tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-173731092024-03-14T07:45:54.097-07:00TwaddleSome ramblings and musings along with the books I have read and the ideas they generate.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger659125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-7213402107102291302017-07-21T21:28:00.000-07:002017-07-21T21:28:27.103-07:00Lord Foulgrin's Letters<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18952339-lord-foulgrin-s-letters" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Lord Foulgrin's Letters" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385426061m/18952339.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18952339-lord-foulgrin-s-letters">Lord Foulgrin's Letters</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4862.Randy_Alcorn">Randy Alcorn</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1250749487">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
<strong>Very good!</strong><br /><br />It's hard for an author to write in the footprints of C.S. Lewis, but Randy Alcorn has done an excellent job of writing a modern version of The Screwtape Letters. The story is of a Senior Demon, Lord Foulgrin, who has, as part of his duties, the supervision of a lower level tempter called Squaltaint along with six other tempters. Squaltaint's subject is Jordan Fletcher, a forty something businessman with a wife, and a teenage daughter and son. Jordan is restless and bored with his life. He has all he could desire, an attractive wife, a vacation home larger than any of his friends and plans to buy a boat. He is the top salesman at work and he has been flirting with an affair with his secretary. In spite of all that he has, he senses that something is missing.<br />
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Squaltaint has been assigned to tempt Jordan into a life that will ultimately lead to his forfeiting his soul to the devil, which seems to be an easy assignment. There is a good possibility that Jordan and his whole family are sliding effortlessly into hell and never being aware of the spiritual battle for their lives.<br />
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It's hard to think about a book like this being entertaining, but the wiles of the devil are amusing when written in the form of letters from one tempter to another. Readers will find parallels in their own lives however and will wonder why they never thought of some things as temptations. How many times have we wanted something so desperately that we couldn't get it out of our mind and then, when the money is spent and the deed is done, find that we are not happy and now our lives are filled with guilt and remorse. The letters between Squaltaint and Lord Foulgrin give a behind the scene look at what is really going on.<br />
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The book is based on the passages in the Bible that describe the devil and the constraints he operates under. The letter format adds insight into how the temptation takes place and the protection that is available to all humans if they will simply listen. Besides being full of situations which almost everyone deals with, the letters give a tongue and cheek description of the hassles that devils have to put up with and their humorous day to day complaints.<br />
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Alcorn, Randy. Lord Foulgrin's Letters (p. 15). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.<br />
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Alcorn, Randy. Lord Foulgrin's Letters (p. 15). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. . The human, who is the subject of the<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-35067220436210505522017-07-20T11:10:00.000-07:002017-07-20T11:31:56.543-07:002017I left off doing reviews these last 2 years and I miss doing them. It takes a lot of extra time, but so often, I see the title of a book and I can't remember anything about it, or, I am looking for a book and can't remember the title. I have read 119 books already this year and I have written a few reviews. I'm gong to try to go back and review some others and continue to do reviews for the rest of the year.<br />
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This year I have done many Goodreads challenges and I am amazed to see how much I have been missing. PopSugar has made me look outside my comfort zone (Steampunk for example) and I have read a lot of good books that I otherwise would not have read. I have also cleared 30 books from my "Currently Reading" shelf, many of which have been there for a couple of years. There are still 65 books on the list, but those are frequently ebooks or audio books from the library that I check out to see if I really want to read them. If the answer is "yes" I put them in the order I want to read them.<br />
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I am also doing a "Dewey Decimal" challenge where I have to read 1 book from each ten categories. That has made me look out of my comfort zone also. I have 7 of them done, but I am faltering on a book from the 400s and 500s. I also haven't chosen one from the 900s, but I plan to read one of the many books I have on Hitler. I just have to decide whether I want to read one that has 800+ pages (also a PopSugar prompt) or finish Les Miserables for the PopSugar and pick a shorter Hitler book. I have already read over 500 pages in Les Mis, but I slogged down in the Napolionic War...just like Napolean did!<br />
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The main challenge is to read a certain number of books during the year. I chose to read 150, but I am ahead by 37 books, so I should be reading both a Hitler book and Les Mis. but I also am doing a "Serial Challenge" for what has turned out to be a pretty huge number of books. In this challenge, the point is to fill in the book in a series that you haven't read and there are some that new books are coming out in and I am behind. I have to finish 11 series and start and finish 4 new ones. The 11 I have already started ended up having more books missing than I thought, so it amounted to over 50 books.<br />
