| Title | : | Becoming Bea (The Courtships of Lancaster County, #4) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0764210343 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780764210341 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 345 |
| Publication | : | First published October 14, 2014 |
One person she’ll never be able to find peace with though is Ben Rupp. They’ve known each other forever, and Ben understands precisely how to antagonize her. What neither she nor Ben will admit is that beneath all their bickering, attraction awaits. When friends decide to try and bring the couple together, will the pair be able to find true love? Or will they damage their relationship beyond repair?
Becoming Bea (The Courtships of Lancaster County, #4) Reviews
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School chums or rivals? When they were younger Ben and Bea were both. Can this ongoing rivalry and Bea always having to have the last word turn into a romance? Bea is hired to help a neighbor woman with her newborn triplets. Triplets, what? When she first starts she is not used to taking care of bopplin but gains confidence in her baby caring and herself. What I really enjoyed about this story is that I could relate to it. Not the triplets part but the baby caring part. I had my children close together and there was always lots of laundry overflowing from hampers,children and babies needing caring while food was cooking and food burning and oh the sleepless nights with crying babies just like in this book. Bea has always had feelings for Ben and him her they just didn't act on the before. Their new romance almost torn apart by a near tragedy and a misunderstanding that leads to hurt feelings on both sides. Can they come to an understanding and patch things up or will their love just fizzle out?
I suggest you read Becoming Bea by Leslie Gould and find out. You are sure to enjoy this clean read published by Bethany House Publishers. -
After reading
Minding Molly, I was both looking forward to and dreading this book. Sadly, it lived up to my fears rather than my hopes.
It is an homage to Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, and this story was the clearest of the four in the set that were inspired by a Shakespeare play, almost to the point where I felt it was a blatant rip off of the above-mentioned play. The main characters are even named the same as those from the play! Bea in this story wound up being both Beatrice and Hero, though at different points in the story. Likewise, Ben became both Benedick and Claudio, which made for a distraction for me. It was the obviousness of the inspiration that made for such an unenjoyable read.
The conflict in the story was much the same as in the original play, and both could have been solved by some much needed communication. Admittedly, the characters said that they were horrible at communication, but for things to wrap up as quickly as they did, I didn't find the lack of full communication plausible.
While I have fond memories of both the Shakespeare play and the movie adaptation with Kenneth Brannagh and Emma Thompson, I did not enjoy this Amish vision of the play and would not recommend it to others. -
This review is also posted on
Book by Book.
In looking at my recent reading trend, I realized I’m quickly becoming a reader of Amish fiction – which I never expected or planned. But, how could I resist a book based on Much Ado About Nothing, my absolute favorite Shakespearean play? I don’t think it was possible… And of course, I completely and utterly enjoyed Becoming Bea by Leslie Gould. It was such a treat to read. I had so much fun watching Bea and Ben with their tenuous relationship and great banter. The romance, developing and growing, is completely sweet and just good to read. Fans of Amish fiction will be delighted with Gould’s newest novel – I know I can’t wait to read more from Leslie Gould now. (I haven’t read the other novels in her Courtships of Lancaster County series, but Becoming Bea can easily stand alone.)
Thanks to LitFuse Publicity Group, I received a copy of Becoming Bea and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own. -
{Yesterday we switched it up a bit here on BFCG…we talked about Music! Did you enter the giveaway?
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About this book:
“Can Bea and Ben Turn Rivalry Into Romance?
Beatrice Zook knows God wants her to learn patience toward others. When assisting a family overwhelmed by triplets proves surprisingly successful, her confidence in dealing with others, both young and old, grows.
One person she'll never be able to find peace with though is Ben Rupp. They've known each other forever, and Ben understands precisely how to antagonize her. What neither she nor Ben will admit is that beneath all their bickering, attraction awaits. When friends decide to try and bring the couple together, will the pair be able to find true love? Or will they damage their relationship beyond repair?”
