Children Books

I read Breaking Dawn in a week and of all the Twilight books out there, I thought this was the worst. There was so much Bella/Edward goo that I wanted to throw up. The plot, though the surprises were really... surprising, was slow and predictable. The one good thing I can say about Breaking Dawn was it was a fulfilling end to a great saga, even if the other books were much better.

I have enjoyed getting to know the characters of this series and Ms. Meyer certainly knew how to end the books with great satisfaction. The last installment is the most gruesome of the lot yet it is never over the top nor inappropriate to the story. I look forward to reading this set again!

After reading earlier reviews of this novel, and having enjoyed the first three entries in the series, I was frankly worried about investing in this fourth (but hopefully not final) book. But I found it perfect in its rightness as the conclusion to the saga. I do not understand the complaints. This IS a fantasy for heavens sake, and I read fantasy novels to escape. This is the perfect escape. It could be a segue into a new series as well. Great author! I am now reading "The Host" and am finding it equally engrossing.

This book was the perfect conclusion to an amazing series, i was concerned that this series would be too young for me since it is classified as young adult, but im 26 and i found the book impossible to put down, i finished this one in 2 days!
I would highly recommend this entire series to anyone, just make sure you start with the first book Twilight and enjoy the adventures of Bella!

Too many negative reviewers blame the author for sending a "negative message to teenagers" about early pregnancy, getting married, and forgetting college.

If you are worried that your teenage girl reading this book will get influenced by its message and suddenly think about getting pregnant early, etc., then it is NOT the author's fault but YOUR fault. If your kid is that easily swayed by just reading a book, clearly YOU have not spent enough time teaching your kid about the correct responsibilities.

Everywhere around the teenage world there are influences - drugs, high school sex, and youth crime. But not all teenagers are doing negative activities, because responsible adults or parents taught them what was socially acceptable and unacceptable.

This book is meant to be entertainment, not a bible. I think the author did a perfect job censoring sexual scenes and highlighting the urges of a teenager, such as the wanting of sex, instead of ignoring it and shunning it like many people. Instead of throwing away her baby, Bella keeps it despite everyone's wishes, which I personally think is the author's message of responsibility. These are just some examples.

So to all negative reviewers bashing the book because of its "low moral quality", think about what you're doing before blaming others.

It has been ages since I have found such a gripping and interesting story. Stephanie Meyer is pure talent!

A great read, easy, but very entertaining. I'm looking forward to seeing it in film in Nov.

I bought the whole series for my 14 yr old granddaughter. She read this one in one day.It took her just over a week to read the series. It was spell binding for her. She can't wait for the movie.My 20 year old niece and all her friends are sharing the books also.

An amazing book! I couldn't put it down! Read it from cover to cover in one day... then passed it on to my little sister... and now to my daughter!

Awesome book! I couldn't put it down - read whole book in two sittings. Have purchased other three books in set and am just finishing up book 3. Stephanie Meyers is a terrific author.

Based on the popularity of this book, I was expecting some profound insights about suffering and forgiveness. I found the book to be very dull, and it was a tedious chore to finish it. It had nothing new to say about anything. I don't understand why anyone would find it "life changing."

I was amazed to read how Young hit every issue my husband and I have struggled with. Forgiveness, trust, faith...the list goes on. But not in a 'self-help' type way. Using fiction to hit strong points is brilliant! It is a book for everyone because everyone deals with those issues in one way or another. Being a Christian myself, this book reminded me that all things are possible through God the Father! Amazing book- couldn't put it down!

Readers of this book will most likely be moved emotionally and ask themselves the unanserable as will readers of Michelle CozzensIt's Not Your Mother's Bridge Club

If you are a person who would be shocked at the notion that God the Father could represent "himself" as a big black woman, this book may be instructive and inspiring--or offensive--to you. I can see why many who have grown up in religious environments that emphasize narrow judgment and tribalism over a more loving/respectful stance toward all creation might either love or hate this book.

