No One Left But All of Us, Stacey Roberts, Sons of Joy LLC, 2019
Here is one person's view of the troubles that currently afflict America, and what to do about it.
"Elect me, and I will fix (insert issue here) once and for all!" Every four years, Americans are told that this is the most important election of their lives. Politicians also say that this election is all about abortion, or trade or illegal immigration. Perhaps the American people should get together, and tell politicians that this election is about, for instance, the national debt, or getting all corporate money out of politics. Any politician who refuses to talk about such issues will quickly become an ex-politician.
The author advocates term limits for members of Congress. Before that happens, the term for members of the House of Representatives should be increased from two to four years. The increase is so that members of the House can spend more time legislating, and less time raising money raising money to stay elected.
In the past, there have been times when Americans came together for a common purpose, when country, and helping your neighbor, came first. A recent example of such civic-minded behavior was during World War II. Those days have certainly disappeared (forever?). Now, party comes first. All that matters is damaging the Other Party. Depending on whether a person considers themselves an R or a D, they are automatically a good person or an implacable enemy.
Agree or disagree with this book's point of view, but it is still a first-rate piece of writing. It is easy to understand, and written with a lot of passion. If this book can get even one person to start moving in the direction of Country First, instead of Party First, it will be a success. It is very much worth reading.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Monday, February 24, 2020
Flying High Through the Course of Life
Flying High Through the Course of Life - The Challenge: Thinking Your Way to Self-Realization, Dr. Orna Markus Ben-Zvi, Niv Books, 2020
Many books have been written about how to live a happier and more emotionally fulfilling life. This book is different.
How is this book different? It is short (less than 100 pages), and it consists of 200 affirmations, or things to remember, or ways to get more out of life. Here are a few examples: From this day on, we will live our lives in gratitude. Adopt a more optimistic approach to life. We are not perfect because perfect people do not exist. In many ways, man creates his own life, full of suffering or full of joy. Never agree to be taken for granted. A man is alive as long as he has dreams. The teacher's role is to plant the seeds of morality, humanity and love of man in his/her students.
This is a gem of a book. It can be picked up and read starting anywhere, and it is recommended for people from all walks of life. Everyone will find some sort of help in this book. It is very much worth reading.
Many books have been written about how to live a happier and more emotionally fulfilling life. This book is different.
How is this book different? It is short (less than 100 pages), and it consists of 200 affirmations, or things to remember, or ways to get more out of life. Here are a few examples: From this day on, we will live our lives in gratitude. Adopt a more optimistic approach to life. We are not perfect because perfect people do not exist. In many ways, man creates his own life, full of suffering or full of joy. Never agree to be taken for granted. A man is alive as long as he has dreams. The teacher's role is to plant the seeds of morality, humanity and love of man in his/her students.
This is a gem of a book. It can be picked up and read starting anywhere, and it is recommended for people from all walks of life. Everyone will find some sort of help in this book. It is very much worth reading.
Monday, February 17, 2020
College Level Evolution
College Level Evolution, AudioLearn Team, Amazon.com Services LLC, 2020
Developed by experienced professors, this book attempts to present college-level evolution in easy-to-digest chapters. It is also professionally narrated, for those who learn better by hearing it than by reading it.
The material is up-to-date and accurate. It covers topics like early evolutionary theories (people were talking about evolution long before Charles Darwin), extinction (perhaps a species has reached the end of its "life span," or it can't adapt to new conditions), genetics and genetic variation, the origin of life and evolution and disease. There are key takeaways at the end of each chapter, along with a quiz. At the end of the book is a 200-question test.
This is an excellent book that works for everyone. It works for life-long learners, and students who are home schooled. It especially works for college students, as a supplement to, and, perhaps, a substitute for, a heavy and expensive, textbook. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
Developed by experienced professors, this book attempts to present college-level evolution in easy-to-digest chapters. It is also professionally narrated, for those who learn better by hearing it than by reading it.
The material is up-to-date and accurate. It covers topics like early evolutionary theories (people were talking about evolution long before Charles Darwin), extinction (perhaps a species has reached the end of its "life span," or it can't adapt to new conditions), genetics and genetic variation, the origin of life and evolution and disease. There are key takeaways at the end of each chapter, along with a quiz. At the end of the book is a 200-question test.
