Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book : Like Water for Chocoalte (Como Agua para Chocolate) Author: Laura Esquivel (Translated by Carol Christensen, Thomas Christensen) ISBN: 0-385-47401-6 Publisher: Anchor Books Type of book: Mexico, Revolution, relationships, sisters, generations, forbidden fruit, desire, food, cooking, memories, magical realism, history, past Year it was published: 1989, 1992 Summary: Earthy, magical, and utterly charming, this tale of family life in turn-of-the-century Mexico became a best-selling phenomenon with its winning blend of poignant romance and bittersweet wit. The number one bestseller in Mexico and America for almost two years, and subsequently a bestseller around the world, Like Water For Chocolate is a romantic, poignant tale, touched with moments of magic, graphic earthiness, bittersweet wit - and recipes. A sumptuous feast of a novel, it relates the bizarre history of the all-female De La Garza family. Tita, the youngest daughter of the house, has b...

Title of the Book: The Artist's Way; A spiritual Path to Higher Creativity Author: Julia Cameron Name of Publisher: Tarcher/Putnam Publishing Date: original 1992 (version I have 2012) Other Works: The Artist's Way Morning Pages Journal, The Artist's Date Book, The Vein of Gold, The Right to Write, God is no laughing matter, Finding Water, Walking in This World Author Background: (from the back-flap)Julia Cameron has been an active artist for more than thirty years. She is the author of over thirty books, fiction and nonfiction, including her bestselling works on the creative process: Walking in this world and Finding Water. A novelist, playwright, songwriter, and poet, she has multiple credits in theater, film, and telivision. Visit the author's website at www.theartistsway.com ISBN: 978-1-58542-146-6 Theme: (from page XIII)"Art is a spiritual transaction. Artists are visionaries. We routinely practice a form of faith, seeing clearly and m...

Name of Book: The Wakefield Legacy, the Untold Story Author: Francine Pascal ISBN: 0-553-29794-5 Publisher: Bantam Skylark Part of a Series: Sweet Valley Saga Type of book: 1866-1970s, immigration, potted American history, journeys, Sweet Valley Year it was published: 1992 Summary: Follow the compelling stories of the women and men who came before Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield: Frontiersman Theodore Wakefield thought he'd lost his heart forever; will Dancing Wind make him love again? Turn -of-the-century beauty Sarah Wakefield marries against her father's wishes — only to become the mother of a fatherless child. Betrayed by his true love, Ted Wakefield must forget his past to find happiness with brilliant journalist Julia Marks. During World War II Robert Wakefield receives vital radio messages from P.O.W. Hannah Weiss and vows to find her when the war ends. Ned Wakefield struggles against injustice In the idealistic sixties, then fights for th...

Name of Book: The Seventh Stone Author: Nancy Freedman ISBN: 0-525-93424-3 Publisher: Dutton, published by Penguin Type of book: Japan, 1940s- 1990s, power, wealth, effects, revenge, tradition, liberality Year it was published: 1992 Summary: A young man dies a hero in the Pacific in the closing months of World War II. His name is Noboru. His mission: that of a Kamikaze pilot. It is his lasting legacy that shadows this magnificent multi-generational saga spanning fifty years of war and peace- from Japan's grim wartime defeat to its stunning economic world triumph today. Nancy Freedman, bestselling author of the unforgettable Mrs Mike, has written her crowning achievement in this richly textured novel about three generations of a Japanese family whose story crosses all cultural boundaries and geographical borders between East and West. At its heart is Momoko, Noboru's young widow, whose personal metamorphosis mirrors the changing face of Japan itself. Her coura...

Name of Book: Monster Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-74507-7 Publisher: Archway Paperback Type of book: vampires from outer space, horror, science fiction, asteroid belt, "Fifth world", 1990s Year it was published: November 1992 Summary: Mary Blanc walked into the party with a loaded shotgun. In the blink of an eye she blew two people away. She wanted to kill more, but was stopped by her best friend, Angela Warner, and the police. The next day, when Angel visits Mary at the jail she asks why she did it. Mary responds, "Because they were no longer human." Angela thinks she's crazy. At first. Until she probes deeper into Mary's claims and discovers a horror so unimaginable that she thinks she is going crazy. She even gets to the point where she wonders if she should have let Mary keep on killing. While there was still time to stop the thing from spreading. The very old thing. The hungry thing. Characters: The characters do have di...

