Riley Reviews

Laura Sabin Riley has truly touched my life with her wonderful book. It got me through my first year as a SAHM. Her insight is right on target and she makes you feel like she is your new best friend. I would DEFINITELY recommend this book to other moms! I promise, you won't want to put it down!

I've read alot of devotional books over the past twelve years as a mother. This is one, if not, THE best. Laura packs each day full of encouragment--I truly felt refreshed after reading each days thoughts and challenges.

You won't be disappointed in this book, and it won't collect dust . You'll be using it far to often and then passing it along to another mother you love.

You know how toddlers and preschoolers often have a favorite blanket or plush toy that they use as a comforter? That's what I want to do with the pages of this book: Wrap them around me until I feel better.

Laura Sabin Riley has crafted a meaningful book of spiritual simplicity for busy women and maxed out moms. The easy-to-read devotionals remind me daily not just of how important motherhood is, but also how important my relationship to God is! Each is contained on a single page and consists of a relevant Scripture, a real-life example from Laura's own life and a short but honest prayer. No where is there a condeming word or pointing finger. Every where, there is a brief brush with grace -- just enough to make me feel that a really good friend has patted my hand and told me that yes, the orange juice will come out of the car upholstery and no, these intense days of parenting won't last forever.

All Mothers Are Working Mothers is divided into twelve sections (one for each month) that address "home-is-my-workplace" issues. I especially like November's theme: "Job Security -- What Do You Mean I'm Not Replaceable If I Decide to Quit?" If you're a mom, get this book. If you know a mom, get this book for her. The benefits of reading it could literally be felt for generations to come.

After mulling over volumes like the "Viking Portable Library" it is refreshing to have an entire volume of light-hearted, folksy fun. Of course, Riley's works aren't ALL in that vein, but favorites like Ragedy Man and Little Orphan Annie are, and that's why I like him. Being from California, I hardly know how to use the type of speech inflections and what-not that Riley hasn't written into these rhyming tales. But the closer I get to being able to master such speech the more it entertains my kids! Great collection, get it!

When I was a kid, we had a friend who would recite "Little Orphant Annie" to us before we went to bed. I'll be damned if that poem didn't scare me into being a good kid! I plan on reading it to my 3 year old tonight with the hopes of scaring her straight enough to start being nice to her baby brother! One can dream, right?.....

Folksy Hoosier James Whitcomb Riley (1849 - 1916) is America's premier poet of the sentimental. The Complete Poetical Works Of James Whitcomb Riley brings together over 1,000 touching, humorous, easy to read, and intelligent but non - intellectual poems, many filled with longing for irretrievable childhood innocence, freedom, and joy. Today's readers will find the volume a genuine time capsule into the past; these poems will evoke not only the reader's own memories of childhood, but also a simpler and perhaps more innocent and joyous America. The ambitions and expectations expressed by the speakers, narrators, and characters in the poems are humble, the horizons of their world near. One of the secrets of Riley's backward - glancing poems is that his reflections are only partially regretful; the joys of the past are equaled by the child - like joy still present in the adult poet's heart. Dozens of the pieces included here are suitable for reading to and sharing with children.

Titles 'The Swimming Hole,' 'The Noble Old Elm,' 'Company Manners,' 'When Mother Combed My Hair,' 'Us Farmers In The Country' 'My First Spectacles,' 'Blooms In May,' 'Two Sonnets To The June - Bug,' 'The Land Of Used - To - Be,' and 'Our Boyhood Haunts' offer a good indication of the book's content. There are numerous nature poems and celebrations of the seasons, summer meadows of "clover to the knee," August moons, lazy rivers, "the twitter of the bluebird and the wren," and, in one of Riley's most famous, the frost "on the punkin." There are tributes to William McKinley and Abraham Lincoln, to Tennyson, Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Joel Chandler Harris. Famous characters 'Little Orphant Annie' and 'The Raggedy Man' are here; Puck makes an appearance "under a low crescent moon" in a poem of his own, as do Pan, Santa Claus, pixies, and goblins in others. Odes to boyhood best friends abound. People lived on closer terms with death in Riley's time, and, appropriately, a number of the poems address the subject, all of which express either blissful faith in the afterlife or sadness for the living left behind.

Riley was endlessly inventive within the limited sphere of his talent, or, perhaps, within the limitations he purposefully set upon it. Oddly, there are relatively few poems celebrating romantic love and marriage. Riley, who never married, apparently held the adult world and women in particular in no little suspicion. In his poetry, eligible women are generally kept at what Riley must have felt was a safe distance, though there are numerous tributes to mothers, aunts, sisters, and little girls - even stepmothers are embraced lovingly. But when Riley wrote about single women and imagined wives, his poetic vision generally darkened.

