The Audiobooks Reviews

Perhaps it’s a critic thing: Even when reading at leisure (as opposed to on assignment), I tend to divide literature into two broad categories: books I wish I’d reviewed, and books I’m glad I didn’t (or won’t) have to write about. Some perfectly enjoyable novels fall into the latter category, such as Alexander McCall Smith’s delightful (accent on the light) Isabel Dalhousie series, best slurped as refreshing palate cleansers between meatier matter.

In the first group, there are the ones that got away-books I missed, or didn’t have time to finish. Three on my pile for this summer are Junot Diaz’s “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” Joseph O’Neill’s “Netherland,” and, at my son’s continuous hounding, W. G. Sebald’s “Austerlitz.”

I’m sorry I missed writing about the clever “Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar:Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes,” written by two disaffected former philosophy majors, Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein, because, also a disaffected former philosophy major, I’m possibly its ideal reader. I’m looking forward to tossing “Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington,” in which the pair deconstruct quotes from well-known politicos through the ages to expose bad logic, into my beach bag.

I like to read or reread at least one tried-and-true classic every so often, just to remind me what the goalposts are. This summer, I’m leaning toward revisiting Balzac’s “Le père Goriot.” –Heller McAlpin

A film by Andrew Stanton

Reviewed by Ryan Nichols

EPReview025_WallE.mp3

This excellent game plan for the gridiron of life was 23 years in the making.

Over that time period, coach Jim Tressel has utilized such a manual for his Youngstown State and Ohio State teams. And this book is the guide presented to players at the start of each season.

The main source that inspired Tressel came from the home; his father, Lee, was a long-time head football coach and athletics director at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. Lee was nationally-renowned in the coaching community for his work with young people. But Lee also had a “head coach” in reaching out to others.

“She (Lee’s wife, Eloise) typed the practice schedules for my dad’s teams, because at a small school the athletic department didn’t have money for a secretary. She sewed the players’ names on the back of their jerseys at Baldwin-Wallace College for many years,” writes Tressel, in a section on living with an attitude of gratitude.

“And her service was always motivated by a perspective of gratitude,” he continues. “She was grateful that her husband had a chance to coach and to have an impact on all those young men. Because of her service and her involvement in the community, she was selected as an outstanding citizen in the city of Berea long before my dad was.”

Each day will bring additional challenges, which may lead someone to tackle new avenues and goals. “(I)f a player says, ‘I really want to excel at football, but I feel that medicine is my life’s calling,’ we help that player map out a plan to make it to medical school. It might be medical school, law school, or some other career path, but we want to help every player achieve his goals,” writes Tressel.

“Executing a plan to reach our full potential takes a lot of preparation. We must first uncover all the hidden things that can help or hinder our putting that plan into action. Excellent preparation takes tremendous commitment, focus, and discipline,” he adds. “The willingness to do what it takes to execute that plan will yield excellence, but it doesn’t just happen. Achieving excellence requires a great deal of hard work.”

With proceeds from the book to benefit the renovation of The Ohio State University main library, Tressel is making sure that a foundation in books will be available to every OSU student and researcher using the college’s vast library system.

Tressel is a successful coach who has led teams to five national titles. But the book is an inspirational guide to strive to be the best in any situation, on and off the field.

Minnas neuer Reitknecht Michael kennt weder seine Mutter noch seinen Vater. Sie ist fasziniert von dem Mann, der versucht, das Beste aus seiner Situation zu machen und fühlt sich mehr zu ihm hingezogen, als es ihrem Stand entspricht. Sehr sonderbar ist das Benehmen von Minnas Tante Claudia gegenüber dem Reitknecht. Welches Geheimnis verbirgt sich hinter der Abneigung, die sie Michael gegenüber offensichtlich hegt? (Summary by Hokuspokus)

• Wikipedia - Wilkie Collins
• LibriVox’s Fräulein Minna und der Reitknecht Internet Archive page
• Zip file of the entire book 48,3MB

I have decided to elevate Joseph Needham to the ranks of my primary heroes. That means he joins Vinegar Joe Stilwell (the American General who tried to teach Chiang Kai Shek how to run an army so that he might win a war; he failed, as you probably know) and Alfred Russell Wallace (the man who found that evolution works via natural selection, but had a marketing disadvantage to his colleague Charles Darwin; the theory is called Darwinism, not Wallacism, as you might know). Needham wrote close to 20000 pages on the history of Chinese science and civilization, he was a most amazing alround scientist. The ‘book’, or should we call it a library, is unsurpassed in his subject - but have you ever heard of it? I mean you, the non-expert on China. Let me know. I suspect very few people outside an inner circle ever heard of it.
Winchester has published quite a few books on diverse subjects. I mainly like his travel books: first a walk through South Korea, then a ship ride up the Yangzi. Given that he is an experienced travel writer, I am a bit puzzled by some of his geographical gaffes: flying over the hump from India to Kunming, the connection from British India to National China during WW2, W. claims the plane had to cross glaciers. Well, not likely. Better look it up on a map. Glacial melting can’t have progressed that much since then. Or: Needham’s first stop in China is Kunming, where he allegedly watches the sun set over the distant Tibetan hills on his first evening after arriving. Odd in view of the hundreds km distance from Kunming to Tibet and the fact that the city has its own hills to the West.
Apart from Needham’s scientific formidability, he was also a prime specimen of British excentricity (they allow every excentricity in Cambridge, as long as it doesn’t frighten the horses): a biochemist with highest distinctions early on, married to a brillant colleague, a freethinker, nudist, socialist, folk dancer, playboy, leftist activist, member of the left establishment, language genius, lay preacher (yes, he was also religious).
And then: he meets his lifetime love, a Chinese colleague from Nanjing (whom he will marry half a century later), who makes him learn the language. He manages to get an assignment with the Foreign Service during WW2 and moves to Chongqing in 43, as Counsellor to the Embassy.
That’s the beginning of the end. The man starts researching and writing… 20 volumes? He is obsessed with Chinese history and goes on his decade long rampage.
As implied above, he was somewhat of a political fool, but it’s hard for me to begrudge him that. Not everybody looked at it so generously though. For a while he had a key position in UNESCO, in charge of science (he put the S into UNECO), when Julian Huxley was the DG. The US pushed him out for his communist sympathies.
Worse was to come: he let himself be abused by China for Cold War propaganda in connection with the Korean War, as head of an ‘independant’ commission that was to investigate alleged US uses of biological weapons against Korea and China. From what is known today, no such thing happened, the whole show was staged by the Soviets and the Chinese, and Needham spoiled his name for years to come. He got blacklisted in the US for 20 years. He was just too naive and believed that everybody else was as honest and serious as he was himself.
One sad thing I learned from the book: the recent earthquake in Sichuan hit a place of magnificent historical importance, the great water works at Dujiangyan, built 250 BC, comprising dikes, dams, canals.

The Cluster is a vast alien machine that destroys starships indiscriminately in its quest for something or someone. Commander John Mark Ellis, disgraced and booted out of the service when he fails to save a merchant ship, believes the key to stopping the Cluster is communication. His mother, Suki Firebrandt Ellis is a historian who believes the very leaders of the galaxy are withholding information about the Cluster. Clyde McClintlock believes the Cluster is God incarnate, seeking retribution. G’Liat is an alien warrior whose own starship was destroyed by the Cluster. All together, they set out to solve the mystery of the Cluster before it finds the object of its quest.

The events of Children of the Old Stars follow those of The Pirates of Sufiro

My Review

I have not read or listened to the prequel of this book so came at it knowing nothing of the background or history. I do not believe I suffered at all because of that in my listening. I certainly did not notice any holes in plot or character.

It’s a space opera in the full sence of the term. A bit star trek-like in its investigation of the unknown.

We have alien races, unknown entities and men driven by a desire to understand. All of the parts need for a great story. Unfortunately I found that it didn;t quite come together. The story just didn’t have a big-bang it was missing the climax it deserved. This may be a factor of being the middle of a trilogy.

