Easter Books

To realize the importance of women in Christ's life was a real eye opener.
His mother Mary was to be understood from a mother's point of view, could
we have had her faith if it was our son nailed to the cross ?

The joy they all shared when he arose. This indepth study was a true way to strengthen one's faith. This study could be done anytime of the year
and you would benefit from it.
I felt this was a study that rated 5 stars.
It showed the author has great faith and writes from the heart.

Although Christ's resurrection demonstrates the power behind the Christian faith, Easter is often overshadowed by Christmas. Now Ann Marie Stewart helps us explore the deep significance of Easter with her eight-week Bible study, Preparing My Heart for Easter.

The study begins the week of Ash Wednesday (February 21 in 2007) and concludes the week after Easter. But I couldn't wait to start and have completed the first week's lesson.

Taken primarily from the four Gospels, Psalms, and Isaiah, the study focuses on Jesus' last week on earth and the women who followed him during his life and death. You'll get acquainted with Mary Magdalene, Mary Mother of Jesus, Mary and Martha (sisters of Lazarus), the woman at the well, and other women who were eyewitnesses of Jesus' miraculous ministry.

Besides five daily lessons, the study includes two weekend devotionals centered on Easter hymns. You'll also learn the significance of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Pentecost, and other holy days before and after Easter.

This study is great for for personal or group use, but be prepared to study. This well-researched, powerful volume comes to life with Stewart's background in drama and script writing. Her acting roles in the community passion play helped her experience the emotions surrounding the first Easter and motivated her to look at Jesus in new ways. Now she challenges and inspires us to do as many New Testament women did--meet, accept, and follow Jesus. Spring is the perfect season to grow spiritually by studyingPreparing My Heart for Easter.

This is a wonderful, inspirational book. I did this with my bible study group and we all loved it. Ann Stewart is a great author. Her other book "Preparing my Heart for Advent" is also fantastic. I would highly recommend anything she writes.

Ann Marie Stewart's greatest strength is in illustrating the truth we learn in Scripture through real-life experiences. As we look at Christ's journey to the cross, this love story comes alive across the centuries as its messages resound in personal anecdotes. What happened then matters to what happens now. But also impressive is how comprehensive Stewart's studies are; she has done her research. This is solid spiritual food. I learned so much in both Preparing My Heart for Advent and Preparing My Heart for Easter. Definitely works to be re-read each year. If you wish to draw still nearer to Christ our Lord and know the great love He has for us, if you seek to understand the sacrifice, if you long to know the beauty of the cross and the power of the resurrection, this is the book for you!

Nancy Fisler, a group leader, January 10, 2007,
What a Great Way to be Prepared for Easter
Anne Stewart motivated me to get to know the entire picture of the Easter events. I enjoyed the Bible study she provided and especially relished the details she included concerning the background of the events and people. The book systematically, daily, led me through all the little known and well known aspects of the Easter story.

Also recommended: Her book Preparing My Heart for Advent was so motivational for me personally last year and for a group I led this year.

What a wonderful profound book for helping Cbhristians understand the Resurrection from the different accounts of the Bible. I loved this book, so full of heloing ujs to understand according to the different traditions ther joy of the Resurrection.

For those who find Father Raymond Brown's major works just too much of a deep dive, try this 95 page collection of his reflections on what the Gospels say about the Resurrection of Christ. Father Brown could write serious studies for the scholar--his two volume 'Death of the Messiah' is masterly but tops 1600 pages, but he could write in a light, fresh manner (not too far from CS Lewis's style is some ways) that nonetheless gives deep insight into matters central to the Christian faith. Highly recommended.

This is part of a series of popular books from Liturgical Press written by the late Raymond Brown, one of the premier Roman Catholic biblical scholars of his generation.

In terms of his exegetical stance, Father Brown might be broadly classified as a moderate. He doesn't advocate the literal historicity of every detail in scripture, but he never denies, and in fact often defends, the underlying historicity of the essential events narrated. His theology is fully in keeping with Vatican II (not its "spirit" but its intent).

In A Risen Christ, Brown examines all the resurrection stories in the Gospels. Here he is not interested so much in comparing the various accounts. Rather his stated purpose is "to see how the treatment of the resurrection in an individual Gospel fits the theology and plan of that Gospel."

