The Dairyman's Daughter A True Account of Amazing Faith by Legh Richmond

Epistolary genre is absolutely interesting and recently I downloaded an ebook called The Dairyman's Daughter

A True Account of Amazing Faith by Legh Richmond  that it is a real gem of the genre.

This book is a vivid portrait of Elizabeth Wallbridge, thanks to a lot of letters sent by Elizabeth Wallbridge at the same author Reverend Legh Richmond at first for arranging thw funeral of her sister and then continuing to keeping alive the exchange of opinions regarding religion and other life's aspect of the existence.  

Elizabeth lived in the stunning Isle of Wight and was the daughter of pretty elderly parents. She was a girl in love for religion; she constantly read the Bible and the rest of books she read were religious ones. The letters at the reverend are brilliant, written with the enthusiasm of youth. Unfortunately the existence of Elizabeth was absurptly interrupted because of consumption. What anyway she did in this existence is still remembered thanks to this book and the memory kept alive.

In this book you won't just find the letters exchanged with mr. Richmond, but many pictures and an extensive appendix with more informations about the various characters involved in the history.

The book is published by www.whitetreepublishing.com 

Anna Maria Polidori 

The Reflection of Time by Sarah Alyssa McCown

The Reflection of Time by S

arah Alyssa McCown is a short story published by Smashwords Edition and it is about love, and, the end, of an important personal choice with the consequent acceptance of the first boyfriend.

We are in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Diana discovered during her young age the attention of two men: Liam and Graham. As you will notice feelings change growing up and at the end Diana, although the first boy devastated will clearly affirm which one has been her choice once and for all.

This tale is pretty brief, just few pages; written with intensity, I suggest it to you.

Anna Maria Polidori 

Danger! Pope Francis Day by Avril O'Reilly

Danger! Pope Francis Day by

Avril O'Reilly is a short tale about a Pope, Francis the Bishop of Rome not just very famous in the world, but truly beloved. So this teacher, Mis Cronin, decided of spending with her classroom a Pope Francis Day, for let understand to all her students the Country where Francis was born in, Argentina, but also the rest of 25 South American countries. That children didn't know the story of these countries or their peculiarities. Not only: children didn't seem prepared in the history of USA as well, and so the teacher will ask them of studying reporting facts but what will happen during the Pope Francis Day will be for sure more than an unforgettable day, plenty of chaos, surprises, agitated and hilarious moments.

Sunny tale! from Smashwords Edition.

Anna Maria Polidori

How Long Does It Take to Get to Mars? by Lucy Ann Carroll

Adorable this children's book: How Long Does It Take to Get to Mars?

by Lucy Ann Carroll. Not only it is captivating, but completely illustrated will stimulate your children in the understanding of the so-called Red Planet. Substantially one of the littlest ones of our Solar System with two unregular Moons, Mars is distant from us, if we would want to reach it travelling something like 200-300 days and remain one of the most studied Planets and new adventures, astronomical ones will take shape these next years. Maybe, it is just a supposition but who knows it? Life was born in Mars. Some theories appreciate this theory: later life would have been "transplanted" on Earth via asteroid, although the atmosphere of the Mars wouldn't  never permitted to any man of surviving without a proper spacesuit.

Brilliant children's book, I found also that illustrations are clear, colored, interesting and brilliant.

I just know that your children will love this book.

I thank the author and LibraryThing for this ebook.

Anna Maria Polidori 

Life Lessons from the Pennsylvania Dutch Make the Light Out by Susan Kissinger

Life Lessons from the Pennsylvania Dutch Make the Light O

• ut by Susan Kissinger is a book that, for extension is an act of love for a wife, and for his mother. Mark Crimaudo was the husband of Susan Kissinger. She disappeared for a terrible illness, but at the same time during the years she wrote journals, blog entries and much more, so that, when close to her life's experience Mark promised her he would have shared with others her ideas and her life-story and the one of his mother releasing a book. This one is a book reporting the existence Susan shared with the Pennsylvanian Dutch community, learning a lot. This life-lessons continue to be precious, realistically important in a society where values are a bit lost.

Also when we don't have a lot we should live with dignity, could be one of the mottos of Susan Kissinger. 

As tells Susan, her mother has been an example 'till at the end of her existence. What she left was immensely beauty. A compassionate, good, strong lady. The abruptly departure of her husband, so Susan's dad meant to her a difficult existential moment, but Susan's mother was in grade to going on and with dignity continuing to live an existence, sometimes difficult, but always with a pretty cheerful and happy attitude and optimism. 

She lived so well, she was such a splendid person that to Susan it was indispensible to transmit what her mother thought of this world to everyone else. When times are hard, people shuld never feel discouraged, but should try to fight, and to discovering various solutions using as largely as possible the various channels at disposition.

This ebook tell of home chores, reading, the beauty of being a mother, frugality, keeping a clean home. Whatever you search, this ebook will be like a balm, and although both the protagonists of this book are over, their words and their world will resonate to you clearly giving you strenght for going on well in the esixtence.

Anna Maria Polidori 

Cook, Taste, Learn How the Evolution of Science Transformed the Art of Cooking by Guy Crosby

Cook, Taste, Learn How t

he Evolution of Science Transformed the Art of Cooking by Guy Crosby published these weeks by Columbia University Press, is a wonderful, at the same time interesting excursus in the art of cooking and what it meant for the humanity this act.