The reading was perfectly good and the story had enough twists and character to keep me listening, it was only after it was all over that I felt a little let down.

That sounds pretty negative, dont mistake me, it is a good enough story and you wont be bored and it’s entirely possible you’ll enjoy it a lot more than me.

Reading 2/3
Production 2/3
Story 2/3

Total Score 6/9

This book is available from Podiobooks.

Naomi Klein’s THE SHOCK DOCTRINE is a stunning indictment of American corporatism and institutionalized globalization, on a par with such groundbreaking works as Harrington’s THE OTHER AMERICA and Chomsky’s HEGEMONY OR SURVIVAL. Comprehensive in its breadth and remarkable for its well-researched depth, Klein’s book is a highly readable but disturbing look at how the neoliberal economic tenets of Milton Friedman have been implemented across the world over the last thirty-plus years.

The author’s thesis is simply stated: that neoliberal economic programs have repeatedly been implemented without the consent of the governed by creating and/or taking advantage of various forms of national shock therapy. Ms. Klein asserts that in country after country, Friedman and his Chicago School followers have foisted their tripartite economic prescription - privatization, deregulation, and cutbacks in social welfare spending - on an unsuspecting populace through decidedly non-democratic means. In the early years, the primary vehicle was dictatorial military force and accompanying fear of arrest, torture, disappearance, or death. Over time, new organizations such as the IMF and the World Bank were employed instead, using or creating impossible debt burdens to force governments to accept privatization of state-owned industries and services, complete removal of trade barriers and tariffs, forced acceptance of private foreign investment, and widespread layoffs. In more recent years, terrroism and its response as well as natural disasters like hurricanes and tsunamis have wiped clean enough of the slate to impose these Friedmanite policies on people too shocked and focused on recovering to realize what was happening until it was too late.

According to Ms. Klein’s thesis, these revolutionary economic programs were the “medicine” deemed necessary by neoliberal, anti-Keynesian economists to bring underdeveloped countries into the global trading community. Ms. Klein argues her case in convincing detail a long chronological line of historical cases. Each chapter in her book surveys one such situation, from Chile under Pinochet and Argentina under military junta through Nicaragua and Honduras, Bolivia under Goni, post-apartheid South Africa, post-Solidarity Poland, Russia under Yeltsin, China since Tiananmen, reconstruction of Iraq after the U.S. invasion, Sri Lanka after the tsunami, Israel after 9/11, and New Orleans post-Katrina. Along the way, she lets various neoliberal economists and Chicago School practitioners speak for themselves - we hear their “shock therapy” views in their own words. As just one example, this arrogant and self-righteous proclamation from the late Professor Friedman: “Only a crisis - actual or perceived - producs real change…our basic function, to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable.”

What the author makes inescapably clear is that the world economic order has been largely remade in Milton Friedman’s image in the last few decades by adopting programs that would never have been democratically accepted by the common people. Military coups, violence and force, wars, induced hyperinflation, terrorism, preemptive war, climate disasters - these have been the disruptive vehicles that allowed such drastic economic packages to be imposed. Nearly always, they are developed in secrecy and implemented too rapidly for citizens to respond. The end results, as Ms.Klein again makes clear, are massive (and too often, continuing) unemployment, large price increases for essential goods, closing of factories, enormous increases in people living in poverty, explosive concentration of wealth among a small elite, and extraordinary opportunity for rapacious capitalism from American and European corporations.

Ms. Klein argues that from its humble beginnings as an economic philosophy, the neoliberal program has evolved (or perhaps devolved) into a form of corporatism. Particularly in America, government under mostly Republican adminstrations has hollowed itself out, using private sector contractors for nearly every conceivable task. Companies ranging from Lockheed and Halliburton to ChoicePoint, Blackwater, CH2M Hill, and DynCorp exist almost entirely to secure lucrative government contracts to perform work formerly done by government. They now operate in a world the author describes as “disaster capitalism,” waiting and salivating over the profits to be made in the next slate-wiping war or disaster, regardless of the human cost. In an ominous closing discussion, Ms. Klein describes the privatization of government in wealthy Atlanta suburbs, a further step in self-serving and preemptive corporatism guaranteed to hollow out whatever is left of major American cities if it becomes a widespread practice.

THE SHOCK DOCTRINE is truly a head-shaking read. One can only marvel at the imperiousness of past (mostly) American governmental behavior, the grievous callousness of it all, the massive human despair and suffering created for no other reason than economic imperialism, and the nauseating greed of (mostly Republican) politicians, former political operatives, and corporate executives who prey like pack wolves on people’s powerlessness and insecurity. Reading this book, one can no longer ask the question, “Why do they hate us?” The answer is obvious, and no amount of hyperventilation from Rush Limbaugh, Lou Dobbs, or Fox News can erase the facts and consequences of behavior that we as a country have implicitly or explicitly endorsed.

THE SHOCK DOCTRINE proves itself as shaming of modern American governmental policy as Dee Brown’s epic of 19th Century America, BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE. It is an essential read for intelligent citizens who want to understand the roots of globalization and its blowback effects on our lives.

LibriVox’s Short Story Collection 032: a collection of 10 short works of fiction in the public domain read by a group of LibriVox members.

• LibriVox’s Short Story Collection. Vol 032 Internet Archive page
• Zip file of the entire book (117.7M)

Maria Sharapova (Amazing Athletes) by Jeff Savage

Maria Sharapova, one of the top tennis players in the world

Maria Sharapova (Sports Idols) by Jason Glaser

Holloway “Hall” Braxton is just thirteen and is making her mark in the world of tennis. She has pretty much outgrown her competition in Colorado, so what is next? Both her coach and her parents think it’s time to start looking at improving her world ranking, but Hall isn’t sure she’s ready. Competing in world class tournaments means moving on from her local coach and attending one of the private tennis academies her parents have been researching. It also means moving away from home.

Hall’s life is suddenly more complicated than ever. It’s not just her tennis life that is changing. She and her best friend seem to be headed in different directions. Her doubles partner recently suffered a nervous breakdown and is currently living in a mental facility. And then there’s Luke, the country club, private school heartthrob who is suddenly paying Hall a lot of attention.

Every night Hall presses her ear to the heating vent between her room and the kitchen to hear her parents plot and plan her tennis future. Her father has his sights set on Bickford Tennis Academy in Florida. Her mother (Hall calls her The Weak Link) seems less sure about sending their only daughter off to swampy Florida and tennis torture. No one bothers asking Hall what she wants, and it’s beginning to freak her out.

For awhile Hall tries to lose herself in the world outside tennis. She hangs with her friends, especially handsome Luke and new friend, Polly. Amazed that someone as popular as Luke could be interested in her, Hall explores another side of her personality as she sneaks out for late night swims and make-out sessions. Her longtime friendship with best friend Eve is abandoned as she spends time with more rebellious Polly. But tennis continues to haunt Hall. Is it just a game or is it a much more important part of who she is?

OPEN COURT reaches into the pressures of competitive tennis. The pressure to win, to please coaches and parents, the grueling hours of practice that interfere with friendships, and the powerful love of the game are all revealed in this fast-paced novel. Even those with little knowledge of the game of tennis will still appreciate the drive and determination that pushes and yet terrifies Hall. OPEN COURT is a worthwhile addition to any collection.

I wasn’t that eager to read this lovely book. The title sounded silly and I’ve read a few other books that were told entirely in the form of notes or letters like this one and I wasn’t too impressed. And an aunt and her niece authoring a book together? I couldn’t imagine it. Yet, miraculously, THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY manages to offer wonderful well rounded characters, a genuine sense of historic time and geographic place, some real inspiring stories of courage under hardship during World War II and a sweet if rather predictable love story.