As in the other books of this series, Brown does an admirable job of presenting the fruits of voluminous scholarship in an easy-to-read, but not condescending, way for us amateur theologians.

It would be the rare Christian who would not gain some insight from this book. It may even inspire you to read Brown's longer, more academic works.

I feal God in m

A RISEN CHRIST AT EASTERTIME is a collection of essays by noted biblical scholar Fr. Raymond Brown. The book discusses the accounts of the resurrection in each of the four canonical gospels. One chapter is devoted to each of the gospels with the exception of two chapters which are devoted to John's Gospel which is not surprising considering Brown is a Johannine scholar. Brown basically looks at each of the gospels and how the individual evangelists use the resurrection accounts to stress the themes of their gospels and how a belief in the actual resurrection of Jesus Christ was essential to each of the early Christian communities that produced these works. Brown presents the scholarly material fort the reader and allows the reader to draw his/her own conclusions about the material he presents.

This book is a good summary of scholarship regarding the resurrection, but it is not intended for scholarly use. Its purpose is primarily pastoral as is the case with many of the books published by The Liturgical Press. In the introduction of A RISEN CHRIST AT EASTERTIME Brown asks readers the question "What stance would you have taken were you there when this happened?" I found that this question guides the reader to Brown's intent. It is not to give the reader a great deal of scholarly information which may or may not shed new insight on the resurrection. Rather Brown intends to give the reader enough information to rethink the resurrection and how this event plays a role in the life of faith. For this reason I would recommend the book to people involved ion ministry, particularly those involved in preaching, as well as people who are familiar with scripture and are looking for a guide that will help them understand the text

Three of these four [very] short stories relate to the holidays...

"Christmas Party" has (inveitably?) Wolfe in a holiday mood and role.

"Easter Parade" celebrates Wolfe's ongoing desire to stay home, no matter what.

"Fourth of July Picnic" recalls "Some Buries Caesar" a little bit.

"Murder is No Joke" is the only non-themed story here, and, in my view, it's the strongest for plot and characterization.

I hope we'll see these on audio CD or download some time soon...

Nero Wolfe is constantly getting himself into fixes through three character flaws. Arrogance, Cupidity, and Eccentricity. He must then shake off his indolence and use his intelligence to extricate himself from whatever predicament he stumbles into. Frequently he must extricate himself through the device of an elaborate caper designed to expose a killer while simultaneously burying his embarrassment.

Each of the four stories in this book has as its centerpiece an elaborate caper. In two of the stories Wolfe engineers a caper to extricate himself from danger; in the one the caper places him in danger; in the fourth, he is victimized by a caper and solves the mystery through sheer force of logic and deduction.

In "Christmas Party" Wolfe's fear that Archie is going to marry causes him to masquerade as Santa Claus and become prime suspect in a murder. In "Easter Parade" Wolfe's envy of a rival orchid grower causes him to stoop to petit theft and become embroiled in a murder mystery. In "Fourth of July Picnic" Wolfe discovers a murder at a picnic, attempts to flee without reporting it, and must expose the murderer before he himself gets arrested for obstructing justice. In "Murder is No Joke" Wolfe provides all the usual suspects with an ironclad alibi. How can he break an alibi that he himself provides?

Classic murder mysteries rarely bear any resemblance to reality. I've handled hundreds of homicide cases over the years, and the puzzles presented by real life homicide investigations bear no resemblance whatsoever to the puzzles presented in murder mysteries. You can imagine my pleasure on finding that Wolfe solved one of the mysteries in this book with exactly the same stratagem employed in a case that I prosecuted years ago. I've long since lost track of the investigator who solved that little mystery, but if I ever see him again, I'm certainly going to ask him if he has ever read any Nero Wolfe.

Spend the holidays with Nero and Archie, and quickly discover Wolfe quick thinking as he solves the mysteries faster than you can turn the pages. The last one is particularly good, as Wolfe takes offense to the fool who tries to fool him. In the others, Wolfe himself is cast in the spotlight as the police begin to even suspect his involvement - but naturally, his intellect always bails him out.

