5 comments about Mortal Touch: Vampires of New England Series (Vampires of New England).

1. This is an absolutely terrific book! Arthen slowly builds up the suspense. Who is this mysterious new writer who has moved into town and has everyone talking? The owner of a small gift shop is determined to find out, before her best friend gets seriously hurt. Arthen authentically recreates the feel of a small New England town, while introducing vampires who are decidedly different: for one thing, they have no fangs.
   
   Highly recommended for those who like their vampires a little off the beaten track.



2. This book is an excellent beginning to what promises to be a very enjoyable series! Arthen's characters and dialogue are very believable and the plot moves along at a measured but lively pace. Her vampire mythos is refreshing in that it follows folklore a bit more closely than those created by other contemporary authors.
   
   I look forward with great anticipation to the next entry in the Vampires of New England series.



3. Inanna Arthen's highly original vampire novel will appeal to readers of Poe, Lovecraft and Shirley Jackson as well as fans of modern vampire fiction. Arthen avoids the typical clichés of the genre; her vampires have reflections, day jobs, and sex lives.
   
   The title, "Mortal Touch" and the tag line "All I need to do is touch you," both hint at Arthen's unique approach to bloodletting: her vampires don't need fangs, and their pale but otherwise ordinary appearance allows them to fit in all too easily with their human neighbors.
   
   The novel, set in a small Massachusetts town, immerses the reader in a gripping story with eccentric but likable characters and a strong sense of place. These are the Vampires of New England; you won't find them in a New Orleans brothel or on a European stage, calling attention to themselves. Arthen's eerily believable undead hang out quietly at antique stores and cafés, and you won't see them coming for you before it's too late.
   
   Highly recommended!



4. I found that reading Mortal Touch was a pleasure ! The characters are very well drawn and all interesting. Vampires in this teling had several "new" attributes which ought to have been written long ago. The plot progress had numerous unexpected turns that also fit the story so there was no illogical events. The ending wrapped up the story very nicely but certainly left it open for a sequel which I look forward too.



5. Original, convincing, with
   likeable and fully rounded characters. I can hardly wait to see what this highly talented new writer comes up with next.

1 comments about Hawthorne's Lenox: The Tanglewood Circle.

1. This book gives the reader a vivid sense of life in another time and place--in this case the mid-nineteenth century in a rather special part of New England. You are told how Lenox, though hardly more than a village, became the center of an extraordinary convergence of money, art, and intellectual power.
   The story is presented through histories of more than a dozen prominent families and of the houses they built--houses that, while less grand than those built in Lenox later in the century, were notable for taste and style.
   Among memorable figures of this "Tanglewood Circle" were the novelist Catharine Maria Sedgwick, whose books drew admirers to Lenox from all over the world; the "boisterous and burly" Henry Ward Beecher, a minister famed nationally for his rousing sermons; and the legendary English actress Fanny Kemble who gave Shakespearian readings at the courthouse and was known for her daredevil riding exploits.
   The lead actor on the Lenox scene was Nathaniel Hawthorne, who lived for a year and a half in a little Red House on the Tappan family's Tanglewood property. During this time he wrote two of his classics, The House of Seven Gables and The Wonder Book, to which he would later add Tanglewood Tales. His stay was not long, but he left the permanent stamp of his strange, reclusive personality and fascinating imagination on the town's history.

5 comments about The Secret Garden (A Stepping Stone Book(TM)).