The book takes place in England during the mid 1940’s when the country was recovering from the effects of the long war years. The central character of the novel is Juliet, a thirty something single Londoner who has had some success writing a humorous newspaper column and is now looking for a book subject. Through chance and a mutual love of the power of literature Juliet begins corresponding with a group of diverse people on the British island of Guernsey who used books and the fellowship they found discussing them to help them get through the hideous occupation of their island by the Germans. The authors do a wonderful job giving unique voice and style to each of the letter writers (maybe having two authors really helped in this case) long before Juliet meets her new friends face to face. In the second half of the book, also written in letter form, Juliet is on Guernsey herself and this part of the book is not quite as strong as the beginning as the plot settles in to more of a traditional love story form and the literature themes are somewhat lessened. Still,through its final page, this is an original and entertaining book.

Source: Librivox | Zipped MP3
Length: 9 hr, 52 min
Reader: John Nicholson

The book: Set in British colonial South Africa, King Solomon’s Mines tells of the extraordinary adventures of big game hunter Allan Quartermain. Sir Henry Curtis hires Quartermain as a guide for an expedition to find Curtis’s brother, who disappeared while searching for the biblical King Solomon’s fabled diamond mines. Joining them in the expedition are Curtis’s friend Captain Good and Umbopa, a porter with mysterious purposes.

The action is told in an unadorned style that, along with the descriptions of Africa and its inhabitants, makes this Lost Civilization fantasy seem real. A major part of this realism is the character of Quartermain, who narrates the adventure in the first person with a sense of dry humor and a matter-of-fact tone. Quartmain is not a hero in the traditional sense - he admits to being a coward. Instead of a hero, he is someone that the reader can positively identify with: fair, practical, smart, and opposed to injustice, racism and greed. This enlightened protagonist, the fresh writing style and exciting plot make King Solomon’s Mines a great read.

Rating: 9/10

The reader: Nicholson has a deep plain voice that is a perfect match for Allan Quartermain. The book is filled with difficult-to-pronounce names and words in Afrikaans and Zulu, but Nicholson says them with confidence. Whether or not he’s right, I have no idea. The pace is sometimes too slow for my taste, but he does vary both the pace and volume. The recording has some background whine and a hiss on the esses.

‘You may think that Mother Nature, like the famous ‘old woman who lived in the shoe,’ has so many children that she doesn’t know what to do. But you will know better when you become acquainted with her, and learn how strong she is, and how active; how she can really be in fifty places at once, taking care of a sick tree, or a baby flower just born; and, at the same time, building underground palaces, guiding the steps of little travellers setting out on long journeys, and sweeping, dusting, and arranging her great house,-the earth. And all the while, in the midst of her patient and never-ending work, she will tell us the most charming and marvellous stories of ages ago when she was young, or of the treasures that lie hidden in the most distant and secret closets of her palace; just such stories as you all like so well to hear your mother tell when you gather round her in the twilight.’ (Summary from Chapter One of The Stories Mother Nature Told Her Children)

• Mainlesson e-text
• LibriVox’s The Stories Mother Nature Told Her Children Internet Archive page
• Zip file of the entire book - 69.5MB

A whimsically serious look at the umbrella and society. (summary by Clarica)

• Gutenberg e-text
• LibriVox’s Umbrellas and Their History Internet Archive page
• Zip file of the entire book (51.0M)

A book of simple receipts for little folk with important cooking rules in rhyme together with handy lists of the materials and utensils needed for the preparation of each dish. (Summary from the text)

• etext at googlebooks - When Mother Lets Us Cook
• LibriVox’s When Mother Lets Us Cook Internet Archive page
• Zip file of the entire book (39 MB)

Jane Austen’s Letters by Jane Austen

Proving that Austen was as fun and readable in her everyday letters as she was in her novels. These letters (about 160 of them) are great fun to read. The biting wit of her novels is clearly evident here.

As pretty much most people know Jane Austen was incredibly close to her sister Cassandra and most of these letters are from Jane to Cassandra while they were separated. After Jane’s death Cassandra destroyed goodness knows how many of Jane’s letters and all of her own - so this small collection is all that is left - along with some to her neices and other family members.

The collection was first put together in the 1930’s by Chapman, but Le Faye has uncovered a few more since then (as I understand it).

The book is great value for money. Le Faye has done a phenomemal job in providing all the support information you will need to read and understand any aspect of the letters. They are footnoted clearly. There is a biographical and Topographical index in here - along with a chronology of Jane’s life, and a chronology of the letters themselves - and if all else fails there is a comprehensive index.

For the history buff there is a great amount of really useful everyday infomration - for instance in 1813 apples were scarce in the country and cost 1 pound 5 shillings a sack. And insight into Jane herself - in April 1811 she is searching for a novel called ‘Self Control’ but says “I am always afraid of finding a clever novel too clever.” Perhaps something that guided her own writing.

Over 600 pages of great value reading, pure pleasure and wealth of information.

Jane Austen For Dummies by Joan Elizabeth Klingel Ray

I hate the name of this series, but this volume by Joan Klingel Ray, president of the Jane Austen Society of North America is a terrific, clear, concise, and inviting set of explanations for all of those questions that newer readers of Austen have about her world: Why doesn’t Elizabeth Bennet just get a job? Why will Mrs. Bennet have to leave Longbourn if Mr. Bennet dies? How rich IS Darcy?

Plus, because Ray’s learning is so deep, the chapter on manners, for instance, is framed not by vague ideas of “well, we all want to behave nicely, don’t we?” but by Castiglione and the translations of it into Latin and English. This kind of learning is in evidence in every chapter.

I’ve been reading Austen since I was 13–more than 35 years–and I find new information in this volume. Plus, it’s fun to read sections and see just how much I already knew.

For instance, do you know how to navigate via the Tube and trains to the Austen sites in the countryside? I didn’t. Dr. Ray tells all.

I do love a clear explanation!

Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels by Deirdre Le Faye

I am a Jane Austen fan, to say the least. I have read all her works and enjoyed them. The only thing that annoyed me was the fact that I knew little about culture and life in her day. When I saw this book I was very excited. It gives a brief history of England (during the time of Jane Austen’s life), a biography of Ms. Austen, explination of the culture, and detailed explinations of each book. This book is packed with pictures and maps that are also very helpful and give each of Jane Austen’s stories a “face.” If you are a Austen fan, you need to read this book!

Becoming Jane Austen by Jon Spence

How narrow was Jane Austen’s world? She has generally been viewed as writing from her observations in the parlor. Spence broadens that view and does an excellent job of presenting Jane in the context of her wide circle of family and friends. He weaves in the incidents and issues they encounter and then shows how Jane transformed them in her fiction. One of the fascinating points is how often she disguised the person by inverting the gender. My one criticism is that the genealogical charts should have been placed in a better position, since I constantly referred back to them. They could also have been even more extensive with maybe even a listing of the people in her life. I re-read Austen’s books every few years and so I am very familiar with her work. This book provided new insight to me. I will re-read Sanditon in particular for his critic of this last work. The constant financial uncertainty Jane faced comes out strongly in the book. At the time of her death she had received some money, but still faced uncertainty and was unaware of the full extent of her success as a novelist.

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James

It is a truth universally acknowledged that there are only a handful of things in this world that are truly irresistible: Colin Firth in a cravat; a love story gone awry but with the promising outcome of a happily ever after; and a deliciously witty comedic scene a la Jane Austen.

Over the summer, a number of Austen-themed novels hit the store shelves: ever delightful and easily devoured in an afternoon or two by any real Pride & Prejudice fan who decided to harm her complexion by a day at the beach.

Undoubtedly, Mr. Darcy has captured the heart of every red-blooded wanna-be Elizabeth who dares calls herself a romantic (see: Colin Firth in a cravat), but where are those books for those fans of Mr. Knightley or Colonel Branden? Where are they to find their passionate read?

Look no further. Syrie James has satisfied us on every score…except that perhaps of a happily ever after. After all, anything titled: The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, comes with the ready knowledge that this romp does not end with a wedding. At least not Jane’s wedding.

