The Lakeside Musings

'So compellingly personal you feel you're looking over her shoulder as she sits down to write' New York Times 'Electrically entertaining ... Funny, generous, spirited and kind' The Times This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is an irresistible blend of literature and memoir revealing the big experiences and little moments that shaped Ann Patchett as a daughter, wife, friend and writer. Here, Ann Patchett shares entertaining and moving stories about her tumultuous childhood, her painful early divorce, the excitement of selling her first book, driving a Winnebago from Montana to Yellowstone Park, her joyous discovery of opera, scaling a six-foot wall in order to join the Los Angeles Police Department, the gradual loss of her beloved grandmother, starting her own bookshop in Nashville, her love for her very special dog and, of course, her eventual happy marriage. This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a memoir both wide ranging and deeply personal, overflowing with close observation and emotional wisdom, told with wit, honesty and irresistible warmth.

The book provides the essence of the extensive travel undertaken by the author over a period of 20 years and how these voyages and exploration brought about the transformation in his personality and general perspective about life.

Just Going With The Flow is a book of spiritually inspired musings, or thought pieces that explore the experiences of daily life. Thought provoking, entertaining and enlightening, these personal essays shed light on the human condition.

"Contradiction after contradiction, said the man, the Bible is full of them." I wondered what Bible he was reading. Most apparent paradoxes resolve themselves with careful study and research. I love the old book, it is my God, speaking to me. Oh, there are love stories that would make a romance novelist author blush and tales of extra-terrestrials that surpass the fiction of television and movie space travel. There are also truths about how to enjoy life and how to live it to the fullest. I've spent many years in the book and I hope to spend more. For forty years I've studied the end days and what we are to expect in the future! A short course in what heaven is like and the condition of today's churches is included in this book. Warning, not all churches will be automatically represented in heaven. When I was born, there were less than two billion people on this earth, now, there are more than seven billion. The earth can't hold many more. Despite wars, that kill many, and crop failures the population growth soars. The earth's population is soon to peak. Soon, the end will come.

Musings of a Vegetarian Traveller is the opening story in this collection of tales, told by a woman whose appetite for life and travel took her on innumerable journeys. One of the most notable-her journey from meat eater to vegetarian-provides a deeply personal and sometimes very funny look into the worlds she encountered. But as Maureen says, The story of my transformation from a meat-eating to vegetarian traveller is not about food, but rather, it is about the interesting, diverting, amusing, distressing, provocative, and irritating things that have happened to me as a vegetarian traveller. For adventurers and armchair travellers alike, sociologist Maureen Stone offers a different perspective on travel writing. From the Caribbean to Europe, India, Asia, Africa, and South America, readers will experience a new look at familiar landscapes with her musings and reflections on personal, political, social, and contemporary issues. About the Author: Maureen Stone was originally trained as a social worker and then as a sociologist. She was born in Barbados, and educated in India and the United Kingdom.After a brief career in social work, she moved into academic life as a university teacher and Independent Research Consultant. Maureen is a full-time writer/traveller. She is best known for her academic work, The Education of the Black Child in Britain (1983) and for her social work publications, most notably Child Protection Work - A Professional Guide (1990), and Child Protection - A Model for Risk Assessment (1993). In 2002, she moved away from academic and research publications with her book, Black Woman Walking - A Different Experience of World Travel. Publisher's website: http: //www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/MusingsOfAVegetarian Traveller.htm