Eating is one of the main priorities of the humans; the first one; drinking water and eating with moderation mean preserving the body from dangerous risks.

Starting from the evolution of the man, so with the Homo Erectus and his possibility of increasing more intelligence thanks to a different and more researched food, passing through the art of cooking food thanks to the "invention", discovery of the fire and its potentialities.

A discovery this one in grade of assuring a best way of eating, killing in various cooked food various potential patogenic microorganisms. Humans detect six basic tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, umami and fat. 

With the time men understood something crucial: the possibility of planting seeds in grade of giving them food for the rest of the year. This one, the birth of agriculture, a process not only indispensible but wonderfully important for eating well.

Cooking is not just an act of love; if you read a cookbook, you'll understand that cooking is a mixture of chemistry, physics, food science. 

It's only in the 1500-1799 that cooking became an art thanks to the dicoveries of illuminating men like Lavoisier. But it will be during the French Revolution in Paris that cooking became thanks to Careme, who later would have inspired the same Auguste Escoffier, the most legendarious french chef who would have remarked "The fundamental principles of the science of cooking, which we owe to Careme, will last as long as cooking itself." 

The life-story of Careme is a real fairy-tales with a good end. Abandoned by his parents, he started an apprenticeship at a Paris pastry shop working later for Talleyrand during the Napoleon's years and later for many other influential people. He also wrote a book L'art de la cuisine francaise with more than 300 soups and 358 sauces.  It's always France, thanks to the legacy left by Careme that will make the difference in the art of cooking although later Germany became a good competitor. At the moment, we know a lot about food, and eating and what eating means for living a longest life, trying to find good and natural ingredients for great, good, natural dishes.

In the book you will also discovered several delicious recipes.

Interesting, informative, the cover is magnificent as well.

Highly recommended.

I thank Columbia University Press for the physical copy of this book.

Anna Maria Polidori 

Francesco Bartoli L'Uomo, Il Professore, lo Scrittore, Lo Storico

Interesting meeting the one with the author Fabrizio Ciocchetti in Umbertide f

or presenting to all the citizenship his latest book Francesco Bartoli L'Uomo, Il Professore, lo Scrittore, Lo Storico. Ciocchetti told us that he discovered the eminent profile of Bartoli only when close to the bedside of an universitarian teacher of Perugia. Fabrizio needed some informations for another book but this man, before he left, took his hand strongly and firmly asking him a favor: not to forget Francesco Bartoli. Who was this man, thought Fabrizio? The story of this book is a real research; cemetery, the houses where Bartoli lived, archives, books.

Born at the beginning of 1800 in Perugia, Bartoli lived just 60 years. Years plenty of events, this man was an eclectic one who reminded me, while the various orators illustrated the character of Bartoli at that people who lived during and before the Renaissance in grade of spacing in different areas of knowledge.

Bartoli passed at the history becoming famous once dead because...Forgotten and re-discovered by the author of Umbertide. There are not names of streets dedicated to him. 

Nothing. 

Journalist (the profession was pretty different; just few people read and what they read were mainly essays) and writer as well he tried to write a history of Perugia, starting from the Middle-Age. A monumental project dead after the publication of the first book. We don't know why; maybe because of a lack of time, maybe because it would have taken too much energy or just because Bartoli had many other more important projects in his mind. I wouldn't be surprised of it.

Catholic, for all his life experienced this rivality with Bonazzi, another historic character and writer, biographer of Perugia, this one very well known; the second was anti-clearical, a character of left. 

But...The most remarkable idea Bartoli had in his life was to trying to change the devastating situation of Perugia and areas close to the city in terms of education. At the beginning of 1800 the city counted just 12.000 people but only 5.000 had a decent scholarization. For the rest people were not in grade of reading and writing. The genial idea of Bartoli was this one: creating a series of schools for students and adults with the desire of continuing their studies, where and if in the past they could not have attended any sort of school because too poor, because also if pretty little they needed to work in the fields or in the farms of their parents. It was a big success. While Fabrizio illustrated this part of the story I thought at my dad and at that scholastic sessions attended during the evenings for having a piece of paper, because the war had destroyed everything, school included and I thought that maybe we should thank Bartoli for this idea.

I also thought that it's up to people of culture the transmission of knowledge. Sorry, but to me it couldn't be different, although Italy still live a sort of snobish behavior that don't pay. If books is not found in a house it's extremely difficult that people will search for it. That's why it's important sharing and the creation of cultural sites. Men like Bartoli a real blessing.

To me what Bartoli did was absolutely normal; if the establishment of that moment didn't want to better the cultural situation of the territory was symptoms that ignorance was preferred to knowledge because more comfy for the elite.

The author and other people were so surprised that a man of law, a teacher at the university did something like it: teaching to poor people was seen as surprising, maybe for the distance existing in terms of social classes, and because this act "read" by them as "inferior" to the social condition of that man: nothing is more beauty than finding a man in grade of sharing his knowledge, not closed in a pedestal but available for everyone. Sharing culture is the best thing to do. People of culture can't never know what happen if they plant in the mind of people seeds of culture but surely something extremely positive. 

Higly recommended book.

Anna Maria Polidori