But whereas we know Romeo & Juliet doesn’t end happily, it isn’t any less a great love story–and Syrie weaves for us a very credible tale about a witty, budding authoress who upon touring with her brother, Henry, in Lyme, finds herself in a similar predicament as one of the heroines of her stories: that of being in danger of falling love with a captivating young man.

Mr. Ashford has all the dash of Colin Firth in a cravat with none of the awkward, introverted behavior. He is charming, friendly, trustworthy, and kind. Not only that, he is a mentor. He encourages Jane to pursue her dreams of becoming a published novelist–but he doesn’t mince words about what it truly takes to do so. During their discussion about it, his questions if she’s written anything lately makes Jane feel defensive. She turns all prickly:

“Writing is not an occupation which is easily picked up and accomplished on a whim.”

He went quiet for a moment, and then said, “I am not a writer, I admit. But in my experience, I have found that there is never a perfect time or place for anything. We can always find a reason to put off that which we aspire to do, or fear to do, until tomorrow, next week, next month, next year–until, in the end, we never accomplish any thing at all.” (127.)

Instantly shamed, she realizes he is right; that she has been allowing her fear to keep her from writing. She then confides her next fear to him: what if she can’t find a publisher? He has an answer for that as well.

“What does that matter? In the end, talent will win out. Do you want to be a published novelist?”

“It is all I have ever wanted.”

His eyes locked with mine, as a sudden breeze stirred the branches of the trees above us.

“Then a published novelist is what you shall be, Miss Jane Austen.” (128.)

Yes, that’s where I swooned as well.

But the hallmark of a wonderful novel isn’t just all the passages with the cravat-wearing, dishy-accented hero. Oh, no. There are moments of pure comic timing and hilarity that unravel before our eyes like scenes in a movie. And granted, much of these scenes are endearingly familiar. Clearly Syrie offers us the suggestion that perhaps Jane did indeed pull moments of her real life and put them into the stories we know and love.

It was delightful to find the similarities between Jane’s story and that funny and wryly true novel, Sense & Sensibility, but maybe that’s a prejudice of my own, being I find bits and pieces of my own novel uncomfortably familiar. I’m sure if any of my Mr. Ashfords ever read my novel (of which I have no fear: I’m pretty sure they can’t read), they too would be able to pick themselves out of the pages–and question me, wondering if the anger and passion displayed in print had any truth. It does. Why let all the melancholy and angst go to waste? Apparently Jane is as much a recycler like me.

In the end, I think this novel is about writing…and writers. The nature of how our secret selves are transformed into printed word; how all our experiences brought together are truly what makes great books. We should not live our lives in a turret, weaving from a mirror of life we’ve never tasted. Our voice and interpretation of these experiences everyone has had–these are what give something as universal, as repeatedly done as a love story a fresh and new understanding. It is a book of hope for writers-the last line says it all-but I can’t tell you because you really should read the book for yourself.

Syrie James captures all that is best and true about Jane Austen. You will find yourself caught and enchanted and praying for an ending that will not come. For die-hard Austenites, this is the book you’ve been waiting for; for those of you who do not mind a bittersweet ending, this one is sure to entrance; and for those of you wishing for knowledge of how to be a writer like Austen, well, you can find that, too.

Jane Austen book club

Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen

Jane Austen Quilted Wall Hanging

Bathing - Jane Austen at the seaside

Keira Knightley
If the criteria for watching her films would be to know Jane Austen

Throughout The Jane Austen Book Club

LibriVox’s Short Poetry Collection 068: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.

• LibriVox’s Short Poetry Collection 068 Internet Archive page
• Zip file of the entire book (23.9MB)

N1 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

I love this guy Coelho. He does an incredible job of making complicated concepts of spirituality and mysticism more understandable. Or at least makes you think about these deeper. There is a lot of symbolism and philosophy in this book. One subject that is hidden in the text is the (reference to) the Sufi concept of ONENESS of BEING or “Wahdat-ul-Wujood”. Some sort of Pantheistic view you can say. One can read poet Rumi to see the same tale written 700 years ago. Another subject that is very well given to the reader is a sense of interfaith/intercultural dialog, that we are all going to live on the same planet and we better learn how to treat each other well… But you have to explore the book for yourself. And make sure your spirit is that of Santiago, the shepherd boy, who can be like the winds!

The Witch of Portobello: A Novel (P.S.) by Paulo Coelho

Let me state this bluntly - I read Coelho’s famous “The Alchemist” and absolutely hated it. I found it a stupid, simplistic waste of time. I picked this up because the title and cover photo looked interesting and I thought, “Hey, let’s give him another chance.”

Most second chances end in disappointment, but this ended in delight and surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed “The Witch of Portobello”. The style is less stupidly watered down than “The Alchemist” and the story is actually readable. I was also significantly more impressed by Mr. Coelho’s writing as well, as he managed to create a multi-perspective story well and I was able to keep track of the characters at all times.

And yet I give this novel a FOUR STAR rating. It’s not, really. It’s somewhere between a four and a five. It’s enjoyable, well-written, and down-right fascinating. While in “The Alchemist”, Mr. Coelho jams a bit too much down the reader’s throat in so little time, here the religious and mystical theme is well-spaced and wide. And it’s all very novel-like. One can view it as reality, or one can view it as fantasy. Whichever you want.

But some readers may not like that. Some may not like Mr. Coelho’s style (though I assure you, this is nothing like “The Alchemist” - no foolish simplicities, dull characters, or silly non-plots), but here it flows elegantly. Athena is a curious character, and viewing her from all directions except her own is revealing and fascinating. Also, absolutely enjoyable. Dialogue is occasionally a bit long and speech-like, but on the whole it’s relatively good.

I do recommend this book. I enjoyed it; others might not. It’s a grand improvement over “The Alchemist” and a plain good book. Expect to think a bit about all sorts of things. And even if you don’t like it, stick it out until the end - it’s worth it.

Warrior of the Light: A Manual by Paulo Coelho

“That is why he is a Warrior of the Light, because he has been through all this and yet has never lost hope of being better than he is.” -from the book.

I love how this book shows the good and bad of our human nature and blesses it all. We all have within us the light and the dark. Which one will we allow to guide us? We are whole because of both.

This book is encouraging and truthful, and full of wisdom. As you read this, you will take a look inside yourself and acknowledge what is there. This is a good book to keep out where you can pick it up and read something from it often. It’s great to keep by your bedside for light reading before bed, or in the morning when you get up.

“In order to have faith in his own path, he does not need to prove that someone else’s path is wrong.” -one of my favorite passages from the book.

I hope you’ll read and enjoy this too!

Life: Selected Quotations by Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho can do no wrong in my book. This collection of thoughts from his books and other writings summarizes his beliefs on life, love, destiny etc. It provides the reader with food for thought and reminds us of the things we know about life somewhere in the back of our heads but tend to forget we know as life happens.
If you’re not careful you can read this entire book in less than an hour, but if you do you’d have missed the point. I read, reflect and where appropriate, I write.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho

I have read quite a few “Coelho” books to date, and am truly amazed by the powerful insights woven within the stories of each and every one! In fact, I have yet to read a book by this author that has not moved me in some way.

“The Fifth Mountain” is a story written about the biblical figure Elijia - his trials & tribulations, as well as his joys, loves & great accomplishments. In a very interesting way, the author guides the reader through the many lessons to be learned through the life of this prophet and all those he touched.

Some of the lessons/insights that I realized/remembered through reading “The Fifth Mountain” include:
*Through every hardship we go through, there is a lesson to be learned - so be on the lookout for what lessons/insights are showing up in your life, and take heed.
*Freedom is the ability to follow your heart without concern for the opinions of others.
*We must CHOOSE rathter than ACCEPT our fate

Overall, I found this book to be an easy, interesting, powerful read - with many great insights woven into a memorable fable-type story. I would recommend this author to everyone!