Series: Book #4 in “The Courtships of Lancaster Country”. {I have read #3, “Minding Molly” (review here—old rating system though!), but have not read #1 or #2.}
Spiritual Content- Psalm 143:8 at the beginning; Many Prayers & Silent Prayers over food; “Thank you, Jesus” & “Praise God” are both said a couple times; Talks about God (but the ‘H’s aren’t capital); A couple of Scriptures are quoted; Bea’s Faith becomes stronger in this novel.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: an ‘idiot’ and six forms of ‘stupid’; a curse is said but not written; a mention that a man was stabbed to death in 1593; mentions of hunting (a deer is killed (barely-above-not-detailed); Blood (barely-above-not-detailed).
Sexual Content- a semi-detailed kiss; Noticing (not-detailed); Poetry & Sonnets about Love; Many mentions of nursing babies; Nan says that she “can’t image having more children. Of course if that’s what God has for us…although at this point it’s not like Bob and I even have time to hug each other, let alone..” she laughs & says she’s balling; Don’s a flirt; a man tries to force himself on Bea (barely-above-not-detailed); Molly tells Bea that she’s “the most chaste person I know.”; Love, falling in love, trying not to fall in love, & the emotions.
-Beatrice “Bea” Zook
P.O.V. of Bea
345 pages
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Pre Teens- One Star
New Teens- One Star (and a half)
Early High School Teens- Two Stars (and a half)
Older High School Teens- Three Stars (and a half)
My personal Rating- Three Stars (and a half)
What I really liked in “Minding Molly” and now in “Becoming Bea” was that the main character really grows in their Faith and outlook on people. That was neat! At first the rivalry between Bea & Ben was cute—it reminded me a bit of “With Every Breathe” by Elizabeth Camden, but one Amish, one Historical.
Link to review:
http://booksforchristiangirls.blogspo...
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Bethany House) through Litfuse for this review. -
In yet another enjoyable book in the series The Courtships of Lancaster County, Leslie Gould continues to educate readers about Amish life through likable characters and interesting plot twists. I love the community Gould creates as she highlights new characters interspersed with characters we've met in previous books.
In Becoming Bea the central character Beatrice Zook, has always felt more at home with a book than with people. She withdraws from community even more after the death of her father and then her mother's stroke. To avoid a family trip to Montana to visit her bossy sister Molly's in-laws, Bea takes a job helping neighbors care for their preemie triplets. In the process, she learns to enjoy fellowship with other youngi and to appreciate the teamwork it takes to accomplish tasks.
Bea finds herself drawn to Ben Rupp, a boy she's known all her life. Through Ben she discovers love along with the accompanying need for forgiveness. As she matures, she also learns to appreciate Molly (from Minding Molly), and to desire a family of her own.
I received a free copy of this book to give my honest review. -
Just finished reading Becoming Bea (The Courtships of Lancaster County #4) by Leslie Gould. Excellent book! It was fun to escape into the Amish lifestyle while identifying so strongly with the relationship issues that Bea faces. It's also nice to see a protagonist change and grow during the novel. I wasn't a fan of Molly in Minding Molly, or even Bea in that novel, but the characters both grow in this book. Great job, Leslie Gould I loved this one!
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This book was not my favorite at all.
The storyline was confusing and weird, there were too many characters to keep track of, and overall it just bored me to sleep, literally.
Will not be reading this book again.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book. -
Bea changes while helping out with the babies, she makes new friendships and a lot happens during the time that her Mamm and Molly are in Montana. Mollies plans before going to Montana didn’t include Bea and once she finds out she was both shocked and upset. Understandable so, but Bea treats Molly with grace during this time showing just how much she’s changed while they were gone.
I loved this last book in the series, it was wonderful to see how Bea changed as she relied on Gods love and became who he intended her to be. I found Bea relatable with her love of reading and poetry which both her and Ben share. Love is not without its trials too. I think it’s such a great idea of Leslies to retell Shakespeare in a plain way in this Amish series, while I’m not familiar with a lot of his work I loved the sonnet included in this book.
The ending is perfect and seemed less rushed than the previous books and summed everything up nicely. I’ve enjoyed this series, Leslies writing and look forward to reading another book or series by her. -
This book is a character-driven, Amish romance at its best. If you have read other books in this series, you get to re-visit principal players from some of the other books as well as get to know the small close-knit community surrounding this story's main characters, Bea and Ben.
