Afraid by Jack Kilborn

Product Description
ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? YOU WILL BE . . .

Welcome to Safe Haven, Wisconsin. Miles from everything, with one road in and out, this peaceful town has never needed a full-time police force. Until now . . .

A helicopter has crashed near Safe Haven and unleashed something horrifying. Now this merciless force is about to do what it does best. Isolate. Terrorize. Annihilate. As residents begin dying in a storm of gory violence, Safe Haven's only chance for survival will rest with an aging county sheriff, a firefighter, and a single mom. And each will have this harrowing thought: Maybe death hasn't come to their town by accident . . .

My thoughts
Jack Kilborn has created a horrific thriller with AFRAID. My mind’s eye visualized the descriptive gore and the torture throughout, making this novel scarier than any film I have ever seen. As the residents of Safe Haven were being slaughtered, all I could think of was how can this evil force be stopped. And why were they there to create such a massacre? I could not (or would not) put this book down. I needed to find out how it resolved itself before I turned out my light and went to bed.

Fault Line By Barry Eisler

Product Description
Silicon Valley: the eccentric inventor of a new encryption application is murdered in an apparent drug deal. Istanbul: a cynical undercover operative receives a frantic call from his estranged brother, a patent lawyer who believes he’ll be the next victim. And on the sun-drenched slopes of Sand Hill Road, California’s nerve center of money and technology, old family hurts sting anew as two brothers who share nothing but blood and bitterness wage a desperate battle against a faceless enemy.

Alex Treven has sacrificed everything to achieve his sole ambition: making partner in his high-tech law firm. But then the inventor of a technology Alex is banking on is murdered, the patent examiner who reviewed the innovation dies–and Alex himself narrowly escapes an attack in his own home. Off balance, out of ideas, and running out of time, he knows that the one person who can help him is the last person he’d ever ask: his brother.

Ben Treven is a military liaison element, an elite undercover soldier paid to “find, fix, and finish” high-value targets in the United States global war on terror.

Disenchanted with what he sees as America’s culture of denial and decadence, Ben lives his detached life in the shadows because the black ops world is all he really knows–and because other than Alex, whom he hasn’t spoken to since their mother died, his family is long gone.

But blood is thicker than water, and when Ben receives Alex’s frantic call he hurries to San Francisco to help him. Only then does Alex reveal that there’s another player who knows of the technology: Sarah Hosseini, a young Iranian American lawyer whom Alex has long secretly desired–and whom Ben immediately distrusts. As these three struggle to identify the forces attempting to silence them, Ben and Alex are forced to examine the events that drove them apart–even as Sarah’s presence, and her own secret yearnings, deepens the fault line between them.

A full-throttle thriller that is both emotionally and politically charged, Fault Line centers on a conspiracy that has spun out of the shadows and onto the streets of America, a conspiracy that can be stopped by only three people–three people with different worldviews, different grievances, different motives. To survive the forces arrayed against them, they’ll first have to survive one another.

My thoughts
If you are looking for another John Rain thriller, this isn't it. “Fault Line” is Barry Eisler’s first stand alone novel. This is the story about two estranged brothers, Alex (an attorney in Silicon Valley) and Ben (a government assassin). When those involved in a project that Alex is working on are killed, he calls his brother for help. Their personality’s clash (Alex is by the book, and Ben, the rogue) and they also have some unfinished business due to the death or their sister when they were kids. There is certainly a lot of bloodshed, violence and some sex in this book, but it isn’t one of Mr. Eisler’s best. Although I was drawn to the characters and the story, it was somewhat predictable. The climax was a little of a shock but still then the ending wasn’t much of a surprise. I enjoyed the book, but look forward to another John Rain adventure.

Woman Into Wolf by Alysse Aallyn

Product Description
Needing some career other than tiptoeing around a temperamental husband, perfect wife Persey Royall unearths a surprising knack for locating murder victims. But one corpse she can't find is that of her husband's richly hated twin brother, who seems to have come back from the dead to wreak his rage upon the living. This heart-stopping thriller about emotional complicity and sexual permission is a voyage of self-discovery that lays bare the cruel impersonations and the shame-filled masquerades that fuel a family's secrets. Readers have rated Aallyn's latest character-driven insight into the crossroads of greed and lust Satisfying as hell. Aallyn's book is based on the incidents from three groundbreaking cases that changed the history of human culpability. Here at The Midnight Reader we are devoted to sharing reality from the inside out with our readers -- because the truth is always stranger than fiction, and the only question that remains is --Why?