This edition now boasts "As Seen on TV!" on its cover, alluding to the fact that 1 (so far) of the 4 short stories herein has been adapted by A&E. Since 3 of the 4 are set during major holidays, Jane Haddam (author of the Gregor Demarkian holiday mysteries) was selected to write the forward. Apart from her forward and the afterward, the book is pure Stout, set after both _Black Orchids_ and _The Black Mountain_.

All four are murder investigations. The Ingram editorial review incorrectly implies that the killings were committed by 1 person - they're not. The cases are unrelated, and are only grouped in one volume because of a common holiday theme.

"Christmas Party" - The A&E adaptation is faithful to the story. Archie, having arranged for a day off, receives brusque instructions to cancel his plans and drive Wolfe out to Mr. Hewitt's for a special orchid powwow. He whips out a marriage license (!), with the news that he must attend his fiancee's office Christmas party that day. You've _got_ to read this one, if only for Wolfe's reaction to this. :)

"Easter Parade" - Rumor (via his gardener) has it that Millard Bynoe has bred a pink Vanda, but he refuses to admit it or display it before his wife wears a blossom for the Easter parade. Wolfe, giving in to acute orchid envy, has Archie arrange for a petty thief to steal it under cover of parade photographers. Unfortunately, that's the day that someone poisons Mrs. Bynoe, apparently with a dart shot from a fake camera.

When originally published in a magazine, the photos referred to in the text were provided in color as clues. The old hardcover edition of the book provided them in B&W; this edition omits them altogether. It's a pity, but does not detract from the story.

"Fourth of July Picnic" - Wolfe never leaves the brownstone on business; his friend Marko Vukcic (and by extension, his restaurant, Rusterman's) is associated with most of the things that can get him out. He has agreed to give a speech at the annual picnic of the Restaurant Workers of America, if they'll stop harassing Fritz to join their union.

"Murder is No Joke" - A different version of this story appears in _Death Times Three_.

Ok, so I am giving this 5 stars mainly because this is a much cherished book from my childhood. I clearly remember my mom reading it to me as a young girl. I sought this book out to read to my kids as well.

Orson and his family are much loved at my house. The illustrations, while done in a now dated palette, are charming. The kids love to examine the eggs and other things the family decorates. It sparks creativity at my house. The kids are always ready to paint or draw after reading this.

All in all, if you can get your hands on a copy, you won't be disappointed. I have my original from childhood and it's still in great shape....looking to add 2 more copies to pass on to my kids.

A very enjoyable book for young children and adults.There are wonderful illistrations and a great story line.I highly reccomend this book.

Adrienne Adams was one of my twin daughters' favorite book illustrators when they were small. They are now 26 so I was delighted to find this especial favorite of theirs. The Abbotts are rabbits who decorate their house, their car, airplanes and bridges during vacation, but their real business is Easter eggs. Son, Orson, helps with the one hundred dozen they have to do for Easter because he loves to paint and never tires of it.

I reviewed this book as part of a preschool curriculum development for an Easter theme. My 2 and 4 year olds are my audience. They have now read this book several times. On the surface, it's a very simple book about a rabbit who paints eggs. Underneath, it's about a rabbit who's too young to "keep to the task" -- until he's fully appreciated for his personal art style. If allowed, it can cause parents to think about allowing our own children to follow their interests, and can give us a way to introduce different art styles: a good precursor to a art museum field trip.

This concise book gives you very detailed, easy-to-follow directions for making traditional Ukranian Easter eggs. The directions are the most explicit and detailed of any book I've come across. Plus, there's plenty of info on traditional designs and their meanings. Not as many full color illustrations as some books...but a lot more detailed instructions and explanation of design components than most.

When I read Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco and saw the illustrations of eggs, supposedly dyed by the children in the book, I snorted and said, "No way. Those eggs have to be painted!" But then I found a pysanky kit in a catalog and tried it for myself. Eggs Beautiful was a tremendous help! The authors' step-by-step instructions make it easy to produce beautiful eggs on the first try. Their information on the history of pysanky and the meanings of the traditional designs and colors, made the eggs I've done over the past couple of years all the more meaningful. Anyone contemplating taking up pysanky as a hobby should definitely buy this book. It was one of the first I purchased when I started. A definite plus for any craft book collection!

