Wedding Books

Fascinating book written by Henry Louis Gates Jr. that complements the PBS special of the same name. On the back cover Oprah says, "Knowing your family history is knowing your worth-- your whole worth"...and it goes on. I've done a bit of ancestry work on my father's family personally and I have to say it was amazingly rewarding. An easy to read 172 pages plus an appendix on how to research your own family is a nice contributon to any family bookcase. Gates uses Oprah as an example and explains how you can adapt his search for her roots to your own --starting with oral history. Oprah always says she consults her ancestors prior to any big meeting...and it was rather surprising to find out that her ancestors in Africa are not from the tribe that she thought they were. Plus she is part Native American too. Fun to see copies of the exact records and pix of Oprah's ancestors. Very inspirational.

Don't let the size of this book fool you, it is a tremendous book that has needed to be written for a long time. There are many guides and tools for researching roots, but this one, highly specialized to pre and post slavery sources is exceptional.

Why is it exceptional? 1) It documents a search. 2) It provides inspritation. In demonstrating a typical search (while Oprah is not typical, the search for her roots is) it shows the dynamics of the oral history, specific written records and the larger regional histories. It discusses the uses and limits of DNA.

The photos and documents are excellent. I like the way the full document is shown with the pertinant info blown up.

Everything Oprah does increases my respect for her. This search could have turned up reprobates and losers, but she didn't know that from the start. She approved potential embarrassment on an international level so that people could have this model... this encouragement.

I cried when I saw Oprah's South African school on TV. I almost did, like she did, when I saw the record of her ancestor's actual ownership.

A "must read" for everyone who loves Oprah and/or genealogy. Contains a relatively brief yet detailed bio of Oprah's life, plus insight into the history of Afro American culture in our society and the problems one experiences in family research.

I purchased this book a couple of days ago -- I am a huge Oprah fan. I read the book in one sitting as I wasn't able to put it down. Finding Oprah's Roots expanded both my heart and mind. It is a history lesson and an emotional/spiritual experience. This is a positive and uplifting book even though truly looking at the facts of slavery is painful. Bravo to Oprah and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. I have heard Oprah's quote from Toni Morrison (Toni Morrison giving credit to James Baldwin) before, but when I read it in the context of this work, I openly wept. I highly, highly recommend this book for everyone. It is truly inspirational and has made me want to work on my Family Tree so I can "sit with my ancesters."

This book is part genealogical guide, part celebrity biography, and part African-American history. Professor Gates has used the family history of Oprah Winfrey as an example of genealogical research and a case study of how education can lift a disadvantaged family out of hardship.

The written record of Oprah's ancestors only goes back to the 1870's census because the last names of slaves were rarely recorded. Here the author delves into the history of slavery in America and (to a lesser extent) in Africa. He also discusses the after-effects of slavery following the Civil War. The use of DNA to trace one's ancestors is also explained.

Although this book will appeal to persons trying to trace ancestors who were slaves, it is valuable to anyone getting started in genealogy. It's also an interesting story of a family who used education to leap beyond the expectations of those around them. You don't need to be a fan of Oprah to enjoy this book.

I was a Smash Hit !!! I did not expect the response I got from the audience during and at the end of the night. I have never done any pubic speaking before, and I was very very nervous about accepting this role offered to me by my brother. The book made it easy to cut and paste my speeches, to put them in at the right time, and most importantly how to keep the event rolling on, in a very professional way, but more importantly in a fun and cruisy way, just the way a reception suppose to be " fun and entertaining". So thanks Pete for a smashing success of my brothers reception.

This book was not a very big help to me. All it is is common sense about weddings. Nothing really that I didn't know or expect about the wedding that I'm MC-ing for in this book. Disjointed, and not put together very well also. Unoriginal games/wedding ideas/funnies. Huge waste of time and money.