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While this all seems an enormous number of books, many books can fit more than one category. All books go into the 100+ category and then I try to put them in at least one more category. For example, A book from the Hamish Macbeth series also fits the "a book by an author who uses a pseudonym: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30134911.Death_of_a_Ghost__Hamish_Macbeth___32_" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #00635d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" title="Death of a Ghost (Hamish Macbeth, #32) by M.C. Beaton">Death of a Ghost</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"> by </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1657638.M_C__Beaton" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #00635d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" title="M.C. Beaton">M.C. Beaton</a>. Another book in that series, <u>Death of a Dreamer,</u> fits the <span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">"book with an eccentric character</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">" to fit another PopSugar prompt.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">All of this has been a lot of fun and in searching for help with some of the PopSugar prompts, I have met a lot of nice people who share my love of reading.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-32210271901247289222015-01-08T14:57:00.001-08:002015-01-08T14:57:33.278-08:00The Professor<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13480114-the-professor" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Professor" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328929175m/13480114.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13480114-the-professor">The Professor</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1036615.Charlotte_Bront_">Charlotte Brontë</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1133298368">3 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I have mixed feelings about this book. It wasn't as good as <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10210.Jane_Eyre" title="Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë">Jane Eyre</a> . The characters were not developed as well. I also had a problem with the numerous long passages in French which I don't speak, and which, were made even harder when listened to on an audiobook. <br /><br />The book starts out well as we see William Crimsworth, the Professor, long before he is a professor. He goes to work for his much older, industrialist brother who seems to despise him. He leaves and makes his way to Brussels where eventually becomes a teacher (which the Flemish call "Professor.) He starts out fairly well, but then there is intrigue between William, the head of a girls school, and the head of the boys school William works for. That part seemed very weak to me as the characters of the two women involved seem to change their natures radically without much precipitating reason. <br /><br />I also felt like the end of the book was problematic. There was an explanation of what happened to the main character's industrialist brother, but not a resolution. The book has a secondary theme of industrial reform, as in Dickens, but it is never developed. There is a "they lived happily ever after" feeling about the book, but it falls flat.<br /><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-17478902355910243432015-01-07T10:22:00.001-08:002015-01-07T10:22:58.848-08:00Neverwhere<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14497.Neverwhere" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Neverwhere" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348747943m/14497.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14497.Neverwhere">Neverwhere</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1221698.Neil_Gaiman">Neil Gaiman</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/840683335">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Gaiman is a master at creating kingdoms. This is the third of his books I have read and each has a different setting which starts out being something we are familiar with and turns out to be a world within a world.<br /><br />Inadequate Richard sees a girl named Door beaten and bleeding whose eyes plea for him to help her. When he responds the only way he thinks a human being ought to, he catapults himself into the world of Under London. Nothing is normal and what is worse, he can't get back into his world. He doesn't exist. The underworld though has plenty enough to keep him occupied. There are ratspeakers, an angel, a floating market, and a myriad of other creatures. As he goes on this journey with Door, be becomes a new person. <br /><br />This is a great fantasy and hopefully there will be more in this setting.<br /><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-67082319139511277152015-01-05T17:34:00.001-08:002015-01-05T17:34:05.151-08:00Just One Damned Thing After Another (The Chronicles of St Mary's, #1)<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18456025-just-one-damned-thing-after-another" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Just One Damned Thing After Another (The Chronicles of St Mary's, #1)" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1378284220m/18456025.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18456025-just-one-damned-thing-after-another">Just One Damned Thing After Another</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7176787.Jodi_Taylor">Jodi Taylor</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1155357445">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This was wonderful! It's a time travel book with lots of new twists. The setting is St. Mary's Institute of Historical Research. It is known locally as an eccentric group of quirky scholars who do heaven only knows what. The institute is shrouded in mystery. Into this group comes historian Madeline Maxwell, a fiery redhead, mainly known as Max.<br /><br />What is actually going on is historical research based on time travel. The scientist take pods back in time to research and solve puzzles and correct inaccuracies. There are limits. They are only to observe and not to change anything. They can't bring anything back because doing so could cause untold problems. Some little, most casual event such as a lonely peasant taking one path versus another might prevent him from meeting another person and that could reverberate down to the Battle of Hastings and on into the present day.