If, on the other hand, you are a person who already accepts God as all-wise, all-knowing, omnipotent, omnipresent, and infinite; who does not have the pride of your typical hellfire-damnation preacher or fundamentalist; who sees the mysterious hand of the deity in all things we humans judge to be "good" or "bad"; who understands that no human being can really KNOW (at the level of words and descriptions, at any rate) who/what God is...well, then this book is both deep and lacks depth. Kind of a "carry water, chop wood."

As I was reading, a few things jumped out at me as very significant, but nothing stayed with me very long. I have to say that I imagined Jesus as one of the Geiko Neanderthals, and that was actually quite an enlightening and happy picture! I do think it was good on the author's part that he left it up in the air as to whether "it really happened" or not. A bump on the head can certainly shake up one's brain and ways of thinking about things....

If this book was just a story, I would not be offering any comments. However, because it attempts to incorporate biblical concepts, and because these concepts are influencing people's ideas of God, I consider this book to be very divisive, destructive and offensive to several basic Christian principles. The thought that so many Christians do not understand the danger of this is even more disturbing to me and to many other Christians. If you have a positive attitude regarding this book, Wake Up and stop being deceived!!!!!!!!!!!!

The theology in this book is so twisted. It is also appalling to me that Christians are accepting this story with such approval. The fact that Greg Albrecht, Editor of Plain Truth Magazine and Eugene Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, B.C. author of The Message both approve of this book will now force me to question "The Message" every time I encounter it. Any Christian who finds any value in this book would probably find value and spiritual hope in books such as The Exorcist and Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Christians need to stop falling away from the true teachings that are found in the bible in order to get a feel good, Hallmark, emotional experience. Read Hard to Believe by John MacArthur if you really want to grow closer to God. Or better yet, just read the bible.

I know that my review is in the minority but Christians need to wake up and start being Christians again before it's too late!!!! When the author writes on page 236, "without any ritual, without ceremony, they savored the warm bread and shared the wine and laughed," I could not believe how "sacrilegious" this author could possibly be. Consider what it says in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.

Many people reply to negative reviews with sentimental comments that encourage more open mindedness. The acceptance of truths that are contrary to the bible can not possibly lead a person closer to God because that would make God out to be a liar. Avoid this book except to be informed of the ways in which people are falling farther and farther from the truth every day.

The third book in the series begins to lose its luster.

Well-written with good character development.

Bella and Jacob are back to their old habits....Jacob screws up and Bella forgives him. We also learn about some interesting developments into the exsitence of Werewolfs (which I liked) I was thrown off with Victoria, but I'm sure most were.

....Look deeper into the Cullen Clan....

My 15 year old daughter talked me into reading this series. I was amazed at how much I enjoyed it. I would recommend this series of books to readers of all ages. It just goes to show you that it can be rated PG and still be enjoyable to read.

i loved this book and all the books in this series and i cant wait for the movie to come out.

Great series. Looking forward to seeing the movie in Nov. of the first book, Twilight.

the book looked almost new without any bends or creases like it was described. thank you again, and would like to do business again in the future.

New Moon was very good, especially toward the last third of the book. I didn't enjoy it as much as Twilight, but it was also very good. What I most enjoyed about Twilight was the love storyline between Bella and Edward. In New Moon I missed that, though I understood they were building the Jacob Black character. All in all, I liked New Moon quite a bit and am looking forward to reading Eclipse. For Twilight fans, definitely continue reading on.

I have just completed New Moon and unfortunately found it to be a dissappointment. I had expected Meyer's writing mechanics and characterization to become stronger as this was her second book but unfortunately, she did not come through. Bella's characterization in this novel makes this story nearly un-readable. She spends the the entire book in a self indulgent funk that both brings down and frustrates the reader. I am a female, though now out of my teens, and folks, Bella's reaction to events that occur in this story are completely over the top and honestly, out of character for the girl Meyer drew in the beginning of Twilight. If Bella had been the only character in this story, I would have given it one star. Self-indulgent, selfish, short-sighted...I could go on with similar adjectives to describe Bella. She really is the worse teen Heroine to come along in ages. She really sets girls back hundreds of years. This story, however, is redeemed by the incredible Jacob Black. Not only is he well drawn but Meyer takes the time to develop his character and his relationship with Bella(something she failed to do in Twilight with Bella and Edward). When key events happen in the story, the turmoil is real. If Meyer had focused more on the Jacob/Bella story line and less on Bella's idiocy for the first 200 pages or so of the book, she could have had an excellent second story here. Bella utterly ruins it.

