Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind (Readers Circle)

Book Description

Life is both sweet and cruel to strong-willed young Shabanu, whose home is the windswept Cholistan Desert of Pakistan. The second daughter in a family with no sons, she’s been allowed freedoms forbidden to most Muslim girls. But when a tragic encounter with a wealthy and powerful landowner ruins the marriage plans of her older sister, Shabanu is called upon to sacrifice everything she’s dreamed of. Should she do what is necessary to uphold her family’s honor—or listen to the stirrings of her own heart?

Customer Reviews:

the best.......2007-03-28

A Girls Life and Future

I recommend this book to anyone who loves to read about true life. I loved

this book because I have seen the pain of being married off at the age of 13.

I recommend this book to mature readers because of the descriptive words and

sentences. Shabanu keep me reading and it was impossible to put down.

ZZZZZZ.......2007-03-23

This book stinks. It's about a 12 year old girl named Shabanu who lives in the desert of Pakistan. Her life as been perfect since she was born, taking care of the camels, climbing thorn trees, and running free in the desert. But when an evil landowner murders the person her older sister Phulan was betrothed to. Now she must sacrifice everything she's dreamed of to save her family. Sounds like a pretty okay plot, right? WRONG! This book tries to make you hate it. It's boring, depressing (her life really sucks), and repetitive. There are some really good parts, but they are just drowned out by the badness of the book. And worst of all, it just ends. The plot actually starts getting thicker, but it just stops. It's like: Shabanu did this, Shabanu did that, Shabanu did thi-The end. The moral of the story: don't read this book.

This book is good and bad!.......2007-03-04

This book really changed my life. I was assigned to read this book, and Haveli in 7th grade. Shabanu shows a strong, defiant, girl trying to grow into her womanhood. There is a lot of tragedy for her and her family in this book, and there is a lot of talk about breast size and sex in this book, so if you haven't had "the talk" yet, you probably don't want to read this. I felt that the ending was a little stupid, and it felt like the author ran out of paper or something.
All in all, this book has its good and bad moments.

Shabanu Got On My Nerves.......2007-01-07

Okay, I had to read this book for my Freshman English class, for our unit on the Middle East. I had already read the one by an Arabic author, and reading this, you could tell it was by an American. It was a total cliche: Shabanu is an oppressed girl in Pakistan. Shabanu does not like this. Shabanu complains about being oppressed. Shabanu "rebels" against oppression. Shabanu is beaten. Shabanu cries.
The end.
I've met Pakistani girls before, and they're nothing like Shabanu. They're proud to be Muslim- they are proud to follow the rules of their faith.
Shabanu, however, is not proud. She never stops whining about it.
And then the ending bothered me, too. It was just such an obvious set up for a sequel, it totally disgusted me. It wasn't even much of an ending, really. It's almost like she just chopped the chapter off short and stuck it in the next book.

a lovely heroine, a lovely novel.......2007-01-01

I first read this book as a girl in junior high. As a woman grown, and approaching motherhood, I would like my daughter to read this book when she is old enough. It is a story about a strong-willed, independent young woman who must learn to reconcile her duties with her own impulses. It is a coming of age story, but an unusual one because it is set in the wilderness of the desert plains in Pakistan. Shabanu is not meek or powerless in the iconographic way of Arab women. She is a spirited and warm young woman. But the limitations of her culture force her to grow up, and she must find the ballast within herself to maintain her sense of identity while bowing to the outside demands of her culture.

Average customer rating:

Good Book, but...
Captivating.

Desert Rose
Linda Chaikin
Manufacturer: Harvest House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Historical | Fiction | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0736912347

Customer Reviews:

Good Book, but..........2006-07-12

FYI: This book was published in an little different form under Nevada Jade. For Desert Rose, Ms. Chaikin revamped and to the plot but the story line and characters are similar to those in Nevada Jade.

Captivating........2003-08-23

I loved this book. Linda Chaikin is one of my favourite authors. She takes you to the Old West 1859 to Nevada where Virginia City is booming with silver. Annalee Halliday's father had struck it rich there! Annalee couldn't wait to tell her mother the good news. As the Hallidays travel from California to join him, they became trapped in a fierce winter fighting for survival. Marshal Brett Wilder is also searching for Jack Halliday...but not for the same reason. He is commissioned by the governor to arrest Jack Halliday for a murderer of a card dealer and for crippling Brett's father's arm who was a great surgeon. He rescues Annalee and her family from death. Annalee fights her attraction for the handsome lawman and her illness. She tries to deny the fact that she is not strong but her Lord could use her to have an impact on other people's lives. A great and wonderfull story about a young woman and her feelings of worthlessness and heartbreak and a handsome Brett Wilder who struggles with showing justice and mercy to the people who ruined his and his father's lives. I have news for everyone who likes this book. There is a sequel and it's called "Desert Star" and is due to be published in January!

