Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time

Book Description

The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban's backyard

Anyone who despairs of the individual's power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan's treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools—especially for girls—that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortenson's quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.

Customer Reviews:

A change your life book.......2007-10-02

This book was required reading for all incoming freshmen in Montana's university system this year, and my book club chose it last spring. At first I had a hard time "getting into" it. The first 50 pages or so I considered not finishing it...there were so many foreign names and places that half the time I couldn't put the letter sounds together to make words I could even understand...BUT THEN!
This book really grasps your soul. Every time I sat down to read I felt a wave of goosebumps over my excitement with this story.
This book is very motivational also. Everything you'll read makes so much sense about changing the world through education, but you'll also find yourself finding lessons and motivation for your own life as well.
I ABSOLUTELY loved this book. I've recommended it to everyone and I've passed my copy on to a friend. I also had the honor of hearing Greg Mortenson speak at a small community library, and he told his story to us like we were friends and family. It was wonderful!
You must read this book!

Buy it, read it, pass it on, give as a gift.......2007-10-01

For everything else that has already been said about this book. I agree. I also have to add that it is a page-turner. I had a hard time putting it down. I didn't expect that. I expect to be inspired and then, be unable to finish this worthy book. Instead, I was fascinated, enthralled, encouraged and rooting for Greg. I'm not finished the book yet, but I came online to order a copy for a friend. I highly recommend it.

Three cups of tea.......2007-09-30

I rated this book 5 stars. I had no idea who Greg Mortenson was until my
wife recommended his book to me. My only familiarity with Pakinstan and
Afhganistan was what I read about these countries in the news about the
Afghanistan-Iraq wars. I have a totally different concept of the people of these two countries after having read Greg's book. They are peaceful, loving, caring, intelligent people interested in the welfare of their children, whether male or female, and intent on educating them and
preparing them for the rest of their lives. I was so glad I read this book. It really opened my eyes.

If only we all took the step to reach out.......2007-09-30

Magnificient! If only we all took the step to reach out and make this world a better place for each unique human being on this earth. I couldn't put this book down because Greg is actually doing it on an amazingly large scale. If only each child in the world had the opportunity for education.....we can erase if only

A true inspiration.......2007-09-30

Greg Mortenson deserves a Nobel Peace Prize and this book tells the story of a real hero. I could hardly believe one person could be so devoted, brave, lucky, and true! It also tells of the Muslim people as generous human beings - the other side of the terrorists we read about in the papers all of the time. It's also another reminder of how fortunate we are in this country - especially the women

Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers

Average customer rating:

Fantastic!
A good kick in the pants!
This Book is the Bible for Women Who Want To Get Ahead
Excellent book
perfect guide for women in the business world

Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers
Lois P. Frankel
Manufacturer: Business Plus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0446531324

Book Description

n the bestselling tradition of Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman comes the breakthrough book that teaches women how to stop sabotaging their careers-and start getting ahead. For every professional woman who wants to get ahead-but feels she is at an impasse-NICE GIRLSDON'T GETTHECORNER OFFICE comes to the rescue. When overlooked for that special assignment or promotion, many women point the finger outwardly, looking for someone else to blame. Now, Lois P. Frankel presents a different view in her empowering career primer that helps women identify ingrained habits they learned as girls that may be holding them back, such as couching statements in a question, smiling inappropriately, tilting the head while speaking, and others. Only by overcoming these self-defeating behaviors will the 'nice girl' learn to leverage her power in the workplace-and claim the corner office she so richly deserves.

Download Description

For every professional woman who wants to get ahead—but feels she is at an impasse—NICE GIRLS DON'T GET THE CORNER OFFICE comes to the rescue. Although it's less threatening and more politically correct for women to point the finger outwardly when assessing why they are overlooked for promotions and assignments for which they are superbly qualified, the real answers may lie inward.
In this book, Dr. Lois Frankel, an internationally recognized corporate coach and author, reveals the 101 self-sabotaging behaviors women learn as girls-behaviors and habits that are now holding them back in the workplace, such as couching statements as questions, tilting your head when you speak, waiting to be noticed and pinching company pennies. From executive to entry level, every woman needs to know what she is doing to subconsciously sound, look, act, market herself, and/or be treated like a "girl". This book will help women to become aware of when and how they are damaging their career and it will give them the advice and tips they need to help replace these self-defeating behaviors with more effective ones—and finally claim the corner office they so richly deserve.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic!.......2007-09-12

I sure wish I had read this book years ago. I finaly understand a lot of issues that had always confused me, and I didn't realize how much I didn't know until I read this book. I'm buying copies for all of my close women colleagues, and starting on it again from the beginning. In fact, I know a lot of men who could benefit from reading this book!

A good kick in the pants!.......2007-08-27

This book was a great eye opener to the "girl" mistakes I make on a daily basis. I have read the book several times and each time I find something new to improve on. I have found myself passing on advice from the book to other women in the office.

This Book is the Bible for Women Who Want To Get Ahead.......2007-08-26

Nice Girls Don't Get The Corner Office is by far the best book I've ever read aimed at helping women own their power not only in the workplace but in every aspect of life. It's essentially a complete strategic plan for growing and advancing in your career. As a female business owner, I didn't realize how often I diminished my power by falling into many of the mistakes that Dr. Lois talks about in her groundbreaking book. This is one book that you need to keep in your professional development library.

Cassandra Mack, host of The No More Drama Hour of Power and author of, "The Single Mom's Little Book of Wisdom: 42 Tidbits of Wisdom To Help You Survive, Succeed and Stay Strong."

Excellent book.......2007-07-22

This book examines how the messages schoolgirls in America absorbed about being "nice" are detrimental to them once they join the workforce where the rules of expected behavior have long since been set by men. I gave my copy to a young woman I was mentoring who was afraid to ask for time off, when her male peers tended to just inform the higher-ups. I immediately recognized this behavior from the book, and insisted that she read it.

perfect guide for women in the business world .......2007-06-08

I like the book very much. It helped me much in my career.I made many mistakes before I found this book. I didn't believe the normal behavior of the women sabotage their career, but it is absolutely true. It helped me to gain a lot of success. It is a perfect guide for women. I would recommend this book to every ambitious business women, who would like to progress in her career. Good luck to everyone!