My thoughts
“Woman Into Wolf” is an interesting little tale about a woman named Persephone whom has to deal with her husband Roy (who worships her), her mother-in-law (who only wants a grandchild), and Roy’s dead twin brother (who she heard so much about). She also seems to come across dead bodies. Is it because she wants to stay into touch with the investigator, Jarod? Persephone seems unhappy in the life she is living and deals with it by getting involved with the search of the serial killer. Alysse Aallyn develops her characters with great detail and the story develops into an explosive ending, but my mind wandered at certain points in the story which I found uninteresting. It is an okay read.

Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley

Product Description
In the dead of a Michigan winter, pieces of a snowmobile wash up near the crumbling, small town of Starvation Lake -- the same snowmobile that went down with Starvation's legendary hockey coach years earlier. But everybody knows Coach Blackburn's accident happened five miles away on a different lake. As rumors buzz about mysterious underground tunnels, the evidence from the snowmobile says one thing: murder.
Gus Carpenter, editor of the local newspaper, has recently returned to Starvation after a failed attempt to make it big at the Detroit Times. In his youth, Gus was the goalie who let a state championship get away, crushing Coach's dreams and earning the town's enmity. Now he's investigating the murder of his former coach. But even more unsettling to Gus are the holes in the town's past and the gnawing suspicion that those holes may conceal some dark and disturbing secrets; secrets that some of the people closest to him may have killed to keep.

My thoughts
Did you ever start reading a book and didn’t want to put it down, even if it made you late for work? “Starvation Lake” by Bryan Gruley did that to me. I didn’t know what to expect when I began reading it, but once I started and got involved in the life of Gus and the small town newspaper the Pilot, I was taken in. He creates characters with such intensity that you get to know them inside and out. The flashbacks to Gus’ adolescent hockey games made me care for him more. As the story develops, I couldn’t help wonder where it where and what it was leading to. Mr. Gruley certainly knows how to write great mysteries.

Sway by Zachary Lazar

Product DescriptionThree dramatic and emblematic stories intertwine in Zachary Lazar's extraordinary new novel, SWAY--the early days of the Rolling Stones, including the romantic triangle of Brian Jones, Anita Pallenberg, and Keith Richards; the life of avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger; and the community of Charles Manson and his followers. Lazar illuminates an hour in American history when rapture found its roots in idolatrous figures and led to unprovoked and inexplicable violence. Connecting all the stories in this novel is Bobby Beausoleil, a beautiful California boy who appeared in an Anger film and eventually joined the Manson "family." With great artistry, Lazar weaves scenes from these real lives together into a true but heightened reality, making superstars human, giving demons reality, and restoring mythic events to the scale of daily life.

My thoughts
I just finished Sway by Zachary Lazar, and am a little lost. He takes three actual people from the 60s (Brian Jones, Charles Manson and Kenneth Anger) and intertwine the real life events of their lives to make this novel. I did get the feel of what life was like in that time, and ‘getting’ to know the early Rolling Stones was fascinating but I didn’t get the feel of what Lazar was attempting to do with the book.. He inserted a lot of actual events and then some fictional stuff too. The story was uneven. Did it even have an ending?

Economic Woes in Space

Bark Up The Right Tree: Lessons from a Rescued Dog

People of all ages will enjoy this heart- warming, fun-to-read story written from a dog’s perspective. Jessie, an older rescued dog, tells how she was betrayed by a loved one and abandoned by her lifelong family. Through an unusual set of circumstances she’s adopted sight-unseen by Ruth, a woman who follows her dreams. It’s a fascinating story, as ordinary as it is extraordinary. You’ll recognize yourself and every dog you’ve ever owned while marveling at Jessie’s unique journey from being a frightened, sickly, hard-to-place dog to being everyone’s darling as a therapy dog and a grinning “poster girl” for a Kids’n’Kritters campaign. This captivating book--an ideal gift for any occasion--is short enough to be read in one can’t-put-it-down sitting, yet long enough to be a chapter-by-chapter bedtime story with lots of thoughts to ponder. You’ll sniffle, chuckle, sing a song or two, and be encouraged to reach out to others. Proceeds will benefit children and animals in need of loving homes.

My thoughts
This is a fun and easy book to read from the perspective of Jesse the rescued dog with the help of his companion, Ruth Tschudin. I found the life lessons both inspirational and enjoyable. A must read for not only animal lovers!

