God has given Lisa a great gift of writing. Her wisdom and insight into God's love, grace and mercy to hurting humanity is SPECIAL. I have many of her books, which I have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy (because they are keepers) but as a widow, I've been truly blessed by the Northern Lights Series and Until the Shadows Flee. The people in her stories are SO real.....they become your friends. I wait with anticipation for all her new books. Guess you can tell I'm hooked. Thank you Lisa for sharing your gift with us. God bless you and keep you prolific (for my benefit) Vondia Caruso

I really enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it.

This isn't some happy-go-lucky book that gives you the warm fuzzies. That's what makes it so great. You don't know what's going to happen next, and when it happens you're saying "This can't be happening! She can't do that!" Yet with all the plot, Lisa Bergren still is able to weave in a powerful message about Jesus Christ.

I have read quite a few books on Teutonic mythology and religion, and I believe this book to be the best of all of them. The author's knowledge is extensive and quite impressive. From mythology, to germanic history, to crafting a horn cup to brewing ale, this man knows his stuff! His approach is encouraging and acessible to beginners and advanced alike. In this book you will get a well-rounded education, and a good, solid start on Asatru. Nothing is left out, but the book never feels stiff or too scolarly.

I appreciated the fact that the author encourages you to create your own rites, but has provided his own to get you started. I found his rites to be well-written and very usable. He includes a great further reading list, as well as a glossary, which I find myself referring to again & again.

I cannot stress enough that this book is all anyone would need in order to have a working knowledge of Asatru: its philosophies, its origins, its heroes, its godesses/gods, its holidays, its beliefs, etc. If you want it all in one wonderful book, then this is the one!

Llewellyn is not reprinting this classic book.

Superb, in depth information regarding the troth, rituals, gods, and every other aspect of the Northern Way. I HIGHLY recommend this book and every publication by Gundarsson.

Gundarsson's work is by far the best I have encountered on the subject and I recommend it highly to anyone who is interested in learning about the Teutonic Path. There is more than enough accurate (it's so hard to find good work)information contained in this one book to get started. Too bad it's out of print.

The book is fun to read, and the author does an excellent job in relating her early family life in Italy to the recipes. Even if you don't use many of the recipes, it might be worth purchasing for the stories. However, the book loses one star because of its lack of photos. Some of the recipes can be difficult to prepare without knowing what the end product should look like. The author loses another star for raising my hackle in the way she expresses some of her opinions. In particular, she rants about all pasta salads, calling them "unsuitable." I completely disagree. If you are looking for a book on very traditional Abruzzesi food, proudly untouched by the last several decades, this is a good book. The author also writes about other regions a bit, which I thought was a nice touch.

This is a very well written book, and Ms. Callen has shared much more than just regional recipes. Although the book is packed full of traditional recipes from the Abbruzzo region, by reading this book you also get feel for Abruzzo and it's people. As the Italian Food Host @ BellaOnline, and someone who collects cookbooks as a hobby, I enjoy reading about the regional specialties found in Italy, and found this book a real treasure. The recipes I tried were easy to follow, and for the most part called for easy to find ingredients. My only disappointment lay in the fact there were no food photos. Apart from a a few family illustrations, I found the lack of images to be a downfall. The recipes all sounded so delicious, photos of them would have been a great asset. If you enjoy regional Italian cuisine, this book is for you.

This is a wonderful collection of classic Italian cooking, and much the way my grandmother used to cook. It includes recipes for things she used to make but that I hadn't been able to find previously. There are perhaps a couple of hundred recipes, and all of them are easy to follow. The instructions don't carry on for pages, which is good, because I don't like recipes that are so lengthy I get overwhelmed. The author, who was raised in Abruzzi, includes insight with every recipe, answering questions about Italian cooking and cooking in general. For instance, I could never understand how my earlier attempts at making pasta failed, until I read about the difference in egg sizes; now my pasta is great. The book is interspersed with accounts of her childhood in Italy, adding a more personal feel to it. Maybe the only drawback for the uninitiated cook is that there are no pictures of the recipes to entice you, but don't let that stop you.