A-List #8, The: Heart of Glass: An A-List Novel (A-List)

Average customer rating:

Courtesy of Teens Read Too
Gotta have it
Pretty Good...
Heart of Glass
Heart of Glass

A-List #8, The: Heart of Glass: An A-List Novel (A-List)
Zoey Dean
Manufacturer: Poppy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0316010960

Book Description

The New York Times bestselling series about the scandalous lives of rich and famous teens in Beverly Hills, California.

High school is officially over and that means one thing for the A-List: time to party! But the celebration is cut short when unlikely pair Anna and Cammie find themselves in an even more unlikely situation--caught trespassing on a celeb's beach estate--and are forced to don steel handcuffs along with their Tiffany tennis bracelets. Luckily, the girls are spared a summer stuck in tacky orange jumpsuits when their hotshot lawyer lands them a cushy community service gig: helping plan a fabulous charity fashion show! But while it may seem like a plush job, Anna and Cammie are in for a challenge. Can the girls handle the pressure of the vicious fashion world? Or will they fall to pieces faster than a cheap Louis Vuitton knockoff?

Customer Reviews:

Courtesy of Teens Read Too.......2007-05-31

In the last book in the A-LIST series (American Beauty: An A-List Novel (A-List #7)), the gang had finally graduated while discovering some juicy secrets. Cammie had discovered more information on what really happened to her mother. Sam was finally reunited with Eduardo, and Anna met Caine, who was nothing like her boyfriend, Ben. And Ben's dirty little secret wasn't a secret any longer.

The A-Listers are back again in HEART OF GLASS, and this time with a little twist.

Anna and Cammie have to work together - that's right, together - on a charity fashion show. But they got off easy, since this little community service project was the result of getting caught trespassing on a celebrity's estate. No worries, these two can work together, right?

Anna and Caine are getting a little closer, while Ben doesn't seem to worry so much. While Adam and Cammie are trying to make things work, we're hoping that opposites really do attract. Sam is still trying to adjust to living with Poppy, and maybe trying to get rid of her at the same time, while making sure nothing goes wrong with her and Eduardo. And Dee, well, she's Dee, trying to get back on her feet.

The gang is back and it's going to be one sizzling summer.

Eighth in the series, HEART OF GLASS is still filled with secrets, lies, and plenty of drama. The best thing about this series is that the material is never old and it still keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat. The cast is still great and you just love Anna more and more after each book. Lets just say that HEART OF GLASS is more appealing than another episode of a certain teen drama on a new network - at least I'm experiencing something I haven't seen before!

Reviewed by: Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen

Gotta have it.......2007-05-24

I am crazy over this series ... i think that this book had to be the most mouth dropping one ... i almost feel like zoey can't write these books fast enough ... i feel like i can identify w/ every character on one level or another ... zoey dean delivers everytime you read one of her books

Pretty Good..........2007-05-17

I've been following the A-List novels since they came out a few years ago. There were tons of these book series floating around--the rich, cliquey girls who seemed to be mean and exclusionary--there were the Gossip Girls, the Clique... you get my drift.

Of all the books of that sort, A-List was the one that caught my eye. I followed it religiously for a while, but I got to one particular book in the series and almost gave up on it. The name-dropping and overall snobbery frustrated me to the point that I almost didn't give a flying ice cream cone about Anna and Ben or Dee's increasing psychosis.

Dean has redeemed herself with this last one, though. The characters are proving to be much more dimensional than first thought, and although they still tend to get themselves into outrageous situations, they are handling them with class and the kind of assertiveness I wish I'd had as a teenager. I really enjoyed this last book and I am looking forward to the "next juicy A-List novel."

Heart of Glass.......2007-05-14

Gabriela R. 5/11/07

Heart of Glass, Zoey Dean, ISBN: 0-316-01096-0

If you like Drama, Fashion, and Love then the Heart of Glass is the book you want to read. The main characters are Anna, Sam, Cammie, and Dee! Anna and Cammie got arrested for trespassing on a beach estate, but since their dad's hired really good lawyers they only got community service. Which is to help plan a charity fashion show. Since Anna started hanging out with Caine. Cammie decides to go and hang out with Ben hers and Anna's ex-boyfriend because Adam is camping and she just wants to have a little fun! Cammie finds out what really happened to her mother.

Sam suspects that Poppy her step-mother is cheating on her father the famous Jackson Sharpe so she gets her friend Parker to flirt with her so she can see if Poppy would really cheat. Anna and Cammie have to work with a girl named Champagne on the fashion show, but everyone says that she is a thief! Anna see Caine at a place call the Firehouse dancing on stage with no shirt on, she figures out that he is just like Ben always keeping secrets from her! But Ben is determined to fight for Anna!!!

Right before the fashion Show a dress is missing, everyone thinks it is Champagne but Cammie is on the case to find the real thief...will Sam find out if Poppy is really cheating on her dad... who will Anna choose Ben or Caine?

I really liked this book it was a page-turner because you want to see what will happen next. I recommend this book to girls 11 and up because this book talks a lot about fashion and girl problems!

Heart of Glass.......2007-05-14

[...]

If you like Drama, Fashion, and Love then the Heart of Glass is the book you want to read. The main characters are Anna, Sam, Cammie, and Dee! Anna and Cammie got arrested for trespassing on a beach estate, but since their dad's hired really good lawyers they only got community service. Which is to help plan a charity fashion show. Since Anna started hanging out with Caine Cammie decides to go and hang out with Ben hers and Anna's ex-boyfriend because Adam is camping and she just wants to have a little fun! Cammie finds out what really happened to her mother.

Sam suspects that Poppy her step-mother is cheating on her father the famous Jackson Sharpe so she gets her friend Parker to flirt with her so she can see if Poppy would really cheat. Anna and Cammie have to work with a girl named Champagne on the fashion show, but everyone says that she is a thief! Anna see Caine at a place call the Firehouse dancing on stage with no shirt on, she figures out that he is just like Ben always keeping secrets from her! But Ben is determined to fight for Anna!!!

Right before the fashion Show a dress is missing, everyone thinks it is Champagne but Cammie is on the case to find the real thief...will Sam find out if Poppy is really cheating on her dad... who will Anna choose Ben or Caine?

I really liked this book it was a page-turner because you want to see what will happen next. I recommend this book to girl 11 and up because this book talks a lot about fashion and girl problems!

Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls

Average customer rating:

On the upside...
Good to get it out there
Odd Girl Out---the book
Interesting interviews, but feels repetitive and incomplete.
Now I understand why some girls are suddenly so mean!

Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls
Rachel Simmons
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0156027348

Amazon.com

There is little sugar but lots of spice in journalist Rachel Simmons's brave and brilliant book that skewers the stereotype of girls as the kinder, gentler gender. Odd Girl Out begins with the premise that girls are socialized to be sweet with a double bind: they must value friendships; but they must not express the anger that might destroy them. Lacking cultural permission to acknowledge conflict, girls develop what Simmons calls "a hidden culture of silent and indirect aggression."

The author, who visited 30 schools and talked to 300 girls, catalogues chilling and heartbreaking acts of aggression, including the silent treatment, note-passing, glaring, gossiping, ganging up, fashion police, and being nice in private/mean in public. She decodes the vocabulary of these sneak attacks, explaining, for example, three ways to parse the meaning of "I'm fat."

Simmons is a gifted writer who is skilled at describing destructive patterns and prescribing clear-cut strategies for parents, teachers, and girls to resist them. "The heart of resistance is truth telling," advises Simmons. She guides readers to nurture emotional honesty in girls and to discover a language for public discussions of bullying. She offers innovative ideas for changing the dynamics of the classroom, sample dialogues for talking to daughters, and exercises for girls and their friends to explore and resolve messy feelings and conflicts head-on.

One intriguing chapter contrasts truth telling in white middle class, African-American, Latino, and working-class communities. Odd Girl Out is that rare book with the power to touch individual lives and transform the culture that constrains girls--and boys--from speaking the truth. --Barbara Mackoff

Book Description

Dirty looks and taunting notes are just a few examples of girl bullying that girls and women have long suffered through silently and painfully. With this book Rachel Simmons elevated the nation's consciousness and has shown millions of girls, parents, counselors, and teachers how to deal with this devastating problem. Poised to reach a wider audience in paperback, including the teenagers who are its subject, Odd Girl Out puts the spotlight on this issue, using real-life examples from both the perspective of the victim and of the bully.

Customer Reviews:

On the upside..........2007-06-09

What an incredible walk through our nation's schools--though only eye-opening because I didn't realize how prevalent my own experiences were among others. How sad that girlhood aggression has been labeled a "culture". On the upside, that ought to give it the attention that such destructive behavior is due. I know, I know, it's been said before: EVERY girl and her mother needs to read this.

Good to get it out there.......2007-05-02

I think the value in this book is its ablility to open up discussions about this subject. For generations, nothing has been said about it. Parents, teachers, school administrators, nobody wanted to talk about it. Without that discussion, nothing will ever change.

Odd Girl Out is beautifully written, sometimes heart-breaking, often maddening. I would have liked to have seen the author offer more solutions to the problem, but overall, I think it is a very valuable book and would recommend it to anyone with daughters.

Odd Girl Out---the book.......2007-04-15

Great book, very easy to read. Parents and girls should read this.

Interesting interviews, but feels repetitive and incomplete........2007-04-10

In Rachel Simmons' book, "Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls," she introduces us to three hundred girls from thirty schools across the country. Blasting the stereotype that girls are the kinder, gentler sex, Simmons' premise is that girls are taught to "be nice" and to "make friends," and, as a result, are unable to express anger that might destroy the façade of friendship. Because our culture does not grant girls "permission" to confront conflict directly, Simmons asserts, there exists a "hidden culture of silent and indirect aggression" consisting of "backbiting, exclusion, rumors, name-calling, and manipulation to inflict psychological pain on targeted victims." Simmons remembers how she felt when a third grader named Abby told the other girls not to play with her; she remembers her own responsibility in giving another girl the silent treatment. It is from that base of personal experience that Simmons conducted her interviews.

The book consists of Simmons interviews...many, many interviews. Over time, the interviews begin to seem mind-numbingly similar. Natalie's story, Lisa's story, Molly's story, Dina's story...each story becomes repetitive. At one point, I set the book aside for a week and found that I had lost my place. I attempted to find the exact page where I had stopped reading, but I found that it was impossible to do so. Since none of the stories stood out distinctly in my mind, I gave up my search for the "right" page; I picked a random early chapter that I knew I must have read already and resumed my reading.

I enjoyed reading the book, even given its repetitiveness problems, and with a lifetime of experience being the "odd girl out," I found it somewhat cathartic to read stories of young women who had experienced similar trauma. Simmons does some things well. Her explanation of the devastating impact of girls' aggression is compelling, and she does an excellent job of describing the dynamics of the hidden aggression. In addition, Simmons relates the various interviews in a compassionate and thoughtful manner.

Where she does not succeed, however, is in giving her readers tangible suggestions about ways to address the problems she emphasizes.
Odd Girl Out contains two hundred and seventy pages, but it is only during the last thirty of those pages that Simmons addresses possible solutions to the problems she outlines. In those thirty pages, Simmons tells readers to talk to their daughters, to tell teachers about what is happening, and to make sure that teachers take the problems seriously. Those are reasonable suggestions, but I wanted more. I did not find a plan to keep these things from happening to my young adult daughter in the first place, nor did I find a plan of action in the event these things happen to my daughter. It is not enough to recommend we talk to our daughters and to their teachers - my friends and I could suggest that plan to one another over a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Simmons has made a good first step in raising awareness of the problem. She needed to work harder, though, to provide parents and teachers with skills and with plans for action when facing these issues.

Now I understand why some girls are suddenly so mean!.......2007-03-14

I read this book in preparation for my daughter's middle school years. I can honestly say it helped prepare me the first time she came home in distress over a friendship that had taken a negative turn. It gives insight into what might be going on in a girl's mind when she suddenly starts displaying RA tactics, and the devastating effects it has on both the aggressor and the victim.

My daughter took great comfort from this book as well as the companion book, Odd Girl Speaks Out - they helped her understand her friend's possible motives and gave her some tools to use to turn the situation around. It also helped me open up a dialogue with her school, who were very responsive. RA can be overcome, but you have to educate yourself and your community. Sometimes this has to start with the parent, not the teachers. This book is a fantastic first step.

Every Young Woman's Battle: Guarding Your Mind, Heart, and Body in a Sex-Saturated World (The Every Man Series)

Average customer rating:

Great Advice!
P-E-R-F-E-C-T!!!
Does not provide complex and nuanced strategies, which are essential for intensely complex dilemmas
A "Must-Read" for teenage girls
fantastic!