This is an excellent book that works for everyone. It works for life-long learners, and students who are home schooled. It especially works for college students, as a supplement to, and, perhaps, a substitute for, a heavy and expensive, textbook. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
Saturday, February 15, 2020
Paths in the Storm
Paths in the Storm, Ilana Maor, 2018, Alonim
Based on a true story, this is the tale of 20th century Europe as seen through the eyes of two Jewish families.
Marek comes from a family of medical doctors. He just wants to complete his studies, despite the increasingly harsh conditions for Jews. He is forced to keep moving from school to school, country to country. Max is obsessed with the new technology of moving pictures; he just wants to make films. This leads to several "relationships" with his female co-stars.
Living in Soviet-occupied Warsaw, as a well-to-do family, one of the families is rounded up, and forcibly deported (in a cattle car) to Soviet Central Asia. They are expected to become farmers. This is despite the fact that the soil is very bad for farming, and, as city dwellers, they know nothing about farming. After several years of bare survival, things improve slightly when they are reunited with an uncle who was similarly deported. They are able to get decent, non-farming jobs in a big mining town.
The level of storytelling in this book is excellent, from start to finish. For anyone who wants to know what WWII era Europe was like, at the individual, or family, level (not at the history textbook level), this is the place to start. It is a first-rate piece of writing.
Based on a true story, this is the tale of 20th century Europe as seen through the eyes of two Jewish families.
Marek comes from a family of medical doctors. He just wants to complete his studies, despite the increasingly harsh conditions for Jews. He is forced to keep moving from school to school, country to country. Max is obsessed with the new technology of moving pictures; he just wants to make films. This leads to several "relationships" with his female co-stars.
Living in Soviet-occupied Warsaw, as a well-to-do family, one of the families is rounded up, and forcibly deported (in a cattle car) to Soviet Central Asia. They are expected to become farmers. This is despite the fact that the soil is very bad for farming, and, as city dwellers, they know nothing about farming. After several years of bare survival, things improve slightly when they are reunited with an uncle who was similarly deported. They are able to get decent, non-farming jobs in a big mining town.
The level of storytelling in this book is excellent, from start to finish. For anyone who wants to know what WWII era Europe was like, at the individual, or family, level (not at the history textbook level), this is the place to start. It is a first-rate piece of writing.
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Glass Shards
Glass Shards, Emilie Vainqueur, Lili Books and Company, 2019
Part 3 of a series, this continues the story of Amethyst, a female jewel thief, and Diamond, her younger sister. Amethyst has made it out of the extremely lawless Devil's Backbone, alive and intact. She is increasingly concerned about her abilities, which shows itself when her eyes turn fluorescent purple. Amethyst is now able to control the weather.
The reader sees the (literal) hole in the ground that is home for the sisters. Amethyst wants very much to have her abilities removed, but that would mean leaving Diamond behind. Amethyst also rekindles a relationship with Tyryn, an ex-boyfriend. Several years previously, in a moment of stupidity, Tyryn pushed Amethyst away. Ever since, he has looked for a chance to tell her his true feelings. Amethyst also runs into the Black Flame, master jewel thief. This time, he is unmasked, and there is something familiar about him. . .
The excellent level of writing in the first two volumes of this series has not dropped off at all. This book, and the whole series, is very much worth reading.
Part 3 of a series, this continues the story of Amethyst, a female jewel thief, and Diamond, her younger sister. Amethyst has made it out of the extremely lawless Devil's Backbone, alive and intact. She is increasingly concerned about her abilities, which shows itself when her eyes turn fluorescent purple. Amethyst is now able to control the weather.
The reader sees the (literal) hole in the ground that is home for the sisters. Amethyst wants very much to have her abilities removed, but that would mean leaving Diamond behind. Amethyst also rekindles a relationship with Tyryn, an ex-boyfriend. Several years previously, in a moment of stupidity, Tyryn pushed Amethyst away. Ever since, he has looked for a chance to tell her his true feelings. Amethyst also runs into the Black Flame, master jewel thief. This time, he is unmasked, and there is something familiar about him. . .
The excellent level of writing in the first two volumes of this series has not dropped off at all. This book, and the whole series, is very much worth reading.
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Jimmy's Got a Gun
Jimmy's Got a Gun: The Crash Brothers Forever, Melvin Douglas Wilson, Yorkshire Publishing, 2017
This is the story of a group of inner-city junior high school students, led by Mely Mel, the narrator, who are bused to a suburban junior high school. This is because their local school is very unusable.