1. In the story, The Secret Garden, the main character is a ten year old girl named Mary Lennox. She is a selfish, sour little girl who gets everything she wants. When her parents die, she gets sent off in a train, from India, to her uncle's house, Misselthwaite Manor, in Yorkshire, England.
   At the house she expects to get everything she wants, but doesn't. There is nothing to do so she goes outside. Usually she would have sat inside all day in India and have people wait on her, but nothing is the same in England.
   Outside, is a vast open land called the moor. There is not much on it except for shrubs and grass. It is fall, so the whole land is gray and empty. Then one evening Mary hears about a secret garden that has been locked up for ten years. Apparently her uncle's wife had died in the garden. So Mary tries to find it.
   After awhile she makes friends with a robin who shows her where the garden is. It is surrounded by walls and inside everything is dead. Dry, gray vines hang over the walls, while dead flowers and plants lay aimlessly on the ground.
   Everyday Mary tends to the garden with her friend Dickon, an animal charmer, who she met.
   He helps Mary make the garden come alive.
   Then one night she heard strange crying noises in the house. She went to investigate and found out that it was a boy named Colin who actually turned out to be her cousin. Colin was a spoiled and sickly child, just like Mary used to be, and had tantrums nearly every night. Everyone was ordered to do whatever he wanted. It was also expected that he would die soon, being unable to walk and so sick all the time.
   The two children enjoyed each other. Together, they would laugh and play. Soon enough Mary told Colin about the garden and he decided to go see it in his wheel chair.
   After he had seen the garden, it was decided that it would be kept a secret and that they would go and play there without anyone ever knowing. Everyday, all three children went outside in secrecy and tended to it, in hope it would come alive. Colin then began walking and soon running.
   Finally the garden came alive and it looked just like and better than the children had imagined it. Then one afternoon, Colin's father came home. He saw that Colin was healthy and excepted him. They had become a family once again.
   I thought this book was very touching and sweet. It is not the type of book that is full of action, but the plot is simply and has a good message. The way the plot shows changes in the characters makes them come alive more and seem like real people.
   Even though the story was good, I thought it was a little slow. The conflicts were not very straight forward and it was a little bit too predictable. For example, Colin cannot walk. He the goes outside, which he would never do. It is very clear that he is going to get stronger and walk.
   The slow paste is good for less advanced readers but is nice if you would like to read a less exciting book. So I would recommend the book for relaxed reading.



2. A spoiled girl living in India and raised by servants because her mother (Chapter 1) "cared only to go to parties and amuse herself with gay people" and her father "had always been busy and ill himself" was, by six years of age "as tyrannical and selfish a little pig ever lived" and at nine years old, the only remaining of her family, her parents having died during a cholera outbreak. "Self-absorbed" as she was, "she did not miss her [mother] at all" and, after a brief stay at poor English clergyman's house, during which she is dubbed "Mistress Mary Quite Contrary" by his children, is sent to her mother's recluse widower brother at Misselthwaite Manor in England. Cared for, again, by servants in the 600-year-old house situated at the edge of a moor, Mary is allowed to wander and explore from dawn to dusk. And doesn't meet her new guardian, Mr. Wes Craven, for an entire month. Listening to Martha, the housemaid, as she shares stories of her poor but happy life with her loving mother and many siblings, Mary is especially intrigued by anecdotes involving her brother, Dicken, who is said to have a way with wild creatures. Through luck and the help of a seemingly magical bird, friend of a gruff, stoic, tactless gardener (the very gardener who cared for Mrs. Craven's garden), Mary finds the overgrown, abandoned (for ten years) forbidden garden. She learns some secrets about the house and its inhabitants and befriends a sad, sickly boy who believes he will die and so spends all his time indoors terrorizing the servants with his demands. The two form a strong bond and, together with Dicken, share many adventures together in the secret garden. But although the story's message is overwhelmingly positive, there are some negatives, especially the racist views of Mary. In India, she treats the native servants badly. She (Chapter 2) "always slapped her Ayah in the face when she was angry." And is so outraged that Martha expected her to be "black," calls her "daughter of a pig." During the same conversation, she tells Martha that "They [natives] are not people - they're servants who must salaam to you." Racism (and the annoying Yorkshire speech) aside, the children's transformation from spoiled to spirited and the perfectly sappy ending make this an excellent story about the power of positive thinking, friendship and love. Better: Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery.



3. I can't believe I missed reading this growing up. My daughter and I just read this together. It was wonderful, and we both loved it. She likes to read books over and over, and I think she will appreciate reading this even more when she gets a little older. She loved the idea of secrets, twins, and the transformation of Mary. Having not had similar experiences to the characters in the books, such as losing close family members, she didn't quite understand the concept of a person having to learn to love and cry.
   
   I loved the symbolism of the young girl blossoming with the garden, the relationship she develops with her cousin, the flower imagery, and the many little details like the birds nesting in the chairs in the run-down part of the manor. The mystery of this story is also wonderful and very suspenseful.
   
   I think many adults who missed reading this growing up would enjoy this book. And I think all children, both boys and girls, should read this at least once. It is an absolute treasure.



4. If there is a main character for the book it is Misselthwaite Manor. If there is a present theme is that we (metaphorically speaking) can all unlock our secret garden and make it grow and make a world which we can invite others into.
   
   The story examines a series of characters from Mary Lennox, Dicken Sowersby, Martha Sowersby and of course Colin Craven as they find their lives revolving around the gardens and the moores of a place located in Yorkshire England as they find 'the magic' of the place managing to provoke life changing lessons for all of them.
   