Beatrice Zook was the youngest child in the family of sisters and brothers, step-brothers and in-laws. The next oldest sister, Molly, and her husband Leon lived in the same farmhouse with Bea and her Mamm, taking on the responsibility of making it productive again. Bea's dat (father) had died only a few years earlier. It seemed to Bea that Molly had then stepped into dat's shoes and become another parent to her. So it was no wonder that she began to feel the necessity of becoming more independent. Now that she had just turned 21, she was looking for employment outside her home, hopefully within their small community.
Thanks to a friend of hers, she heard that Bob and Nan Miller had just given birth to triplets and were now bringing the babies home. They needed helpers. When Bea stepped in to help, the task seemed daunting at first, but soon she found her stride and began to enjoy the new experience.
Bob Miller was a cabinet maker who employed several young men, including his son-in-law Pete, the twins who lived near Bea's home (Martin and Mervin), the two sons of Bishop Eicher (Phillip and Don), and Ben Rupp. Ben and Bea had gone to school together; more accurately, they were always at the top of their class, the best spellers in the school, competitive with each other yet also being a challenge to the other to excel. They had become nearly best friends and the reason for each other's love of learning. Their competitiveness cooled a bit after schooling was finished with the eighth grade. However, the year before, Ben began to court Bea formally. She was ecstatic until he suddenly stopped coming around without explaining the reason. Since then, she hasn't trusted him or any other young man. If they did see each other, their exchanges were contentious, with a hint of bitterness on Bea's part.
Now that Bea was living with the Miller's, she was surprised how crazy the household could get with three newborns, especially when they would get colicky. She worked together with Hope, Nan's niece from New York, and they established some kind of routine. For the first time in her life, Bea was finding herself and blossoming into an attractive young woman. In fact, not only did she attract Ben's attention again, but Don's as well. The rivalry became serious over time while Bea and Ben's relationship suffered several ups and downs. The reader wonders if it will work out at all. Would Bea choose Don instead?
The author, Leslie Gould, has created an entire cast of characters who have come alive for me. Hope befriended Bea as they worked together with the triplets. Then Hope fell in love with Martin, who worked for Bob in the cabinet shop. He was one of the twins that lived near Bea's home. Martin was a good friend of Ben Rupp. Soon Martin and Hope were trying to play matchmaker to get Ben and Bea back together. Unfortunately, because of so many conflicts, their efforts failed. But during this upheaval, Bea's personality was going through a metamorphosis, thanks to her new job and new friendships. Even her relationship with Molly began to change. At one point, Bea even stood up to Molly, who realized finally that her little sister was maturing. But of all the relationship challenges she faced, the most difficult was with Ben. When, in their on-again off-again courtship, he believed a lie perpetuated by Don and accused her falsely, Bea's heart was crushed. This conflict was written so well that I couldn't help but feel sick at heart with her.
Besides all the relationship drama, I enjoyed Ms. Gould's use of the competitive spelling bees as a metaphor that represented the young peoples' struggles with immaturity and growth of character in the present stages of their lives. During their school years, it was for the most part a friendly form of competition--a setting up of standards. But there also existed a rivalry between them that could turn on a dime and become destructive if allowed. Both of them were wordsmiths with a love of learning; something beautiful could come of it, or it could become a stumbling block. Much of the consequences depended on how they handled their pride. Would selfishness grow out of it, or selflessness?
The third thing I enjoyed about this book are the details the author uses to describe the introduction of triplets into the Miller household. The situation with preemies in a Plain household was intriguing, amazing and heart-warming. I was right there walking the halls in the middle of the night with Hope, Bea, Cate, Nan and Bob. I could feel the frustrations and the rewards of caring for such precious little ones. It brought back memories of my daughter when she had colic for nearly three months. It was unsettling, but still generates warm feelings when I think back.