This book has great step-by-step instructions for beginners and many helpful tips for the experienced egg designer. It has lots of pictures of Ukrainian Eggs to inspire your creativity. It also has patterns and detailed examples on how to make different designs. It contains many, many samples of designs. I found this book very helpful for my entire family - young and old. The instructions are simple, the examples are plentiful, and illustrations are fantastic. It aslo includes the history and legends of this ancient custom.

As an artist I found this book most helpful. Not only are several designs given with full, step by step instructions, several traditional symbols are shown helping the artist to create their own designs without abandoning the traditional feel.

I did find the book a bit dated, several helpful tools are now available that are not discussed in the book. Also, I would have liked to see more "tricks and tips" - these are practically essential to someone just starting out.

All in all, however, I enjoyed the book and use the designs often.

The golden sandal by Rebecca Hickhox


Once there was a girl and her mom died when she was little, so there neigheior maired the dad. So then Maha goes and takes the fish and home. Then she lets one go then her mom gets mad at her. Then she gets clothes from the fish for a ball. Later she gets to sit by the wife because they think she is rich. The next day they find her shoe. Then the man goes to her house and she is locked up in a jailhouse and they hear screaming and they open the door and the sandal fits her.

The theme of this story is Good versus Evil because her stepmother is being mean to her and she gets to marry the Prince and Good wins. The message of this book is `Don't judge a book by its cover', because they think she is ugly but she is not. The genre of this book is fantasy fiction because there is no such thing as a fairy godmother. The audience of this book is for people who are having problems with their families because Cindy has problems with her family.


I like the setting in Iraq because it is usually suppose to be somewhere we don't know about. I love the fairy Godmother because it is suppose to be a fairy, but it is a fish. I love the trickery because the fairy Godfish told the little girl to take a gold coin out of his mouth and pretend she sold it. I love the characters because they don't live a normal life. I love the bad guys because they are really funny. I like the illustrations because they are really cool.

Their are not that many books for Middle Eastern students. A Cinderella book was sorely missing and this one will please my students immensely.

This is a Cinderella type story that takes place in the middle east. It takes some tradional customs and places them in a context that is easy for the western student to understand. A great book for fans of Cinderella, too.

"The Golden Sandal: A Middle Eastern Cinderella Story" is based on the Iraqi folktale of "The Little Red Fish and the Clog of Gold" retold by Rebecca Hickox with illustrations by Will Hillenbrand. Cinderella in this case is a young girl named Maha. Her widowed father is a fisherman who has to be away from home often so Maha has been wishing for him to remarry the kindly neighbor lady who has a daughter of her own. Maha gets her wish, but in the great tradition of such characters her stepmother makes her do all the work and only lets her eat dried dates. Then one day Maha throws a red fish back into the water, sparing its life, and the wish tells her "call for me any time and ask what you will." So it is that the magic fish helps Maha prepare for the big event in town, the Grand Henna and shows her stepsister the penalty for trying to be mean to Maha. Then there is Tariq, the brother of a rich merchant, who finds the golden sandal and searchers for its owner.

Obviously the attraction here is not only the unique variation on the familiar Cinderella theme but the fact that this is an Iraqi story, since "The Golden Sandal" clearly shows that there are some things American kids have in common with Iraqi kids even when a glass slipper becomes a golden sandal. Hillenbrand works in some nice Middle Eastern architecture into his art along with the strategic use of the color red. In the back of the book both the author and the illustrator explain how there research of this story informed the telling and the illustrating of the tale. If you like variations on the familiar Cinderella theme look out for Nina Jaffe's "The Way Meat Loves Salt: A Cinderella Tale from the Jewish Tradition," Ai-Ling Louie's "Yeh-shen, a Cinderella Tale from China," and Penny Pollock's "Turkey Girl: A Zuni Cinderella," which are just a few of the many versions out there. "The Golden Sandal" is one of the better of these tales out there and it has the added virtue of being timely given world events.