Name of Book: Master of Murder Author: Christopher Pike ISBN: 0-671-69059-0 Publisher: Archway Paperback Type of book: young adult, murder, mystery, who did it Year it was published: July 1992 Summary: Marvin was an eighteen-year-old senior high school. He was also America's bestselling author of teenage fiction. Millions of kids read his book. In fact, his latest series-The MYSTERY AT SILVER SPRING- was the craze at his high school. But Marvin wrote under a pen name, and no one knew who he was. He was rich and famous, but he couldn't even get a date for Friday night. Yet Marvin wanted to remain unknown. He was worried that his incredible career was aboutt ot hit a birck wall. The final installment of his famous series was overdue. His millions of fans were dying to know what was going to happen in his his series, but so was Marvin. He had no idea how the story was supposed to end. Then one night he opens a fan letter. It has come from his publisher-in the ...

Name of Book: The ghost in the bell tower Author: Francine Pascal ISBN: 0-553-15893-7 Publisher: Bantam skylark book Part of a Series: Sweet valley twins and super chillers Type of book: 1985, Sweet Valley twins, Sweet Valley, young adult Year it was published: 1992 Summary: When the Wakefield kids are invited to their aunt Helen's country inn, Steven and Jessica are determined to use the eerie old mansion to scare their sister, Elizabeth, into believing in ghosts. But no matter what Steven and Jessica do, logical Elizabeth always figures out their tricks. Then things start happening that even Elizabeth can't explain, and all the Wakefield kids are afraid that the inn really is haunted. Will they make it through the summer sharing their vacation with an unfriendly ghost? Characters: As always the characters do not carry the changes into other books and they basically remain the same. In this one though, at the end, the girls aren't frightened as t...

Name of Book: My Sister the Moon Author: Sue Harrison ISBN: 0-380-71836-7 Publisher: Avon Books Part of a Series: Ivory Carver Trilogy; Mother Earth, Father Sky prequel, Brother Wind Sequel Type of book: 7039-7038 PCE, Alaska, Aleut, incest story, twins, rivalry, culture clash, young adult to adult Year it was published: 1992 Summary: An abused and unwanted daughter of the First Men tribe, young Kiin knows the harsh realities of life in a frozen land at the top of the world. In an age of ice nine millennia past, her destiny is tied to the brave sons of orphaned Chagak and her chieftain mate Kayugh-one to whom Kiin is promised, the other for whom she yearns. But the evil that her own family spawned drags the tormented young woman far from ehr people-where savage cruelties, love and fate will strengthen and change her...and give her the courage to fight for the future of her own helpless progeny. Characters: The characters seem to be three dimensional and fasci...

Name of book: Cowboys are my weakness Author Name:  Pam Houston ISBN: 0-393-03077-6 Publisher: Norton Type of book:  Adult, nature, cowboys, western, self discovery, 1990s Year it was published: 1992 Summary: "I've always had this thing about cowboys, maybe because I was born in New Jersey," says the narrator of the title story in this marvelous new collection. Set in the West, and sometimes in Alaska, these twelve tales are about women who are smart and susceptible to love, and men who are wild nad hard to pin down. Our heroines are part daredevil, part philosopher, all acute observers of the nuances of modern romance. They go where their cowboys go, riding rapids and hunting Dall sheep, dancing the two-step at the Stockgrowers' Ball. They meet cowboys who don't look the part-even Zen cowboys who image nuclear war away-and they have staunch friends who give them advice when the going gets rough. These are strong, shrewd, and very funny stories ...

Name of book: The North China Lover Author Name: Marguerite Duras ISBN: 1-56584-043-7 Publisher: The New Press/New York Type of book: Adult, historical, 1930s? Vietnam, interracial, white female/asian male relationship Year it was published: 1992 Summary: Hailed in France as "an incomparable pleasure," Marguerite Duras's newest novel is a fascinating retelling of the dramatic experiences of her adolescence that have shaped her work. Far more daring and truthful than any book she has written before, it emphasizes the realities of her youth in Indochina nad reveals much that her earlier works concealed. An instant number-one bestseller in France, The North CHina Lover both shocks and entrances its readers. Initially written as notes toward a film-script for The Lover, the book has the grainy, filmic qualties of a documentary. For all who admired Duras's previous work, here is an exciting and unexpected reading of her past-a work the French critics ...

Name of Book: The First Wives Club Author Name: Olivia Goldsmith ISBN: 0-671-79705-0 Publisher: Pocket Books Fiction division of Simon and Schuster Inc Type of book: adult, revenge, contemporary Year it was published: 1992 Summary: Elise, Brenda, and Annie were all first wives. A movie star and heiress, Elise had connections that paved the way for her lawyer husband. Brenda’s “family” business lauched her husband’s home entertainment empire. And good girl Annie sustained her spouse on his rise in the advertising world. But when their husbands were at the pinnacle of success, they abandoned their mates for “trophy wives”-younger, blonder, sleeker models. Lunching at Le Cirque, Annie, Brenda and Elise decide that the time for self pity is over. Now it is time to get even. How they conspire to give each man his due-in full view of tout New York society-makes for the smartest, sexiest, most wickedly funny blockbuster in years. Review:  Characters: The char...