This book is very average for Higgins, not great but not bad either. He does more with the characters in this one than the plot. His best stuff is based on World War II: The Eagle Has Landed and The Eagle Has Flown.

...This novel was a little more touching in its direction and somewhat more of a moving story than all action of his other books. I found it as good as always, but I am a fan, so make your own opinion.

I was first introduced to Jack Higgins with 'The Eagle has Landed' and 'Storm Warning', two WWII era stories. I enjoyed his ability to develop characters while keeping the action moving and suspenseful. However, it was this book, 'A Prayer for the Dying' that made me a lifelong fan of his writing. Actually written before he exploded into popularity with 'The Eagle has Landed' this tale is deeper and more moving than any of his books, before or after. Each character, both good and bad, have demons to overcome.

The story is about Martin Fallon, an ex-IRA executionor, who has bailed out on the movement after an tragic miscalculation caused a bus-load of school children to be blown up. We find him in London trying to leave the country and being chased by both his old comrades and Scotland Yard. He is blackmailed into killing one crime boss by another, and is seen by a priest Father De Costa. The story takes Fallon from executionor to hero as he is forced to protect the life of the priest at all costs.

Higgins takes the time to develop each character in this story into very complex people. Beside Fallon and De Costa we're introduced to Jack Meehan, (the crime boss with a twisted sense of fairness), his brother Billy (the original thing from under the rock), Miller (the frustrated Scotland Yard Detective), and Anna de Costa (the blind niece). Each character has wonderful and surprising quirks. A great example: Jack Meehan is an legit undertaker with many non-legit sidelines including prostution, gambling, and drugs. However, he is also VERY protective of the elderly, feeling they are always being taken advantage of. He actually crucifies one of his employees for trying to swindle an 87 year old widower out of 20 pounds.

To go further into the plot would spoil all the great surprises and twists. If you're a Jack Higgins fan you MUST find this book and read it. It's out of print but any good used book store will have it and it's well worth the trouble.

An incredble journey.

Well written, alternating chapters between Deborah and Rolf. This is a wild ride. Most of us sailors/adventurers will never make this journey. Deborah and Rolf are the most likeable and articulate sailor-environmentalists that show us life from Pole to Pole. If you have any interest in Antarctica or blue water sailing, you willl find this book to be very compelling.

This is a very interesting book. I was amazed with their strength to accomplish their dream. The only negative aspect is that the book sometimes has a lot of details and it lacks more details about their day to day activities.

While I can't quite share the enthusiasm of several of the other reviewers (Viking spirit and all that), I thought this was a solid book and enjoyable to read. It generally moves along at a slow pace, but this is to be expected given the nature of the trip. Accounts alternate from Deborah's view to Rolf's. Of the two, Deborah is the slightly better writer and she sometimes hits on long bouts of excellent descriptions of everything from the weather to their mood. Rolf's writing is more technical but provides a decent balance to Deborah's. This may not be hardcore, edge-of-your-seat adventure (though there are tense moments), but it's a good bet for anyone interested in long distance sailing, Antartica, polar environmentalism, or any combination of these.

I purchased this book before going to Mexico for a three-month research trip. While this guide is fairly complete, it is more than a little cumbersome to take along on any birding expedition. Also, some of the illustrations seem cartoon-like, especially after seeing the real bird in the wild. However, the general information at the beginning of the book about birding in Mexico was helpful, and it helped to initiate some interesting discussions with local nature guides.

I will be brief - I find this to be the best field guide to the birds of any neotropical region currently available, and I pretty much have studied them all on depth! The only guides that come close to this level of usefulness are Hilty's Columbia field guide and the new Ridgely/Greenfield Ecuador 2 volume set. This book has excellent, seasonally specific range maps, and illustrates many plumage variations. I am astonished to read other reviews in which this book is considered cumbersome, because all too often smaller, lighter books sacrifice completness of information and thoroughness, which compromises their usefulness. True, it's a hefty volume, but it treats a complex avifauna without sacrificing necessary information. The other criticism I was surprised by was that the pictures were too "cartoonlike"; I have found these plates to be some of the most useful in the field, for they emphasize key characteristics with clarity. In the field, simplicity is far more practical than overly-detailed artwork which may be more lifelike, but blurs the differences between species. Anyway, praise for Howell! May this volume set an example for future field guides throughout Latin America!