I read Holy Saturday after reading about the Adopt a Bishop campaign for it in the National Catholic Reporter. It's a terrific book that fully lives up to its hype, and I'm surprised that no one is commenting on how the book has reshaped the conversation about women in the priesthood. Until recently, you had basically two camps -- the side that argued against women's ordination on the basis of longstanding practice and tradition, and the side that said women should be ordained because women are equal in other areas of society. In Holy Saturday Zagano is taking up the question of the one side with the methods of the other, so both sides can have grounds for discussion. It's the first time in years that we're seeing real conversation about women as deacons. According to Zagano, the Vatican regards the question of women deacons as still being under study and review. If they are willing to say publicly that it's an open question, then conversations can actually lead to mutual learning and real change. I liked the book very much, but I like even more the way it's having a real effect on the way people think and talk about the question, and the way people are willing to discuss it frankly and fairly. Good for Zagano! I wish we had more writers like her.

This book is very challenging. The cover promises a book about women's ordination as Catholic deacons, and the book delivers on that promise. But it's not written in the usual prophetic tone of books like this. At first I found the highly logical tone a little heavy. Then I became fascinated by the argument. Zagano has really uncovered a *lot* of interesting information about the rules for ordination, the history of ordination, and other details that most books don't provide. For anyone wanting a full range of discussion about the place of women in the Church, I'd recommend reading this book alongside a more prophetic book like Elizabeth Johnson's She Who Is. They form sort of bookends for highly intelligent and informed discussions about the future of the church.

The ordination of women to the priesthood is a hotly debated issue within the Catholic Church and is currently banned according to church teaching. Ms. Zagano limits the presentation of her information to argumentation concerning the ordination of women to the diaconate, and has developed some compelling issues for serious consideration by the Catholic faithful, Catholic church hierarchy and non-Catholics struggling with the acceptance of female ministers.

If you are looking for a book trashing everything about the Catholic hierarchy and its traditions, this is not the book for you. The author suggests that you don't have to go outside the tradition to find a place for women as deacons, because the most faithful response to tradition is to have women serving in the diaconate. Unlike so many people claiming to write about the Catholic Church, the author is a real authority on the matter and has written on women deacons for a number of religious journals. This book should be a manifesto of sorts for anyone interested in what ministry in the church means, but this manifesto discusses, it doesn't shout. Think of it as the Common Sense of the women's movement within the church.

In reviewing "Inventing 'Easter Island'" I found myself caught on the horns of a dilemma because, on the one hand (horn?) this is an interesting, scholarly work of profound implications that should inspire much discussion about what Easter Island was once, what it has become, and what it may evolve into one day. But within the book's erudite language and well-intentioned message there is an undeniable bias that punctures the equilibrium of its objectivity. This is evident from the very beginning when Haun, in her preface, justly takes to task a Canadian photographer who not too long ago committed unpardonable sins on the island by re-arranging rocks and disturbing potentially archaeologically significant sites in order to create "landscape art". This abomination was compounded by the fact that the photographer smuggled film off the island and some of his images were published in a Canadian magazine whose editors obviously have no dignity nor shame in glorifying how the photographer sneered at the "primitive" nature of the Easter Islanders who rightly objected to this desecration. And it is here that we begin to apprehend Haun's equation of what this Canadian did with what she calls the "Euro-American culture" that has by her reckoning re-invented the Easter Island cultural milieu and not necessarily in a positive way.

But is it entirely fair to equate what this photographer did with what early European explorers did? Are these two types of parties equally liable? Despite Haun's "resistance to the historical accounts", I say no. If the histories tell us anything, if social and cultural evolution has any validity, it is that for the most part we HAVE learned from the past, we ARE different. Some of us are, anyway. James Cook comes to mind. And in one particular way what this photographer did was worse than what many of the European explorers did BECAUSE HE KNEW BETTER; he had the product of centuries of knowledge about this island at his disposal and yet he admitted to coldly, deliberately ignoring both sensitivities and the law. We may thus rightfully ask if the first Europeans knew better, a question we do not have to ask of this Canadian photographer. Nor can we ignore the possibility that what we know of the past is the result of records made not always by the responsible parties but by their underlings or from faulty memories recalled years after the events -- and that this may reflect, but may not establish with certainty, a consequential discrimination, intended or otherwise, that was part of the inspiration for global exploration (and, yes, conquest) that sanctioned reprehensible acts without impunity.