<br /><br />The book, despite it's serious setup, is madcap thanks to the heroine, Max, and her propensity to become involved in any number of catastrophes. Not one to follow the rules blindly, she manages to get herself into trouble again and again. There are problems in the Cretaceous Period as well as in the burning of the Great Library of Alexandria. There is also romance and some mysterious people weaving in and out. It's just an all around good book and I'm looking forward to what I hope is a long series.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-25502698888179716192015-01-03T14:03:00.001-08:002015-01-03T14:03:59.847-08:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17646414-the-vanishing" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Vanishing" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1363628819m/17646414.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17646414-the-vanishing">The Vanishing</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3023926.Wendy_Webb">Wendy Webb</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1152159769">3 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This was light and a bit predictable, but I enjoyed it. A young woman is left stranded after her "Bernie Madoff" husband was exposed and died leaving her with all the mess. She had no friends, money or a place to live when a man came to her doorstop and asked if she would like a job as companion to his elderly mother, Ameris Sinclair. Sinclair turns out to be Julia's favorite horror story author who became a recluse in her Scottish castle on the border of Wisconsin and Canada. She doesn't know what to think but is about to become homeless in a day, so she agrees.<br /><br />Once she gets to the castle and meets the inhabitants she is enchanted. Everything is just as the man said, the job won't be onerous and the setting is beautiful. Julia bears an uncanny resemblance to a beautiful woman who lived 100 years ago and she feels right at home. There is just one problem...a ghost. What follows is a clever twist on the old haunted mansion/ghost theme with a bit of romance thrown in.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-50009143720894788132015-01-03T10:13:00.000-08:002015-01-04T10:14:00.442-08:00Scientific Secrets for Self-Control<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19304867-scientific-secrets-for-self-control" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Scientific Secrets for Self-Control" border="0" src="https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/111x148-c93ac9cca649f584bf7c2539d88327a8.png" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19304867-scientific-secrets-for-self-control">Scientific Secrets for Self-Control</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7280378.DeWall_C_Nathan">DeWall, C. Nathan</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1155359846">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This was excellent! Just about everyone knows they have self-control issues, but this series of lectures not only explains why scientifically, but also gives ways to attack the problem based on lab tests. Just one example gives an idea. Since the Internet, we can shop all day and night which can be murder on the budget. It is the purchases at night that often are most problematic. The explanation is that practicing self control can actually be stressful, so after a long day of practicing it, we are worn out so the decisions about purchases can be made when our supply is depleted. The simple answer is to wait until morning to purchase something! I can't think of the times when I've gone on a website to see what is new and put a number of things in my shopping cart. Coming upon it at some later date, I have wondered why in the world I wanted some of those items.<br /><br />The lectures also deal with how you can build your self-control muscles. Each time we resist something, we get better about it. The author advises "Implement Intentions – Takes your mind out of the middle of “Desire vs What you actually do.” You make a one step intention that only tackles one part of the goal. In this example, the author says to never purchase anything at night, but to wait until morning. My first intention was "When I am waiting for my coffee to warm, I will take the dishes out of the drainer." also "When I go from one room to another, I will tidy one thing." Those decisions are very easy but they help build the habit of self-control.<br /><br />I agree with some criticism of some that the author's delivery isn't the best, so it only gets 4 stars, but the content is great. I'm glad this is an Audible book that I purchases because I plan to listen to it a lot!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-38459234364976436412014-12-28T10:58:00.001-08:002014-12-28T12:01:51.142-08:00Catching up and Goals for 2015I am so far behind on my reviews and updates to my books. In 2014 I read 238 books, but that includes some knitting books that don't have a lot of text. I've started putting them on my lists this year so I upped my goal from 220 to 230.<br />
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What to do for next year? I definitely hope to get to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24280.Les_Mis_rables">Les Miserables.</a> I got the book from Audible and I think I am going to set a scheduled amount to read per week. I'd also like to get a reading buddy for this book. I always get blogged down in the endless Napoleonic battles. I am just not a military history buff.<br />
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I want to finish my Hitler books : <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12998113-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-third-reich">The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/355434.Hitler">Hitler</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/65459.Adolf_Hitler">Adolf Hitler</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54277.Explaining_Hitler">Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil</a>. I'm sure I still won't be able to understand why Hitler did the horrible things he did, but maybe I can make some sense of it.<br />
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I also want to finish <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17851885-i-am-malala">I am Malala</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7770692-saturday-is-for-funerals">Saturday is for Funerals</a>, and any more books I can find that will help me understand the world's trouble spots.<br />