The author created some heart-rending conflict, but the final resolution is satisfying to read. In fact, I read it over at least three times. It was one of the loveliest scenes I've ever read. If you enjoy Amish romances, you don't want to miss this one.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from Bethany House Publisher's Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” -
The last book in this series. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Bea was not one of my favorite characters in the previous installment but I grew to like her as the story progressed. Obviously there were times Ben needed to be whacked over the head with a shovel but that's all part of the plot. I liked that pretty much everything tied up very well in the end. It was a well written book. I'm hoping to read more by this author.
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I feel bad giving this one two stars, but it’s not quite a 3 star for me... if the characters had just been more determined to communicate things would have gone much differently. And Don, 👎🏼👎🏼
But I did like that Bea came into her own, she went from being someone’s little sister to being her own person. -
Another solid three stars. I felt like the conflict/misunderstanding between Ben and Bea was well done; it didn’t feel forced or contrived, and how they were both feeling seemed true to life. I also liked Bea’s character arc, and how so much of the change in her came from serving others and putting others first.
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This book is another good read from Leslie Gould, the fourth in her Courtships of Lancaster County series. I enjoyed seeing Bea become more sure of herself, and I enjoyed learning more about characters from the previous books in the series. I will read more books by this author.
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I love how Bea comes into her own. She and Ben have a funny relationship with a little competition, and some old hurts. This made me laugh and cry. I completely enjoyed it.
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I have always enjoyed Amish Fiction. It’s something that I can read through at a reasonable rate. I’ve read 2 others of Leslie Gould’s book but missed the 3rd one. But still a very good read.
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Another great book by Leslie Gould.
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When compared to Christian writers a century or two ago, most recent authors are more similar to the worldly novels than they should be... This series (I read first four books) was no exception.
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He Loves Me....He Loves Me Not.....
Bea is a 21 year old, quiet Amish girl living in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Her father has passed away, and her mother has recently survived a brain tumor. Molly, her older sister, has tried to run Bea's life as far back as she can remember. Now married, Molly wants to force homebody Bea to accompany her on an extended visit to Montana to visit Molly's in-laws. Frantically wanting to avoid the trip, Bea gets a job helping the nearby Miller family with general housework and their recently born, premature triplets.
Although Bea has no experience with babies, she is motivated to learn quickly. She wants to have a job, so she won't be pressed to go with Molly on her trip. Bea soon finds she adores children. Despite getting little sleep, and working really hard at the Miller's, her job is a labor of love. She even squeezes in time to help harvest the apples that are in the Miller's yard and trees. She uses much of the fruit in her many apple recipes while cooking for the family.
The one drawback to the job is Ben Rupp. He is also working at the Miller's. Bea and Ben were strong competitors with each other every single year in school. They always tried to outdo the other in spelling. Their fierce rivalry in the 8th grade spelling bee was so over-the-top, the school board forbid future spelling bees--because of their very non-Amish behavior. Although Ben frustrated Bea in school, she really thrived on their mutual spelling battles.
Ben and Bea have a further history because he courted her a couple of years earlier. Suddenly he just stopped courting without any explanation. Bea has felt hurt, rejected and angry ever since. Whenever he is near her, she feels he is verbally attacking her, and she responds in kind.
Since the two of them are working at the Miller's, Ben acts like he wants to court Bea again. This confuses Bea and she doesn't want to open her heart for more hurt. She fears he might jilt her suddenly like he did before--especially since the first rejection has never been explained. She doesn't trust him, and wants to understand what happened.
When Molly returns from her trip, Bea discovers Molly has set in motion plans that will completely change the course of Bea's life. Bea is horrified by Molly's interference, but she is also traumatized by events that have taken place in her family's absence. Bea has found herself unjustly accused of something she did not do, and sadly finds very few will believe her. Ben is one of her worst non-believers, and has broken her heart once again.
Will Bea get a say in the course her life will follow, or will she meekly give in to Molly's life-plan? Now that she has discovered the joy of children, is Bea destined never to have any of her own? And will Bea get justice and have her name cleared of the false accusations?
This was an enjoyable look at Amish life and romance. The frantic pace that three newborn preemies cause in the Miller household rang very true. The story also covered some unexpected ground I have never read in other Amish books. This book is part of a series, but Becoming Bea can stand alone. Anyone who enjoys well-written Amish books, or Christian fiction, would enjoy this 5-star book.