The Lost City of Z by David Grann

Product Description
A grand mystery reaching back centuries. A sensational disappearance that made headlines around the world. A quest for truth that leads to death, madness or disappearance for those who seek to solve it. The Lost City of Z is a blockbuster adventure narrative about what lies beneath the impenetrable jungle canopy of the Amazon.
After stumbling upon a hidden trove of diaries, acclaimed New Yorker writer David Grann set out to solve "the greatest exploration mystery of the twentieth century:" What happened to the British explorer Percy Fawcett and his quest for the Lost City of Z?
In 1925 Fawcett ventured into the Amazon to find an ancient civilization, hoping to make one of the most important discoveries in history. For centuries Europeans believed the world’s largest jungle concealed the glittering kingdom of El Dorado. Thousands had died looking for it, leaving many scientists convinced that the Amazon was truly inimical to humankind. But Fawcett, whose daring expeditions helped inspire Conan Doyle’s The Lost World, had spent years building his scientific case. Captivating the imagination of millions around the globe, Fawcett embarked with his twenty-one-year-old son, determined to prove that this ancient civilization--which he dubbed “Z”--existed. Then he and his expedition vanished.
Fawcett’s fate--and the tantalizing clues he left behind about “Z”--became an obsession for hundreds who followed him into the uncharted wilderness. For decades scientists and adventurers have searched for evidence of Fawcett’s party and the lost City of Z. Countless have perished, been captured by tribes, or gone mad. As David Grann delved ever deeper into the mystery surrounding Fawcett’s quest, and the greater mystery of what lies within the Amazon, he found himself, like the generations who preceded him, being irresistibly drawn into the jungle’s “green hell.” His quest for the truth and his stunning discoveries about Fawcett’s fate and “Z” form the heart of this complex, enthralling narrative.

My thoughts
I never heard of the British explorer Percy Fawcett before picking up this book. But I learned so much about him and the obsession as the many followers who either tried to locate the missing explorer in the Amazon jungle or theorize what had become of him. David Grann did a wonderful job of researching this individual and has written a straight forward history of the man and his mission. He has also made it exciting as he tries to make the same journey into the Amazon and records his own tales and findings. This is a very interesting book.

Land of the Giants, Wine and a Book Signing!

You’ve read stories about how my wife thinks of me and does these crazy, wonderful things for me. Well, I have another one for you. This story deals with a few of my favorite things: books, actors, wine and artwork (no raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens). Last year, my wife went on a business trip to Las Vegas (I tagged along), then on to San Francisco afterwards (I went home). I thought since she was in northern California, she could drive to a certain winery in Paso Robles and get a book signed for me. Little did I know that it would be a three hour drive. What winery you ask. And what book too? One of the TV shows I watched when I was a kid, was “Land of the Giants” (remember that one?). Gary Conway, who played Steve (the captain) bought property in Paso Robles and has since turned it into a vineyard and produces wine and olive oil. He also wrote a book about the purchase of the land and the struggles to make it a working farm. He included his own artwork throughout the book. I have a copy of the book and my wife brought it to the winery to have Gary autograph it. This is what he wrote:

To Dan
My “Giant” best wishes
Cheers, Gary Conway

She also purchased a couple of initialed prints of his artwork (the actual paintings were too expensive). I had them framed and they hang in my kitchen. I also have a couple of bottles of his chardonnay signed by Gary. Isn’t my wife astonishing?

The Girl She Used To Be by David Cristofano

Product Description
When Melody Grace McCartney was six years old, she and her parents witnessed an act of violence so brutal that it changed their lives forever. The federal government lured them into the Witness Protection Program with the promise of safety, and they went gratefully. But the program took Melody's name, her home, her innocence, and, ultimately, her family. She's been May Adams, Karen Smith, Anne Johnson, and countless others--everyone but the one person she longs to be: herself. So when the feds spirit her off to begin yet another new life in another town, she's stunned when a man confronts her and calls her by her real name. Jonathan Bovaro, the mafioso sent to hunt her down, knows her, the real her, and it's a dangerous thrill that Melody can't resist. He's insistent that she's just a pawn in the government's war against the Bovaro family. But can she trust her life and her identity to this vicious stranger whose acts of violence are legendary?