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Addie and I are going to do a unit on Judaism from Biblical days to the modern era. We'll be reading <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18892888-torah">Torah</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24128.The_Merchant_of_Venice?from_search=true">The Merchant of Venice</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27803.The_Jew_of_Malta"> The Jew of Malta</a> to explore the way Jews have been portrayed through the ages, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54284.Surviving_Hitler?from_search=true">Surviving Hitler</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48855.The_Diary_of_a_Young_Girl?ac=1">The Diary of a Young Girl</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42697.Exodus?ac=1">Exodus</a> and any others I can find to provide her with the background she needs to understand the Middle East problems.<br />
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I want to read at least 75 books that are on my "To Read" list on Jan 1, 2015. I am so bad about getting new books that sound great or recommended by friends and my list just keeps getting longer and longer. I also intend to clear all the books on my "Currently Reading." I have a number of books that have had to go back to the library before I was finished with them.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-9945292894376480202014-11-16T09:41:00.000-08:002014-11-16T09:45:28.410-08:00Reader's BlockThis was the topic in a group I belong to. What do you do when you hit a slump and the books you're reading just seem uninteresting even though you know that you should enjoy them. You know it isn't the books; the problem is with the reader...you! Here is my response to the group.
"I guess this is universal! We all hit this occasionally, no matter how much we like to read. I usually get out an old favorite and read it...a "comfort book" that is more like visiting with old friends than a book. Books like <u>44 Scotland Street </u>, <u>1st Ladies Detective Agency</u> , <u>Hamish Macbeth</u> , <u>Out of Africa </u>, <u>Cry, the beloved Country,</u> <u>The Moonstone,</u><br />
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I have 287 of books in the "Comfort Read" category and I enjoy reading them over and over because I always get something new from them."<br />
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One interesting aspect of this malady is that I can come back to the books I was mired in and often find them to be great books; books that even become favorites. It was a revelation to me perfectly good books can be read at the wrong time. In that way, books are a lot like food. Sometimes I find a favorite recipe and I make it over and over again. I can't seem to get enough of it until the day comes when it looses all appeal. Although the food is the same, my taste buds aren't. So I put that food aside and don't cook it anymore....not for a long time, then suddenly, I find the old recipe, or eat it at a covered dish supper and it's wonderful again! I can't think why I have gone for so long without having it.<br />
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My books are the same. I read a certain genre or books by a favorite author or subject and really enjoy them. I continue until one day, I can't get back into the author's latest. I look at recommendations and find other books I should like and they are just blah. I can't seem to get into any of the books. I try television or movies and they leave me cold also. What's wrong? I have to admit that it is me that is wrong. I eventually go to a comfort read and get started again, but until recently, I didn't realize something.<br />
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Once I start reading again, I need to go back to those rejected book and give them another try. Instead of filing them away as books I didn't like, I need to put them in the category called "Try again." It may just be that I will find another treasure when read at the right time.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-80221989813544533372014-11-15T19:54:00.003-08:002014-11-15T19:54:32.663-08:00Tears of the Giraffe (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #2)<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7039.Tears_of_the_Giraffe" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Tears of the Giraffe (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #2)" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348567024m/7039.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7039.Tears_of_the_Giraffe">Tears of the Giraffe</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4738.Alexander_McCall_Smith">Alexander McCall Smith</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/58827723">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Again we meet Precious Ramotswe as her family begins to expand. Her friendship with Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni has become a trek towards marriage but before that can happen, her household is enlarged to 3 as she takes on the orphans Mr. Matekoni has been talked into rearing. Precious takes them in her stride and they prove to be charming and grateful adding a new dimension to the story.<br><br>Her secretary, who graduated with 97% has begun to take on detective duties and the contrast of personalities of all the characters becomes more marked. I feel like these are real people who have very little need to change or manipulate each other. In fact, this inclusiveness is one of the reasons these books feel so good. Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni has immature and almost worthless apprentices at his car repair shop and yet Smith doesn't just make them disappear. Mr. Matekoni struggles with his duties as a role model and teacher and you can feel his dispair at ever teaching them anything, but he continues to care about them and to try.<br><br>When I finish reading one of these books, I feel like I used to feel as a child playing with my dolls at the feet of my relatives when we all sat on the big back porch. As they chatted about the things that grown ups talk about, I felt a sense of security and peacefulness. At the end of this book, I felt like I had been visiting with a wise old friend. In fact, I even found some bush tea and now my friend and I sit together and drink tea every Saturday...I just realized that!
