Elevate Difference

Reviews by Melissa Ruiz

The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn

While the dramatic story of Anne Boleyn is familiar to many, very few actual facts are present in the typical retelling. In The Lady in the Tower, historian Alison Weir takes a day by day look at the life of Anne Boleyn and the social and political culture which influenced her fate. In her time, Anne Boleyn was one of the most recognized women in the world.

Girl Crush: Women's Erotic Fantasies

Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting to like Girl Crush. I wasn’t expecting well written girl-on-girl erotica. I wasn’t expecting to have my breath taken away. My first crush was Elizabeth; she was my assigned seventh grade science lab partner. She was so beautiful that I was embarrassed to sit by her. I spent the whole semester in awe, watching her when she wasn’t looking, trying to talk to her, longing to touch her. I was smitten.

The 30 Minute Vegan's Taste of the East: 150 Asian-Inspired Recipes—from Soba Noodles to Summer Rolls

The 30 Minute Vegan's Taste of the East is a compilation of recipes from India, Thailand, China, and Japan. There’s an additional section on Asian Fusion, featuring recipes from Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Tibet, and Nepal, as well as little known recipes from Iran and Afghanistan. Basically, this cookbook allows you to make vegan versions of your favorite Asian dishes in less time than it would take a delivery person to arrive.

Fast Girls: Erotica for Women

Fast. The word itself is a contradiction. By definition, fast can mean unrestrained and held tight; reckless and secure; promiscuous and faithful. A fast girl can be one way and then another or often both at once. A fast girl can be wild, even when caught in the firmest of knots. In Fast Girls, fast means quick thinking and quicker action. Fast girls see what they want and take it, cleverly making the most of circumstances around them.

Black Diamond Beaver

I chose the Black Diamond Beaver vibe because it was one of the larger shaft sizes available, and the picture made me squeal out loud. It’s definitely the sexiest beaver vibe I’ve ever seen.

The Truth About Delilah Blue

After first reading The Truth About Delilah Blue's jacket blurb, it struck me as a beach book. It turned out I was only slightly incorrect; it's an airplane book, most satisfying when you really have nothing else to do and nowhere else to go. Delilah, also known as Lila, is working as a nude model in an attempt to absorb the art education she cannot afford.

Things Seen

From the baby carriage to the grave, life unfolds more and more between the shopping center and the television set. – Annie Ernaux Born in 1940, and a published author since 1974, Annie Ernaux is known for writing in depth about her own life: her parents, her marriage, her abortion, and later, her breast cancer.

Heartfelt Advice

Heartfelt Advice is a record of ninety-five conversations between the Lama Dudjom Dorjee and his student Aaron Price. In each section, a small portion of a Tibetan text was read to Mr. Price, who then recorded both the translation and the explanation. The result is not the typical recitation of concepts one finds in most introductory writings on Buddhism.

The Tricking of Freya

The Tricking of Freya is a multi-generational family story narrated by a girl named Freya Morris, following her life from early childhood through middle age. Freya grows up in suburban Connecticut, but her heart lives in a small village called Gimli, the Canadian settlement of her Icelandic ancestors. In Gimli, her family is revered as the descendants of two of Iceland’s best-loved poets.

Try To See It My Way: Being Fair in Love and Marriage

“That’s not fair!” A common refrain in any relationship, heard from child to parent, between spouses, and, eventually, from parent to child. The question inherent in resolving these conflicts is: who is fair? We all like to think of ourselves as reasonable, kind, just people; and most of all, we like to think of ourselves as right.

To Love What Is: A Marriage Transformed

Two a.m. When you are young, this is the time that bars close, new love springs unbidden in doorways, and entire dramas are played out in the time it takes a traffic light to change. When you are older, with marriage and children under your belt, it is the hour at which a ringing phone wakes you in terror, not annoyance; when a voice in the darkness signals illness, not invitation; when awakening in a strangely empty bed, one will know that something has gone awfully wrong with the person whose warmth still lingers in the covers.

Ma Fleur

Imagined by frontman Jason Swinscoe as the soundtrack to a movie which has yet to be made, Ma Fleur does have a grand and sweeping feel to it. It sounds especially pretty on a rainy afternoon, but I found it far too solemn to be tried on a sunny car trip. While this is a band made up of gentlemen, it is the female guest vocals that shine on this album.

Natural Contours' Superbe

Several years ago, when I first read that Candida Royalle was going to start making vibrators, I couldn’t wait to try one out for size. The price, however, kept me from making their acquaintance. With a list price now around $25, that problem has now been remedied, but a new one has taken its place. As with many a first time, I came away wishing it had been just a little bigger. Five inches long with a curve in the middle, the Superbe couldn’t reach both ends of my girly parts at the same time. This could have been sorted out, if I hadn’t been distracted by that NOISE!

Eight Verses for Training the Mind

Billed as a clear explanation of one of Buddhism’s most basic texts, Eight Verses for Training the Mind opens more as if you have walked in on a conversation well in progress. This is a dialogue with those schooled in Buddhist rhetoric, delivered by a speaker who has no interest in bringing you up to speed. This book explores eight verses to be meditated on from a root text written in the eleventh century.
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