Average customer rating:

Pointless, mindless, plotless, etc.
A Disappointing Book From A Talented Writer!!!
Sad and sweet all at once
Looking for love in all the wrong places...
Stunning, lyrical novel

The Desert Rose : A Novel
Larry McMurtry
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0684853841

Book Description

Pulitzer Prize-winner Larry McMurtry writes novels set in the American heartland, but his real territory is the heart itself. His gift for writing about women -- their love for reckless, hopeless men; their ability to see the good in losers; and their peculiar combination of emotional strength and sudden weakness -- makes The Desert Rose the bittersweet, funny, and touching book that it is.

Harmony is a Las Vegas showgirl. At night she's a lead dancer in a gambling casino; during the day she raises peacocks. She's one of a dying breed of dancers, faced with fewer and fewer jobs and an even bleaker future. Yet she maintains a calm cheerfulness in that arid neon landscape of supermarkets, drive-in wedding chapels, and all-night casinos. While Harmony's star is fading, her beautiful, cynical daughter Pepper's is on the rise. But Harmony remains wistful and optimistic through it all. She is the unexpected blossom in the wasteland, the tough and tender desert rose. Hers is a loving portrait that only Larry McMurtry could render.

Customer Reviews:

Pointless, mindless, plotless, etc........2006-04-26

This is quite possibly the worst supposedly good book I have ever read. On the grammatical level, every other sentence contains a comma splice. I know that sounds like a minor nit to pick, but consider this: that is no exaggeration -- at least half of the sentences have exactly the same structure: "Jessie had already had her sedative and was a little groggy, she sort of dozed off while they were getting her room ready." Here's a paragraph-long sentence from the first page: "Ross was always thinking up funny names for things, it kept her laughing right up until they had Pepper, plus about a year more, and then she and Pepper took him down to the bus station behind the Stardust one day, he was going to check on a job doing lights for a show up in Tahoe, and had just sort of never come back, although Pepper was as cute a little girl as anyone could want and Harmony herself at the time had been said by some to have the best legs in Las Vegas and maybe the best bust too, although that was long before she had ever done topless, so that only Ross and a few of her old boyfriends really knew the whole story there." That is a SINGLE SENTENCE, ladies and gents! It becomes mind-numbing at some point, which is actually helpful in wading through this complete drivel. I only read the whole thing because I thought something interesting might happen. Let me spare you the anguish: Nothing ever happens! Nobody learns anything, or does anything, or thinks anything at all! I only cared about the characters in the sense that I wanted them all to fall into a tar pit together. I was very disappointed when this did not happen.

The abject badness of this book actually made me angry. In the foreword McMurtry admits that he crapped out this steaming pile while he was in the middle of writing Lonesome Dove, which I can only assume is a better book. It would be difficult to imagine otherwise.

I would agree with one of the other reviewers that an editor of some kind should have looked at this book pre-publication... but I think that would have resulted in an empty dust jacket. The blurbs and the foreword were certainly better-written than the text of the book.

Please note that Amazon does not allow zero-star reviews; one star is definitely not deserved.

A Disappointing Book From A Talented Writer!!!.......2005-10-08

In this book the author introduces the reader to Harmony and her rebellious daughter Pepper. Harmony goes through the usual Mother and Daughter Trials and Tribulations which the reader is supposed to feel empathy for. Harmony's own life is a mess so I don't know how she is supposed to be of any great help to her daughter. Harmony also works as a topless Las Vegas Showgirl and although I did not expect her to be a Candidate for Mensa she comes across in this novel as an airhead who no doubt would have been the subject of lots of "Blonde Jokes". As Judge Judy says "Beauty fades but dumb is forever". I give this book 5 stars because the author has succeeded in describing life in the town of Las Vegas where nothing is real and it is all a maze of smoke and mirrors.