Oh and there is this little thrown in side trip to Italy which seemed completely contrived and out of place. It reminded me of the contrived meeting with the tracker James in Twilight. It is purely a plot device and not well done. All in all I was very dissappointed.

I bought this series of books for my granddaughter, she had all4 read in just over a week. She enjoyed them greatly. She's 14

I'm a little old for these books...I know. And I've read a LOT of vampire books over the years, but these are so romantic - something that's been lost (sacrificed for sex, which isn't terrible, mind you...but the romance was missed!)in some adult vampire novels. I am really enjoying this series!

Having read most of Ann Rice's books, I experienced how the Vampire books got from good and erotic to verbose and boring.

Ms. Stephanie Meyer is unfortunately the later version of Ms. Rice.

I believe that the audience Ms. Meyer is witting for is high school girls, which might explain her poor performance.

Bella's story takes off from the first book. After causing havoc in Edwards family over her human blood, Edward decides to break up with Bella. We go on for what seems to be an eternity on how sad she is.

She then makes friends with Jacob Black who turns into a werewolf. As it is the custom, werewolves protect the reservation from vampires. Bella figures out that Jacob is a werewolf and befriends the pack.

She starts doing daring things because she hears Edward's voice every time she's in danger. The werewolves save her from a vampire named Laurent who was going to kill her. But there is another Vampire, Victoria who has vowed to kill Bella.

The werewolves then use Bella as bait to kill Victoria, but one day as Bella is waiting for Jacob, she decides to jump off the diving cliff the werewolves had showed her.

Alice has a vision and tells Edward that Bella committed suicide. Edward goes off to Volterra, Italy to get killed, because he can't bare the thought of living without Bella (I swear, there is more drama than in a bad soap), so Alice and Bella have to go to Italy to stop Edward from having the Voltari family (vampire royalty) kill him.
After more drama, Edward is saved and Bella is torn because she has two sworn enemies--Jacob the werewolf and Edward the vampire--as his best friend and boyfriend.

More drama.

Again the book is too long (over 550 pages) and disappointing. I don't know if I will be able to read the third sequel."

This is a great book that shows how a combination of commitment, focus, and dedication can bring about remarkable changes for others. A must read for those interested in making a difference in the lives of others!

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

Greg Mortenson has set a bar so high that it is beyond the reach of most of us. However, as a female Geography teacher, for many years I have explained to my students every semester that one of the biggest problems in the world today is the lack of educational opportunities for females. Thank you, Greg, for helping to alleviate that problem. Also, as a Geography teacher, I particularly appreciated the incredible descriptions of places I will never be able to visit. Thank you David Relin. This is a fabulous book.

I spend a lot of time reading books, magazine and newspaper articles, and watching TV programs that pertain to work being done by nonprofits and NGOS. I spent part of my career in the nonprofit world and have volunteered in my community for as long as I can remember as my mother is also very committed to service.

I talk to friends about their nonprofit work and my company gives generously to a whole host of these organizations. I have a carefully chosen few organizations that I donate to and if friends send me a notice that they are running a race or taking part in some other way to raise money for a charity they believe in, I'm good for a donation. Lately I've been feeling the need to do more and I'm not sure if that means joining a board, lending my business expertise on a pro-bono basis, or committing a great amount of volunteer time. Maybe it means starting my own nonprofit.

Because of my interest in education, especially that of girls in developing nations, I picked up a copy of Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. The book charts the course that Greg Mortenson took to building schools first in the village of Korphe in Pakistan, then all over that country, and most recently in Afghanistan. I was so moved by Greg's story that about 50 pages through the book I went to the website to make a donation. He is compelling, engaging, passionate, and he's in the field for all the right reasons.

... for anyone who wishes to plant the seed of Democracy and ensure the security of our own.