My thoughts:
“The Girl She Used to Be” was one of those books that I read in one sitting; not because it was short (it isn’t), but because it was good. Damned good. David Cristofano’s story about a young woman in the Witness Protection program who changes identities whenever she becomes bored is an interesting one, just like Melody (the main character). She is a lost soul ever since her family witnessed a mob killing. Melody just wants to be herself. But once Jonathan, the son of the mob boss locates her, falls in love with her, she really has to decide what to do. This is a pleasurable story, even if it isn’t a fairy tale.

Forrest Gump in One Minute, in One Take

Sway Book Giveaway Winners

The winners of the Sway Book Giveaway are:

graywolf2037
nhertel85
sharon54220
Nicole
darbyscloset

Congratulations to you all and thank you for playing.

Elsewhere USA by Dalton Conley

Book Description
Over the past three decades, our daily lives have changed slowly but dramatically. Boundaries between leisure and work, public space and private space, and home and office have blurred and become permeable. How many of us now work from home, our wireless economy allowing and encouraging us to work 24/7? How many of us talk to our children while scrolling through e-mails on our BlackBerrys? How many of us feel overextended, as we are challenged to play multiple roles–worker, boss, parent, spouse, friend, and client–all in the same instant?
Dalton Conley, social scientist and writer provides us with an X-ray view of our new social reality. In Elsewhere, U.S.A., Conley connects our daily experience with occasionally overlooked sociological changes: women’s increasing participation in the labor force; rising economic inequality generating anxiety among successful professionals; the individualism of the modern era--the belief in self-actualization and expression--being replaced by the need to play different roles in the various realms of one’s existence. In this groundbreaking book, Conley offers an essential understanding of how the technological, social, and economic changes that have reshaped our world are also reshaping our individual lives.

My thoughts:
Dalton Conley has written a book that rally showed what our society has become – urban zombies! What with the internet, cell phones and working from home, we have become a society that is no longer aware of the world and people around us. Do we enjoy our lives like they did fifty years ago? Are we all about the almighty dollar and the aggressive struggle to reach richness? This book explains what we once were and what we have become. I can understand what Mr. Conley writes about because many a day, I find my wife with two laptops on her couch while she is texting one coworker or another. Technology may be a good thing but are we giving up our individuality to have it all? I recommend this book to everyone.

The Family Bones by Kimberly Raiser

Product Description
A New Home, A Loving Family, A Dark Secret
Will they stay? Will they survive? The Weavers have inherited family property in Astral, Pennsylvania, a town so small that Mrs. Weaver can find no mention of it on the Internet, save for a tiny spot on Google Earth. Hoping for a simpler, small-town existence for their young family, Steven and Tara eagerly head to Astral to see what they hope will be their dream house. As they explore their potential new home, the Weavers begin to discover secret passageways, secret rooms, and long buried family truths; some difficult truths are revealed and no longer kept in the far reaches of the closet. There are reasons for everything, and sometimes the explanations are so simple. But sometimes, simple can also be horrifying.

My thoughts:
When I started this book, I thought for sure this was a horror story. What with the title, what I thought was a haunted house, the underground tunnels, secret rooms and the family having what seemed like blackouts. I want to scream at the Weaver family to get out of the house they had inherited. What with the neighbors, the unknown uncle living on the property, I couldn’t put the book down with knowing what happened next. The surprise ending was creepier than I imagined. I look forward to another book by Ms. Raiser.

Triple Play Giveaway

Three novels with three ways to enter.

I am giving away one each of the following gently used advanced reading copies:
AWAKE by Jack Kilborn
FIRST FAMILY by David Baldacci
BONEMAN”S DAUGHTERS by Ted Dekker

And there are three ways to enter (and no, just leaving a comment will not count).

1.) Become a subscriber of my blog. If you are already a subscriber, leave a comment to let me know you want in on this giveaway.

2.) Become a follower of this blog. If you are already a follower, leave a comment to let me know that you want in on this giveaway.

3.) Post this giveaway on your blog and send me a link (either through a comment or email).

One winner for all three books.

Make sure there is some way for me to contact you.

This contest is open to U.S. residents only and ends on Tuesday, March 31, 2009. Winner announced on April 1st (no joke).

Gambling for Good Mail by Evelyn Cole

Product Description
Take a romp through contemporary Southern California culture self-help groups, weird addictions, drive-in religion, romance novel contest, time-share sales, serial marriages, chiropractic manipulations, and stuffed pets all shadowed by an unusual and tragic love story. A Connecticut transplant in King Disney's Court, Felicia Wood gambles for good mail that comes from catalogue orders. She runs from memories and skims the surface of life, cluttering her home with bonus gifts. "Sometimes I think I should think, "Felicia says, "But now is not the time," and she plunges in. So should you.