Sad and sweet all at once.......2005-09-02

Set in tawdry Las Vegas, the story is about Harmony, now hitting 40, and once a real show-stopper on the Strip. But life has stopped being good for Harmony, and nothing in her life - her career, her lovelife, and especially her daughter Pepper - is going right. But she's a trooper, and nothing gets her down for long. McMurtry gets the sweetness and sadness of Harmony just right, even though at times her innocence comes across more as just ignorance of the ways of the world. Well done.

Looking for love in all the wrong places..........2004-02-21

Not a typical McMurtry novel;but then again none of his are.I've had this book for a long time as well as it's sequel "The Late Child"and for a change of pace decided to give it a try.
It is a great read.Somewhat like "Tems of Endearment";but more along the lines of "Cadillac Jack";which was my first McMurtry novel and probably my favorite.As a matter of fact I would'nt have been surprised if he has shown up somewhere;maybe at one of Myrtle's garage sales.
McMurtry has put together a great bunch of characters who all belong with one another.Kind of like the cast you find in a novel by Erskine Caldwell,Kinky Friedman,Hunter Thompson or even Steinbeck.These characters come from a different slice of life . These are the personal lives of the people who live very public lives in the Las Vegas entertainment world.In spite of it all, these are real people.Mc Murtry shows it is a tough world and eats up the workers and gamblers and spits them out when they reach the end of their prime or run out of cash.Rather than being Rednecks I guess you'd have to call them Pinknecks.They are somewhat akin to those loveable characters we know as Carnies.
Anyway, the book is a great,fast moving read with a surprise on every turn of a page.A lot of characters and I'm glad I made notes as they appeared so I could keep track of them.
Liked it so much I'm reading "The Late Child " next to see what happened to all these characters.It's surprising that so much time went by between this book and the sequel--12 years.

Stunning, lyrical novel.......2001-06-16

Poignant, beautiful, complex character-driven novel a must for McMurtry fans.

Average customer rating:

Please email Penguin Books (Ace/BErkley) to get sequel
Clumsy and Awkward
light entertainment
Listen to the Reviews
I do hope there's a sequel...

Daughter of the Desert
Noel-Anne Brennan
Manufacturer: Ace
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Resenting the Hero
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The Sword of the Land
The Blood of the Land
Princess at Sea

ASIN: 0441013945

Book Description

A new romantic epic from the author of The Blood of the Land.

The author of the acclaimed fantasies The Sword of the Land and The Blood of the Land brings readers this tale of a young noblewoman and a prince whose unlikely alliance must defeat the savage magic of a dangerous land.

Customer Reviews:

Please email Penguin Books (Ace/BErkley) to get sequel.......2007-09-26

This was an awesome book. Engaging and fascinating. Somehting different. However, the publisher has pulled the sequel, I found out from the author today :(. If we want a chance at a sequel, we need to write/email the publisher to let it be heard we want one! Can you help?

Clumsy and Awkward.......2006-11-11

I loved Blood/Land and Sword/Land, so I was excited to read this one. It's not nearly up to their standard. It's very poorly written; she explains to you all the emotions of each character, never showing them. Far too much "Deus ex machina" magic. It's clumsy, plodding, and poorly-written. I can only imagine her editor sent it into print because the first two books sold well; this one isn't worth the effort to read, and her editor ought to have stopped it from going to press in its present condition.

light entertainment.......2006-10-31

"Daughter of the Desert" is a fantasy novel set in a mystical variant of the middle ages -- swords & sorcery & a strong class system. F--, a sheltered young lady, discovers magical powers that she dare not reveal. Prince E--'s life is torn assunder by trechery and assasination. Meanwhile F-- uncovers deadly secrets in her upper-class family and flees, disguised as a lower-class citizen. Meeting by chance, E-- and F-- together flee for a legendary city.

Altogether, this book is fun, light hearted and entertaining. It wasn't great, but no terrible flaws, no lengthy moral messages, no dark passages, no questionable topics. Just a pleasant read, suitable for a lazy afternoon.

Listen to the Reviews.......2006-06-02

The last two reviewers stated it perfectly. This book is good, but I wish it had more character development and moral trials, stuff like that. "Sword of the Land" and "Blood of the Land" were amazing books,with Sword of the Land being one of my favorite novels, so I had high hopes for "Daughter of the Desert." Though not as spectacular as I expected, it's still a page-turner, and I will most definitely read the sequel as soon as it comes out.

I do hope there's a sequel..........2006-05-23

Having adored her "Sword of the Land" and "Blood of the Land" books, I was excited to see this new title available. "Daughter of the Desert" was a fairly straightforward read, but it brought up more questions than answers that beg for a sequel to be written.

