Review of Life in the Left Lane (Paperback)

No typical tourist guide is this. Emy Thomas provides a refreshingly frank account of life in St. Croix. She deals directly with the pleasant the beaches, the people, the pace of life and the sometimes unpleasant hurricanes, and occasional crime.

Emy Thomas has found her own way to enjoy this island paradise. Hers is no superficial experience. She enjoys St. Croix in all its richness. Not for her an imposing mini castle in an expatriate enclave. She goes out of her way to live modestly yet comfortably. She knows some creole, and is deeply involved in local social initiatives. She seems to blend and integrate with the majority West Indian population much better than could be expected of the stereotypical New Yorker.She joins the locals in laughing off the perpetualGovernment inefficiencies, rather thangetting upset. But her journalist background is not entirely forgotten. She still manages to take a few swipes at local politicians.

If you know St. Croix already, you will readily identify with Emy Thomas perspectives and sense of humor. If you ever wondered what a Caribbean retirement would be like - read this before you decide. It will prepare your mind, and most likely will make you want to do it even more.

Product Description
A short and lively non-fiction book about what it?

About the Author
Emy Thomas spent her first thirty-three years following a typical middle-class path, growing up in Connecticut, graduating from prestigious schools in the northeast, and working as a journalist in New York City. Then she discovered the tropics and has embraced the islands and their laid-back lifestyle ever since. For over a dozen years home was a sailboat, when she cruised throughout the Caribbean and Pacific with a typical 'yachtie,' who made wandering a way of life. They visited scores of island paradises. When it was time to leave the boat and settle down the author chose St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands as her permanent home. She built her dream house on a hillside overlooking the Caribbean Sea and finally found her true calling as an author. Her first book, Home Is Where the Boat Is, was published in 1993. Life in the Left Lane is her second book.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Life in the Left Lane (Paperback)

Review of Home is Where the Boat Is (Paperback)

How many people sail because they love to sail. And then again, how many sail only because they love a person who loves to sail. This is Emy Thomas' story. How she overcame the fear, and the deprivation to be with the man she loved. She sailed with him in the Caribbean and Pacific for thirteen years and came to love sailing too.
Many sailing books are maintenance and navigation encyclopedias. Others are cruising logs - the chronology and itinerary of the voyage. Emy's book is neither of these. Her book answers the very simple question - "what was it like?" It is arranged by topic to addresstypical concerns and inquiries - do you get seasick, how does the laundry get done, what about storms and hurricanes, and theft, how do you keep all those nautical terms straight, how do you keep in touch with folks at home, how hard is the work, what sort of people do you meet, what do you do with your garbage?
Emy had lived more comfortably before. She and her sailing mate scraped by for thirteen years, stopping to pick up casual jobs when the money got low. But you get the feeling she would have had it no other way. They were accepted in many of the poorer islands they visited and had a richer experience as a result, not because they had a fancy yacht bristling with electronics, but because they didn't.
This book is an easy read and highly entertaining for anyone who likes sailing or has fantasized about cruising the oceans. If someone you love is trying to drag you off to sea you will want to read this book. Then, you'll probably say "okay, let's do it".

Product Description
Home Is Where the Boat Is is and entertaining and informative report on the lifestyle of adventures who cruise the oceans in small sailboats. Written for sailors and laymen alike and for anyone who has ever dreamed of sailing off into the sunset, it is a lively and honest account of the pros and cons of cruising. Chapters include getting food and water, doing laundry, making a living, meeting the natives, surviving storms and sickness. The book is also a love story about the author, a journalist, and the typical "yachtie" with whom she spent 13 years sailing halfway around the world, visiting scores of tropical paradise.

About the Author
Emy Thomas grew up in Connecticut, attended excellent schools and was a journalist in New York City when she discovered the tropics. She moved to the Caribbean, fell in love with a man who was sailing around the world and embarked on along, idyllic cruise. For 13 years they sailed the Caribbean and Pacific, and home was where the boat was. The author now lives and writes in St. Croixin the U.S. Virgin Islands. Home Is Where the Boat Is was her first book.-She is also the author of Life in the Left Lane, about what it's like for expatriates to live in paradise.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Home is Where the Boat Is (Paperback)

Review of Nora: An Ordinary Girl from Inchicore (Paperback)

Nora's story is the perfect story for those of us who think we have problems and for those of us who know we do. Either way, it takes us out of ourselves and lets us see that their are problems worse than ours and that there are people who handle them with her spunk and bravery. It's all about attitude and Nora's story shows how far the right attitude can take you. I hope she has more stories in her as I'd like to read them. Thanks Nora, for sharing your story with us.

Product Description
NORA-An Ordinary Girl from Inchicore is a poignant memoir of growing up in Inchicore, Dublin in the 1940's and 50's. With humor and pathos Nora tells of the day-to-day drama in a large Catholic family and the interaction with her nine siblings. She tells of the discipline in an all-girl Catholic school and the kindness and sometimes cruelty of the good nuns.

Nora takes us with her through the streets of her beloved Dublin as she cycles to work or takes the bus into town. We absorb the unique atmosphere-the sights, the smells and the colorful speech of Dubliners.

We go dancing with her in 'The Golden Years' of ballroom dancing and follow her romance with a handsome student from Trinity College.

We hear of the adoption of a baby and the circumstances that led her to immigrate to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Later we join Nora in England where her plans to marry her student prince go awry.

We follow her to Toronto, Canada where she meets and falls in love with her life partner, Frank.

NORA-An Ordinary Girl from Inchicore will delight those who love all things Irish and who believe the Irish are the most fascinating people on earth.

About the Author
Born in Dublin, Nora Szechy was one of ten children. Her daughter's gift of a blank journal with the request to write about her life gave her the impetus (at 72) to recapture her memories.

She lives in Downey, California with her husband Frank. They have three married children and seven grandchildren.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Nora: An Ordinary Girl from Inchicore (Paperback)