In keeping with this, Haun tells us that "All texts are unstable constructions. All 'information' about the island is a version filtered through the perceptions and evaluations of the writers". Yet if this is accepted, then we would seem to have no choice but to interpret all accounts -- including Haun's -- as potentially suspect and therefore those that describe peaceful cooperation and those that involve exploitation and abuse may be no different from each other. But surely this doesn't always have to be so, any more than it is true when Haun cites Jorges de Cuchilleros who says that "we're complicit" in the evil actions of others by virtue of our recognition of them, even if they are culturally sanctioned. Just as recognition is not the same as participation, we should be capable of differentiating between those accounts which seek to describe and those which seek to justify.

I do not mean to exculpate those who committed bestial atrocities against the islanders but I believe I have sufficient historical perspective to know that some people are stupid and malignant and others are intelligent and benevolent and that we must not forget the context in which events occur in our interpretation of them. This is one reason I take exception to Haun referring to the "violence of renaming" of the island, because it was neither violent nor is it necessarily an injustice that "Easter Island" as a name would be imposed as part of the "invention" of this tiny triangular world lost in the Pacific. Let us not forget, as Haun herself points out, that the islanders themselves may not even have HAD a name for their own island and that the name that is so often used proudly today ("Rapa Nui") wasn't adopted until possibly a millennium after the first settlers arrived -- and even this name wasn't a creation of the islanders but was given to them by Tahitian sailors.

At the same time, it's not that anyone is requiring Haun to be "fair" or "balanced" in expressing her opinions. She's entitled to them and there is no shortage of thought behind them. But her conclusions subsequently inspired MY reactive opinion that it is not the scientist's task to assign culpability or to exonerate when explaining behavior and its outcomes. Is it likely that the Easter Islanders contributed to their demise? Yes. This is what humans do. Is it likely that the Easter Islanders were SOLELY responsible? Hardly. There are a great many factors in a whole constellation of factors that may have contributed to the island's cultural and environmental collapse -- and so it is not always necessary to lay the blame entirely at anyone's feet or interpret anyone's actions in ethical terms at all. But it is undeniable that at least two camps have developed, one led largely by Jared Diamond (borrowing heavily but probably interpreting erroneously the intentions of Paul Bahn & John Flenley, and perhaps John Dransfield) and another led by a diverse group including Terry Hunt & Carl Lipo, Benny Peiser, and Paul Rainbird (to name a few) who seem desirous of not only disproving Diamond, Bahn & Flenley, and Dransfield but in "freeing" the Easter Islanders from the "guilt" of knowing they were chopping down the last tree but did it anyway. I do not believe that anyone of sensitivity or intelligence is suggesting the islanders were "stupid" in their actions but then, having said this, I am forced to ask if we modern humans should be seen as stupid for what we are doing to our planet and I am thus constrained to wonder why we are may be employing a double standard. Unless it functions in the same way where we must distinguish between what the Canadian photographer did and what the "Euro-Americans" did on the island we call Easter.

Into this roiling cauldron of ideas Haun has thrown herself with verve. Her prose is excellent, her research evidently thorough and directed. Thus I appreciate the sophistication with which Haun's book is written and I can't deny her passion even if it occasionally interferes with her objectivity. It seems strange, for example, that she criticizes Hodges's artistic interpretations of the island for "erasing the Rapanui from the scene of their own cultural production" (which is by Haun's own admission inaccurate since there ARE islanders present in the engravings and paintings) and further chastises him for taking liberties with the weather as it's depicted in one of his most famous paintings because it's not historically accurate "as reported in the journals" -- journals that she might have us question as to their veracity. I'd say it's dangerous enough to question the creative license an artist might employ even when you KNOW the artist's intentions -- but there is no shortage of irony in the fact that Haun uses this famous painting on the cover of her own book. Or maybe this is to make a point?