As a special treat, the author, Leslie Gould, has allowed me to share one of Bea's yummy apple recipes:
Bea's Baked Apples
Ingredients
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 6 large apples – peeled, cored, and sliced
• 3 1/2 tablespoons water
• Chopped pecans, if desired, about 1/4 cup, or to taste
• Raisins, if desired, about 1/4 cup, or to taste
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a large baking dish with the butter.
2. Mix brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Layer about 1/3 of the apples in prepared baking dish; sprinkle with 1/3 of the sugar mixture. If using nuts and raisins, sprinkle 1/3 over apples. Repeat layers. If desired, put pats of butter on top.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Pour water over apples and continue baking until tender, about 15 minutes more. This turns the sugar/cinnamon mixture into a perfect sauce.
4. Check the last 5 to 10 minutes to make sure they are not getting too soft or mushy.
This would be a great addition for Thanksgiving, & it is gluten-free, too! Thanks Leslie and Bea.
The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book through Bethany House Publishing for the purpose of review. All opinions expressed are my own, and I have not been compensated in any other manner. Despite my receiving the book free, it has not influenced my judgment, and I have given an honest opinion.
My Blog:
http://bookreadingtic.com/2014/11/19/...
Author's Blog:
http://www.lesliegould.com/
Author's Facebook:
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Author's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/lesliejeangould -
Becoming Bea is probably my favorite out of the Courtshipsof Lancaster County series. I think this author has really found her voice. Don’t get me wrong…all of the books have been really good but I just think each book has been better than the last! This series of books are all Amish renditions of Shakespeare—very loosely based. They are written in first person perspective which I usually don’t enjoy as much but this author does it really well!
Note: I have deemed that this book is appropriate for teens. While there’s a minor altercation between Bea and another character becomes a bit violent with her, it is hardly described and the scene is cut short. As always, I urge parental discretion but in my humble opinion, this book is suitable for teen girls ages thirteen and up.
“Ben and Bea have always irritated each other. But when their friends push them together, can they cease bickering long enough to fall in love?”
Beatrice Zook has a love for W-O-R-D-S and apparently so does Ben Rupp. They’re almost perfect for one another—if they could just drop the competitiveness! Bea and Ben gave courting a go once before but they had a falling out and Bea is determined to never make the same mistake twice.
In fact—Bea is determined to never marry or have children. When she takes a job as a caregiver for premature triplets, she begins to wonder if her resolve to never be a mother is what she really wants for herself.
Just when things seem to be working out for Bea and Ben, an unfortunate case of mistaken identity causes mistrust between them. With the uncertainty of their future and with Molly (Bea’s older sister) urging the family to move out of state—it seems that things are officially over for Ben and Bea.
Will things work out or will there be much ado about nothing?
View all my reviews|
Excerpt
What do you think?
Have you ever been hurt by a misunderstanding and how did you overcome your differences and find a way to trust one another?
What advice would you give to others who are struggling with mistrust? Do you think it's even possible to trust someone that has hurt you in the past?
I received this book free from the publisher through a fantastic program called Litfuse Publicity. I was not required to write a positive review. The thoughts and opinions I have expressed are my own. This giveaway is being sponsored by Litfuse
as part of a blog tour for Becoming Bea. To view other reviews and learn more about this tour please visit the Litfuse group by
clicking here
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For Beatrice Zook it has always been about who will have the last W-O-R-D. To stay that her and Ben Rupp are competitive would be a sheer understatement. For as long as they were in school, the annual spelling bee determined who was the winner. At first it was all about studying definitions, spellings, and root meanings, but for as long as either of them could remember it was about so much more. Until the Amish district decided that there was too much pride in winning the spelling bees, and they were banned.
Last time Bea could remember, she was the final winner, but after all those competitions between her and Ben, it was tied. Since the Amish graduate at the 8th grade, that was where it ended. In a tie. Bea at one time had hoped for something more between her and Ben, but an argument between them ended things before they ever got started. And now, every time, they see one another, it's a contest of wits, words and emotions.
