Somehow I came across this book in 2003 even though it was published in 1994. I am betting that I was in the library and saw it and thought it looked interesting.
Now, I wasn't even a year old when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon in July1969. The Apollo 13 mission was moved from December 1969 to November 1969. I was just over a year old. Still, I recall there being all kinds of news about outerspace and NASA missions during my childhood. I knew it was a big deal.
I love Ron Howard's masterpiece, Apollo 13, the film from 1995. Jim Lovell wrote Lost Moon. Lovell was the commander of the Apollo 13 mission. He was the first of only three people to fly to the moon twice and the only one who did so without landing there. That is from where he derived the title and I love the title of this book. Lost Moon. How poignant, how pivotal, how sad, and still...triumphant.
Lost Moon is a first-hand account of one of the most amazing scientific triumphs in history. Don't miss out on reading this amazing book.
07 October 2010
06 October 2010
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Our nanny in England had read all of Agatha Christie's books. She loved them. I, however, had never read any. I learned that Ms. Chrisite's books have been read more than any other aside from the Bible and Shakespeare. I decided it was time to change the fact that I'd never read any of her books.
Murder on the Orient Express. The title made is sound interesting to me. We did a lot of travel in Europe. We never had the chance to travel overnight by train although we did travel by ferry and hhad berths on the ferries. I was certain I could visualize the book well enough to enjoy reading it.
Poirot is the thinking man's man. He thinks outside the box. My kids and I enjoy watching Monk and Psych. The mysteries on those shows tend to be solved in such a way that they are not easily unraveled by jus anyone; of course, if they could be, they wouldn't be very mysterious, would they?
There were certainly a large numbers of characters integral to this story. Ms. Christie did a good job of helping the reader distinguish each character though. She also managed to keep the story moving pretty well. She drew me in.
I liked the fact that the murder was solved by wit alone. The train was stranded in a snowdrift, set many years ago. There was no way to communicate with the outside world.
Murder on the Orient Express. The title made is sound interesting to me. We did a lot of travel in Europe. We never had the chance to travel overnight by train although we did travel by ferry and hhad berths on the ferries. I was certain I could visualize the book well enough to enjoy reading it.
Poirot is the thinking man's man. He thinks outside the box. My kids and I enjoy watching Monk and Psych. The mysteries on those shows tend to be solved in such a way that they are not easily unraveled by jus anyone; of course, if they could be, they wouldn't be very mysterious, would they?
There were certainly a large numbers of characters integral to this story. Ms. Christie did a good job of helping the reader distinguish each character though. She also managed to keep the story moving pretty well. She drew me in.
I liked the fact that the murder was solved by wit alone. The train was stranded in a snowdrift, set many years ago. There was no way to communicate with the outside world.
Want to know how to find the order of books in a series?
Don't you hate it when you aren't sure of the order of a book series?
An acquaintance of mine posted a useful site on the homeschool website we both used to frequent.
The site will assist you by giving you the order of the books in a series.
I use the site frequently. It's called the "What's Next Database".
http://ww2.kdl.org/libcat/WhatsNextNEW.asp
An acquaintance of mine posted a useful site on the homeschool website we both used to frequent.
The site will assist you by giving you the order of the books in a series.
I use the site frequently. It's called the "What's Next Database".
http://ww2.kdl.org/libcat/WhatsNextNEW.asp
01 October 2010
My favorite book light: LightWedge
I bought my LightWedge (paperback version) a few years ago. I love it. I do not travel without it. I use it daily.
The LightWedge provides ample light for reading but the light is directed across your page and does not distract theo ther people around you such as the driver of the vehicle you are in, or the person you may be sharing your bed with!
As I said, my LightWedge is a few years old. I think I probably bought it around 2005... It has a few minor scratches on it, nothing deep. I have never found a good "screen protector" for it. If I could find one that was the correct size and was not too expensive I would consider buying it for a new LightWedge. As it is, the age and condition of my current LightWedge are such that I would not bother; it's fine and serves its purpose.
That said, one of our sons has been wanting a LightWedge paperback version for a long time. Not long after I bought mine I bought LightWedge Minis for each of our five children, my husband, my dad, and my mother-in-law. I bought a knock-off of the LightWedge last year to give to our son. Within minutes it was obvious that its construction was very bad. I called to ask for my money to be returned and we threw it in the trash! I am just about to place an order for the REAL LightWedge as a Christmas gift for our son. Actually, I will probably give him mine and I will probably take the new one. : )
The wonderful thing is that I am still able to use it with my ereader. I just hold it in front of it or even near it, just as I would with a regular book. I do not think I would like the larger version and have no need for more light than the paperback version provides.
If you do not have a booklight that you really like I urge you to try one!
The LightWedge provides ample light for reading but the light is directed across your page and does not distract theo ther people around you such as the driver of the vehicle you are in, or the person you may be sharing your bed with!