And if it is irony that one should observe in "Inventing 'Easter Island'", there is no better example than the title itself, for the phrase is particularly apt not just because of its implications within this book's message but because of the whole context of ideas it conjures, neatly in keeping with what Jacquetta Hawkes once said about another place where the stonework of an ancient culture has dazzled and perplexed us for centuries: "Every generation gets the Stonehenge it deserves". The same can, I think, be said about Easter Island. When the islanders weren't "thieves" or "savages" or possibly cannibals they were fodder for slavery or, sadly, unwilling vectors for disease. Today the Easter Islanders seem to be suffering from an identity crisis brought on by immigrants from Chile or ideas from Hollywood, and even they cannot agree on whether they should follow in the footsteps of Tikopia or Las Vegas. Haun cites the late Clemente Hereveri as having said science is in conflict with the ethnic world while at the same time he asked that the indigenous Rapanui be able to preserve their past by the transmission of knowledge -- and yet this is one of the things science does. Are these conflicts really the result of outside influence with ulterior motives or a misunderstanding of what science really represents -- an aspect of the Human Condition ever seeking to define itself out of increasing necessity or ravenous curiosity?

In point of fact, the "invention" that Haun would very nearly have us believe as a pejorative phenomenon is really a function of the wonderful resourcefulness of the Easter Islanders, for they have weathered (literally and figuratively) a storm of human and environmental disasters and have not only survived but repeatedly re-invented themselves in order to endure. "Invention" here is the glory of the Easter Islanders. If there is any "invention" it is not an imposition from without but a profound evolution from within.

In the end, beyond the factual information, the bias still cannot be ignored but this does not make the book flawed, nor do I discourage anyone from buying or reading it. But make no mistake: If you place yourself in the camp that bleeds for the Easter Islanders, ancient or modern, this book preaches to the choir. If you place yourself in the camp that wants to differentiate between the past and the present and believe that there is a difference in how these are not only interpreted but manifested even today (after all, the Rapanui, as Haun says, have a "right to define their past as well as their future on their own terms"), what you may get out of this book becomes a matter of being forced to question whether the same bias the author complains about is inherent because of the interpretation she brings to the discussion or because of objective effects in the real world potentially open to our inspection and thinking. Regardless of which camp the politics of this book inspires one to adhere to, it can justly be said that it continues to support an important dialogue that may eventually produce a better understanding (or perhaps a better "invention" of Easter Island.

* * *

[Note: The writer of this review is a member of the Board of Directors of the Easter Island Foundtaion and the author of the "Complete Guide to Easter Island".]

Accessible scholarship! This book explores the paradox of a small island that is well known to the world for not being well known. Haun illuminates the strange public awareness of Easter Island through a comfortably esoteric lens of postcolonial theory and cultural analysis. In particular she explores the texts and images of the first four European voyages to the island, all in the eighteenth century and conveniently representing four distinctly different perspectives, namely the Dutch, the Spanish, the British, and the French. It also has a strong educational component and cultural revelance. Haun places the entire Easter Island story within a framework that makes it a model for teaching and understanding the European Imperial project, from its origins to the present residual effects. This is a well-conceived and beautifully written work of intellectual inquiry for the specialist in a number of academic fields and for the informed general reader who might also be reading academic popularizers ranging from Jared Diamond to Thor Heyerdahl, about both of whom Haun offers intriguing critical commentary.

I really liked this book. It gave me insights into the way so much of
the way we have been taught to view the world has been shaped not by
what we see, but by what we have been taught to believe about what we
see. It is fascinating to read how European explorers saw the island
in the eighteenth century and how the islanders reacted to meeting
strangers. Even more thought provoking is the way contemporary writers
manipulate past information to build cases that will support whatever
agenda they are promoting today, like Jared Diamond. All in all this
book really got me thinking about how I view the world.

"Inventing Easter Island" is a work of extraordinary scholarship that explores, in depth, the consequences of the earliest European encounters with Easter Island and the ways in which reports of these and later encounters have played such an important role in "inventing Easter Island" as it exists in Western culture.

Anyone who seeks more than a superficial understanding of the history of Easter Island and of the ways in which Easter Island and its iconic statues have become part of popular culture should read this book.

Bringing together a wealth of historical information from widely scattered sources, in addition to contemporary depictions, Beverly Haun has produced a magisterial volume whose value to scholars will surely outlast that of the less meticulous and more sensationalist attempts to explain the history of Easter Island that have engaged the public's imagination in recent years.