In 'The Werewife,' the volume's 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci,' Riley portrays the speaker's "fluttering, moth - winged soul" helplessly caught and mesmerized by his wife, a white - skinned, red - cheeked seductress who is also a murderous vampire. In 'The Mad Lover,' the narrator lives in a state of grim emotional paralysis after falling in love with 'Miriam Wayne,' though whether "fate" or Miriam herself is the cause of the "evil" and the lover's madness is not made clear. In 'Oh, Her Beauty,' the poet sings the praises his beloved's transcendent loveliness, but the last lines find him on his knees in thanks to God for revealing her spiritual ugliness at the eleventh hour. The plucky woman in 'Her Choice' is asked by her lover to chose his "love or hate," and she chooses "your hate, my dear!" The cuckolded man in 'The Lovely Husband' fans his wife and cold creams her face upon command, ignores her plucky unfaithfulness, and is every way a "handy hubby" and "lovey - dovey" until he cheerfully takes a shot gun and shoots her. The lover of the imprisoned killer in 'Life Sentence' is "false, while he was true," "the mistress of all siren arts," and "the poor soulless heroine of a hundred hearts!"

Riley and Carl Sandburg were kindred souls; admirers of Sandburg will find that Sandburg's work was partially a progression of Riley's. Both poets' verse is filled with anecdotes, homey bits of wisdom, funny stories, songs, folk truisms, and legendary characters. Riley's poems are snippets of life, fireside tales, and reflections; unlike Sandburg, politics are occasionally touched upon but never the pivotal focus in Riley's work.

How readers react to John Whitcomb Riley will depend on how they respond to the overtly sentimental and the character of the times in which he wrote, for these poems effortlessly evoke it. Though warmly sentimental, Riley was also bright and witty and full of spark, a dreamy, reflective, pre - urban poet of the small town and the home, of the sun porch and the rocking chair, of back fence gossip and street corner news, and of the American dream as it was conceived in his era. Potential readers may think themselves too sophisticated, cynical, or highbrow to enjoy the happily middlebrow works of James Whitcomb Riley. But such readers may be pleasantly surprised at how completely they find themselves immersed in Riley's detailed, frequently timeless, invigorating, and ingenious work. Despite its overall simplicity, Riley's work comfortably rests within the grander tradition of American literature, and makes for visionary reading in its own unique, whimsical manner.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Love Hangover." I highly recommend this book not only to those who have experienced a tumultuous break up, but also to Christian singles who are looking to venture down relationship lane. Although I was not going through a bad break up, I was able to relate to many of the feelings, situations, and dilemmas expressed by the authors. "Love Hangover" offers insightful scriptures geared towards opening the readers eyes to qualities and characteristics that should be evident in a healthy Christian relationship. In addition, the "medical perspective" offered by Dr. Hawkins was an excellent enhancement to this well written book. Kudos to both Shewanda and Germaine for providing me with a resource that I will most definitely reference in the future as a check point to confirm that my relationship building blocks are in order!!

"Love Hangover" has many helpful suggestions for those who are suffering from heartache. It is a well-written book that is delightful to read. I especially appreciate the Christian perspective which grounds the material in righteousness. As a fellow physician, I value the analytic perspective offered by the authors.

I have been through a lot of things in my relationship and this book really help me understand WHY!! That question is asked a lot when you have been lied to or cheated on and you just want to know WHY me! This book really help me relate back to my bible and help with my feelings. I have come to realize that sometime you have to let go and put God first and he will work things out for you. It take two people in the relationship to really try to work things out and keep God first!

It was inspiring to read the compiled interviews of appreciative leaders. The stories which emerge portray not lofty idols on a pedestal but quite the opposite. The leaders are remarkably human and the kind of people you would like to engage in a conversation. Their authenticity provides a resource for those who wish to develop strengths and abilities as a leader. The editors expand on the interviews by including additional data and developing a Model of Appreciative Leadership which captures characteristics of appreciative leaders.

A fresh concise readily readable book on the management paradigm of appreciative leadership. A thorough discussion of this management model with a visual construct on page 159, a chapter linking theory and practice, and inspiring interviews with both renown and unsung appreciative leaders from a variety of organizational arenas. Use it to inspire , to train, to teach ,to motivate managers,staff, studentsand others. This book has both wisdom and vision for the future, edited by women of wisdom and vision, themselves appreciative leaders .,

Since Forbes Magazine has chosen Bob Stiller of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters as Entrepreneur of the year, I think the authors, in choosing him as an appreciative leader, were right on the money. The leaders they describe are inspirational people who are enjoying success in business using simple but effective relational skills. These important ideas which support positive and authentic interactions should help shape the leaders we need for the future. I found this book to be a very accessible introduction to the field of Appreciative Inquiry. I'm excited to have discovered this beneficial little book and I've already recommended it to several people. It was well worth my precious reading time.

