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The Joy of Sax: America During the Bill Clinton Era
By Walt Brasch
Lighthouse Press, Inc. 2001
ISBN: 0967635454
Nonfcition- Collection

A Little Humor Goes a Long Way

The Outrageous Parts of "The Joy of Sax"
Outdone by the Wise Parts


Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, columnist and reviewer for MyShelf.Com and author of the awards-winning "This is the Place" and "Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered"

Walt Brasch has something in common with Bill Clinton. They both play sax. That same Walt Brasch has something in common with me. We've both been columnists. What better excuse, then, for him to put together a book of his columns called "The Joy of Sax" and for me to write about it? 
The "Joy of Sax" is subtitled "America During the Bill Clinton Era." It couldn't have been assembled better by anyone. For one thing, Walt knows his stuff. He covered part of the Clinton-Gore bus tour during their first campaign. For another thing, he has good reporter skills. He also wrote a lot of columns and that makes for a nice, fat book. But mostly it's because Walt Brasch has a sense of humor. If more people had a sense of humor during the Clinton years, we'd all have had a jollier time. After all, we were all rich compared to the last couple of years. For that matter, if we all had a better sense of humor now….
But I digress. Back to Walt's book. Sometimes his humor is blatant. Other times he lets you figure out what he's getting at but it's still funny as heck. My favorite column is called "Singing Off-Key in the Starr Chamber and it's my favorite for the first nine paragraphs that go like this:
"When President John Adams imposed the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798…and violated the First Amendment, no one required him to testify before a special inquisitor.
"When President Abraham Lincoln suspended several Constitutional rights, no one required him to testify before a special inquisitor.
When President U.S. Grant pleaded ignorance that his own cabinet was one of the most corrupt in history…."
The next paragraphs include heinous "violations" by Warren G. Harding, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and the first George Bush. I was rolling in the aisle and Brasch was only being droll. His "hilarious" hadn't even begun!
If you don't see that Brasch is at least entertaining, then maybe you don't really need to read this book. Mmmmm. On the other hand, if you don't see that, then maybe you are the one who does need to read his book! 
Walter Brasch is opinionated, logical, and broad-minded. None of these qualities is a crime. They all help to make this book a kick for anyone with a political hair in his head. 

(Carolyn Howard-Johnson's first novel, "This is the Place"
has been honored eight times since its release. A story from her new book,
"Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered" won the
Red Sky Press Award before it was published."
Learn more at:
http://www.TLT.com/authors/carolynhowardjohnson.htm .)

Christmas Cookies in a Bottle
May be Your Most Appreciated
Holiday Gift



Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, columnist for The Pasadena Star News and awards-winning author of "This is the Place" and "Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered".



Christmas Cookies Are for Giving is a collaborative effort that is pure magic. Used appropriately, it will make your kitchen smell like the holidays, your family happy and your Christmas gifts sing songs of good will. 

Kristin Johnson and Mimi Cummins have put together the perfect gift for stocking stuffers, your baby sitter, your beautician and if you live in California, your pool service guys. (Men are doing more cooking and if they haven't tried the creativity of baking, maybe you should encourage them.)

This little book is very complete. It includes packing tips and hints on presentation. It includes baking tips for the beginner with a few even an expert might not know. 

My favorite is the chapter that tells how to put cookie making kits in a jar so that the receiver can whip up a batch of cookies any time the other holiday gifts of food have been consumed. It is a delight to see the brown sugar, chocolate chips, and flour layered like the sand paintings kids make in the third grade. The bottles can be decorated. If you choose to purchase this book for yourself and you take the time to use it now, these might be the least expensive and the most welcome gifts you give this Christmas. 

Oh! I mustn't forget the stories! This book includes family stories you'll want to share around a crackling fire or retell around the holiday table. 

One more thing. The cover is really appealing. You'll be proud to give the book itself.