I found this book very useful when it came to ideas on making a wedding reception interesting. There are lots of tips; jokes, games, and general advice including sample speeches that can make the reception a memorable event. Some people often forget that the reception is the Bride and Grooms special day. The reception is the key part of the day where everything must go well to make it memorable to the couple that got married. I wouldn't want to be responsible for ruining an important event like that which is why this book is excellent in terms of making it run smoothly.

This book was just what the doctor ordered. I was thrown into a situation I knew nothing about but thankfully Peter Miller did. I was guided through all my duties and responsibilities as a wedding MC but not only was I given a guideline - the book actually tells you what to say and when. It is a good piece of work and I would recommend it to anybody looking for spice to add to their role as a Wedding MC. I used the "Keys" as my audience participation bit and it had everybody roaring with laughter. Thumbs up to Peter.

I like this story because it is so funny because two kindergarten
kids want to get married to each other. I think this book is so fuuny because people mock Horrible Harry and he gets mad at them and tickle them so hard he make them fall to the floor. Then they go to the
big tree at the park to get married. Now that's what I call a good book.

I've been teaching 2nd grade for a dozen years now, and this is a perennial favorite of my students'. The story is excellent, and the wedding theme combined with the kickball and Harry's antics appeal to almost all the children. The story is terrific to read-aloud to children, or to have a guided-reading lesson with. I recommend reading this book in February since there's an excellent Valentine's Day connection.

What I mostly liked about it was it is funny. This book is about Harry and Songlee getting married on Valentine's Day. Of course you do know that they really don't get married. They called it the kick ball wedding and that's the title of this book. The funniest part, I think, is at the end of the book Horrible Harry at recess didn't finish the wedding because they went and played kick ball; they finished the wedding when they were lining up to go back into the classroom. If they made a sequel to the book, I would think that they would probably sit close together if they got married.

This book is funny and so are the others, this book is a great book for young ones

I think the book is well organized. It is most helpful with defining the nature of eucharistic sacrifice. The section on the early church fathers is good. But the book is quit academic, and not devotional. Those who want to learn sound doctrine as well as some histroy,or who want to delve into the differnt ways of speaking about the Eucharist, this book is exellent.

I bought this book to read the week before my wedding to try and relax and get my mind off more stressful things. The stories were good but too long for me to read in one quick sitting and concentrate on while preparing for the wedding. I haven't finished the book yet and my wedding has passed, yet the stories still seem too long. The book is good, I would just recommend starting to read more than a week before your wedding!

I actually found this book more sentimental than funny, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. This book would be good for any bride-to-be who needs to take a step back from her own planning. Maybe the stories from these brides, their families, and friends will help someone realize that although the wedding day is a special, important day--the days after are the most important.

Finally a book that doesn't tell you you have to be perfect. The writers in this collection are smart, honest and funny but they are not perfect and that's the fun. I have been helping my friend plan her wedding for the last year and this book was such a relief from all the cake tasting and dress shopping and diet worries. It's not anti-wedding at all, it just has a sense of humor about the whole thing. You have to read "Bridezilla"--it's so good!

My fiancée and I decided to get a copy of Bartlett's Words for the Wedding because we were having trouble finding an interesting reading for our ceremony and were getting tired of pouring over our favorite novels and poetry collections. This collection seemed like a good answer. Unfortunately it's really not.

The vast majority of the selections included are cheesy and, even worse, hackneyed poems from the like of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Shakespeare... all the usual suspects. Quite literally nothing that couldn't easily be found elsewhere for free. I gave the book two stars only because I thought it might be useful for a wedding planner to loan out to a particularly baffled client as a sort of "Wedding Standards."

If you're looking for anything new or unique, this isn't the book for you.

Never got the book! I sent 2 e-mails and did not get any response back.

iDo is the book I wish I had had for my own wedding... Christa Terry does a great job covering all the bases of planning a real live wedding using the huge and sometimes bewildering array of options available online these days. The book is rooted in real world experience, both the author's as well as the some other couples who agreed to act as case studies.