Okay, so this was created as a collection of quotations by people of color. And it is probably the best collection to date of this kind. But it is just flat out a great quotation book. I was recently doing a search of my quotation books (I have over 400, and regularly refer to about 50 of them) and this book had the best quotes I found, regardless of color.

I was looking for quotes to help a friend doing a book on the negative aspects of big business. Most quote books only provided positive quotes. This book had quotes by Martin Luther King Jr,, Angela Davis, Malcolm X. which fit perfectly, and not just referring to realities of people of African heritage. This book reflects a different way of looking at the world, a perspective that evolved from slavery and a history of having to fight to gain the grounds of freedom and equality. It is a great book for all students, not just ones of African heritage. We all need to think about the world, about life, work, God, happiness-- all the topics good quotation books explore-- from the perspective of the people of color.

Dorothy Winbush Riley, an elementary school principal and former teacher first put her quote collection together for students. She did a great job which deserved the American Library Association Best Reference Book Award.

Keep this one in mind if you are writing or speaking about social change.

I was familiar with The Complete Kwanzaa by Doroth y Winbush Riley and had the opportunity to meet her and discovered this treasure-house of quotations. I was totally amazed and awe-struck that this book has not received world-wide attention. I bought five copies one for each member of my family.

I use this book for every speech that I write. It is an invaluable resource for anyone who reads, speaks and communicates with the public. I have worn out two copies and had four copies borrowed by relatives because once they start reading My Soul, they can't put it down.

Mouse Mess is a must for all ages. We have been reading this book to our son since he was a couple of weeks old and now, at 6 months, he actually giggles when we pull it from the bookshelf. He kicks and squeels in delight as we read about the mouse's adventures and even tries to turn the pages along with us as we read! He loves the rhythm of the story and the colorful pictures throughout the book.

My husband and I have memorized the story and recite it to my son when he starts getting fussy (with or without the book) and he immediately starts to smile.

My son,Sam (13 months), loves this book. We have to read it 3-4 times before he goes down for a nap. The colorful illustrations and sing-song nature of the verses keep his attention and soothe him to sleep.

We found this book at a school book fair about 2 years ago for my daughter who was 2 at the time. She loved it so much that our soft cover copy is in tatters and I need to get a new hardcover one. I had a broken leg a few months after we got the book and so she would have to go and get her own book and bring it to me to read. This was the only one she brought for weeks at a time. We could hear her reciting it to herself sometimes in bed at night, or when she was taking a bath, just about all the time. We don't know anyone else who knows about this book, but it is so wonderful and fanciful that all my 5 kids just love it. The pictures are full of color, the idea is mischevious, and the text is simply put without being simple. I highly recommend it.

Ben and Rose face a long and trying battle with Ben's Guillan-Barre Syndrome. Jane Riley's sensitive yet constrained writing style reveal the strength and foibles of the characters, health care institutions and churches with no rancor. It is a book that I was not able to put down.

The story of Ben and Rose in SOLOMON'S PORCH touches my heart deeply. This book is a riviting story of overcoming adversity and shows pure devotion and love enduring through trying times. I have never read a book that helps me see things through the eyes of the "care-giver," which puts quite a different "twist" on this wonderful book. The characters were "brought to life" as I read each page. Although the story is fictional, it is inspiring and educational, and I might add that it taught me many things I had never known about Guillain-Barre Syndrome. I smiled and I cried through-out the reading of this book. I would HIGHLY recommend anyone to read it.

I just finished reading Solomon's Porch at midnight yesterday. It was a book that I could not put down. It was written in a simple, elegant, and engaging style. The author certainly brought all of the characters and institutions (the church, the rehab center, the hospital) to life.....highlighting their positive and negative traits in a loving way. It is a book that should be read by anyone who is facing a life threating illness with a loved one....and especially someone who is dealing with Guillian Barre Syndrome.

This is what all popular art forms should be. A social commentary as love poem. And poem this is. There is very little that someone can write about the Krazy experience without treading in the same terran as this wonderful book. This is were your Krazy love afair begins. And unlike Ignatz you don't show your love with a brick.

fine anthologies like this will have to do.

compiled principally by patrick mcdonnell (artist and author of "mutts" -- the finest contemporary comic strip) this is a good introduction to the best comic strip of all time. for some thirty years in the first half of the american century, george herriman created one of the greatest works of american art and literature. based almost entirely on variations on a theme (cat loves mouse, dog loves cat, mouse throws brick, cat deems said abuse [rightly?] as a sign of love), herriman caught the essence of a country barely growing up, as well as love in all its potential manifestations.