Every Young Woman's Battle: Guarding Your Mind, Heart, and Body in a Sex-Saturated World (The Every Man Series)
Shannon Ethridge , and Stephen Arterburn
Manufacturer: WaterBrook Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1578568560
Release Date: 2004-07-20

Book Description

Guys Aren’t the Only Ones Fighting a Battle for Purity.

The world you live in promotes sex as the answer to just about everything. The pressure to go along with the crowd is greater than ever before, and it’s easy to compromise in little ways that are a lot more harmful than they seem. You and your friends may become caught up in destructive relationships or sexual activities without even knowing how you got there. You just want to be normal–to fit in, to be liked, to look attractive to the opposite sex. But are you paying too high a price?
This counterpart to the award-winning Every Young Man’s Battle can help you:

· learn how the sexual battle begins in your heart and mind
· understand your hunger for attention from guys
· recognize and avoid the potential pitfalls awaiting young women on the journey toward adulthood and possibly marriage
· find out how the media, novels, fashion, internet chat rooms, and body and beauty obsessions influence your sexual choices–and what you can do about it
· guard your mind, heart, and body against sexual and emotional compromise
· develop a deeper, more satisfying level of intimacy with God

Whether you have so far protected yourself emotionally and sexually, feel that you’ve been robbed of your purity, or have given in to temptation in some way, this book can help you achieve or reclaim sexual integrity. It can also guide you through the temptations and pressures of young adulthood while demonstrating how you can live your life to the fullest–without regrets.

Customer Reviews:

Great Advice!.......2007-09-06

Awesome book! Another great book that I recommend - How to be a Super Hot Woman: 339 Tips to Make Every Man Fall in Love with You and Every Woman Envy You

P-E-R-F-E-C-T!!!.......2007-08-21

Another bestseller which I love and recommend - How to be a Super Hot Woman: 339 Tips to Make Every Man Fall in Love with You and Every Woman Envy You

Both books are a must read for every woman!

Does not provide complex and nuanced strategies, which are essential for intensely complex dilemmas.......2007-07-31

Do not buy this book. If you are curious and want to evaluate it for yourself, borrow it from your local library (ask for it via inter-library loan if your library does not hold a copy).

Girls who have not acknowledged their own healthy sexual desires, who have not thought about their sexual desires in context with their other desires (to date, to connect with other people, to not have sex until marriage, to find and marry a person with similar values, etc.), and who have not pre-conceptualized how they might manage predictable situations will find themselves ill prepared to handle those situations.

"Every Young Woman's Battle: Guarding Your Mind, Heart, and Body in a Sex-Saturated World" does not help prepare or guide the girl who is alone with her boyfriend and finds herself intensely aroused while kissing him. Libido only looses its clarity, not its intensity, when jumbled with the social and cultural complexities of sexuality.

Ethridge and Arterburn do not provide complex and nuanced tools and strategies, which are essential for deeply complex challenges. Hopefully they can do so in their next addition, or perhaps another author will.

In the mean time I think girls and women would be better off reading "Every Young Man's Battle: Strategies for Victory in the Real World of Sexual Temptation" along with "Dilemmas of Desire: Teenage Girls Talk about Sexuality" by Deborah L. Tolman. (Ethridge and Arterburn should read Tolman's book as well.)

Dilemmas of Desire: Teenage Girls Talk about Sexuality

A "Must-Read" for teenage girls.......2007-07-16

If there had been a book like this for me when I was a teenager in the 70's, I could have saved myself many mistakes. The book answers questions every parent wants to answer but may not know how to or have the nerve to, in a way that is straightforward and scripturally based. I suggest parents and daughters read this one together. We read it together in our high school youth group while the boys read it's companion book, "Every Young Man's Battle". It helps everyone understand why they should remain sexually pure until marriage.

fantastic!.......2007-05-17

This book was real. It touched on the soultion for dealing with constant thoughts of the opposite sex as well as forgiving yourself for your past. Everyone is a new creature when they ask for forgiveness and this book did a great job of reminding us of that. I recommend this book to ALL young preteens, teen age, and young women. Anyone who is interested in EVER dating.

Bad Girls of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them

Average customer rating:

Intriging Title
The world never changes
Female Chauvinist
Great book for Women's bible study
Funny, moving, meaningful

Bad Girls of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them
Liz Curtis Higgs
Manufacturer: WaterBrook Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1578561256
Release Date: 1999-08-17

Amazon.com

Jezebel and Delilah have plenty to teach contemporary Christian women, according to Bad Girls of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them. In this self-help book, Liz Curtis Higgs tells fictionalized, contemporary stories based on the lives of biblical characters including Eve, Potiphar's Wife, and the Woman at the Well. In verse-by-verse commentary, Higgs summarizes each life's lessons and provides a list of questions for personal consideration or group discussion. The overall message of each chapter is the same: "Good Girls and Bad Girls both need a Savior. The goodness of your present life can't open the doors of heaven for you. The badness of your past life can't keep you out either." In its effort to turn readers' minds heavenward, Bad Girls draws a distinction between fun and joy. Associated with "fleshly pleasures," fun "is temporary at best; it's risky, even dangerous, at worst." Joy, on the other hand, is found in God's "gift of grace." Perhaps the book's greatest weakness is its inability to see that "fun," in many lives, is a holy and necessary means of attaining "joy." --Michael Joseph Gross

Book Description

Women everywhere marvel at those “good girls” in Scripture–Sarah, Mary, Esther–but on most days, that’s not who they see when they look in the mirror. Most women (if they’re honest) see the selfishness of Sapphira or the deception of Delilah. They catch of glimpse of Jezebel’s take-charge pride or Eve’s disastrous disobedience. Like Bathsheba, Herodias, and the rest, today’s modern woman is surrounded by temptations, exhausted by the demands of daily living, and burdened by her own desires.

So what’s a good girl to do? Learn from their lives, says beloved humor writer Liz Curtis Higgs, and by God’s grace, choose a better path. In Bad Girls of the Bible, Higgs offers a unique and clear-sighted approach to understanding those “other women” in Scripture, combining a contemporary retelling of their stories with a solid, verse-by-verse study of their mistakes and what lessons women today can learn from them.

Whether they were “Bad to the Bone,” “Bad for a Season, but Not Forever” or only “Bad for a Moment,” these infamous sisters show women how not to handle the challenges of life. With her trademark humor and encouragement, Liz Curtis Higgs teaches us how to avoid their tragic mistakes and joyfully embrace grace.