As I said, my LightWedge is a few years old. I think I probably bought it around 2005... It has a few minor scratches on it, nothing deep. I have never found a good "screen protector" for it. If I could find one that was the correct size and was not too expensive I would consider buying it for a new LightWedge. As it is, the age and condition of my current LightWedge are such that I would not bother; it's fine and serves its purpose.
That said, one of our sons has been wanting a LightWedge paperback version for a long time. Not long after I bought mine I bought LightWedge Minis for each of our five children, my husband, my dad, and my mother-in-law. I bought a knock-off of the LightWedge last year to give to our son. Within minutes it was obvious that its construction was very bad. I called to ask for my money to be returned and we threw it in the trash! I am just about to place an order for the REAL LightWedge as a Christmas gift for our son. Actually, I will probably give him mine and I will probably take the new one. : )
The wonderful thing is that I am still able to use it with my ereader. I just hold it in front of it or even near it, just as I would with a regular book. I do not think I would like the larger version and have no need for more light than the paperback version provides.
If you do not have a booklight that you really like I urge you to try one!
Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen 4*
I read this book because it is being made into a movie and the son of an acquaintance of mine is acting in it, as the character Garrett. Now that I've read the book I can let myself see the film!
Flipped is the story of the relationship between Bryce and Juli. The story is uniquely told from both of their points of view, in alternating chapters. It is really interesting to see an example of the same event being told from two difffering points of view. We all see things uniquely and we all retell them in our own unique style too.
But it isn't only the tale of two young teens. The story actually looks at all kinds of relationships. There is a sub-plot about a marriage relationship, and also about the relationship between Bryce and his grandfather whom he barely knows even though Gramps has been living with them for a year and a half. Of course there are also several teenage frindships that are quietly observed. The story doesn't preach, it just allows the reader to view the interactions and make their own judgment about what happens. I like that.
Bryce is bombarded by Juli's bubbly, in-your-face friendship from the moment his family moves into their home. Juli is a determined and self-confident young woman. Bryce is a somewhat typical young man who thinks that friendship with a girl is not something he is interested in. Of course as he ages and as their characters develop all of that starts to change.
Bryce's grandpa ends up befriending Juli before he befriends Bryce. That finally spurs Bryce and Grandpa into talking...and that brings them to a point of beginning to really know each other. Funny how we can essentially ignore people even when we live with them...
The setting of the book was changed a bit. The book is set in California, the movie is Michigan. The book was done in a current timeframe, the film is set in the fifties I think. I like that they changed the timeframe for the film.
I found an interesting blog post by the author of the book:
http://tinyurl.com/FlippedVanDraanen
Edited to add:
I came back to add some of my favorite quotes from the book.
"In the end, Shelly went home early with a bad case of mussed-up hair, while I told my side of things to the principal. Mrs. Shultz is a sturdy lady who probably secretly appreciates the value of a swift kick well placed, and although she told me that it would be better if I let other people work out their own dilemmas, she definitely understood about Shelly Stalls and her hair and told me she was glad I'd had the self-control to do nothing more than restrain her." pg 16
"I felt sorry for my father. I felt sorry for my mother. But most of all I felt lucky for me that they were mine." pg 78
and my favorite:
"There's nothing like a head-strong woman to make you happy to be alive." pg 82
The Tale of Hill Top Farm by Susan Wittig Albert 4*
This book didn't really end up being exactly what I expected. I decided to read it because I had seen a lot of good reviews and I dreadfully miss England. Right now, rieading is as close as I can get to being there!
The book is a fictionalized telling of Beatrix Potter's life, with a bit of mystery thrown in. In the beginning I found the mystery intriguing but by the end of the book, and given the way the mystery was unfolded, I was not as happy with it. I hate it when a mystery is so involved that I feel lost, but this one was, rather, a bit too simple really.
Still, the story is sweet and the setting idyllic. The Lake District in England is simply beautiful and relaxing. We spent one night there and most of a day, when we visited in the fall of 2008. We did not visit Hill Top Farm or Castle Cottage but we did visit Beatrix Potter World and were all pleasantly surprised by its sweetness.
As I said, the story is simple, filled with simple characters. There are, however, quite a few characters. The list in the front of the book was, indeed, helpful for remembering who everyone was. I referred to it a few times. The writing is such that you can envision the places and people.
The author did begin to lose my interest when she mentions some of the animals as wearing clothing. I could accept the fact that the animals shared dialogue with one another but not with people. Accepting the communication of animals for the sake of the story was fine...accepting rats in waistcoats was a bit too much for me though.
It is a charming book and pretty easy to follow. It would certainly work well as a read-aloud to young children who run out of titles written by Miss Potter, herself.