By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept: A Novel of Forgiveness by Paulo Coelho

I begin by noting that I love Coelho and find his prose to be almost poetic. I found this book - as always - beautifully written but a bit heavy on religion. Let me explain before you boo me off the stage, Coelho lovers! Usually, I find his thoughts on God and religion to be beautifully written but also subtly drafted. For example, in his masterpiece “The Alchemist”, God and fate and religion were infused throughout the story, but subtly so. Here, the religion is very in your face. I found it bearable but a bit much, a bit unnecessary. Coelho is such a gifted writer that he doesn’t NEED to be so blunt with religion and god. That said, this novel - as his others - is well constructed, a quick read and one in which we quickly become involved in the main characters lives. I found myself rooting heartily for the two main actors. The ending was something of a surprise, but as always left me on the edge of my seat with my mouth open and my mind racing. The book does what any good book should - leave you with the belief that you have read an excellent story, as well as give you many things to think about and relate to your own life. “By the River …” is well worth a read, and Coelho continues to inspire with his almost non-stop beautiful prose. Each page contains at least one gem which I underline, think about, come back to, chew on, and then think about some more. A great read - if it was by anyone else I’d give it a 5; I give it a comparative 4 only in relation to his other books. While this one is great, his others are even greater.

The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation by Paulo Coelho

Once again, Coelho deftly uses his gifts as a storyteller to delve into the meat of the human condition. This “novel of temptation” is in the same vein as Coelho’s The Alchemist, wherein he uses a simple narrative technique to approach some very difficult questions.
Although one might think it would be impossible to explore good vs. evil without a certain amount of rhetoric, Coelho’s approach is fresh and does not resort to the usual cliches. The heroine does not shine and the villain is a victim of circumstance. In the two characters we see both sides of ourselves.
The book reads like a morality play in that the town of Viscos is Everytown and the Stranger is Everyman. Coelho has brought on the renaissance of the parable as an art form and should be commended on his ability to explore truth without grandstanding. This is a book that should humble even the most saintly of readers.

The Valkyries by Paulo Coelho

The Valkyries is a metaphysical tale, very much in the spirit of James Redfield, only this epic tale is authentic.

This is Paulo Coelho’s astonishing true story of his encounter with darkness, his search for the light, and the seeking of his personal angel. He chronicles his journey from Brazil, with his wife Chris, and their 40-day sojourn in the Mojave Desert, seeking the Valkyries. The Valkyries were rumored to be able to speak and to see their angels. Having fought a battle with darkness, Paulo has redeemed his life and is a seeker of the light. Paulo was also told that “people wind up killing what they love most” as he seeks to rectify certain, if not all, areas of his life.

This book is journey of faith, of trust, of forgiveness, of love, of self-discovery, and of battling the darkness within ourselves, and wanting to change. As Paulo states, “Faith is a different conquest, and it requires daily combat in order to maintained.” His faith is tested to the very end, as he seeks contact with his angels. His journey within transforms him as well as transforming his wife at the same time. Their two soul journeys will inspire you.

“We are responsible for everything that happens in this world. We are the warriors of the light. With the strength of our love and our will, we can change our destiny, as well as the destiny of many others.” In this age of angel sightings, angel occurrences are happening with intense frequency. It is as if God is sending his messengers with a message and that message if one of love. The stories being written give hope to those in need of hope and bring home the message that there is another way - love.

“If on the other hand, we accept all that is wrong about us - and despite it, believe that we are desiring of a happy life - then we will have thrown open an immense window that will allow Love to enter. Little by little, our defects will disappear, because one who is happy can look at the world only with love - the force that regenerates everything that exists in the universe.”

This is an amazing book, which will cause you to think and revaluate parts of your life. I read the book in one sitting and had to keep going with it till the very end. If you are on a spiritual journey or even on a transforming journey at this point in your life, this is one book that you will want to read. As Paulo says, “God is love, generosity and forgiveness; if we believe this, we will never allow our weakness to paralyze us.” I highly recommend this book.

Brida: A Novel by Paulo Coelho

I read this book last year…since then I’ve read a lot of books, but I am still under the enchantment of Brida. What a good story…fulfilled with knowledge and wisdom. If you’ve ever thougth you are special, and has some spiritual gifts…you got to read Brida. Here you’ll find out how this woman discover herself trough the experience of becoming a true wicht. But it won’t be easy. She will have to learn several incredible lessons, from sharing with the naked nature to see the magic ligth of her soulmate. Sorcerers, witches, wicca, tarot surrounds the mistery of Brida. Very good book. Fascinating and believe me…there will be a lot of empathy, and more than one deja vu.

The Zahir: A Novel of Obsession by Paulo Coelho

Master storyteller Paulo Coelho’s stories are all semi-autobiographical in nature, read well, are set in fascinating locations, and leave you thinking the author has somehow seen more deeply into the human spirit than most of us. It’s hard to read his books without feeling deeply touched, and The Zahir is no exception.

There are themes of love, belonging, separation, anxiety, heartbreak, understanding, alienation, need, want. Many settings, in many places including Paris, Madrid, Kazakstan. The themes are ones that absorb all humankind whether we realize them or not.

I read this book at a bad time in my life, pulling it randomly from my wife’s bookshelf, and being pulled into the book as if it were somehow the correct choice of all the books I could have picked. It spoke to me deeply of love and understanding, in a way that I think many couples, many who have loved or lost will instantly empathize with. Following in the narrator’s steps, we arrive where he does, gain wisdom as he does, and achieve enlightenment as he does. And hopefully, find and regain true love that had been neglected, as he does.

Coelho’s native language is not English, yet none of his writing feels “translated” or stilted like happens to many foreign writings when they appear in English.

It is as if the author has a special gift for storytelling that transcends individual languages, the the vast number of countries in which his books have been published seems to support that.

Whether you are looking to be entertained by a lively tale, or are seeking solace and understanding as I was, The Zahir will fill your need. If you are in need of both then it behooves you to read everything this master storyteller has written.

Veronika Decides to Die: A Novel of Redemption by Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho’s new novel is beautful - both in the writing and the story being told. I first read Coelho’s Alchemist and was blown away by the simplicity of his writing style and the beauty that he elicited through the weaving his tale. His novels always leave a wonderful glow behind and Veronika Decides To Die is no different.

Veronica suffers from malaise and decides that she would be better off dead. Veronika commits suicide and is shocked to awaken in Villete, a well known mental hospital, only to be told that while she was not successful in dying she has committed herself to death as her attempt at suicide has damaged her heart and she now has a few days left to live.

During this week, Veronika gets to know the other patients at Villete, from the Dr. Igor to Zedka, Mari, Eduard and the Fraternity. Each person has something to share with Veronkia - who in time comes to learn the joy pain of life and all of the emotions in between.

Readers will enjoy this trip of self discovery as it speaks to all of us. I certainly left this book with more than I went into it with. It really moved me and has made me think - about life, love, happiness, despair and so much more. I look forward to more beautfully provocative and thought provoking work from Paulo Coelho.

El Demonio y la Senorita Prym: Una Novela by Paulo Coelho and M. Dolors Ventos

Es una novela acerca del bien y el mal dentro de todos nosotros, muy bueno como todos sus libros

simplemente fabulosa novela donde como siempre el autor nos deleita ,me parece uno de los mejores libros de coelho.

The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation by Paulo Coelho

This is the best book I have read this year! This book is a real page turner! I highly recommend it!