Inspiring, funny, unbelievable, made me cry, and made me want to be a better person. I wish I could say something more to do justice to this incredible story. Tell all of your friends and READ THIS BOOK!!

This book is pretty good and won't likely dissapoint Artemis Fowl fans. It has the usual entertaining elements of the other stories in the series. But for fans of Nathanial Parker, who identified heavily with the characters in part created by his superb narrating abilities, it will be an adjustment. It's not that Enn Reitell is not a great story teller, he really did a servicable job. BUT, I never could get used to the incongruity of the new voices of Butler or Foley in particular. He did a great Mulch. So all in all, not our favorite in the series but well worth the read or listen. I hope Nathanial Parker returns for future Fowl books.

This was a very good book, but it wasn't the best in the series. I would recommend for people who like to read science fiction.

I really enjoyed the Time Paradox, it was extremely amusing, the plot was very well thought out, and I would love to read more of Eoin Colfer.
My only disappointment was the fact that the French girl, Minerva Paradizo did not return. Otherwise the book reached all my expectations and more. The Time Paradox is exceptionally well written and most entertaining.

If you have read the previous Artemis books, this one holds up perfectly. I'd recommend this series to anyone at any age, and this book doesn't disappoint.

The latest book in the Artemis Fowl series continues to shine. The latest installment does an excellent job of bringing its reader into the Artemis Fowl world while stretching our imagination with its time paradox theme.

I bought this book as part of my coursework in Public Health Nursing. It is a wonderful book. It speaks to our general lack of cultural awareness from the medical community standpoint. It also opened my eyes to a strong and brilliant culture (Hmong). I am glad that my instructor recommended this book.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Never received the book. Was very upset. Would never utilize a 3rd party buyer again. A complete waste of my time.

Well-written, gripping, thoughtful, thorough investigation into the tragic and seemingly unavoidable events in the life of a sick young girl and her loving family. Everyone wanted the best, but it all went terribly wrong. A compelling example of why we all need to keep learning from each other.

As the title implies, this book offers an alternative perspective of epilepsy, or seizures, as seen through the lens of the Hmong people. It also provides a fresh view of Western so-called civilization itself, and most particularly Western medicine.

I doubt there's any American today who doesn't harbor at least some ambivalence about how medicine's practiced in the United States, and I'm not just talking bills and insurance. Foua and Nao Kao Lee didn't trust the doctors who tended to their baby daughter Lia when she began to have seizures; they worried about doing damage to their baby's soul. In the Hmong culture, sickness is a signal of disturbance to the soul, and healing is a matter of tending to that soul. When did you last see an American doctor do that?

Even had the doctors who cared for Lia known of this tenet of the Lees' belief system, they probably wouldn't have given it consideration. As things were, they knew little about their patient's family: not only did the Lees not understand English, but the Hmong culture is so far from that of anything remotely American, the doctors hadn't the ears to hear, eyes to see, or consciousness to absorb any of it. To them, as to many Americans, the Hmong are a "Stone Age" people, ignorant and superstitious.

Certainly Hmong rituals and healing ceremonies are strange and arcane--but no stranger than those of the Catholic or Jewish faith: all utilize symbols, whether it's wine standing in for the blood of Jesus, drops of wine spilled onto a plate for Egyptian plagues, or a wooden bench transformed into a winged horse carrying a healer in search of a sick person's soul. Why is it that the good citizens of the United States laugh only at the latter?

Writer Anne Fadiman decided to look at American medicine through the prism of Lia Lee's sad story. She discovered, and conveyed to readers, the richness of Hmong culture, devoid of sentimentality. Fadiman is careful not to imbue the Hmong with the kind of romanticism that European Americans tend to hold about Native Americans: she does not evade the fact that they can be extremely difficult. By allowing them full humanity, she brings them vividly to life the same way a novelist does her characters--though non-fiction, thi book is as compelling as a great novel.