The one issue I had with "Daughter" was that there was less characterization than in her previous "Land" books. The focus seemed to be more on the events than on the characters' inner growth, with several characters just sort of changing their mind about their behavior (Riessa and Kelern, two supporting characters, for example) with no real struggle toward the end of the book.

There were so many things that could have been developed - such as Forentel's growing in her powers, and learning and fulfilling her destiny, or Erba learning and fulfilling his destiny as well. The author also hints that Riessa and Kelern have new roles to fulfill but doesn't go into detail, since the book ends at right about that point.

That's why I'm hoping there's a sequel. Right about the time you think, Now we'll get to see them step into their destinies, the book ends. But the author ties up the book with so few loose ends (without spoiling it, let's just say the bad guys get what's coming to them) that I have to wonder how she could reopen the story, since the main conflict is resolved by the end of the book. Of course, that would make a sequel rather interesting....

Overall, a nice, simple read, and hopefully the start of another series.

Desert Fathers, Uranium Daughters (Penguin Poets)

Average customer rating:

Outstanding.

Desert Fathers, Uranium Daughters (Penguin Poets)
Debora Greger
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Anthologies | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Amazon.com

Debora Greger grew up not far from the Hanford atomic plant in eastern Washington, where her father worked. In this arid landscape, she writes, "even the dust, though we didn't know it then, was radioactive." Much of this collection, her fifth, revolves around that landscape and its impact on her childhood. As always, Greger's verse is polished, playful, and highly allusive. And in "Nights of 1995," she pays tribute to the late James Merrill in a manner that does that verbal magician proud: "Profligate with loss, / the live oak wept the old leaves down; / one pine needle stitched the air / a shroud to enfold one last song."

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding........1997-05-15

We have long come to expect polish from Debora Greger, but we find much more than that with this collection. Here we not only have the wit and intelligence we expect from Ms. Greger, but a sense of urgency, the personal. These poems deal with the testing of the materials used to make the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, foreign travel which becomes a self-exile, and the need to reconcile the disparities found at every turn throughout the book. A masterful collection that gives us the poet at her best. A stunning book.//C. Dale Young,Associate Editor of NEW ENGLAND REVIEW

Daughters of the Desert: Women Anthropologists and the Native American Southwest, 1880-1980

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Daughters of the Desert: Women Anthropologists and the Native American Southwest, 1880-1980
Barbara A. Babcock , and Nancy J. Parezo
Manufacturer: Univ of New Mexico Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Daughters Of The Desert: Stories Of Remarkable Women From Christian, Jewish, And Muslim Traditions

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Daughters Of The Desert: Stories Of Remarkable Women From Christian, Jewish, And Muslim Traditions
Claire Rudolf Murphy , Meghan Nuttall Sayres , Mary Cronklf Farrell , Sarah Conover , and Betsy Wharton
Manufacturer: Skylight Paths Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1594731063

Book Description

How would the most cherished stories of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam be different if women were the active central figures?

This groundbreaking collection of short stories brings to life the women—daring, brave, thoughtful, and wise—who played important and exciting roles in the early days of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Join Esther as she stands against injustice and her king to save her people, Aisha as she leads hundreds of men into terrifying battle, and Mary as she and Elizabeth dream of the new lives growing inside them. How must Sarah have felt, turning Hagar out into the desert? And how must Hagar have felt, traveling from the safety and security of Abraham's land toward an uncertain future? These stories invite us to come to know and appreciate the struggles and triumphs of these women—mothers, daughters, believers, and seekers.

Gertrude Bell: Daughter of the Desert/ The Fascinating Story of a Great Woman Explorer
Average customer rating:
Gertrude Bell: Daughter of the Desert/ The Fascinating Story of a Great Woman Explorer
Josephine Kamm
Manufacturer: Vanguard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IMZXQG

Sunset over Chocolate Mountains
Average customer rating:

Uh....Ok...but don't buy it...

Uh....Ok...but don't buy it...

Simply a great read

"...a little more disfunction, and I'll be on Oprah!"