The book is a fictionalized telling of Beatrix Potter's life, with a bit of mystery thrown in. In the beginning I found the mystery intriguing but by the end of the book, and given the way the mystery was unfolded, I was not as happy with it. I hate it when a mystery is so involved that I feel lost, but this one was, rather, a bit too simple really.
Still, the story is sweet and the setting idyllic. The Lake District in England is simply beautiful and relaxing. We spent one night there and most of a day, when we visited in the fall of 2008. We did not visit Hill Top Farm or Castle Cottage but we did visit Beatrix Potter World and were all pleasantly surprised by its sweetness.
As I said, the story is simple, filled with simple characters. There are, however, quite a few characters. The list in the front of the book was, indeed, helpful for remembering who everyone was. I referred to it a few times. The writing is such that you can envision the places and people.
The author did begin to lose my interest when she mentions some of the animals as wearing clothing. I could accept the fact that the animals shared dialogue with one another but not with people. Accepting the communication of animals for the sake of the story was fine...accepting rats in waistcoats was a bit too much for me though.
It is a charming book and pretty easy to follow. It would certainly work well as a read-aloud to young children who run out of titles written by Miss Potter, herself.
29 September 2010
27 September 2010
Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse by Phyllis Diller
Pyllis Diller's autobiography is a straightforward look at her life. She pulls no punches and tells it the way she feels about it. She begins at the very beginning. Her parents were older when her mother was told she had an abdominal tumor that needed to be removed. Her mother was 35 years old and her father was 55 years old. When the doctor opened her mother for surgery he found that she was pregnant and went to Mr. Diller to determine how to proceed. His reply was "leave it in." And that was her beginning.
Phyllis had two failed marriages. I felt her straigtforwardness seemed somewhat balanced until she labeled both her first and second husbands as being mentally ill. And, yet, perhaps they were. It just seems a bit unlikely. Her second husband, however, ended up being gay, so she really doesn't seem to have been the best at finding a husband. She refers to her third husband as the love of her life.
She had 6 children by her first husband though I am not certain she mentionedthe third child in her book; he only lived for two weeks, born a "blue baby". Her second child, a daughter, suffers from schizophrenia.
Diller relates that she first had plastic surgery at the age of 55. She was outspoken about it and didn't hide it from anyone. She woudl receive offers from surgeons who would operate on her for free because they felt that the image she presented about the benefits of plastic surgery would be beneficial to them. Playboy approached her to do a photo shoot. They wanted to do a contrast piece, contrasting a very thin subject with one they thought was a bit plumper. (She has always hidden her figure in the clothing she chose to wear for her standp-up performances.) They found her to be really gorgeous and that the shoot didn't suit its intended purpose and so Playboy never published the photo in their magazine. I found the photo to be stunning; "stunning" as in beautiful, not as in "shocking":
http://tinyurl.com/PhyllisDillerPlayboyShoot
She is an accomplished pianist and even did a tour but gave it up when she came to the conclusion that she would never really be good enough. She is also a painter and sells her artwork. http://www.artcelebs.com/diller_pg2.htm
Phyllis had two failed marriages. I felt her straigtforwardness seemed somewhat balanced until she labeled both her first and second husbands as being mentally ill. And, yet, perhaps they were. It just seems a bit unlikely. Her second husband, however, ended up being gay, so she really doesn't seem to have been the best at finding a husband. She refers to her third husband as the love of her life.
She had 6 children by her first husband though I am not certain she mentionedthe third child in her book; he only lived for two weeks, born a "blue baby". Her second child, a daughter, suffers from schizophrenia.
Diller relates that she first had plastic surgery at the age of 55. She was outspoken about it and didn't hide it from anyone. She woudl receive offers from surgeons who would operate on her for free because they felt that the image she presented about the benefits of plastic surgery would be beneficial to them. Playboy approached her to do a photo shoot. They wanted to do a contrast piece, contrasting a very thin subject with one they thought was a bit plumper. (She has always hidden her figure in the clothing she chose to wear for her standp-up performances.) They found her to be really gorgeous and that the shoot didn't suit its intended purpose and so Playboy never published the photo in their magazine. I found the photo to be stunning; "stunning" as in beautiful, not as in "shocking":
http://tinyurl.com/PhyllisDillerPlayboyShoot
She is an accomplished pianist and even did a tour but gave it up when she came to the conclusion that she would never really be good enough. She is also a painter and sells her artwork. http://www.artcelebs.com/diller_pg2.htm
17 September 2010
The Wakefield Dynasty by Gilbert Morris
The Sword of Truth (Wakefield Dynasty #1)
I've been trying to think of a book or series that I could post about here that would be something new to many people. I think I thought of just the series.
I found the Wakefield Dynasty series at the perfect moment in time in 1995. My husband and I were about to embark on our first trip to Europe; to England to be exact. In truth, I had never read historical ficition but this series drew me in; the genre is now one of my favourites.
