Swept Away By Magic, Girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     Darlings, let me be the first to tell you, I have not read one of Isabel Allende's books since "The House Of Spirits"--and that was a long time ago!!!!!!!!!!!!  I might not have read anything else by her, if it wasn't for--are you ready, lambs???--Patti Lu Pone!

                                      Miss Lu Pone has a spectacular website of her own, for those Theater Queens who want to keep abreast of All Thins Patti!!!!!!!!!!!  She also  has a list ore of picks--books and music--which demonstrate why she is one of the more talented professionals out there--she is no dummy, darlings!!!!!!!!!

                                         Among those picks was the one seen above.  When I heard it had a New Orleans setting, I knew it was for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                          But I didn't know how much, until I read it.   With space at a premium, and me being an omnivorous reader, Monsieur and I have a code question, for when I finish a book.  "Is it a keeper?. he asks.  If the answer is yes, the volume is added to one of the shelves. Or, if it is something I have  read on my Kindle, then I go out and buy a hard copy edition for those shelves.  If the answer is no, I don't buy after Kindle, and, if I had been reading a hard copy, I simply take it to an open table in the building laundromat, where I hope it will be found and read by someone who will appreciate it.  The books, at least, always disappear.

                                           Well, I can tell you, "Island Beneath The Sea" is a keeper, and the latest shelf edition around here!!!!!!!!!  Girls, this book has everything--miscegenation, plantation uprisings, slave rebellions, the exotic French Quarter of New Orleans, voodoo rituals!!!!!!  I just could not get enough; in fact I was so engrossed one night going home, I missed a stop on the subway!!!!!!!!!!  That has not happened in awhile.

                                              I am sure I could dig up plenty of other books, having the same ingredients as listed above!  But none has the poetic lyricism of Allende's prose, her breathtaking ability to capture the exotic, and the remarkable grasp on history she displays here.  In lesser hands, "Island Beneath The Sea" would fall apart, but with Allende at the helm, it emerges as a MUST read for all my girls on here who do!!!!!!!!!  Read, that is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                 And thanks again, Patti!  Now I look to you for books, as well as theatrics!!!!!!!!!!!