Customer Reviews:

Intriging Title.......2007-06-27

Used this in an adult Sunday School class. More attendees than normal. Very well presented and received by the class. Thank you Liz!!!

The world never changes.......2007-05-27

We are studying this in Sunday School. The input from the book and all the other ladies is amazing. This is a great book for boosting our self esteem and learning to depend on GOD more.

Female Chauvinist .......2007-03-10

Our church book study group mistakenly purchased this Bad Girls of the Bible instead of the one by the other author.

While I had great difficulty getting through the first chapter, I am now using this book to improve my understanding of the Bible, and to learn more about ancient times.

This writer makes-up her own story lines, and conveniently leaves out portions of chapters and verses that do not fit her story line. For example, in chapter two, she states that Egypt where Joseph is held as a slave by Potiphar, is a dry hot land. Perhaps she should read just a little earlier in the Bible. In Genesis 13:10, we are told different.
10 Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar.

While the ordering of this book was a mistake on the part of the person who ordered the books for us, I believe it is a Godsend for us to read and discuss this book, though I doubt we will actually be using the questions at the end of each chapter. Instead we will ask questions regarding her inaccurate portrayal of these women and the facts of history.

Great book for Women's bible study.......2007-02-06

Our women's small group has gotten alot of knowledge and insight from this book! Bad Girls of the Bible helps us discuss some topics that we might not otherwise. The author is wonderful at helping us see the character of these women. It is very well written. I highly recommend this book for a bible study with your girlfriends!

Funny, moving, meaningful.......2007-01-11

Liz Curtis Higgs juxtaposes fiction and nonfiction in the same book. Read the stories of modern "bad girls" while guessing what Bible character they represent. Then read the nonfiction essay on the Biblical "bad girl". Find out how they were bad, why they were bad, and what God did about it. Liz describes herself as a "former bad girl", so she really gets inside the skin of these women. This book is so good that I can't keep it on hand. I've lent out and given away multiple copies to women who never fail to enjoy the book and experience God in a meaningful way. Get one for yourself and one for your daughter/mother/best friend. (I'm a former bad girl myself.) Then go for Really Bad Girls of the Bible and Unveiling Mary Magdalene by the same author.

Average customer rating:

Waste Of Time
Research is interesting, but much like the hookup the results unsatisfying
Boys (and girls) like sex. So? What else is new?
Well, this is what I've got so far ..
Compelling and informative

Unhooked
Laura Sessions Stepp
Manufacturer: Riverhead Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1594489386

Book Description

An eye-opening examination of the hookup culture, seen through the personal experiences of high school-and college-age women who confront the hard lessons of dating, love, and sex.

We're living in an increasingly sexualized world, and it's the young-particularly young women-who must deal with the consequences. Kids are having more sexual contact than ever, and at an earlier age. They call it "hooking up." But what is "hooking up"? According to Laura Sessions Stepp, a reporter at The Washington Post, hooking up eludes a neat definition. It can be anything from an innocent kiss to sexual.

In Unhooked, Stepp follows three groups of young women (one in high school, one each at Duke and George Washington universities). She sat with them in class, socialized with them, listened to them talk, and came away with some disturbing insights, including that hooking up carries with it no obligation on either side. Relationships and romance are seen as messy and time-consuming, and love is postponed-or worse, seen as impossible. Some young women can handle this, but many can't, and they're being battered-physically and emotionally-by the new dating landscape. The result is a generation of young people stymied by relationships and unsure where to turn for help.

"The need to be connected intimately to others is as central to our well-being as food and shelter," Stepp writes in Unhooked. "In my view, if we don't get it right, we're probably not going to get anything else in life right."

Customer Reviews:

Waste Of Time.......2007-09-10

Really, this book is like a very poorly written novel about girls and their antics at college. Very verbose and way too much detail about furnitiure, clothes, etc. Could have been condensed to 5-10 pages.

Research is interesting, but much like the hookup the results unsatisfying.......2007-06-25

Laura Sessions Stepp's Unhooked is a well researched but ultimately unfulfilling book about the changes in sexual culture among today's adolescents and college students. While her original research is quite well done - there's enough here to qualify for an anthropology degree - and deserves 5 stars, once she ventures from the subject of teenagers having sex she badly overreaches. I take two stars off for the latter, giving it 3 overall.

Stepp is a writer for the Washington Post who has put in a substantial amount of work in the last few years on teenage sexuality, and like many other reporters decided to publish a book; Unhooked is the result. When she stays on the subject of teenagers and college students having sex and how the culture both differs from their parents' generation and has significant destructive aspects, this is a powerful book. To sum up her argument in a sentence, women under 25 are far more promiscuous, far more demanding sexually, and far less interested in relationships than their elders. Interview after interview points out how early girls start doing things that their parents took very seriously but they don't, how they are far more comfortable talking about it without social consequence, and how young women are now playing the same games that young men did all along - the "walk of shame" has been renamed the "stride of pride," and Stepp makes a pretty good argument that a good chunk of this comes from women "empowering" themselves. As a result, this generation of young women has largely postponed having meaningful relationships despite wanting the same thing their mothers did (albeit at a later age) - marriage and children. All this is very interesting stuff.

That's about half the book. It lags when she starts getting into the "whys" and "what can be done" parts, where Stepp has little research and doesn't do a particuarly good job of supporting her arguments. It's not that some of her conclusions don't make sense - particularly that many members of this generation have been babied and entitled beyond belief, and as she puts it "it might have been better to take them to church or a mosque" rather than wipe their knee every time they scraped it - but there's a good slug of academic research on the subject that Stepp doesn't incorporate, and as a result the policy part tends toward preaching rather than thoughtful discussion.

Another major problem here is that she focuses almost exclusively on the experience of young women, despite coming up with the conclusion that "young men are as dissatisfied with hooking up as young women." There is a strong sense of feminism gone awry here - a long section talks nostalgically about how men were once required to woo women, but doesn't discuss why perhaps men might not be nearly as interested in doing so given the major shifts in the roles between men and women over the last twenty years (which Stepp dismisses as a result that men can have a lot of sex a lot easier) - and a better book would have taken a long leap across the war of the sexes to figure out what young men were really thinking as well. It takes two to tango.

Still, the original research on this generation is worth a read, although parents probably shouldn't be rushing out to lock kids up until they're thirty as a result of reading this. Each generation scares their parents silly, and while there are certainly very, very good reasons to be scared about the "entitlement generation" there are other books that do a better job of explaining why their kids are doing what they're doing.