The Wakefield Dynasty weaves a fictional tale into historical fact. During the fascinating reign of Henry VII Myles Morgan, the lead character, is a young vassal being raised by his mother. Upon the death of his mother event lead to the revelation that he is the heir to the "Wakefield Dynasty".
Miles is friends with Hannah Kemp whose personal tutor is William Tynedale. Tynedale, fascinating historical icon, was the first to ranslate many portions of the Bible into English; the first English translator of the Bible to to refer directly to the Hebrew and Greek texts. His placment in time allowed for his translations to be produced by printing press. This also placed him in greater danger from those who didn't want the common man to have access to the Bible. Remember that this was a time when owning a personal copy of the Bible could lead to punishment...by death.
This series entertwines fact and fiction, romance and hatred, good and evil, indlugence and deprivation. It held me mesmerized; and this was at a time in my life when I was not an avid reader.
The name Wakefield is found in history. It is the name of a tower at The Tower of London. The name of the tower is said to be derived from either the imprisonment of descendants of the line of York following the Battle of Wakefiled during the War of the Roses, or from William de Wakefield, the Kings Clerk, in 1334.
Even if you do not typically read Christian fiction, if you have an interest in English history, you will still find this series greatly intriguing. If you are interested in Christian history you will be riveted.
(I have read books one through four of this series.)
Book 1 The sword of truth
Book 2 The winds of God
Book 3 The shield of honor
Book 4 The fields of glory
Book 5 The ramparts of heaven
Book 6 The song of princes
Book 7 A gathering of eagles
I've been trying to think of a book or series that I could post about here that would be something new to many people. I think I thought of just the series.I found the Wakefield Dynasty series at the perfect moment in time in 1995. My husband and I were about to embark on our first trip to Europe; to England to be exact. In truth, I had never read historical ficition but this series drew me in; the genre is now one of my favourites.
The Wakefield Dynasty weaves a fictional tale into historical fact. During the fascinating reign of Henry VII Myles Morgan, the lead character, is a young vassal being raised by his mother. Upon the death of his mother event lead to the revelation that he is the heir to the "Wakefield Dynasty".
Miles is friends with Hannah Kemp whose personal tutor is William Tynedale. Tynedale, fascinating historical icon, was the first to ranslate many portions of the Bible into English; the first English translator of the Bible to to refer directly to the Hebrew and Greek texts. His placment in time allowed for his translations to be produced by printing press. This also placed him in greater danger from those who didn't want the common man to have access to the Bible. Remember that this was a time when owning a personal copy of the Bible could lead to punishment...by death.
This series entertwines fact and fiction, romance and hatred, good and evil, indlugence and deprivation. It held me mesmerized; and this was at a time in my life when I was not an avid reader.
The name Wakefield is found in history. It is the name of a tower at The Tower of London. The name of the tower is said to be derived from either the imprisonment of descendants of the line of York following the Battle of Wakefiled during the War of the Roses, or from William de Wakefield, the Kings Clerk, in 1334.
Even if you do not typically read Christian fiction, if you have an interest in English history, you will still find this series greatly intriguing. If you are interested in Christian history you will be riveted.
(I have read books one through four of this series.)
Book 1 The sword of truth
Book 2 The winds of God
Book 3 The shield of honor
Book 4 The fields of glory
Book 5 The ramparts of heaven
Book 6 The song of princes
Book 7 A gathering of eagles
31 August 2010
Wife in the North by Judith O'Reilly
I read this in September of 2008 while living in the UK.
Another Brit "chick" book for me. I am enjoying this genre very much although previous to living in the UK I am sure I wouldn't have to the same degree.
This book strikes home because the woman's husband yearns to live in the countryside. He moves her far from her beloved London, to the norther-most parts of England. I, too, will eventually be moved away from here.
At first I was really afraid the book would just be a bunch of moaning and husband-bashing. I was surprised and happy to find that she always unfailingly supported her husband even when he caused her trouble (he had promised to always fill her car with petrol when he wasn't in London on business (often away on business) but she ran out of gas FIVE TIMES!) I read the whole book before realizing it was a true story. I love a true story! This one was a real winner for me. Hated to finish it!
Another Brit "chick" book for me. I am enjoying this genre very much although previous to living in the UK I am sure I wouldn't have to the same degree.
This book strikes home because the woman's husband yearns to live in the countryside. He moves her far from her beloved London, to the norther-most parts of England. I, too, will eventually be moved away from here.
At first I was really afraid the book would just be a bunch of moaning and husband-bashing. I was surprised and happy to find that she always unfailingly supported her husband even when he caused her trouble (he had promised to always fill her car with petrol when he wasn't in London on business (often away on business) but she ran out of gas FIVE TIMES!) I read the whole book before realizing it was a true story. I love a true story! This one was a real winner for me. Hated to finish it!
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