Like most things wedding-related, the packaging and marketing is aimed at women, but there's a lot of stuff for grooms in there as well. The whole thing is written in a funny and down-to-earth style and is a good read on its own.

Thorough, on-point, and sensitive, this book contains all the information an engaged couple would need to plan their perfect wedding. Whether your budget is $100 or $100,000, whether you want to buck tradition or savor it, and whether you have two months or two years to plan, the advice in this book will help you immensely. Every chapter is loaded with links to help you find what you're looking for; vignettes from women who used the advice given; historical background on the traditions in question, and ideas for alternatives to those traditions; and the basics on etiquette surrounding the concepts themselves.

The writing style is accessible *and* enjoyable, with a happy and light-hearted tone -- and rightfully so! I've read too many wedding-planning guides that were forceful, intense, and loaded with unrealistic expectations of the happy couple. This one is genuinely HAPPY for the reader, and lets you know right in the beginning that every section is flexible to the point of optional, so that you feel comfortable using anything, everything, or nothing of each idea.

All in all, I would (and have already done so!) highly recommend this book to any engaged couple. By the time they're done reading it, they'll have already saved 10% of their wedding budget by not needing a wedding coordinator!

Having just gotten engaged two months ago (yay!), I've been scouring bookstores and the Internet for advice on planning a simple yet elegant wedding on a shoestring budget (yikes!). I had already set two rules for my wedding: (1) no one will go into debt for it, and (2) no one will dress like a fairy princess (unless they want to). Unfortunately, most of the books I read were aimed at the women who had expensive, fairy-princess weddings in mind and were written as if anyone planning a wedding was willing to take on the year-long equivalent of a part-time job.

Enter Christa Terry's iDo. I'd read Christa's writing on the popular blog "Manolo for the Brides" and, impressed by her ingenuity, decided to take a chance on ordering this book. It has two advantages that put it head and shoulders above every other wedding guidebook I've read so far. First, as the title promises, the book presents online tools to find almost every wedding resource you could ever need. Christa has combed the Internet and come up with sources for planning timelines, budget calculators, party equipment suppliers, photographers, even videos to teach you how to do the foxtrot for your first dance. Like a good teacher, Christa does not tell you what to do but shows you how to find the information to make your own decisions.

This leads me to the second great strength of the book: it encourages personalization and emphasizes the individual, rather than the "traditional" (a loaded word) element of weddings. Unlike the guides that make assumptions--often expensive ones--about the size and style of your wedding, iDo takes a "blank slate" approach. Christa points out the difference between the necessary and the optional and in so doing challenges many of the expectations exploited by the billion-dollar wedding industry.

There are a only couple of things that I wish iDo had done differently. The first is the format in which URLs are presented. For pages that are deeply embedded within Web sites, the book simply copies entire URLs and presents them, in all their incomprehensible glory, on the pager. This leads to the printing of some lengthy URLs that would be impossible to retype without some serious back-and-forthing between page and screen. Why not just list the homepage and give directions on how to navigate to the subpage?

Second, I occasionally found the sheer volume of information overwhelming. I'm sure that some of this is the inevitable result of the topic matter and the intent of the book. However, from a book that often points its readers to search engines in one form or another, I would have liked a little more guidance on how to filter data and craft useful search parameters.

Bear in mind that these criticisms are very mild in relation to the overall excellence and usefulness of this book. It is not--and does not claim to be--the only resource you'll need. As far as printed wedding planning guides go, however, it very well may be the only one you need to buy. Happy hunting!

I really enjoyed this book. The plot was interesting and the characters are different. Simon Brett has created two women neighbors/friends/sleuths who completely different from one another, and I enjoy reading about them.

This book is the sort that makes one think, "gosh, I could do better than that". It's a very standard, somewhat tedious mystery where the perpetrator is obvious early on. I expected better from Simon Brett.