   Like her other book 'The Little Princess', the book starts off in India, and like 'Little Princess', Mary suffers the death of her parents and finds herself trapped in England but that is where the novels part ways. Instead we are immersed into a world of robins, flowers, gardens and shimmering fog and springtime activities. Mistress Mary is cast among a world she barely understand but must learn to survive in. She unlocks mysteries, gets new friends and changes the life of another -- Colin forever.
   
   Both my daughter and I enjoyed the novel until the very end where it decays a bit into endless exposition as Colin begins his scientific experiments. The ending itself almost leaves open a sequel as several character issues find themselves a bit hanging in a lurch but the focus is not on any one single character -- mistress Mary pretty much drops out of the novel halfway through it. It is on the world around us and how it can change us if we let it. We all have beautiful secret gardens in all of us if we are willing to find them and share them with others and in the world of today, that's a great message.



5. This was my favorite book as a child. Still love it today. MUCH better than any of the movies made!

No comments about Little Women (Puffin Classics).

5 comments about The Most Haunted House in England: Ten Years' Investigation of Borley Rectory (Collector's Library of the Unknown).

1. This book was responsible for keeping me up many a night. This story puts the "Blair Witch Project" to shame, in its accurate and frightening depiction of the events and history of the Borley Rectory. If you read one ghost story in your life, make this one it.



2. Still..How much is really true!? First of all, this must be the absolute #1 Ghost/Paranormal Investigation of all time! Written in very "good spirits", humor, and British wry wit, it's the rare book that you'll without question read to the end!! Featuring a ghostly headless horseman,nun, carriages, unexplained flying household objects, eerie noises, wine turning into ink, locking of doors,mysterious written messages, etc. this must be the original "ghostbusters" story, and the author is surely one heck of a writer and paranormal investigator...Oddly, just about all the characters involved seem a bit unruffled by these bizarre unexplained activities, but that could be the famed stiff upper lip amusement of the Brits...Really a super impressive book, but not completely convincing, though I admit I'm a skeptic in any case. Possible "human" explanations could be dreams, wish fulfillment, human error, weather changes,wind (noises) faulty/shaky building construction, certain participants "playing games" on the others, an ill woman often unaccountable during these curious goings on, superstitions, faulty sensory perception (like seeing pictures in clouds), even the financial motivation to write a book, though Mr. Price is surely a terrific, thorough writer!..This book may give you the creeps,but my simple advice is to buy it here (used), and you will be amazed. Let you the reader decide...This book has even made me rethink a few things, though I remain essentially a skeptic...



3. The haunting of the Borley Rectory is perhaps the most famous ghost story of all.This book is a wonderful book. But how much of what described here is actually true? Harry Price was an unpopular man-even his supporters disliked him.After his death there was a re-appraisal of this case and it was largely discredited. As Price himself notes in his book, much of the evidence provided by the Foysters was dicey-Ms. Foyster could have faked it. The actual rectory itself burned to the ground,an event often described as "possibly supernatural." In fact, it was deliberately set afire by the last owner for the insurance money (his own sons admit it.) Since no trace of the building has been left, "parapsychologists" have decided that the whole area is haunted now. They claim that the village church is haunted. I believe in "ghosts" and haunted houses,but there is a great deal of evidence against this specific case which is being ignored because the story is so compelling and well told.This story isn't as one sided as you would imagine from the reviews of this book.



4. Harry Price, through his detailed and lengthy investigation of Borley Rectory, gives us a decent set of guidelines for today's paranormal investigator. Price was thorough and methodical and had an emphasis on objectivity not really seen before or since its time. While his techniques could use refinement (not biasing observers before the investigation, speaking with experts to examine, say, the haunted locks, etc)it is a great read for those considering their own investigations. The book is an interesting read whether you're merely curious or thinking about becoming a researcher yourself.



5. After watching *The World's Scariest Ghosts Caught on Tape* one Friday evening a few weeks ago, my interest in "true ghost stories" was peaked and so I scared up this volume.
   
   Harry Price's *The Most Haunted House in England* is about a classic haunted house, Borley Rectory, which is a staple of many of the ghost and supernatural books I read when I was younger. It is well-written in that competent British school boy fashion, with impeccable grammar, restrained wit, and conservative style.
   
   Price explains how he was invited to explore Borley Rectory, which was built in 1863 by the Rev. Henry Bull and which had allegedly been visited by the ghost of a nun and by a spectral coach drawn by two headless men. Price details the history of the village of Borley and the tales of the haunted rectory; the legend of a nun who was buried alive at the site that would become the rectory for her illicit liaison with a monk; and spooky stories from various sources---those who lived in the house, their guests, and those invited specifically for the task of research into the hauntings.
   