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-29687238506273675572014-11-15T19:43:00.003-08:002014-11-15T19:43:20.243-08:00Ebola K: A Terrorism Thriller<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23205715-ebola-k" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Ebola K: A Terrorism Thriller" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415933383m/23205715.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23205715-ebola-k">Ebola K: A Terrorism Thriller</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7102287.Bobby_Adair">Bobby Adair</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1090435207">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
At first this book jumped around quite a bit and was hard to follow, but after a few chapters, it settled down. The book centers around the village of Kapchorwa in Uganda where there has been an outbreak of Ebola which has become airborne. Four college students are in the village helping to educate the street kids and to provide medical assistance, when the outbreak happens. At the same time, a group of radicalized young terrorist have been brought together for training and eventually are led to Kapchorwa while it is in the midst of the outbreak. The terrorist plan to take advantage of this plague to wreak vengeance on the developed nations whom they see as oppressing them. This is well written and fast paced. I enjoyed it and can hardly wait until the sequel comes out.<br>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-18043901270680818122014-11-15T19:20:00.000-08:002014-11-15T19:20:40.466-08:00The Crucible<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/530890.The_Crucible" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Crucible" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1340751617m/530890.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/530890.The_Crucible">The Crucible</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8120.Arthur_Miller">Arthur Miller</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/58822749">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I've read this before, but it was a very different thing to read it today when I have done genealogy and found I'm a descendant of Elizabeth Proctor and also another woman, Elizabeth Clawson from Stamford, CT also accused in 1792. (There is an interesting book about her called, <u> Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692. </u>) I have another ancestor, Hugh Jones, and according to the trial transcript, he was supposedly murdered and came to one of the accusers in a trance and said that Elizabeth Proctor murdered him. With all the new genealogy information, I somehow felt it was much more real than I did when I studied it in school, or read <u> The Crucible </u> in my 40s. <br><br>I listened to this book done by an excellent cast and I believe the play made the hysteria even more understandable. The play brings to life the sense of chaos and desperation. It also brings out the political and practical reasons that also caused the situation to get out of hand. It shows how the struggles between Samuel Parris and his congregation led to a polarization within the town. Parris seemed to have no skill at mediation and his action served his own cause as well as those parishioners who followed him. <br><br>The play also showed how the situation originally was a tool to get back at many of the villagers but it soon got out of hand. You have a number of people who realized that some people like Rebecca Nurse could not possibly be witches, but if that was true, then the whole pack of cards would tumble to the ground and they would be implicated in the deception. <br><br><br>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-49187165892163271462014-11-11T07:24:00.000-08:002014-11-12T07:25:03.253-08:00Yellow Crocus<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23336693-yellow-crocus" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Yellow Crocus" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412674325m/23336693.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23336693-yellow-crocus">Yellow Crocus</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4530391.Laila_Ibrahim">Laila Ibrahim</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1072593646">3 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I was not sure if I was going to like this book because it seemed to run along the same lines and so many other books; pampered white child, compliant wet-nurse, cool mother, intrest in the slave quarters, slave gets whipped, rape, slaves get sold, slave escape, white child grows up conflicted by what she sees etc. It pretty much went along those lines. There were some incidents that raised the book above those levels, but I didn't see much that was new.<br><br>There were some individual incidents that rose above the story line, but there needed to have been more. Still, this was an easy readable book and the characters of Lisbeth and Maddie did stand out. In each generation this story needs to be told and this book does a pretty good job.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-1906952218735628552014-11-08T08:42:00.002-08:002014-11-08T08:42:08.537-08:00Before Ebola: Dispatches from a Deadly Outbreak <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23350262-before-ebola" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Before Ebola: Dispatches from a Deadly Outbreak (Kindle Single)" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412909519m/23350262.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23350262-before-ebola">Before Ebola: Dispatches from a Deadly Outbreak</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/131197.Peter_Apps">Peter Apps</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1100771170">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This was a very short book about the Marburg outbreak in Northern Angola in 2005. Marburg is a hemorrhagic diseas that is even more deadly than Ebola and the period between onset and death is very short.