The premise for this story is what makes it worth reading: Carole Seddon's son, Stephen, is marrying into a rather odd family. Pascale's (Gaby's) parents don't even want there to be a wedding announcement . . . and they definitely don't want to be involved in the wedding planning. Stephen has also let drop that there's a history of murder in the family.

Most authors would stop at this point by having chilled us a bit with thoughts about whom our children might marry. Simon Brett charges gleefully forward by making the wedding preparations into a murderers' playground. As a result, you'll find yourself much more emotionally involved than in the typical Fethering mystery.

The mystery itself isn't all that hard to unravel, but the book's premise will keep your attention throughout. It's a dandy way to overturn the conventions of wedding stories.

With the wedding plans taking center stage, there's less than the usual byplay and interaction between Carole and Jude. They operate pretty independently of one another in this book, in part because Jude has a depressed friend (Gita) visiting who is pressed into the investigation.

I thought that many of the wedding preparation sequences were pretty funny, especially the engagement party hosted by Gaby's parents. If you've ever felt awkward at such an event, you'll roar when you read some of these scenes.

I love this series and eagerly grabbed this book as soon as it became available.

Carole's son Stephen is getting married. Carole is surprised and a little annoyed at first (after all, she's happy being a recluse and isn't thrilled at the prospect of being the Mother of the Groom and the wedding duties that she'll inevitably have to be involved in). But once she meets Stephen's lovely girlfriend Gaby and grows closer to Stephen, she finds herself acquiring the maternal instinct she never had before. (Wow, is Carole actually thawing out??)

It's that maternal instinct that prompts her - along with trusty sidekick and New Age neighbor Jude - to find out why Gaby seems so distracted and why her family is being elusive and jumpy.

The mystery itself is interesting and well planned, and there are a few heart stopping moments towards the end.

Overall, this is a great installment in the series.

This was an odd book -- a combination of a lower quality Anita Brookner novel about the life of a lonely middle age woman with a poor mystery, with only one, obvious suspect. It has convinced me to give up on this series because, despite my best hopes, it is just not going to get better. Brett writes the same book over and over again. Emotionally constipated Carole and free spirit/prospective saint Jude team up to solve not too complex mysteries out of seeming sheer boredom. Despite the fact that one, or both, of our heroines contiually find themselves in life threatening danger, they perpetually fail to seek the intervention of the police or seek help. As a minor spoiler, at one point in the book, with a dangerous killer on the loose, one of the women fears she is being watched, but does nothing to help herself, not alerting the police or the other "detective". If she did so then, of course, there would be no supposedly exciting conclusion.

I was a fan of the Charles Paris series, which Brett seemingly wisely stopped writing after turning Charles into an increasingly pathetic, unlikeable character. I also liked the Mrs. Pargeter series, which Brett also gave up after the one-joke nature of the series turned stale. Brett took up those flaws in this series, turning Carole into an unlikeable, sad character, who the author seems to detest. By contrast, Jude is portrayed as a noble goddess, insightful, wise, witty, etc, a view probably shared only by the author, especially as Jude. aware of Carole's emotional shortcomings, seems to take every opportunity to tortue and tease her "friend" by not revealing aspects of her life about which Carole is too emotionally constrained to ask about. The first two or three books were mildly diverting, and I read on hoping for an improvement, which did not occur. Instead, the same type of story has just been churned out again and again. Perhaps Carole can now hook up with Charles Paris, where they can live unhappily ever after.

If the mystery was stronger, that would carry the book, but unfortunately Brett seems barely concerned with the whodunit aspects of the story. Indeed, to accomplish some of his more absurd elements, he makes sure that both of the heroines do not have the internet or know how to access the web, which, for example, enables them to act baffled when they seem confused as to how to find out details about a well known murder, a plot contrivance which is highly unrealistic.

Sorry for spending so much time reviewing this book, but if I can keep one propspective reader from wasting their time like I did, then I accomplished something.