The story is as follows: A stranger appeared in a small village, Viscos, where 108 women and 173 men live. Unknown to the villagers, he was carrying in his rucksack eleven bars of gold, each weighing two kilos. After having checked-in in the only hotel, he plunged into the forest, where he dug two holes. In one, he buried one gold bar, and in the other hole the remaining 10 gold bars. He then walked back to the village. The first person he saw on his way back was a young woman, Chantal Prym, sitting beside a river reading a book. He approached her, and told her that he would like to show her something she had never seen before. At first she hesitated, but wanting adventure, she followed him into the forest. He told her to dig near a Y-shaped rock, where she found the first bar of gold. The stranger then led her to the next hiding place. There she found the remaining gold bars. She was astonished at the quantity of gold she saw before her. At first, she thought that he was showing her all this gold because he was like other older men, obsessed with the idea of sex with a younger woman. But she soon found out that the stranger was carrying out an experiment into the nature of human beings. He told her that he had discovered that confronted by temptation, humans will always fall. Given the right circumstances, every human being on this earth would be willing to commit evil. To test his theory, he then told her to tell the inhabitants of Viscos about the gold she saw, and to convey the message that should they kill one of their own, all the gold would be theirs! He further added that he would only give them a week. If, at the end of seven days, someone in the village is found dead, the money would go to the villagers, and he would conclude that humans are evil. However, should Chantal Prym steal the one gold bar but the village resists temptation, or vice versa, he would conclude that there are good people and evil people. This would mean that there’s a spiritual struggle going on that could be won by either side. However, should he leave with all eleven gold bars, then he would conclude that life is good and that it prevails over evil.

The stranger had lost his wife and daughters at the hand of terrorists. He now needed to find out whether humans are good or evil. If we are good, he thought, God is just and will forgive him for all he has done, for He was the one who drove him towards the dark. But if we are evil, he concluded, then everything is permitted, he never took a wrong decision, and we are all condemned from the start, and it doesn’t matter what we do in this life, for redemption lies beyond either human thought or deed.

Coelho is trying to convey to us the message that we are all good and evil; that good and evil have the same face. He recounts two stories to illustrate this. The first story is about the history of Viscos. The story goes as follows: A wicked Arab bandit by the name of Ahab controlled the whole village. One day, a hermit by the name of St Savin came down from his cave, arrived at Ahab’s house and asked to spend the night there. Ahab laughed, telling him that he could easily slit his throat while he slept. But Savin insisted. Ahab determined to kill him that very night. They chatted while Ahab sharpened his knife, then Ahab showed Savin where he could sleep and continued menacingly sharpening his knife. After watching him for a few minutes, Savin closed his eyes and went to sleep. Ahab spent all night sharpening his knife. The next day, when Savin awoke, he found Ahab in tears at his side. He told him, “You weren’t afraid of me and you didn’t judge me. For the first time ever, someone spent a night by my side trusting that I could be a good man, one ready to offer hospitality to those in need. Because you believed I was capable of behaving decently, I did.” From that moment on, Ahab abandoned his life of crime.

The other story is about The Last Supper, painted by Leonardo da Vinci. When Leonardo was creating this picture, Leonardo da Vinci encountered a serious problem: he had to depict Good - in the person of Jesus - and Evil - in the figure of Judas. He stopped work on the painting until he could find his ideal models. He was quickly able to find his model for Jesus in a boy he saw in a choir. But three years had gone by, and the Last Supper was almost complete, but Leonardo had still not found the perfect model for Judas. After many days spent searching, the artist came across a prematurely aged youth, in rags and lying drunk in the gutter. The beggar was taken to the church, not understanding what was going on.

Leonardo immediately started copying the lines of impiety, sin and egotism so clearly etched on the beggar’s features. When he had finished, the beggar, who had sobered up slightly, opened his eyes and saw the picture before him. With a mixture of horror he said, “I’ve seen that picture before!” Leonardo was astonished. He couldn’t believe it. The beggar replied, “Three years ago, before I lost everything I had, at a time when I used to sing in a choir and my life was full of dreams. The artist asked me to pose as the model for the face of Jesus.” Evil and good have the same face!

Chantal Prym did not immediately tell the inhabitants of the village about the gold. But she did tell them eventually on a Friday night at the village bar when all the villagers, including the stranger, were present. After telling them about the stranger and the gold, she told them,”That gold will belong to Viscos if, in the next three days, someone in the village is murdered. If no one dies, the stranger will leave, taking his gold with him.”

They were all shocked, and some asked the stranger to leave the village at once, while others said to call the police. Chantal Prym was sure that there was no way her fellow villagers would be capable of committing a murder for money. But she was wrong! The villagers actually were contemplating committing the murder. The next day, they all congregated in the church. The priest gave a sermon, saying “In the Gospel according to Luke, there is a moment when an important man approaches Jesus and asks: `Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And, to our surprise, Jesus responds: `Why callest thou me good? None is good, save one, that is, God.’ The priest went on saying, `None is good, says the Lord. No one. We should stop pretending to a goodness that offends God and accept our faults: if one day we have to accept a wager with the devil, let us remember that our Father who is in heaven did exactly the same in order to save the soul of His servant Job.’ (In the story of Job, God takes a wager with the devil, allowing the devil to strip Job of his wealth, killing his children, and inflicting a horrible disease on his body, just to see whether Job will continue to love and worship Him!)

The priest was once told by a bishop, `Abraham took in strangers, and God was happy. Elijah disliked strangers, and God was happy. David was proud of what he was doing, and God was happy. The publican before the altar was ashamed of what he did, and God was happy. John the Baptist went out into the desert, and God was happy. Paul went to the great cities of the Roman Empire, and God was happy. How can one know what will please the Almighty? Do what your heart commands, and God will be happy.’

One passage in the Bible greatly disturbed Viscos’ priest. Why did Jesus ask Judas to commit a sin and thus lead him into eternal damnation? Jesus would never do that; in truth, the traitor was merely a victim, as Jesus himself. Evil had to manifest itself and fulfill its role, so that ultimately Good could prevail. If there was no betrayal, there could be no cross, the words of the scriptures would not be fulfilled, and Jesus’ sacrifice could not serve as an example.

The priest was now set on murder, and he managed to convince the rest of the congregation.

The inhabitants of Viscos chose Berta as their victim; an old woman with no friends, who seemed slightly mad, and made no contribution to the growth of the village. All started to dream about the riches that would soon befall them.

Chantal Prym had a dream. It was of an angel handing her the eleven gold bars and asking her to keep them. Chantal told the angel that, for this to happen, someone had to be killed. But the angel said that this wasn’t the case: on the contrary, the bars were proof that the gold did not exist. She had understood the dream.

The priest had taken all the shotguns from the villagers, and loaded all of them except one. In this way, they could all believe that they could have been the ones to shoot a blank.

They first sedated Berta, and then took her to the valley to be shot simultaneously by all the villagers. But Chantal Prym intervened. She stood in the line of fire, and asked the villagers if they could use the gold. Can they sell it? She told them the story of Midas, who turned everything he touched into gold, even his food and his wife. Midas died of starvation. Too many questions will be asked by the bank when they tried to change their gold to money. A murder was about to be committed for something they could never have. The villagers were convinced, and the noise of the first shotgun being disarmed was heard, followed by all the rest!

Eleven Minutes: A Novel by Paulo Coelho

“Eleven Minutes” is the first book I have read by Paulo Coelho. Although there were some things about it which I felt detracted from the overall experience, I ended up reading it in one day, which is about as high praise as you can give a book. This is a story which has been done before, where a young woman (Maria) leaves her home to seek fame and fortune and ends up on the streets. What this book does very well, is show the difference between sex and love, and the writing makes one want to follow the story all the way to the end.

There are some flaws though, some of which may be due to the translation. For one thing, the absence of drugs seems to be unrealistic, but perhaps that was the correct decision, because in this story sex is the drug that is being used. Another oddity that distracted me was how the narrative shifted from Maria’s point-of-view to another character’s for brief periods. Overall, these problems are small though, and this book is very interesting to read.

