Customer Comments

Mary Ziegler has commented on (3) products.

The Barbarian Nurseries by Hector Tobar

Mary Ziegler, January 3, 2013

Excellent writing. Wonderful insight into the lives of Mexican immigrants, particularly women who care for the children of wealthy couples. Good commentary on contemporary marriage, consumerism, and the sometimes thoughtless ways we lead our lives. Ultimately hopeful because of the strength of the central character.

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I Like Being Married: Treasured Traditions, Rituals, and Stories by Michael Leach

Mary Ziegler, August 6, 2012

The title I Like Being Married sounds pretty corny. I would never have grabbed this book at Powell's or picked it off a library shelf. In doing some other reading and research on topics not specifically about marriage, I bumped into the title three times. I recognized the authors and picked it up. The book offers short chapters that remind us of the really good things about being married and, for many of us, of staying in long marriages. I Like Being Married is full of practical, psychological, interpersonal, and spiritual wisdom. More importantly, it is full of humor, a key ingredient to any happy relationship. Early in the book, a woman who has been happily married for over fifty years says that it is essential to remember that there are some days on which you particularly love being married and especially love being married to your own spouse, while on other days, you particularly loathe being married and especially loathe being married to your own spouse. Funny and true. This book offers depth and widom in a brief and breezy format and is a shot in the arm for those of us in long-term relationships.

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Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Mary Ziegler, January 5, 2011

Cutting for Stone was released in paperback this year. The author is both an excellent physician and a brilliant writer. As an outsider in almost every culture in which he has lived, Verghese provides us with astute and compassionate observations of individuals from different cultures, countries, walks of life, faiths, socioeconomic and educational backgrounds, all while telling a riveting story. The reader will come away with a better understanding of Ethiopa, of practicing medicine in extremely challenging situations, of being a patient without ready access to efficient and compassionate care,of living in a country experiencing revolution, and of the human condition. Do not be daunted by the length of this book. The story is so well told, the characters so well draw, and the plot so compelling that you will finish it within hours or days. I think this is the best book of the last two years.

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