Boys (and girls) like sex. So? What else is new?.......2007-06-17

Having once been young, I all too well remember that young people always think themselves wise enough for any endeavor; now, with age, I know it's the same confidence of old drunks who think they are still sober.

So it is with this book, a tut-tut-tutting account of youth who embrace sex as the jalapeno of life before learning that it is a spice and not a main course. It's similar to the fate of youth and cars, or youth and alcohol, or youth and guns. Inevitably some overindulge and hurt themselves. Tell me about a time when it wasn't so.

Given the choice of youthful angst with or without sex, many young people have decided sex is merely a sensuous bodily pleasure. The lack of love, commitment and romance is shocking to some, but by the time they marry they've been hurt often enough to finally make a reasonably wise choice. The same is true for alcohol; most learn, after a few hangovers, that moderation is a much longer lasting pleasure.

The proof is evident in the divorce rates. Figures compiled by Steven Martin of the University of Maryland indicate about 45 percent of women without a high school degree are divorced within 10 years of their first marriage, compared to about 15 percent for those with a college degree. When it comes to children raised by a single mother, almost 40 percent of the mothers have less than a high school degree; about 10 percent of single mothers have a college degree or better.

Sex was the last taboo for most women; first it was hem lines, then smoking in public, then alcohol and, in the 1960s, the advent of a little pill which let them delay having children without delaying their inner urges. None of this changes or erases the agony of youth; regardless of what anyone does, something different often looks better in retrospect.

Stepp has written a riveting account of sex for fun among the young, and the severe hangovers it sometimes causes. A similar book should be written about virgins who marry at 17 and divorce by 20 after the collapse of their illusions and delusions. It's not easy being young, regardless of how anyone chooses to live.

When will someone write that youth is sometimes unmitigated agony (with or without sex). But, out of this misery can come a lifetime of happiness, pleasure and commitment?

Easy sex isn't a mistake. It's a process of learning what isn't suitable. Think of Thomas Edison and his thousand experiments to develop a lightbulb; his unsuccessful attempts weren't failures, he thought of them as having learned what doesn't work. It's time for authors to think of "hooking up" in the same practical manner; it's something youth already knows, and adults need to learn.

Well, this is what I've got so far .........2007-05-21

Unhooked

So far, I enjoy reading this book. Once I reiceived it in the mail, I started reading and couldn't put it down. It describes a lot of what's going on with women who are in their older years in high school and college. It can help mothers or older women to understand what could be going on in their daughters or even sons lives.

Compelling and informative.......2007-05-15

Good non-fiction, to my mind, should be 1) fun and engaging to read, much like a good novel, and 2) informative and enlightening. _Unhooked_ more than satisfies both of these requirements. The stories are told in a way that compels you to keep reading; each has a plot. And I learned so much from this book about a campus culture that was just beginning to develop when I graduated from college in 1993. I was particularly struck by Stepp's dead-on observation that young women have been taught to put achievement first and not to value relationships -- that "love can wait." But of course they still have sex, so sex becomes unconnected from relationships. Stepp's commentary, I believe, adds to rather than takes away from the stories, providing very needed context. One of the best books I have read this year.

Average customer rating:

A fine story of a dangerous quest emerges, involving listeners in a delicate, finely honed drama.
I will buy his next book but...
The lyrical prose and powerful sense of place
As Publisher's Weekly said, "a snoozer."
Not the Piano Tuner

A Far Country
Daniel Mason
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0375414665
Release Date: 2007-03-06

Book Description

From the best-selling author of The Piano Tuner, a stunning new novel about a young girl’s journey through a vast, unnamed country in search of her brother.

Raised in a remote village on the edge of a sugarcane plantation, fourteen-year-old Isabel was born with the gift and curse of “seeing farther.” When drought and war grip the backlands, her brother Isaias joins a great exodus to a teeming city in the south. Soon Isabel must follow, forsaking the only home she’s ever known, her sole consolation the thought of being with her brother again. But when she arrives, she discovers that Isaias has disappeared. Weeks and then months pass, until one day, armed only with her unshakable hope, she descends into the chaos of the city to find him.

Told with astonishing empathy, and strikingly visual, the story of Isabel’s quest—her dignity and determination, her deeply spiritual world—is a universal tale about the bonds of family and a sister’s love for her brother, about journeys and longing, survival and true heroism.

A tour de force of great emotional and narrative power.

Customer Reviews:

A fine story of a dangerous quest emerges, involving listeners in a delicate, finely honed drama........2007-09-08

Anne Twomey narrates this vivid story of a young girl's journey through an unnamed country in search of her brother. Isabel has the gift of second sight - when war changes her life and separates her from her brother, it may be the only thing that can help her locate him. A fine story of a dangerous quest emerges, involving listeners in a delicate, finely honed drama.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I will buy his next book but..........2007-09-07

I wanted to love this as much as I loved "The Piano Tuner"...but it just didn't grab me. I spent much of the time trying to figure out if we were in the present day or in the future when global warming has REALLY kicked in. (I kept getting a feeling like I was reading "Friend of the Earth" meets "The Running Man".)

I also thought maybe more would be made of the "sixth sense" of the main character. All of this second guessing means that I didn't appreciate the careful drawing of Isabel and her relationship with her brother. I liked it - but not in a way that will stay with me the way Mason's first book did.

The lyrical prose and powerful sense of place.......2007-05-30

Daniel Mason's haunting THE PIANO TUNER left an indelible imprint on my memory, which helped to launch a never-to-be forgotten visit to Southeast Asia in 2004. Such can be the power of a gifted writer --- that the potency of his words can open doors and windows of the mind to seek further information on the subject, learn more about the circumstances in the book, or even to book passage to lands far away. So it was with great hopes when Mason's newest, A FAR COUNTRY, became available, and I grabbed it without hesitation.

Isabel is the 14-year-old daughter of a farm laborer and his wife, living next to a sugar cane plantation in an unnamed equatorial America country, quite likely Brazil. Her older brother Isaias is a talented violinist who chafes at the idea of being forever tied to seasonal work cutting cane or loading river barges, the occupation of villagers for generations. Drought and the increasing attacks by raiders as poverty spreads among the displaced peasants drive Isais to join the growing Diaspora of young people who drift hopefully toward the city in the south. On his infrequent returns home, he talks glowingly of gaining fame as a musician, always going back to the city and sending small amounts of money to help out his impoverished family. His visits stop, replaced by occasional phone calls, and then he simply vanishes.