Bea believes her life is content keeping people at arms length and sees no reason to step outside her comfort zone to make friends, find a suitable husband or even venture outside her home. Between her books and taking care of her Mamm who survived surgery to remove a brain tumor, she believes her life is complete. Until her sister Molly arrives home from church and announces they are all planning a trip to Montana to visit her husband's family and to give the family a much needed vacation. That is the last thing Bea wants and the only way out of it, is to find a job before the start of the trip.
Lucky for her, Nan and Bob Miller have been looking for someone to help with the care of triplet preemies, as well as taking care of the house, cooking and anything else Bea can help with. Nan is still recovering from their birth and to say that taking care of three infants is more than a handful, would be an understatement. Not only that but Bob's business in cabinet making is taking on more business than he can handle and he's hired a few of the local boys to help out. One of them just happens to be Ben Rupp. But will Bea have the last word this T-I-M-E?
I received Becoming Bea by Leslie Gould compliments of Bethany House Publishers and Litfuse Publicity for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions contained here are strictly my own. I absolutely LOVED this novel. I'd read Courting Cate quite some time ago and was anxious to get back to Lancaster County to see how things were going. I love that Bea and Ben still have that competitive edge and I found myself relating quite a bit to Bea because all through high school, I was what some would call a loner. So to see her trying to find her way in the world, while her sister believes she has Bea's best interests in mind was something I could relate to. It's a great reminder of just how the Amish community works together to help one another out when they truly have a need and families are always looked after. This one easily rates a 5 out of 5 stars in my O-P-I-N-I-O-N! This is the fourth novel in the Courtships of Lancaster Series! -
This review and others can be found on my blog:
http://www.spacebetweenthespines.com/
I was excited to be approved for the final book in Gould’s Shakespeare’s retelling series, entitled Becoming Bea, which is a retelling of the comedy Much Ado About Nothing.
I’ve really come to appreciate Gould’s artful intertwining of the original source material into the Amish world. Many of the plays have been very well adapted and I consider myself to have a pretty healthy appetite for retellings of any kind, whether they are classics, fairy tales or anything in between. This one, unfortunately, fell a little flat in comparison to some of the other novels written by Gould.
One of the things that I liked most about Minding Molly was that plenty of aspects of the original play were added to the novel, even those that were more minute. They just added a little extra flavor to the plot that readers of Shakespeare would enjoy, while the casual reader might not even catch them. I suppose I was rather spoiled with that, because the only real correlation between Much Ado About Nothing and Becoming Bea is the fact that the two main characters are named Beatrice and Ben, where in the play the characters are named Beatrice and Benedict. Of course, the main characters in the play and in the novel find themselves victims of unrequited love, are secretly madly in love with each other, and swear up and down they will never marry – but that is where the similarities pretty much end.
In the play, their friends realize they love each other and try their best to convince them, and even trick them at one point! – into liking each other. Gould never really touched on this in the book, unless it’s by the sporadic mentionings by their friends that they would be a good together. I would have liked to see a little more matchmaking going on. And even a singing in which Ben and Bea reluctantly spoke with each other.
In Gould’s retelling, a major part of the plot is that another Amish bachelor, Don, wants to court Bea while she still has feelings for Ben. In the original play, Don John is up to all sorts of mischief, similar to Gould’s character, but aside from one major incident (which I won’t elaborate on, for fear of spoiling anything), there wasn’t much correlation. In the play, he’s trying to disrupt Claudio and Hero’s wedding, but in the book he’s trying to break up Bea and Ben? I’m just… confused. Perhaps I’m not remembering the original play correctly, but these facts just don’t add up.
That said, it’s not like the whole book, in and of itself, was bad. I enjoyed seeing Bea change from a self-absorbed and prickly individual to a gentler and more understanding person and the banter that she and Ben shared was amusing. I loved their little spelling game!
Despite the fact that some parts of the book dragged and that some plot devices didn’t correlate with the play, I’m glad I read it and saw the series through to an end. If you are a fan of retellings like I am, this series (although, not particularly this book) is definitely one of the best.