(Carolyn Howard-Johnson's  just-released book, Harkening, also includes a Christmas
story or two. They're part of the way the author explores how fiction permeates
non-fiction. Learn more at http://www.TLT.com/authors/carolynhowardjohnson.htm )

Susannah Morrow
A Novel of Salem
By Megan Chance
Warner Books, 2002
ISBN: 0446529532
Fiction Literary
Nov or Dec is Fine


A New Lesson on Old Prejudices





Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, columnist for the Pasadena Star News and author of "This is the Place" and "Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered"



There is a new, young author in town writing serious, readable novels. At least her first is and that is a promise of more to come.

"Susannah Morrow," by Megan Chance is a self-proclaimed "Novel of Salem." 
It is the story of a fictional characters set in the history of Salem, Massachusetts in the 1600s. The witch hunts are not pretty. They may, however, speak to us several hundred years after a radical and closed society made them part of our heritage. 

This story is told from the viewpoints of three different family members. We see a deluded sixteen-year-old plagued by guilt for her indiscretions, her father, Lucas Fowler, who is trying to be a good man but is caught up in mass hysteria, and her aunt who has brought not only her own physical beauty to town but an independence not frequently seen in either men or women in these times. 

Sometimes I found both modern motivation and reasoning lacking in this novel and that was troubling. Then I stopped to reflect that it was not the fault of the author but of the subject matter. I also began to wonder if there really is that much of a difference between these characters' actions and much of what we see in the world today. This story is part of our own history. Is what we see there really so different from what we are witnessing in our own world and even our own time? 

Perhaps, then, this book is one that is right for this time and this place. Perhaps it is one that will not only entertain but remind us how important it is to guard our separation of church and state, our right to independent thought. 


(Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the award-winning author of "This is the Place" and "Harkening", both books that explore the effects of prejudice on society. Learn more at:
http://www.TLT.com/authors/carolynhowardjohnson.htm .)

Talking Correctly for Success
A practical guide to sounding "right" for business,
professional and social success
By James A Fisher
Avant Publishing Co. 1999
ISBN: 0962594113
Nonfiction Self-Help/Reference


Not Latin, Classy English


A Quick-Learn Approach to 
Speaking A Dying Language




Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, awards-winning author of "This is the Place" and "Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered"



From at least the time of Shakespeare, pundits have been decrying the lack of class. Noel Coward did it with such wit that it became an amusing pastime. Lerner and Loewe distilled the concept into speech-both its sound and patterns-in the popular "My Fair Lady." And now we have James A. Fisher who makes the same point in an effort to improve matters if we will but cooperate.

Fisher is determined that we should speak impeccable English for success's sake. In "Talking Correctly for Success," he aims to teach us how to avoid the most heinous pitfalls of our language in a very funny book. Thus, he makes it easy to order at a French restaurant without sounding as if we grew up learning to read phonetically and believing the rest of the world did, too. He decries "Slurvian," our tendency to say "Djoo Eet?" for "Did you eat?" He even tackles my personal ear-irritant, the incorrect usage of "lie" and "lay." And he does it in a practical and memorable way. 

This little paperback was originally copyrighted in 1996. It has since gone into its 2nd edition. For very good reason. Even those of us who pride ourselves on our ability to use the English language can learn something from it. It's just as important that if we choose to do it, refining our command of the English language with "Talking Correctly" will be a really fun pursuit. Wit, after all, did not die with Shakespeare or Coward or even with Professor Higgins. 



(Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a contributor to "Musings," a book designed to inspire writers.
It is available FREE at:
http://www.TLT.com/authors/carolynhowardjohnson.htm .
She is also the author of "This is the Place" and "Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered")

Carolyn Howard-Johnson, 
Author of the awards-winning novel This is the Place.
Her new book, Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered, 
has already garnered the Red Sky Press Award.
It will be released in November.
For More information go to: http://www.TLT.com/authors/carolynhowardjohnson.htm