Paulo Coelho by Juan Arias

This book is based on a series of interviews that Juan Arias conducted with Paulo Coelho back in 1998. It provides a lot of information about the legendery author and his struggles, including experimentation with drugs and magic, being put into a mental hospital by his parents when he was a young man, and his kidnapping by paramilitaries. I also really liked how the book described Coelho’s transformation after his pilgrimage on The Road to Santiago, and what he hopes his books accomplish. All in all, Coelho has had a very interesting life and reading this book will give you a better understanding of the messages he conveys to his readers.

Alchemist - 10th Anniversary Edition, The by Paulo, Coelho

My father picked up this book when he was in Japan and told me I might be interested in reading it. But, to tell you the truth, sometimes it seems like my dad can be far off, but other times he can be spot on. This time, he was right. I couldn’t put the book down as soon as I started reading it. I realized that I was much like Santiago and am on the journey to fulfill my personal legend. People tell me that wanting to follow my dream is crazy, but this has really opened my eyes and has made me pursue my dream even more. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in listening to their hearts and following their dreams. It has changed my life, and I hope that it reaches many more.

The Alchemist’s Apprentice by Dave Duncan

The Alchemist’s Apprentice (2007) is a historical fantasy. Maestro Filippo Nostradamus, nephew of Michel Nostradamus, is an astrologer, clairvoyant and alchemist as well as the best physician in Venice. His apprentice and protector is Alfeo Zeno, a young and impoverished nobleman. The Maestro is a long-standing friend of the Doge and is also his personal physician.

In this novel, a tarot reading suggests unexpected visitors that night, so Alfeo he arms himself just in case. He sends Luigi — the night watchman — to guard the back door and takes the watergate for himself. Then Raffaino Sciara appears with four fanti requesting entrance.

Although Alfeo states that the Maestro is not at home, the Circospetto — chief secretary of the Council of Ten — demands entrance in the name of the Republic. Alfeo reluctantly lets them inside, but still avers that his master is not home. Sciara offers Alfeo the choice of taking him to the Maestro or being taken into custody.

After spending the rest of the night in a cell, Alfeo is awakened and taken to see the Doge. There he is informed of the death of Bertucci Orseolo and the circumstances leading to the death. He is startled to learn that his master had been present at the affair and had attended the procurator after his collapse.

Alfeo immediately realizes that his master could be charged with causing the death of the procurator. After returning home, he advises his master to flee Venice, but Nostradamus refuses. Instead, the Maestro sends Alfeo on a series of errands, including interviews with the witnesses to Orseolo’s collapse.

In this story, Alfeo is attacked by six bravos, but survives due to Bruno’s iron skillet and help from the neighbors. He has prophetic dreams about a demon. He avoids a seduction attempt by an English woman. Indeed, he has an exciting time during Carnival.

Alfeo has the help of a few friends during this time. Bruno is a giant of a man who is a deaf-mute. Bruno carries the Maestro on his shoulders whenever his master leaves the Casa. Although very sweet tempered, Bruno can get quite excited whenever someone attacks his friends.

Giorgio is the Maestro’s gondolier. He also is the father of many children. The twins Christoforo and Corrado are the eldest still at home and run many errands for the Maestro and Alfeo. They are old enough to start planning a sexual revel.

Violetta is the most expensive courtesan in Venice and she lives right next door to Alfeo. Occasionally she likes to invite him over for a visit. Since she is probably the most intelligent person that he knows (maybe even smarter that the Maestro), Alfeo welcomes the opportunity to talk over his problems with Violetta. She also has great sources of information.

This story is a murder mystery in the style of Nero Wolfe, with the Maestro as the brain and Alfeo as the brawn. Yet this story does not slavishly follow the Rex Stout formula, for Nostradamus does sometimes leave the Casa. Moreover, he doesn’t even own the palace, but only has the use of his apartments. And the penultimate denouement takes place at the scene of the crime.

This work is brought to a satisfying conclusion, but the characters are so interesting that one really wants a sequel. Let us hope that the author has more to write in this mileau!

Highly recommended for Duncan fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of late Renaissance Venice, murder mysteries, and convoluted plots.

The Alchemist by Ben Jonson

I recently read the early 17th century comedy “Volpone”, my first introduction to Ben Jonson. I was surprised by how well Jonson’s humor had traveled through 400 years of cultural change. I did have difficulty with Jonson’s dedication (several pages), the introductory argument, and the prologue as well as a “Pythagorean literary satire” in Act One, Scene One. But thereafter I found the humor to be natural and enjoyable. I even found myself somewhat sympathetic for the unscrupulous Volpone, Mosca, Voltore, Corbaccio, and Corvino. I immediately hunted around on my dustier bookshelves for other works of Ben Jonson.

“Epicene” was less easy to digest, but was worth the effort. There is a surprising twist in the final scene and I suggest that the reader avoid any literary criticism or introductions to “Epicene” until after your first reading. I had less empathy for the characters in “Epicene” and it was difficult to identify any “good guys”. The characters were not terribly disagreeable, but simply dilettantes that had little concern for morality or ethics. The dialogue is more obscure (and more bawdy) than in “Volpone”. I found it helpful to first read the footnotes for a scene before actually reading the scene itself.

“The Alchemist” is more like “Volpone”. The main characters are unscrupulous con-men; their targets are gullible, greedy individuals. I learned quite a bit about alchemy, at least alchemy as practiced by 17th century con-men. As with “Volpone” and “Epicene”, I was unable to predict how Ben Jonson would bring the play to a satisfactory conclusion. I enjoyed “The Alchemist” and I expect that I will read it again. I don’t know if it is performed very often, but it would probably be quite entertaining.

“Bartholomew Fair” introduces a large, motley collection of characters that largely converse in lower class colloquialisms that require some effort to master. The comedy was intended in part to be a satire on Puritans and thereby please King James, but it was equally an introduction to the varied individuals that might be encountered at an annual fair. It was not easy to keep track of the many characters and I continually referred to the cast listing to reorient myself.

There are a number of collections of Ben Jonson’s plays. I recommend an inexpensive collection, “The Alchemist and Other Plays”, publish by Oxford University Press as a World’s Classic. The introduction, glossary, and explanatory footnotes by Gordon Campbell are quite good. Begin with either “Volpone” or “The Alchemist” if you are new to Jonson. I hope you are as surprised and pleased as I was.

The Alchemist’s Daughter: A Novel by Katharine Mcmahon

Unfortunately, a great many books are released each month, all clamouring (whether they merit it or not) for attention, so that it is rather easy for out of the ordinary gems to be missed. Such, sad to say, is the case of Katherine McMahon’s “The Alchemist’s Daughter.” McMahon’s novel was a fantastic and absorbing read — I was absolutely riveted, and if you’re looking for something fresh, and a little different from the usual, I’d really recommend you try “The Alchemist’s Daughter” — it’s worth the hardcover price!

While Sir John Selden has spent a lot of time and effort on his only daughter’s, Emilie, scientific education, he has, unfortunately, also brought her up in seclusion on his estate in Buckinghamshire. This, of course leaves Emilie vulnerable to the manipulations and influence of others. So that, when a dashing adventurer, Robert Aislabie, comes calling just around the time when Emilie’s raging hormones are at their height (she’s reached her seventeenth birthday), she finds herself quite vulnerable to Aislabie charms. Going against her father’s wishes, Emilie insists on marrying Aislabie and leaves her father’s home in order to live with her new husband in London. But, in spite of all its noise and liveliness, Emilie soon finds herself feeling out of place in London and with her husband’s friends — her wonderful education seems not to have prepared her for London’s dazzling society. Intimidated and numbed by all she sees and is experiencing, it will be a while before Emilie removes the blinders from her eyes, realises who and what she is and so, become the woman her father always hoped she would be…

While one of the previous reviewers was correct to note that this was not a happy book, I did think that the novel ended on an uplifting note, full of hope and promise. This is a novel about personal growth and maturity, even if the growth didn’t take place until the final chapters of the book. As such, it is quite possible for readers to grow impatient and irritated with Emilie. And while Emilie isn’t the most engaging of heroines, I would argue that one should always remember that in spite of all her education, this is still a young teenager, who was brought up in seclusion and who had very little intercourse with society for most of her young life. That Emilie is always quick to blame others for the shortcomings in her life, her quickness to anger, and the fact that she moves about for much of the book in a kind of daze, allowing Aislabie to run her life is, completely understandable. Emilie definitely has blinders, and it will take the course of the book for them to come off and for her to finally act (instead of merely reacting) in order to undo some of the damage her indifference and anger has wrought.