Where was this going?
Sunset over Chocolate Mountains
Susan Elderkin
Manufacturer: Atlantic Monthly Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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The Ruins

ASIN: 0871138085

Book Description

A sparkling debut in which the lives of an obese Englishman, a Slovakian shoemaker, an ice-cream man, and a young girl converge in the awesome Arizona desert. Susan Elderkin has seized the attention of the international literary world with a brilliant novel that explores our places in the lives of our loved ones, and our place in the universe. Theobald Moon lives in a lonely corner of the Arizona desert, tending his spectacular cactus garden, his tiny mobile home, and his astounding appetite. A refugee from a stifled, cardigan-and-tea-cozy life in south London, Theo has moved to this unfamiliar country and is raising Josephine, who has known no other life than their cheerful yet isolated American one. The only breaks in their peculiar routine come with the visits of a Marlboro Man-like cowboy named Jersey, who has quietly, and for reasons of his own, assumed the role of protector of this little family. Inevitably change upsets the careful course of these lives. Josephine is brought up on Theo's fairy stories and his belief in an ordered universe, but as disaffected youth sets in she starts asking questions about her mysterious birth that Theo refuses to answer. She also faces school for the first time, and her terrifying peers. And when a jangling ice-cream truck finds its way into the desert carrying two ill-fated lovers, one a pregnant Slovakian shoemaker and the other a mysterious ice-cream man, it will usher in the most violent and wonderful upheaval of all. Innovative and accessible, funny and profound, Elderkin's narrative presents characters of startling originality, marked by endearing eccentricities and insights. Their story is about love and responsibility, and the fear and joy such emotions inspire. Sunset Over Chocolate Mountains is a rare and tantalizing first novel.

Customer Reviews:

Uh....Ok...but don't buy it..........2003-08-30

I read this book for a book report and it was interresting, but not captivating. I feel for some of the characters and some of the things that they do, but sometimes I wanted to burn the book. Susan Elderkin clearly wanted to confuse her readers and then tell them the ending half way through.

I am an avid reader, and I do agree that her character descriptions were good, but the book overall was not suspensful, nor was it intriguing. I've read it 5 times combing it for things for my book report and character profiles, and you find something different every time because of the great detail she uses. So if you're into detail, this book is great. If you want something suspenseful pick up something else. I personally enjoyed "The Cabinet of Curiosities" much more than this book...leave this one and go buy the other...you'll be much happier in the end.

Uh....Ok...but don't buy it..........2003-08-30

Simply a great read.......2003-01-15

This is simply a wonderful book. I found myself quietly smiling during most of it just from the sheer pleasure of reading it. I actually had to slow myself down from reading it too quickly so I could savor the story.

For once, all of the descriptions quoted on the back cover are accurate; heartbreaking, quirky, marvelous, impressive.

The scenes in the desert were so engaging that I resented the switch to the cold hills of Slovakia, and then got so caught up in that setting that I didn't want to go back to the desert.

I though this was just going to be a light story of a comically absurd character. But I was surprised by the level of human drama that enfolds as the story develops. The ending was surprising and dramatic. I thought that the characters were well realized if maybe a little overdrawn. It left me satisfied but wanting more.

This is not high literature and won't be studied by students of the same, but it was a much more engaging book than many other attempts at combining comic drama and absurdity.

"...a little more disfunction, and I'll be on Oprah!".......2001-10-22

I could hear the author thinking this to herself as I waded through the mire that is Sunset over Chocolate Mountains. Let's see: fat people, trailers, abandonment issues, rape, men unable to commit to relationships, pointless violence, mysterious foreigners, Oedipal relationships, political repression, death, mental disfunction, drunkards, out of wedlock pregnancy, ice cream and shoes. Oh, and men that drink their own urine. Sounds like a month's worth of talk-show topics. None of the characters were remotely attractive or likeable (with one small peripheral exception who flees the disfunction, much as I wished I could.) Alas, it was my book club's selection of the month, so I struggled onward -- only to find that half abandoned the book in disgust. Books like these are why God created libraries: if only I had borrowed instead of wasting hard earned cash.

Where was this going?.......2001-02-24

Yes the prose about the desert was lovely but a story has to be much more and I am not sure what the point of this was. A lot of long pointless descriptions of Theobold Moons daily ablutions do not fine literature make. A story of unusual people who's lives cross over to what end?--the so-called enigmatic ending was more like the publisher lost the last chapters. All through this book I kept asking is this supposed to be a story or pieces of a puzzle which add to nothing. Yes, we solve the mystery, as if it wasn't obvious...and now. And now???

Average customer rating:

Daughter of the Desert
Chloe Gartner
Manufacturer: Kensington Pub Corp (Mm)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0890833753

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