Isabel yearns for her brother, and when she is needed to babysit for a few weeks for her cousin in the same city that has swallowed Isaias, she is eager to follow him. With little more than a few dollars and a meager lunch, she embarks on a journey via "parrot perch" --- riding in an open flatbed truck on a four-day journey to the South. She arrives, after much travail, in The Settlements. She has directions to her cousin's apartment in a neighborhood called Eden, a name that turns out to be a cruel joke. Eden is nothing more than an endless sprawl of tin-roofed shanties, baking in the tropical heat, indistinguishable from hundreds of other neighborhoods housing millions of displaced camposinos in pursuit of work and shelter. When she finally locates the apartment, she is distraught to find that Isaias, whom she expected to be there to greet her, has not been seen for weeks.

And so begins Isabel's search through the teeming city for her brother, with baby Hugo, her cousin's son, on her hip. Isabel was born with a second sight, an ability that frightened her parents to the degree that they had her exorcized by a holy woman. But she still feels the uncanny, compelling presence of her brother, which drives her to find him. She enters the world of people looking for "the disappeared" --- the tens of thousands who come to the city and are never heard from again. Yet she feels that he is close at hand, watching over her, and cannot abandon her quest.

A FAR COUNTRY is a bittersweet journey of the heart; a story of family love yearning for security and survival. Mason's brilliant lyrical prose carries the reader along in a mixture of fantasy and reality. While the story verges on magical realism, it is not in the mystical realm of Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Isabel Allende. Yet the surreal location and Isabel's ability to find lost objects and people whom she loves lend itself to the genre.

While A FAR COUNTRY doesn't quite achieve the magic and panoramic exotica of Mason's first triumph, it still offers the lyrical prose and powerful sense of place, which is quite enough if armchair travel to other places through a good book is your goal.

--- Reviewed by Roz Shea

As Publisher's Weekly said, "a snoozer.".......2007-05-14

Reviews by Amazon readers were very encouraging but I should have read the Publisher's Weekly review at the top of the page. That review gets it exactly right; good descriptive writing, but a bit cliched, and ultimately a snoozer. If I had not been trapped on a 10-hour flight with nothing else to read, I would have put it down half way through when I realized there was very little story, just description.

Not the Piano Tuner.......2007-05-09

As stated in many of the reviews, Mason certainly has a talent for writing truly amazing descriptions of reality; however, that is basically all this novel is. I couldn't get into the story, what there was of it. Mason's earlier novel, Piano Tuner was phenomenal in that it was not only deliciously descriptive, but it also a great story. I just didn't enjoy this story. To be frank, I found it a bit boring. Having said that, I will eagerly await Mason's next novel.

Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence

Average customer rating:

A great book for moms of preteen girls
A must-read to understand adolescent girls OR boys!
Realistic and honest
A "must read" for every parent!!!
Disappointed

Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence
Rosalind Wiseman
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Accessories:

ASIN: 1400047927
Release Date: 2003-03-04

Book Description

The Basis for the Movie Mean Girls
PARENTS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN GIRL WORLD

Do you feel as though your adolescent daughter exists in a different world, speaking a different language and living by different laws? She does.

This groundbreaking book takes you inside the secret world of girls’ friendships, translating and decoding them, so parents can better understand and help their daughters navigate through these crucial years. Rosalind Wiseman has spent more than a decade listening to thousands of girls talk about the powerful role cliques play in shaping what they wear and say, how they feel about school, how they respond to boys, and how they feel about themselves. In this candid and insightful book, Wiseman discusses:

• Queen Bees, Wannabes, Targets, Torn Bystanders, and others: how to tell what role your daughter plays and help her be herself
• Girls’ power plays, from birthday invitations to cafeteria seating arrangements and illicit parties, and how to handle them
• Good popularity and bad popularity: how cliques bear on every situation
• Hip Parents, Best-Friend Parents, Pushover Parents, and others: examine your own parenting style, “Check Your Baggage,” and identify how your own background and biases affect how you relate to your daughter
• Related movies, books, websites, and organizations: a carefully annotated resources section provides opportunities to follow up on your own and with your daughter

Enlivened with the voices of dozens of girls and parents and a welcome sense of humor, Queen Bees and Wannabes is compelling reading for parents and daughters alike. A conversation piece and a reference guide, it offers the tools you need to help your daughter feel empowered and make smarter choices.

Customer Reviews:

A great book for moms of preteen girls.......2007-06-08

This book was such an eye opener. It helped me to not only understand where my girls are right now but also helped me understand some of the things I experienced as a girl in middle and highschool. I think every mother of a preteen daughter should read this book.

A must-read to understand adolescent girls OR boys!.......2007-05-07

Though this book is intended for parents, anyone who spends time with young people- mentors, teachers, program administrators, etc.- will benefit from the insights and detailed instructions contained in this highly readable volume!

It is clear that Ms. Wiseman has done her homework. Working with diverse groups of teenagers for years myself and having been one not THAT long ago) I recognize and relate to the characters and conflicts she describes and value the advice she offers.

If you've seen the movie, MEAN GIRLS, which was based on this book, you've gotten a small taste of what's addressed here- cliques, fads, teen politics, gossip, sex, and parental influence- but there's lots more!

And for those of us who are raising boys to be honorable and respectful young men, Queen Bees and Wannabes is a terrific resource, too.

I've often heard that there is no "manual" for raising kids. I respectfully disagree- there are MANY manuals for raising kids and this is the best one I've read dealing with adolescents and teens.

READ it and encourage others to do so. The young people in your life will thank you for it!

