Chicken Soup for the Military Wife's Soul: Stories to Touch the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit (Chicken Soup for the Soul) Review

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(More customer reviews)Americans salute our military and are so very proud of those serving at home and abroad. But we often forget the wives who make homes for these heroes and tend to their children. The Chicken Soup Series has provided tributes to the women who serve too. These stories take the reader from the sad times for these families to the hilarious....a great cross-section of military life as it is lived by every service branch. It is a peek into personal stories written by women who have lived with and loved the heroes we all honor. You'll laugh and you'll cry with these women, but most of all, you'll find inspiration for your own life.

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A tribute to the women who uphold the written and unwritten oaths of service and of marriage.

All military personnel swear an oath to uphold the constitution and protect our country, while their spouses takes the unwritten oath to live a life of frequent moving, lengthy separations and endless anxieties. Their commitment requires a unique blend of patriotism, dedication, hard work and, most of all, flexibility.

The stories in Chicken Soup for the Military Wife's Soul are written by military family members and the courageous women who themselves serve in the military. They celebrate the women who unite with kindred spirits to raise families, maintain homes and uphold the most positive attitudes when facing the fears of losing a loved one.

Each page in this special volume celebrates the unique bond between military wives and spouses and their dedication to home and country.

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All Souls: A Family Story from Southie (Ballantine Reader's Circle) Review

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(More customer reviews)I grew up in Dorchester which was on the other side of the tracks. Therefore, I already had something wrong with me should I venture to Southie. I was labeled an outsider and wouldn't dare go there alone even though I was white, Irish and Catholic. They were dangerous kids and if one of them accused you of looking at any of them the wrong way, that was enough for a gang beating. They were so full of anger and rage, and they could not ever form a sentence without using a slur of obsenities. I often wondered as a kid how these so called Irish Catholics could be so consumed with hate and venom not only against the rest of society, but towards each other as well. It never made sense to me. I am also Mike's cousin and even though we haven't seen each other since he was a kid, I always felt there was something different about Mike as compared to the rest of the pack. I did go to the apartment a couple of times and the atmosphere was exactly as he described it. Helen getting ready to go out with her accordian, the other tenant's yelling echoing in the halls, Mike at the window or watching TV and the endless metal door slamming from the coming and going activity. I was there for the Frank's funeral, he was a good guy who made a fatal error in judgement just looking for a way out. I also spent a little time with Kathy after her accident. A beautiful girl who loved to dance, now another statistic to the horrors of drugs. What might have been if she had grown up somewhere else is now just speculation. The family's pain was unbearable as one by one they were slipping away. They were caught up in a world of out of control madness with devastating consequences. Mike did an excellent job telling the truth for the most part. I recently drove through Patterson Way on a trip back home, and the sheer gloominess of the street is like a cemetary. It is so sad. For those of you who have read the book and might have wondered what happened to Nellie and her brood of fatherless children as Michael so eloquently pointed out, they all went on to further their educations and are responsible productive citizens. Morals and values begin at home, and what is most crucial to raising children is a loving and stable home that in some cases only the mother can provide. Helen just wouldn't leave, "The Best Place On Earth," under any circumstances. You be the judge of what can and cannot be accomplished raising children alone when you have your priorities in order.

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Jewish Wisdom: Ethical, Spiritual, and Historical Lessons from the Great Works and Thinkers Review

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(More customer reviews)Like many of my most valued books, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin's `Jewish Wisdom' arrived by accident, not through deliberate choice, but rather as a result of my having missed the reply deadline for one of my book clubs.
The full title of the book gives a greater sense of the scope of this 650+ page book: `Jewish Wisdom: Ethical, Spiritual, and Historical Lessons from the Great Works and Thinkers'. This statement in the subtitle comes very close to an encapsulation of the Jewish faith for me -- it is an ethical way of life; it is a spiritual way of life; it is a way of life with high regard for history; it is a way of life with high regard to teaching and learning; it is a way of life that has accomplished great works and produced great thinkers. All of these things benefit the whole of humankind. `Two thousand years ago, when a non-Jew asked Hillel, the leading rabbi of his age, to define Judaism's essence, the sage could have responded with a long oration on Jewish thought and law, and an insistence that it would be blasphemous to reduce so profound a system to a brief essence. Indeed, his contemporary, Shammai, furiously drove away the questioner with a builder's rod. Hillel, however, responded to the man's challenge: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour: this is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary; now go and study" -- a model statement that has defined Judaism's essence ever since. As Hillel knew, the right words at the right time can inspire people for generations.'
Rabbi Telushkin has written or edited literally hundreds of books, and many of them consist of collections of writings or quotations. One of the things that sets this apart from other books of quotations and writings, both Jewish and non-Jewish, is the running commentary that speaks to the importance in the ongoing development of Jewish life and faith of the writings presented here. Indeed, some quotations appear more than once, because they have a relevance to more than one topic.
Rabbi Telushkin concludes with a fifteen-page bibliography, which reads as a 'best of' list of Jewish literature (and is a frequently-addressed reference source for me when looking up Jewish information of almost any field). At the front of this bibliography, he starts by listing the top-ten collections of Jewish quotes and texts -- what other book of quotations references even one, much less ten, other such collections?
A truly inspiring book, a wonderful reference, a thoughtful and insightful collection -- this book will not gather dust on the shelf. For those who are not Jewish, this book contains the key to following Hillel's instruction to 'go and study'. For those who are Jewish, this will serve as a solid addition to the library of essential facts and useful opinions and impressions from culture and history.

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