   Sadly, for its status as a classic in the genre of supernatural literature, the book is not really scary. Almost all of the activities described were of the nature of a poltergeist (or *Poltergeister,* as Price would have it) in the form of mysterious sounds, teleportation of small objects, movement of small objects, and, over a period of several years, the writing of messages and small marks on the walls of the house. There was surprisingly little about the spectral coach and ghostly nun, particularly seeing how these alleged phenomena were what drew Price to the house initially.
   
   The book serves as a documentary history of the alleged haunting, and the author leaves it up to the reader to decide as to the veracity of the stories of Borley Rectory in light of all the documentary "evidence" presented. Many contemporary critics feel that Price and one of the couples who lived in the house (those to whom the mysterious messages were addressed) established this entire story as a hoax. It wouldn't surprise me.
   
   In short, this is a high-quality reprint of a classic, if unconvincing and not very scary, early 20th century monograph on ghosts. The Time-Life Collector's Library of the Unknown is a classy series for those who are interested in the literature of the unexplained, even if only in fun, and this volume is no exception.

1 comments about Early American Gardens: "For Meate or Medicine".

1. I have been researching the history of gardening in America and have not found a better rescource than Ann Leighton's books, specifically Early American Gardens: For Meate or Medicine. This book is full of good facts and is very readable. Covering the colonization of North America from its earliest years, this book goes into detail on primary sources as well as recent scholarly efforts. This book will be useful for anyone interrested in gardening (especially if making an historic garden on your own property) or in history (especially if you are bored reading about political history).

1 comments about New Hampshire Street & Road Atlas (American Map).

1. Finally a comprehensive map book of all of New Hampshire. Like all American Map products, it is well put together and easy to read. Important tourist destinations are highlighted. Now if American Maps can just do one book for all of Ct. all will be convered in New England.

1 comments about The Boston Renaissance: Race, Space, and Economic Change in an American Metropolis.

1. The Boston Renaissance: Race, Space, And Economic Change In An American Metropolis is the detailed story of how Boston was transformed from a city with declining manufacturing base, depopulation, and racial unrest back in the 1970s, to the confident, multicultural, high-tech industry oriented, prosperous cosmopolitan city it is today. The authors draw upon a wide variety of historical and contemporary resources to explain Boston's impressive rebirth and redevelopment, and vastly improved ethnic and racial co-existence. Still very much a work in progress, Boston's story could well serve as a template for other troubled communities, large and small, anywhere within the confines of the United States as we progress through the first decade of a new century.

No comments about Walking the Cape and Islands: A Comprehensive Guide to the Walking and Hiking Trails of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket.

2 comments about Where the Mountain Stands Alone: Stories of Place in the Monadnock Region.

1. The sense and importance of "place" so present in all Howard Mansfield's work goes a step further in Where the Mountain Stands Alone. A compilation of stories, essays, historical documents, illustration and accounts by locals, this book allows the reader to embark on a journey not only through the history of Mount Monadnock, but through the hearts and souls of the people whose lives in the shadow of the mountain are as important as the mountain itself. Much like the mountain, the people are often mysterious, hard on the surface yet soft in nature, inspired and misunderstood. In this wonderful compilation the reader is invited to dive in and experience the Monadnock region as never before. From its history, through numerous failed economical enterprises, all the way to the present times, the mountain has remained the same. So are the people, towns and villages spread around its base. Unchanged, yet evolving, never giving up and always trying to swim up the stream. From quarries and stone walls, to barns, mills and farms, the region is rich in history and human perseverance, inspiring many great writers and artist, both past and present and Mr. Mansfield did an amazing job to capture it all in this exceptionally well made book.



2. This is a very important book. It is very well organized and shows the entire spectrum of this treasured corner of NH. From geologic history through the Paleo Indians, and up to Fort Number 4, we learn the background of this region. When it gets to Thoreau climbing and staying around the summit for a while, we are camping out with him. Later visitors show us all aspects of this important mountain and lead us through the eras that follow. The mill period with its inherent waterpower and young girls coming from the farms into these buildings is an important cultural aspect of NH's development. When the group that put this book together features the North Country's background and authentic aura in its next edition, I want my brother Tom Eastman and his expertise on the skiing history of the White Mountains included as well as they constructed and edited this book. I made sure I bought it for him as a Christmas present.