I've found this field guide quite complete, cause all the plates are well distributed, you can find the bird in perch & flying wich are really good when you're in the field, I've used this guide in all mexico for 4 months and work great!! even with the birds of tres marias island, it's rare find a book which describes the bird of this particular zone, the part describing the mexican border with guatemala it's fantastic, relating possible sightings of great birds of prey like (guiana crested eagle)in this part, and also mexican goverment used this book as a first bibliography, in it's bird conservation programmes,(parrot, birds of prey, passerines) first released on 1999 (PREPS)Semarnat.

i really recommed this book

Australia is my hobby, and I lived in a half dozen towns between Adelaide and Mackay covering two years. If you like reading Australian authors and stories, this is the book for you. If this is your first Australian book, you'll probably give it about a B-, because although Sara Henderson's life was exciting to her, she left out most of the juicy details which would have made it a compelling read. For example, many times she described her day by naming the cities she visited without giving us the nitty gritty. I've read four of her books. Unless I missed something, Sara Henderson never had a date in the 20 years following her husband's death. I admire her accomplishments in life, but they didn't make her an author. About the Strength series, read one and you've read them all.

Whether you are an Australian City Slicker or from another part of our planet this book will delight. Henderson provides a great intimate look into her life - one not so dissimilar to others in the outback of Australia. You will learn how life really is in a remote and desolate world of outback Australia. You are sure to sympathise with Henderson and the lot of others in a similar situation.

Thankfully we get to find out what happens after Strength to Strength in Sara's next two books in this series about her life in the outback, The Strength in Us All, and most recently, The Strength of our Dreams. I love her stories peppered with humor as she moves through life with such an indomitable spirit. I wish these books were easier to find in the U.S.

I purchased this book after reading all of the rave reviews listed here, but don't be fooled as I was! I met many adventurous souls on the Camino, but none who would think to follow the bloated itinerary suggested by these authors. Apart from the lack of maps or accomodation information, some of their trail tips were so off base (i.e. suggestions for scenic detours that wound through industrial land) that I wonder if they even hiked the same path! There are much better guide books out there, but they are not readily available in this country. My suggestion is to wait and buy The Practical Pilgrim's Guide, relatively easy to find in Europe and available in several different languages. I picked up a copy midway through the Camino. While it is much thinner on the cultural and historical details (and thus easier to carry), all points of significant interest are treated with just enough detail, not the kind of overkill that Glitz and Davidson's book doles out. I dumped their book on the side of the road after it gave me its only practical use, as I had run out of toilet paper.

This book provides a lot of information about the art and culture to be found along the Camino, but it is a totally unpractical guide for those actually walking the 750km to Santiago. First of all it is simply too heavy and bulky to lug around an entire country. Secondly it provides no information on refuges, routes, places to eat, etc. Thirdly the authors frequently recommend staying multiple days at the larger cities, which can be very hard for credencial-carrying pilgrims since most refuges have a one night maximum stay. If you are rich and can afford to rent a car, stay in hotels, and take a couple of months off from work, this is the guide to carry. If you want a more genuine experience I suggest leaving this book at home and picking up one of the many more useful guides upon arrival in Spain.

As is apparent from other reviews in this thread, "The Pilgrim's Road to Santiago: The Complete Cultural Handbook" by Gitlitz and Davidson elicits strong feelings, both pro and con. I personally found this book to be an invaluable reference while walking the pilgrimage route. However, I recognize how other individuals might differ in their assessment.

First and foremost, it is essential to recognize what this book is NOT designed to do.

The handbook is not a trail guide.
It does not list refuges or explain where to camp.
It does not tell you where to eat or what to pack.
If this is what you are looking for, find another book.