The Hmong came to America in the 1980s courtesy of war in Southeast Asia. They'd been living in the mountains of Laos, to which they'd migrated from China. The Hmong never assimilate into the culture of the country they inhabit, and have suffered persecution for centuries. Much like the Roma or the Jews, they're a migratory tribe without a homeland--but I doubt they ever felt quite as displaced as they did when they got to the United States. Because they helped the CIA in Laos, the Hmong were promised they'd be welcome in the U.S.--but when the troops left, they jetted only generals and hotshots out of the country, leaving the rest of the populace to fend for themselves. With the Laotian army hunting them down as enemies of the state, Hmong families set off on foot, carrying whatever they could manage. Many, particularly the old and the young, died along the way. Most possessions were shed, too heavy to carry, on the days-long journey. When they arrived in Thailand they were placed in refugee camps, where they waited to be rescued by the Americans. Those who were finally brought to America were `resettled' all over the map, without regard for family cohesion or transferability of survival skills: in Detroit, Minneapolis, Utah, Vermont--the Hmong were distributed all over the country so as to not unduly `burden' any one locality.

The Hmong tend to have large broods of 12 or 13 children, who they deeply adore, and they view disability as a consequence of some parental transgression, for which they atone by treating children with disabilities extra lovingly. They're used to living near relatives, who they see frequently, if not daily. The diaspora of the Hmong represented unspeakable hardship--which they resolved with what they call their `second resettlement.'One family would pack up a hastily purchased jalopy and drive off, looking for a spit of land hospitable to growing vegetables and the herbs necessary for healing rituals. They'd end up where all pioneers do, in California, and send news to relatives in Detroit or Chicago or Billings, Montana. Eventually, pockets of Hmong were clustered in a few locations around the country. Of these, Merced, California, where the Lee family settled, is one of the largest.

About one in every six residents of Merced, formerly an all-white rural area, is now Hmong. Here their culture and community thrived, parallel to the dominant culture, assimilating as little as possible. One way they did have to assimilate is medically: since 80% receive some form of government assistance, social services closely monitor them. American social workers do not have a high level of tolerance for cultural difference, and many Hmong practices, like gardening on the living room floor, or animal sacrifice, put parents in danger of losing their children to foster care--an unthinkable consequence that did occur, for a period of time, to Lia Lee.

The Hmong had heard about Western medicine even before arriving on these shores. They approved of antibiotics--swallow a pill and get well in a week--but not of much else. Surgery was anathema, since cutting the flesh or removing organs risks the flight of the soul. When their daughter Lia fell into the hands of the medical establishment, the Lees suffered deep agony over every procedure, from IV insertion to spinal taps.

Fadiman explores the interactions between the Lees and their daughter's medical caretakers in exhaustive detail. Whenever Lia suffers a setback, the Lees blame the doctors and their methods. The doctors accuse the Lees of "noncompliance" when they fail to properly dose Lia with three different kinds of anti-convulsants at the various times of day prescribed, not realizing that the Hmong don't even use clocks. Fadiman presents a balanced picture, blaming neither the family nor the hospital, but cultural barriers, for what goes wrong--and eventually things do go terribly wrong. By the age of four Lia is brain dead. The hospital hooks her up to feeding tubes, expecting her to die within days, but the Lees insist on taking her home, where they disconnect every tube and treat Lia as a favored family member. They take turns carrying her around on their backs; like a mama bird, Foua pre-chews her daughter's food and feeds it to her orally; they sacrifice pigs in healing ceremonies; and Lia sleeps with her parents every night. To the astonishment of the medical community, Lia does not die, and by the end of the book, years after being declared brain dead, she's still alive. As I write this, Lia Lee is still alive and lovingly cared for by her mother and siblings. Her medical condition has not changed. Her father, Nao Kao Lee, died in January of 2003.

This book enriched, and possibly changed, my life. I can't recommend it too highly.

A fascinating case study of a Hmong family's profoundly frustrating encounter with a county medical center in rural California. The book is very well written, and gave me fresh insight into what it really means for us to be a "nation of immigrants." My only frustration was with the organization of the book. As it jumped backed and forth between the micro and the macro, and between the recent and more distant past, the narrative lost some of its momentum. But that said, it is one of those rare books that has made me look at the world in a new way, and for that reason, I highly recommend it.