Get ready to sop up the tears

Chicken Soup for the

Nature Lover’s Soul

Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen,

Steve Zikman

Health Communications, $12.95

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Crank out the Kleenex, the chicken soup boys are back with a volley of misty-eyed sound bites direct from Mother Nature’s ample bosom. Their golden formula remains unaltered: authentic tales of heartwarming “wow” moments penned by humble folks, with a star or two thrown in for bling.

It’s impossible to read just one of these sappy heart-crunchers. You find yourself going from bad-mouthing to bawling in the nanoseconds it takes to skim these treacly tale-ettes, calculated to wring tears from the most cynical curmudgeon. Like country-western songs, the subject matter is pure, home-spun heart: love lost and won, untimely death and spiritual transformation -- this time with nature’s glories providing background music.

Plucking shamelessly upon the heartstrings of the common man, the Chicken Soup empire serves up another sentimental American broth and takes it to the bank.

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Susan Dworski