<br><br>It does not go into the medical aspects of the virus or the source of this particular outbreak. It is about the everyday life that surrounds an outbreak of this kind and the lengths a reporter has to go to inform the world. Usually we just see the story and video clips about sick and dying, but this is what goes into that report. Somehow this made a bigger impact on me than the medical aspects. Apps describes the problems of getting into such an area when most means of transportation refuse to have anything to do with the area. It describes the hotels with no more beds, the arduous task of reporting and the stories under these conditions and of some of the aids workers who chose to stay and work with patients.<br><br>In passing, he tells of a woman who was sick with Marburg. As soon as her husband saw that she had the virus, he got himself and all the children out and locked the door from the outside. He was doing exactly what doctors recommend, but he will never recover from the sounds of his wife all alone and crying for help. I found that one story, probably enacted all over Africa, almost more terrifying than the disease itself.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-59753138708388913562014-11-04T08:22:00.002-08:002014-11-04T08:22:55.785-08:00Lord of the Flies<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7624.Lord_of_the_Flies" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Lord of the Flies" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327869409m/7624.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7624.Lord_of_the_Flies">Lord of the Flies</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/306.William_Golding">William Golding</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/58828598">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I've read this and had it on my list to read again. I've seen things that I missed before. For example, I realized that Piggy was the smartest one on the island and that his support and help allowed the more charismatic Ralph to be the leader he was. Piggy was able to see what was happening and he was the only one who had any real insight into the things necessary for their rescue. I think I just saw him as a natural target of cruelty and bullying the other times I read it and didn't realize his gifts. <br><br>Ralph was a natural leader because he had absorbed his earlier moral training and he understood the wisdom of it, but during the dance of the savages, he was pulled into behavior that he couldn't understand or condone. <br><br>I saw the struggle between Ralph and Jack as a struggle between civilization and savagery, but I didn't see Simon as the only truly moral child. He was one of the rare individuals, like Gandhi, Mandela and Martin Luther King, whose sense of justice was not just the product of the civilizing effects of society and culture, but a deep sense of natural empathy and morality. <br>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-25840880423576225252014-10-30T10:51:00.003-07:002014-10-30T10:51:54.335-07:0040 Bright and Bold Paper-pieced Blocks<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3124637-40-bright-and-bold-paper-pieced-blocks" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="40 Bright and Bold Paper-pieced Blocks" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1267795404m/3124637.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3124637-40-bright-and-bold-paper-pieced-blocks">40 Bright and Bold Paper-pieced Blocks</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/137036.Carol_Doak">Carol Doak</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1093030698">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This is a beautiful book people who love foundation pieced quilts. I originally got it from the library, but liked it so well, I ordered it. The arrangement and color choices of the quilts illustrated are really beautiful and they really are exceptional. Carol Doak is known for her paper piecing books and this one is a real winner. The only thing that could make it better would be a CD to copy blocks into any size rather than to have to graph them.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-74509883930707054582014-10-30T10:46:00.002-07:002014-10-30T10:46:54.947-07:00101 Fabulous Small Quilts<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17839281-101-fabulous-small-quilts" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="101 Fabulous Small Quilts" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1378679758m/17839281.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17839281-101-fabulous-small-quilts">101 Fabulous Small Quilts</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/588034.Martingale_Company">Martingale & Company</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1093022993">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This book is excellent! It is going to be one of the books I reach for most. The quilts are lovely and I'd be hard pressed to figure out which ones I like most. They are perfect for wall hangings, lap quilts and baby quilts and it is easy to make them larger. This is not a book for the absolute beginner because it doesn't devote a lot of pages to elementary quilting, but most of the projects are easy enough for a beginner who knows the process. This book has a whole lot for the money.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-5012228390827989442014-10-30T09:16:00.002-07:002014-10-30T09:16:37.350-07:00The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11129776-the-viral-storm" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1408574266m/11129776.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11129776-the-viral-storm">The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4794859.Nathan_Wolfe">Nathan Wolfe</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1072594796">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This book was excellent, albeit frightening. It is a concise description of the history of viruses, the major ones we face today and the potential viruses which can transfer from animals to humans. It is technical without being unreadable. There are fascinating examples which illustrate some of the more difficult concepts and solid information about what is being done now and what should be done in the future. <br><br>There are a lot of topics mentioned in the book that I wanted to know more about and I don't think the book is meant to be definitive on the subject by any means, but it is a very good introduction to the subject and It's a book I think everyone should read.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-43913095106832245282014-10-17T09:51:00.000-07:002014-10-17T09:51:03.794-07:00Dracula<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17245.Dracula" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Dracula" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387151694m/17245.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17245.Dracula">Dracula</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6988.Bram_Stoker">Bram Stoker</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/59931031">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