With that said and done, the handbook did provide me with an extremely valuable reference in establishing a cultural context for the sites that I was visiting. I am not an expert in Romanesque architecture, nor do I know the lives of Roman Catholic saints well enough to recognize the major figures in a Retablo. I never had the opportunity to extensively study the history of the pilgrimage. Left to my own devices, I would most certainly never have read much in the way of medieval Spanish poetry. In all honesty, even after walking the pilgrimage route, I am still far from expert in all of these areas. However, the handbook did provide me with enough information that I was able to appreciate much more of the sites that I was visiting.

As other individuals have noted, time for sightseeing is often short. I found the handbook to be extremely useful in prioritizing my time and determining which sites would be most interesting to visit. As an example, none of the other sources that I consulted noted the existence of the Blacksmith forge at Compludo which may very well have been my favorite part of the trip. Without the handbook, I would have never have visted half the church nor understood a quarter of what I was seeing.

As I noted at the start of this posting, when it comes to the handbook, your mileage may vary. Each person has their own reason for traveling the Camino. If you aren't interested in cultural history or architectural reference, you might find it more useful to bring another reference. However, if you are interested in understanding the "why" behind what you're seeing, I think that you will find this reference as valuable as I did.

If you like chilling, witchey, and erie sounding chants you'll love this CD!

As far as the technical quality of this recording, I can't say much. It sounds as if she is in a metal echo chaimber for much of this cd. As far as the accompanying sounds....can't say it's much there either. It sounds like something you'd hear on bad sci-fi.

However, to give credit where it is due, this is a decent way to start to learn galdr if you don't have an experienced teacher. I wish there were other recordings of Galdr avalible on the market. You may want to check out other chant recordings of the eddas avalible.

Other than mazon rupping me off on the original purchase of the book...this is a great CD, and something to listen to over and over again!

Looking at the CD from an Asatru standpoint, I found her chants, invocations, and nithing to be inspiring. The addition of echo and a white noise background effect gives her strong high voice a chilling quality. -It'll raise the hairs on the back of your neck when you first hear it. I recommend the album to anyone who's studied runic practice and interacted with a Asatru ritual such as a blot. It's easier to understand if you've heard the process before.

The Sharpe series is 19 books long now, I think. Cornwell wrote several books in the original series and now goes back on occasion and adds episodes. It's a difficult task to write new chapters into a book already written. The chronology may suffer or the hero's past might not be acknowledged in his future. These problems don't bother me so much. This book, however, was a disappointment and I'm not sure why. Everything one would expect in a book by Cornwell is here: a remorseless villain, a damsel in distress, small skirmishes and a major battle. Maybe it's the fact we've travelled these roads so many times already and there's nothing new down there anyway. There can be no doubt of the outcome; we've already seen the far future of Sharpe.
Patrick O'Brien suffered this same sort of malaise in his Aubrey/Maturin series too. Maybe authors get bored with their own creations and cannot think of ways to inject new excitement and experiences in these set pieces. Perhaps Richard Sharpe needs a vacation in Bermuda or someplace. I can see the pirates and the women of easy virtue now...

I am a huge fan of the Sharpe series and this book didn't disappoint, it took me 2 days to finish the book. This was certainly better than Sharpe's Prey. Even if Cornwell wrote a book called, Sharpe's left-boot-strap, I would buy it and it would be a great read.

What Sharpe does is to give us a good story, and then makes it a good history lesson also. You either like them or do not not. After reading this one I then went back and reread all of the other ones just to make sure they were as good as I remember them to be. They give you an excellant idea of the French/British wars, and then for good measure they go back into India also. Sharpe and Wellington, along with Napolean are the constant characters. As those who know, Sharpe comes up from the ranks, from Private to an officer, which did not happen in England in a class society where everyone knew their place. Good war stories, good character studies, and good history. I just think that the series is wonderful, and this one is as good as any of them.

Read it, and then do your self a favor and order all of these series, and enjoy yourself.