"krazy kat" can be appreciated as allegory, or it can be enjoyed simply as damned funny. this volume will allow you to have a bit of both.

but oh dear, when will some brave publisher issue the entire run?

Over the past fifteen years or so, a strange new breed of art-geek has mutated in the suburbian basements (of their parents' houses) across the American landscape; they aggressivley praise every third-rate creation in comics, trying ever so hard to convince themselves that any of them could ever matter to a serious person outside their little world. On occasion one of them will pay lip service to the genius of Herriman, a ritual that is expected of them, and then go right back to buying up the kinds of pretentious or deviant efforts produced by the current so-called masters of the medium such as Spiegleman, Clowes, Ware, McCloud, Crumb, Bagge, the Hernandez brothers, Chester Brown, and so on. The terrible shame of all this is that through this overhyping of the layer of scum that has risen to the top of the commercial pond, those precious few men of genius--Jim Woodring, Joe Sacco,and a handful of others-- that have chosen to express themselves in the medium of comics are thrown out with the proverbial bathwater by those who are intrigued enough by this sort of publicity to investigate the genre, as soon as they discover that they have been had. Herriman's books, which are all surreal masterpieces of infinitely higher consciousness, poetry, originality, beauty, truth, love (and everything else good in the universe!) than 99 percent of "fine" art and certainly all of the aforementioned funnybook fishwraps, cannot even stay in print in such an environment. For this reason, and because if you have any sensitivity at all to the sublime you will wear out your first copy and will therefore need a spare to share with your children, I advise all readers to purchase two copies of everything that has Herriman's name on it. You will find it a bargain.

There are some authors that you know always write engaging novels that you cannot go wrong with- Lori Foster is one of them. The Men of Courage series introduced Riley and Regina and finally Riley has his own story.

Riley is an ex Swat team member who runs a gym as well as works as an evidence technician. He meets Regina, a journalist, when she comes into his gym looking for some self defence training. The police do not believe her, but Regina fears that her life is in danger. She gets a "guard" dog and much of the book's comedy revolves around her 4lb pet chihuahua "Butch".

This story is humerous and well written, Riley and Red are a good match. The added mystery of who is putting her in danger is a nice bonus, plus the antics of the cute little dog will keep you turning the page. Another winner!!

Be sure to read the Men of Courage anthology first- Ethan's story will introduce you to Riley and Red.

Regina Foxworth is being stalked. She's taking self-defense from Riley Moore, who's not very impressed by her progress. So he moves her in with him. Moves her and her guard-dog, a Chihuahua named Butch. Together they don't just find who's stalking her, they also find something else. Something special. Something like...love?

Lori Foster always Wows, and Riley is no exception...but it is exceptional!

Three weeks ago while on an investigation Chester Daily Press reporter Regina Foxworth almost died in a burning building (see MEN OF COURAGE, "Trapped"). Even before that incident, Regina seemed fearful for her life, but the Chester, Ohio police including evidence technician Riley Moore thought nothing of her concern. Riley has changed his mind because now knows Regina from his teaching her the art of self-defense and his love he hides from her at this time as he vows to keep his beloved "Red" safe.

Riley stays close to Regina not just to protect her, but because he has too deep inside his heart. Regina surprises herself because she actually feels safe when she is with Riley, who she is falling in love with rather quickly. However, as dangerous incidents begin happening, Riley takes the threat more seriously even while Regina wants him to stay away so that the man she loves remains alive.

RILEY, the sequel to "Trapped", is an exhilarating romantic suspense that stars two delightful lead protagonists who heat the sheets of the novel more than the inferno that almost killed Regina in the previous tale. Ethan and Rosie as well as other friends return, but though the audience will appreciate them and the first story, this book fully stands alone as recalls are smoothly used to bring in pertinent information. Fans will enjoy this thriller due to the taut suspense filled plot with endearing protagonists. Any one who has read Lori Foster will be unable to SAY NO TO JOE when he stars in Ms. Foster's next tale.

Harriet Klausner

A great read about family life in the south; mystery,love,adventure,abandonment; a typical southern family. I am a southerner. Altho written for young adults all ages will enjoy Kezi Matthews word pictures that bring Memphis to living color.

John Riley's Daughter is one of those edgy, suspenseful novels that keep you reading once you start. The Southern atmosphere is right on the mark, and the characters get up and walk off the page. I loved it from the beginning, and have already read it again!

Recipient of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association's Best Children's Book by a Northwest author 2001 award. Also named to School Library Journal's Best Books 2000 list.