I thought that “The Alchemist’s Daughter” was a wonderful and worthwhile read. For me, the author successfully recaptured the feel and mood of the period; so that even though she didn’t go in for overly luxurious and vivid descriptions, such was her prose style that I was able to “see” the dark and shabby rooms at Selden, the lush green of the estate, and the colour and opulence of the London drawing rooms. Also wonderfully done was her character portrayals — especially those of Sir John Selden, the Reverend Shales and Robert Aislabie. More than any others, these characters defied stereotypes and leaped off the pages. Reading “The Alchemist’s Daughter” was a pleasure and a treat — much like the pleasure I had when I first discovered Charlotte Smith and Eliza Haywood, and it is a novel I’d recommend heartily for anyone interested in the historical novel genre.

The Chinese Alchemist (Archaeological Mysteries, No. 11) by Lyn Hamilton

Lara McClintoch is an antiques dealer who faces down an Asian gang called the Golden Lotus that is terrorizing a Canadian city’s Chinatown. It seems Lara’s significant other, Rob Luczka, a sergeant in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, has angered the gang and they may be targeting Lara because of her relationship with Rob.

Lara travels to New York and attempts, on behalf of her friend, Dory Matthews, to bid on a rare Tang Dynasty silver box–a box that has added value because the lid is etched with a formula for immortality. It is also a box very similar to one Dory already has.

The box is mysteriously withdrawn from the New York auction and ten days later, Dory is dead. It is learned that the box will be auctioned in Beijing and Lara travels to China (per a request in Dory’s will) to bid on the box. Her rival, Burton Haldimand, turns up dead and the race is on. Lara must find the box or she might join Haldimand in death.

The Chinese Alchemist by Lyn Hamilton is the first of her novels that I’ve read. It’s a fun, fast and easy read. Lara McClintoch is interesting, the plot takes some wonderful twists and turns and the Chinese connection is fascinating.

Armchair Interviews says: The Chinese Alchemist is recommended.

The Alchemist by Donna Boyd

Well I’m coming off of reading her other book “The Passion” which I thoroughly enjoyed (see my review)and I just bought her other books under the name of “Rebecca Flanders” I really like this author’s style. I chose to take a break from the Werewolf topic because I just finished “Circus of the Damned” by Laurell K. Hamilton and it dealt a lot with Were-people and this was a welcome diversion.

This book started out so engaging it got me from the first chapter and kept me. The whole premise is that there are 3 gifted students at the House of Ra, when these 3 students combine their magical energy their power is unmatched, however something happens early on and they do not complete the training they needed. Consequently their magic is flawed…. but they don’t realize that, their young and think they are invicible.

This book has Magicians that are immortal, Dark Magic that goes wrong, Incest, Betrayal and all of this spans from the time during Pharoah to the present day. I recommend this book for a break from the norm it’s great storytelling, if you like books with twist, you should enjoy this one. In my opinion the end was not as satisfying as the rest of the book but I guess she maybe left it that way to do a sequel.

The Alchemist’s Door by Lisa Goldstein

Set in the sixteenth century, The Alchemist’s Door chronicles the life of legendary English mathematician, alchemist and astrologer John Dee, the inspiration for Prospero in Shakespeare’s Tempest and the title character in Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus. As the story opens, Dee and his strange associate, Edward Kelley, have accidentally summoned a demon that now dogs Dee’s every step. Hoping to evade the demon and improve his fortunes, Dee accepts potential patron Prince Laski’s invitation to visit Poland. But the demon follows him there, prompting Dee, his family and Kelley to flee to Prague.

Doctor Illuminatus: The Alchemist’s Son, Part I by Martin Booth

Teen siblings, Tim and Pip, aren’t exactly looking forward to moving to an old English country estate with their parents, and the strange knocking coming from within the walls of the home isn’t a very welcoming sign, at least not in their opinion. But when the two of them find a mysterious boy named Sebastian, who claims to be not only the son of a medieval alchemist, but to have been sleeping for nearly six hundred years, the two sibs don’t know what to think. Sebastian informs them that his Father’s arch nemesis, known as de Loudeac, has also awoken, and that he plans on using the secrets of alchemy to create an artificial human, known as a homunculous, from dead matter that only he will be able to control. Before they have even unpacked their belongings, Tim and Pip find themselves mixed up in a bizarre web of magic, filled with intrigue and horror, as they join Sebastian in his attempt to stop de Loudeac’s crazy plan.

Martin Booth has created an intricately woven, well-crafted novel filled with fast-paced adventure, intrigue, horror, and more. Tim and Pip are exciting characters, wise beyond their years, who will quickly capture the hearts, and the attention, of readers both young and old; while Sebastian, and the crazy schemes thought up by de Loudeac, will keep readers on the edge of their seats from the opening page to the last, dying to find out what will happen next in this exciting thriller. Science fiction and fantasy fans will enjoy the magic created within the pages of DOCTOR ILLUMINATUS: THE ALCHEMIST’S SON, while mystery and thriller fans will find the fast-paced action right up their alley. Overall this was an amazing novel that will be loved by reader’s the world over.

Great Alchemist & Quantum Manifestation Power: St. Germain’s Secret Alchemical Remedy for Victory & Fulfillment by Leia Gance, Ph.D

great alchemist is great book!!!

The Alchemist’s Code by Dave Duncan

Maestro Nostradamus is many things; he is physician to the Venetian doge, a clairvoyant, an astrologist, and a spell weaver. His reputation is so great that he and his apprentice Alfeo Zeno live in grandeur on the top floor of the Mansion of Alvise Barbolano.

Zuanbattista Sanudo and his wife Eva Morosini come to Nostradamus to ask him to use his clairvoyance skills to locate their missing daughter Graziaa. The Maestro has a vision in his crystal ball; he tells Alfeo to go to a certain place at a certain time in order to find Grazia. He not only finds her, he sees her new husband Danese Dolfin, a gigolo who has done many unsavory things. The Council of Ten including the Doge summons Nostradamus to their meeting place. They direct him to uncover the identity of a spy who is selling secrets to a foreign government. The operative Algol has written letters that were intercepted but are in a code that no one has broken. The Maestro tries to decipher the code, but he realizes he is under magical attack which leads Alfeo to the home of Sanudo; he finds the abode under the spell of a curse. Alfeo tries to lift the curse using magic only to catch the eye of the Chief Inquisitioner whose aide accuses the maestro’s apprentice of murder and practicing the black arts.

When one thinks of Dave Duncan, normally fans would think of an entertaining superior fantasist. However, his Alchemist saga (see THE ALCHEMIST’S APPRENTICE) shares the same quality of excellence, but is different with a fantasy flavoring to a historical saga. Readers join the Maestro and his apprentice in trying to figure out who the spy is, why someone the hero knew was murdered, and what object caused the curse. Told by Alfeo, the audience sees through his awed eyes how his master is a Machiavellian wizard who pulls people into his way of thinking.

The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F. Hamilton

The numbers of those from beyond the grave continue to grow, and a famous gangster is among them, and he puts his ‘Organisational’ talents to use, once he calms down a bit.

They also find that they can possess the sentient ships, gaining useful weaponry in the process.

Then there is the serious grudge-carrying escaped scientist and her superweapon.

Space battles and zombies and zombie space battles, if you like, although there is no lack of intelligence after possession, just a lot of desperate conflict going on as people learn about this problem and set out to try and do something about it.

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

I didn’t hate this book and I will prob