As a librarian, I introduced this book in our book club and a number of people read it. The consensus was that it was the scariest book they had ever read. Note that was "scariest" as opposed to "gross." Too many horror novels today are overly concerned with gore and not with plot development. I think this is a classic because the suspense builds and builds while there is a pervading sense that the protagonists may not be able to survive. They have already lost one of their number and she was not a "disposable" character that the readers hadn't invested much in. <br><br>I homeschool my 7th grade grandson and had him read this book for Literature. We both enjoyed it and I was surprised at how much he learned from it. We studied the Gothic novel, Eastern European geography, living standards in Victorian times and a great vocabulary. <br><br>October 15, 2014<br>I'm reading it again with my granddaughter for her Literature requirement. Every time I read it, I learn something new. This was a perfect book to read just before Halloween.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-74645308875850272112014-10-14T09:00:00.000-07:002014-11-08T09:02:15.227-08:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54284.Surviving_Hitler" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386923733m/54284.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54284.Surviving_Hitler">Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/30704.Andrea_Warren">Andrea Warren</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1059474904">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This is the story of an ordinary Jewish boy brought up in a town near the Polish border and caught up in Hitler's final solution. Early in Hitler's take over of Poland, he was given some very good advice which helped him survive. The most important was that he could do whatever he had to do and to not give in to hate. During a large part of the early years of Hitler's plan, Jack Mandelbaum was was sole breadwinner for his family. His father was taken away and they never heard from him again. Many times Jack didn't think he could survive, but he kept on pushing himself, becoming such a good worker the Nazi's did not kill him. He also remained cheerful and compliant, a task almost as arduous as the physical work. He realized that hate would consume him and sap his strength and energy if he gave over to it.<br><br>This is a good book for Young adult readers. It is not so gruesome as most books and yet gives an accurate view of what went on in the cities and concentration camps.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-18987480000027201272014-10-13T07:12:00.002-07:002014-10-13T07:12:29.094-07:00The Importance of Being Earnest<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/92303.The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Importance of Being Earnest" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1298438452m/92303.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/92303.The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest">The Importance of Being Earnest</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3565.Oscar_Wilde">Oscar Wilde</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/857094053">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I love this book! It is such fun! It's a comedy of manners. Two upper class young gentlemen have found a way to escape the demands of society by creating an excuse to flee to the country. One has a dissolute younger brother and the other an aggravating friend who always needs to be sorted out. Using this ruse gets them a ready excuse to retreat to the country and escape the tedious social demands of the London season. In this country life, they also rename themselves "Earnest" to complete this change of personality. Problems come up with the women in their lives who love the name "Earnest" and have nothing but contempt for their real names. From these seeds of a plot, the humor begins. <br>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-41587245184030470072014-10-12T22:00:00.004-07:002014-10-12T22:00:37.141-07:00The Legend of Sleepy Hollow<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93261.The_Legend_of_Sleepy_Hollow" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348108368m/93261.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/93261.The_Legend_of_Sleepy_Hollow">The Legend of Sleepy Hollow</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/28525.Washington_Irving">Washington Irving</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1078851096">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This is always a good story for Halloween. It has to be read slowly in order to gain the true effect. I used the LibriVox recording and it was wonderful. The reader has the perfect voice to create the right kind of atmosphere. I intend to use it for Homeschool and I think I will use the LibriVox version for my granddaughter instead of letting her just read it.<br><br>The story is of a rather foppish New England schoolmaster who has high hopes of winning the hand of the daughter of a wealthy land owner with whom he has stayed with while being housed in turn amongst the local community. He spends much time looking over the countryside and imagining the time when it would all belong to him. His way was not clear though. A bruising young Dutchman named Brom Van Brunt also has his eye on the lovely Katrina Van Tassel and it is not clear if she bestows her attention on the schoolmaster because she truly considers him a suitor or if she is trying to make young Brom Bones jealous.