatic career through the UN, with the specific desire to achieve positive changes in Africa. Her honest and provocative elucidation of the UN provides clarity and an understanding of the workings of the world body today. One, as a result is able to transport these sentiments in understanding the UN's intentions in African countries or at least the mechanics in trying to find solutions troubling Africa.

Subsequently, by starting Telecommunications Company, her vision was to create a sustainable African company which will positively impact on the economic landscape of Africa. The company had many successes and short comings. The failure of the business was a culmination of both the naivety of Monique and the corrupt, unscrupulous business dealings by her adversaries. To say that Monique Maddy and her team failed is discouraging.

What is encouraging is that a female born in a mining town in Africa was able to become a Harvard MBA graduate, to head a telecommunication company and to be a published author. Such achievements are not easily achievable within the African context. What is also encouraging is the emphasis that should Africa achieve the economic and social successes it can attain, more African entrepreneurs would be needed to shift the scale from consumers to producers.

The book for was for me, both inspiring and motivational. Well done Monique!

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