My thoughts
This book is not just about Felicia Wood’s obsession with buying everything from catalogues in the hopes of winning the big prize, but also about family. Felicia is a five time divorced woman whose naivety doesn’t help her. But when her niece, Caitland Thorpe reenters her life, then the roller coaster ride begins. Caitland is a young confused woman, whose suicide attempt landed her into a psychiatric hospital. Can these two help one another with their individual idiosyncrasies? When I began reading the first few chapters I hated Felicia and her obsession with catalogue buying. I wasn’t sure if I could continue, but when Caitland was introduced I felt a kinship to this young woman who had problems with her father and life itself. I read more and when the two of them shared Felicia’s condo, I was rooting for them both. I think they were good for one another and help each other. I don’t want to ruin the ending but I was somewhat saddened to the otherwise light hearted feel of the rest of the book.

Abbott and Costello meet the Muppets

Not really. About 2 years ago, my daughter and I performed the “Who’s On First” routine and taped it. She edited it, added titles and transferred it to DVD. We gave them out as Christmas presents. From a post from February, some of you know that I designed my own Muppet Whatnot as part as a Christmas gift from my wife. While playing around with it (he still does not have a name), my daughter came up with the idea of doing another Abbott and Costello routine with her and the Muppet. I can’t tell you which skit because that would just ruin it. I now have a new project; rehearsing the skit and editing it for viewing. At least being a Muppet, I will not have to learn my lines since I will be off-screen. My poor daughter will have to study hard for her part. This should be fun and I hope to post it when it is completed!

Dirty Little Angels by Chris Tusa

Product Description
Set in the slums of New Orleans, among clusters of crack houses and abandoned buildings, Dirty Little Angels is the story of sixteen year old Hailey Trosclair. When the Trosclair family suffers a string of financial hardships and a miscarriage, Hailey finds herself looking to God to save her family. When her prayers go unanswered, Hailey puts her faith in Moses Watkins, a failed preacher and ex-con. Fascinated by Moses's lopsided view of religion, Hailey, and her brother Cyrus, begin spending time down at an abandoned bank that Moses plans to convert into a drive-through church. Gradually, though, Moses's twisted religious beliefs become increasingly more violent, and Hailey and Cyrus soon find themselves trapped in a world of danger and fear from which there may be no escape.

My thoughts
Chris Tusa writes some descriptive narratives in his book, Dirty Little Angels. It is written from the point of view of Hailey, a sixteen year old poor girl from New Orleans. She talks us through her family life, her school life and what she does for fun. But this book is not fun. It deals with sex, murder, suicide, revenge and death. It also didn’t seem to have a plot. There is a lot of talk and then some action about two/thirds of the way through the book. I didn’t care about the characters or their situations, although Chris develops them very well. I believe that Chris has potential but this book didn’t fulfill me.

Lost In Space Lunchbox

Going with the “Lost In Space” theme from my post a few days ago, I came across the company FabgearUSA that is issuing a brand new lunch box. This is not a replica of the one from the 60s (those have already been produced), this is original. Now you may wonder why I would want one. Well, one of these days my wife and I want to open a bed and breakfast and I would love to have a display of lunch boxes to show our guests. I am so pop culture!

Nemesis by Jo Nesbo

Product Description
Grainy closed-circuit television footage shows a man walking into an Oslo bank and putting a gun to a cashier's head. He tells the young woman to count to twenty-five. When the robber doesn't get his money in time, the cashier is executed, and two million Norwegian kroner disappear without a trace. Police Detective Harry Hole is assigned to the case.
While Hole's girlfriend is away in Russia, an old flame decides to get in touch. Former girlfriend and struggling artist Anna Bethsen invites Hole to dinner, and he can't resist a visit. But the evening ends in an all too familiar way as Hole awakens with a thundering headache, a missing cell phone, and no memory of the past twelve hours. That same morning, Anna is found shot dead in her bed. Hole begins to receive threatening e-mails. Is someone trying to frame him for this unexplained death? Meanwhile, the bank robberies continue with unparalleled savagery.
As the death toll continues to mount, Hole becomes a prime suspect in a criminal investigation led by his longtime adversary Tom Waaler and Waaler's vigilante police force. Racing from the cool, autumnal streets of Oslo to the steaming villages of Brazil, Hole is determined to absolve himself of suspicion by uncovering all the information needed to crack both cases. But the ever-threatening Waaler is not finished with his old archenemy quite yet.