[Note: The author of this review is a past member of the Board of the Easter Island Foundation. Her book, "Early Visitors to Easter Island 1864-1877" provides complete translations from the French of the reports of Eugene Eyraud, Hippolyte Roussel, Pierre Loti and Alphonse Pinart. Her translation of Chauvet's "Easter Island and Its Mysteries" is available, at no charge, on line [...] ]

If you like your soul food meaty, filling and full of vegetables, then you'll like Meditations on the Cross. This is a challenging book to read in that it is deep writing. Bonhoeffer, who was hung by the Nazis in April of 1945, was truly an exceptional Protestant theologian and an exceptional man who tried to live out his faith in truth and honest. In this book, you will find short readings that offer compelling insights into the the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. My only criticism is that I wish Manfred Weber, the editor, put the dates of each piece at the beginning not the end. I keep flipping to the end of the reading to see if Bonhoeffer wrote the piece before or during his prison time. Even though this book is challenging but very rewarding.

This book is has selection of texts from Dietrich Bonhoeffers sermons, lectures, books and his letters from prison. Some of the texts are short (only few lines) while others are up to 13 pages long. But here you find theology of the cross, and that in a very broad sense. Here's a short text from this book from page 49: "Jesus is not a human being but the human being. Whatever happens to him also happens to human beings as such; it happens to everyone; and thus also to us. The name Jesus embraces all of humanity and all of God." What happened on the cross happens to humanity, human beings as such, that means all of us! The cross, resurrection and overcoming death was central in Dietrich Bonhoeffers theological work so here's just a glimpse of what one of the greatest theologian in the 20th century said and wrote but highly enjoyable. I only wonder if it wasn't possible to have this book a bit longer? It is 94 pages long and it does not take a long time to read it. But it's a good book.

Each small chapter starts with a Bible paragraph and subsequent remarks by Bonhoeffer that can spruce up any bible study as well as be used on its own by a study group.

I found this to be - less than I had hoped for; the essays are good - but not what I had hoped for - inspiration wise. The book is a set of brief, frequently less than a page, essays on various topics of Christian life. If you are a die-hard Bonhoeffer lover you will no doubt love it. Personally I can take or leave Bonhoeffer, and found the "Letters and Papers from Prison" much more useful - to be fair of course "letters and papers" is about 5 times the size of this text.

This is a good book, however I was a little disappointed as I just LOVE Liz Curtis Higgs book, 'The Pumpkin Patch Parable', and was hoping this would be as good.

Like the other parable books by Liz Curtis Higgs, this is a wonderful story for children that has a lesson to it. Maggie learns the lesson of forgiveness and the true story of Easter. It is a book that will surely bring a tear to the eye of a mother reading it to her child. I recommend it highly.

This book tells a story of a girl (who represents humanity) who is given a gift of a lily bulb (who represents Jesus) by a "secret" friend, who turns out to be her father (representing God the Father). The girl is disappointed in the gift, and eventually tosses it outside, never thinking of it again. But she wakes up one morning to find that it has bloomed despite her neglect. She also learns her father is the one who secretly gave her the gift, and she apologizes for ignoring his gift. "Will you forgive me" she askes. He replies, "Oh, my child, That's what Easter is all about." Bible verses in small print at the bottom of the pages tie the story to the Bible (when the girl receives the gift she is disappointed, as it appears to be just dirt -- the corresponding verse is "There was nothing in his appearance to make us desire him; when the girl tosses the bulb out, the verse is Isaiah 53:3: He was hated and rejected by people...People would not even look at him.") The Bible verses are in a child-friendly translation, which is wonderful. This is very creative, simple, yet incredibly meaningful, as are all of Liz Curtis Higgs' books. The artwork is colorful, simple, and comforting.

I would highly recommend this book . It was a joy to read it to my 4 year old. The bible verses are wonderful. My Husband and I were both impressed with it's creativity in explaining what Christ did for us at Easter. The little girl in the story represents us, lost and unsaved, her father is our Holy Father, the forgotton bulb she throws away is Christ, which comes back to life. Refering to the store of the Lily, my little girl said, "Mommy thats' just like Jesus"! It made me feel so good that she understands. Get it for you little one and God Bless.