<br><br>On of the more enjoyable past times of the community was to tell old tales, especially that of the Hessian soldier who rides through the hills carrying his head in his arm. At the end of such a gathering of villagers during which the story of the Headless Horseman was told to great effect, the schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane, found himself having to pass through the same covered bridge in which the Hessian was often seen. Not being a very courageous at the best of times, Ichabod becomes terribly alarmed and the result of his journey becomes another chapter in the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-70540183143342511622014-10-08T21:35:00.002-07:002014-10-08T21:35:29.328-07:00The Ludwig Conspiracy<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17165903-the-ludwig-conspiracy" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Ludwig Conspiracy" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362734233m/17165903.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17165903-the-ludwig-conspiracy">The Ludwig Conspiracy</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2783820.Oliver_P_tzsch">Oliver Pötzsch</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1066837131">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I really enjoyed this book and will probably read it again some time. I visited Bavaria a number of years ago and saw the castles, so it was easy to picture the setting. I also did a lot of research about Prince Ludwig II just because he was an interesting and complex person. He is Germany's most famous king and he actually helped the country in providing work for the people surrounding the castles when they were built and in the present. Thousands of people visit these castles and immerse themselves in his legend providing the German government with a substantial income.<br><br>Before I read the book I had already formed the opinion that he was an artist and a dreamer and totally unsuited for the militaristic government that was being formed around him. It is sad that he was overthrown because he continued to build castles that he couldn't afford. The militaristic German governments have cost the German people so much more, both in money and in lives. <br><br>This work of fiction is based on the idea that there was a diary kept by someone loyal and close to Prince Ludwig and that the diary told the real story of his death. What was interesting is that this fictional journal was written in the same shorthand that Samuel Pepys used for his diary and Pepys' journal was untranslated for 200 years. The main characters are trying not only to translate the diary, but also to follow a code interspersed between the chapters. <br><br>I can sympathize with the main characters because my family was left with more than 1,000 old family letters and some of them were written by my grandfather and his brother. They both learned a form of shorthand in college and it is no longer used. It's frustrating to look at those letters and not be able to read them, especially because there is a family mystery about why my great uncle suddenly left school and those letters probably refer to it.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-46898343640992354332014-10-03T06:47:00.003-07:002014-10-03T06:47:54.887-07:00Love Over Scotland (44 Scotland Street, #3<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/238543.Love_Over_Scotland" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Love Over Scotland (44 Scotland Street, #3)" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349061055m/238543.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/238543.Love_Over_Scotland">Love Over Scotland</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4738.Alexander_McCall_Smith">Alexander McCall Smith</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/152828566">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This book is another visit with the characters in and around 44 Scotland Street in Edinburgh and are introduced to two new and very promising characters; a very shady character from Glasgow who is a special friend of Bertie's and anthropologist Domenica Macdonald's friend who has come to stay in her flat while she is studying pirates. In this book we find Bertie managing to rebel against his horrid mother a little more with the help of his father. He also manages to get loose in Paris to his intense delight, and manages very well. Bruce sells his flat and Pat has to find someplace new to life which manages to usher in the "love" over Scotland Street, but not in the way she imagines. <br><br>I love these books because they charming without being trite. Smith has a wonderful way of creating characters that are real and likable even with all their faults. I feel like I am catching up with old friends and when I finish a book, I feel a real sense of sadness. I find myself wanting to know how they think and feel about my world and I find myself changing because of some of the subtle bits of philosophy that resonate with me.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17373109.post-33811347441955167322014-09-26T07:12:00.000-07:002014-10-03T07:12:37.531-07:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14781201-i-funny" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="I Funny: A Middle School Story (I Funny, #1)" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355080573m/14781201.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14781201-i-funny">I Funny: A Middle School Story</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3780.James_Patterson">James Patterson</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1066796012">4 of 5 stars</a><br />
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This is delightful! It's a kids book, but very engaging, At first, it's just like a kid in school trying to be funny, but when you hear of the obstacles Jamie has to go through, it's really a triumph. The jokes are not half-bad either. I'd read another one just because it's a short read and I really liked the character.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0