They form their own "crew," called The Crash Brothers. They concentrate on helping the elderly in their neighborhood, with things like lawn mowing and snow shoveling. They go to church every Sunday, and otherwise work to be good people. They run into Big Mike, the local bully, and his crew, and they scatter. Jimmy, one of the Crash Brothers, isn't so lucky. He is grabbed by Big Mike, beat up, and his lunch money is stolen.
Several days later, the Crash Brothers are at a local pizza parlor, when Big Mike enters, and asks Jimmy to step outside. Jimmy calmly finishes his pizza, walks outside, and pulls out a gun (registered to his father), pointing it at Big Mike's head. Does Big Mike become another gun violence statistic? Does Jimmy get hauled off to jail?
This story is intended for middle school students, and it is really good. Gun violence affects every corner of America, so this is extremely timely. The faith-based part is at the end, when the local pastor helps the crew understand exactly what just happened. It is short, and very much worth reading, for kids and adults.
This is the story of a group of inner-city junior high school students, led by Mely Mel, the narrator, who are bused to a suburban junior high school. This is because their local school is very unusable.
They form their own "crew," called The Crash Brothers. They concentrate on helping the elderly in their neighborhood, with things like lawn mowing and snow shoveling. They go to church every Sunday, and otherwise work to be good people. They run into Big Mike, the local bully, and his crew, and they scatter. Jimmy, one of the Crash Brothers, isn't so lucky. He is grabbed by Big Mike, beat up, and his lunch money is stolen.
Several days later, the Crash Brothers are at a local pizza parlor, when Big Mike enters, and asks Jimmy to step outside. Jimmy calmly finishes his pizza, walks outside, and pulls out a gun (registered to his father), pointing it at Big Mike's head. Does Big Mike become another gun violence statistic? Does Jimmy get hauled off to jail?
This story is intended for middle school students, and it is really good. Gun violence affects every corner of America, so this is extremely timely. The faith-based part is at the end, when the local pastor helps the crew understand exactly what just happened. It is short, and very much worth reading, for kids and adults.
Monday, February 3, 2020
The Black Flame
The Black Flame, Emilie Vainqueur, Lili Books and Company, 2019
Part 2 of a trilogy, this is the story of Amethyst, a female jewel thief in the Devil's Backbone, an extremely lawless part of the city. She is captured by the Black Flame, a master jewel thief. While fighting, they learn each other's secret identities. This gives them plenty of reason to stick together. Such information would be fatal for them in the wrong hands.
The Black Flame gives Amethyst enough jewels to set her up very nicely somewhere else, on the understanding that she never returns to the Devil's Backbone. Of course, it is not that easy. Amethyst is hated, and shunned, by the people of the nearby city. Whenever she gets excited, or emotional, her eyes glow fluorescent purple. It leads to accusations of being a witch or a demon.
The reader gets a better idea of what it's really like to have such a gift/curse, from the "inside." The reader meets Diamond, Amethyst's younger sister, and the only family she has left. Amethyst also runs into Tyryn, an ex-boyfriend. Do they consider getting back together?
Here is another excellent piece of writing. It has everything a person could want, fantasy, romance and dystopia. This is very much worth reading.
Part 2 of a trilogy, this is the story of Amethyst, a female jewel thief in the Devil's Backbone, an extremely lawless part of the city. She is captured by the Black Flame, a master jewel thief. While fighting, they learn each other's secret identities. This gives them plenty of reason to stick together. Such information would be fatal for them in the wrong hands.
The Black Flame gives Amethyst enough jewels to set her up very nicely somewhere else, on the understanding that she never returns to the Devil's Backbone. Of course, it is not that easy. Amethyst is hated, and shunned, by the people of the nearby city. Whenever she gets excited, or emotional, her eyes glow fluorescent purple. It leads to accusations of being a witch or a demon.
The reader gets a better idea of what it's really like to have such a gift/curse, from the "inside." The reader meets Diamond, Amethyst's younger sister, and the only family she has left. Amethyst also runs into Tyryn, an ex-boyfriend. Do they consider getting back together?
Here is another excellent piece of writing. It has everything a person could want, fantasy, romance and dystopia. This is very much worth reading.
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