Realistic and honest.......2007-04-20

I am a 25 year-old girl who has experienced many of the situations cited in this book, either as the target or the bully. I grew up an overweight, unpopular, artsy little girl. In the 8th grade, I lost a ton of weight, grew, and my clothes became trendy. Needless to say, things changed. With one easy swoop, I went from victim to bully. Only now, as a (young) adult, I come to terms with both my nerdy, victim past and my mean girl high school years, with the help of this book. As other reviwers noted, most teenage girls will probbaly experience both sides of the scenario and often are a combination of the traits lised for each of the diff. person. types. As others noted with this book, there is no judgement imposed on the "mean girls". Most girls have "mean" moments, no matter how quiet, shy or unassuming, and I think Wiseman portrays this accurately. Sometimes, the worst bullying is from girls who simply follow others or stealthily do things, like not inviting someone out with a group of friends or not being honest because they're too "nice". I find it completely annoying that alot of the mothers/teachers/family friends/etc. who are commenting on here refuse to believe that their daughtes/students are not like that. ALL girls, or kids, are to some degree. It doesn't make them evil or not great kids. It makes them human. You can still be "hysterically funny, kind, emotional, creative and most of all INDIVIDUALS" as one reviwer wrote but still have mean girl moments. I don't think Wiseman oversimplifies. I think alot of the parents and teacher do in their reviews. Kids are much more complex than being good or bad. The mean girls need love too and have problems as well. I'd like to believe that some people are just mean and that's it but that's often not the case. Some are defensive or have family problems or are insecure or are being abused or may be depressed. Wiseman doesn't demonize anyone in this book, which I find great. In addition, to the reviewer who said she has no credentials and should not be writing about this, as a youngish adult woman, I'd rather have someone who knows what goes on and is close in age commenting on this stuff than someone who is out of touch.

A "must read" for every parent!!!.......2007-04-01

It can be painful to look back honestly at your junior high and high school experiences. But it will better enable you to help your children navigate through those emotionally turbulent years. Rosalind Wiseman has the personal and professional experience to guide any reader to a better understanding of the pitfalls and landmines on this journey. She offers not only her words, but the words of many 11-21 year olds that are currently in the trenches. Very interesting, very insightful, and seemingly dead on target. A surprisingly easy read although the subject matter is almost gruesome at times, in the degree of painful insight it offers.

Disappointed.......2007-02-28

Just not that impressed with this book. The write-up was much better than the book itself. Superficial. Will be selling my copy as used.

A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland Indiana (Today Show Book Club #3)

Average customer rating:

A Girl Named Zippy
I liked reading a memoir that was just plain fun
A bit lacking in zip...
Just What I Needed ....
Delightful and witty!

A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland Indiana (Today Show Book Club #3)
Haven Kimmel
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0767915054
Release Date: 2002-09-03

Book Description

When Haven Kimmel was born in 1965, Mooreland, Indiana, was a sleepy little hamlet of three hundred people. Nicknamed "Zippy" for the way she would bolt around the house, this small girl was possessed of big eyes and even bigger ears. In this witty and lovingly told memoir, Kimmel takes readers back to a time when small-town America was caught in the amber of the innocent postwar period–people helped their neighbors, went to church on Sunday, and kept barnyard animals in their backyards.

Laced with fine storytelling, sharp wit, dead-on observations, and moments of sheer joy, Haven Kimmel's straight-shooting portrait of her childhood gives us a heroine who is wonderfully sweet and sly as she navigates the quirky adult world that surrounds Zippy.

Download Description

Laced with fine storytelling, sharp wit, dead-on observations, and moments of sheer joy, Haven Kimmel's straight-shooting portrait of her childhood gives us a heroine who is wonderfully sweet and sly as she navigates the quirky adult world that surrounds Zippy.

Customer Reviews:

A Girl Named Zippy.......2007-10-01

Cute and thoughtful. An easy read that makes you remember how things were different way back when.

I liked reading a memoir that was just plain fun.......2007-08-29

I was able to laugh through this memoir..I have since picked up her second memoir and I am saving that for a rainy (or snowy) day when I can kick back and read it all day long-

A bit lacking in zip..........2007-08-07

It seems as though everyone these days feels compelled to write an autobiography, and Kimmel was no exception. Born in 1965 in small-town Indiana, the author recalls her childhood, when she was known as "Zippy" for her talent at racing from place to place.

While some of Kimmel's story is intriguing -- her best friend Julie, strangely mute; her friend Dana, who arrives from L.A. in the second grade, wearing a black leather jacket -- much of her recollections are just run-of-the-mill little-girl recollections. While most of us can relate to lazy summer afternoons, browsing comics at the store or visiting friends, there's usually got to be some compelling reason to want to read about others' experiences doing the same. As far as I could see, there was really no unique "hook," or anything that made me think, "Wow, this person is worthy of a book!"

Don't get me wrong; it's not a BAD book. It's just not likely to stay in your memory for more than a day.

Just What I Needed ...........2007-06-27

I just picked this book up at a rummage sale. Whoever donated it to the sale has my undying gratitude because this book was the sweetest and funniest book I have read in quite some time. I am a fan of memoirs and biographies but this one is so unlike any others that I am now hooked on Kimmel's writings. I want more Zippy!

Like Zippy, who is four years older than I am by the way, I grew up in a small midwestern town but not as small as hers! I would be considered big city girl in comparison! But the midwestern attitude is so familiar that reading this book was like traveling down memory lane for me! She's the youngest in a family of three kids. Her older brother and sister were already in Junior high by the time she arrived. Her mother refers to her lovingly as an "after thought." That is how the book started out (well, almost). Named Haven at birth, her dad decided to call her Zippy since she could never sit still. You can say that her memories of childhood reeked of love, laughter and cigarettes.

Zippy is precocious. Zippy is curious. Zippy is Zippy, a character that you will never forget. My favorite part is the scene where her sister told her that she's adopted. Outraged, she stomps in and asks her mother if that's true. Her mother stops reading for a moment and says, yes, you are. A band of roving gypsies with a pack of wolves that stand up and preach during a full moon came through the area. The whole conversation had me repeating it to my husband as it was so hilarious and something exactly like what my father would spin out to me when I was a child.

I haven't raved about a book in a real long time though I have read lots of really good books ~~ but this book is something I am going to urge my book club to read sometime in the next year. It is something I think we'll enjoy because not only is it funny and engaging, but it talks about a childhood that is now lost in the mists of time. Building your own bike? Who does that anymore? There are many instances in this book that I remember doing as a kid or have heard my parents do when they were kids. I know that Christmas is more different today than it was in the early 70s. It seems to be a simpler time back then even though it was harder especially after the Vietnam War ended. It was a time of change but Zippy had a happy childhood and those memories are funny and bittersweet.

This book comes highly recommended. If you need a laugh, this book is a good place to get one! It is just a really good read and perfect for a summer read!

6-28-07

Delightful and witty! .......2007-06-04

This book is a fascinating escape; it brings the reader back to childhood and also reminds us of questions we have long since given up asking. A great hammock swinging summer read!

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