My thoughts
This book has gotten some rave reviews and I hate to knock it but I didn’t get it. I followed along as Harry Hole (the investigator) tries to deal with his personal life and the work (solving a bank robbery). Maybe, it was the translation from Norwegian that lost me. Everyone else who has reviewed it felt the drama and the suspense of this character driven novel, but I didn’t. I read it to the end, but will not pick up Jo Nesbo’s next book.

Book Giveaway Reminder

Just a reminder that there is still one more week to enter the Sway Book Giveaway. Five luck winners will each receive a copy of Sway by Zachary Lazar, courtesy of the Hatchette Book group.

Click here to enter.

Two Charles Schulz Biographies

"Good Grief: The Story of Charles M. Schulz" by Rheta Grimsley Johnson was written when Charles Schulz was alive and he had some input in his life story. I thought she captured his life in a true and accurate light. I am a fan of the Peanuts characters (having played Linus in the seventh grade) and learned much about Mr. Schulz after reading this biography. I learned about his depression, his fear of traveling, his strong work ethic and his incomprehension of his own wealth. This book is a good representation of the life on of one of our greatest cartoonists.


I was somewhat apprehensive about reading this biography after reading some of the bad reviews and found out that the Schulz family hated it. But it is a book, and I love to read, and I take it all with a grain of salt. I actually enjoyed “Schulz and Peanuts” and it didn’t change my opinion of Charles Schulz. I feel that Mr. Michaelis did a fine job in researching Mr. Schulz’s life. I enjoyed the insertion of the comic in relation to what was being written. What I didn’t understand is why the biography stopped in the 70s and then picked up near the death of the artist. What happened in those few decades? I guess nothing important, according to Mr. Michaelis. I did learn much about Mr. Schulz’s early years and his career that I had not know before and that made the book worth reading.

Lost in Space and Modelmaking

When I am not reading, writing in my blog, painting and of course, working I work on models. Now I am not a pro at this as some people are, but when I find a model I like I just have to do it. Being a “Lost In Space” fan since I was a kid, I just had to get the chariot when it came out last year. Like I said I am just an amateur model maker, but here is a photo of my chariot. And yes, it sits on my shelf with my giant LIS Robot Pez!

Dark Side of the Morgue by Raymond Benson

Product Description:
Musicians in progressive rock bands in Chicago are being murdered—one by one. The local police have no clues, but several of the musicians who fear they’re next on the hit list claim that the killer is a ghost from the past—a woman who was reported missing and presumed dead for over thirty years!

The Rockin’ Security team is called into action. Spike and his partner, Suzanne Prescott, travel to Chicago to investigate the case, only to find that no one wants to talk. As Spike digs deeper, he begins to unearth a lode of deadly secrets involving sex, psychedelic drugs, and, of course, rock ‘n’ roll. And it isn’t long before the private detective becomes a pawn in a very dangerous game.

My thoughts:
Raymond Benson’s Dark Side of the Morgue is a fast paced thriller set in the underground music world of Chicago. So fast paced that I read it in one sitting. Private Investigator Spike Berenger is hired to track down who is killing musicians connected to some old progressive rock band. Soon he is taking the case on his own, determined to catch the killer. Is she really a ghost from the past? I enjoyed the book until I got towards the end. By then, I had an idea what was going on and I was let down somewhat. With that said, the book is enjoyable, especially if you are into the rock music scene. Take it with you to the beach, on a plane, or read it while lying in your hammock.

Pondering about Blogging

I was home from work yesterday since the office was closed due to the snow storm that hit us Sunday night. I shoveled about 5 inches of snow from the walkway but it is still coming done. With this time I thought I would reflect on the past month and my obsession with blogging (before then it was Facebook and LinkedIn). I have never done so much blogging as I did in February. Originally, my blog was for my thoughts (it still is), but I found other bloggers who blogged about books and reviewed them. I decided to do the same. Then I found book contests and authors willing to send out review copies of their books and I was hooked. Before I knew it I had over fifteen new books to read and review!

So I step back now and wonder, am I reading books so that I can review them? Am reviewing books so I can learn more about the authors? What happened to reading for the joy of it? I don’t understand how all these other bloggers find the time to read, review and blog. Somehow, I feel like I am giving something up.

Have I given up the time I would normally be painting? The best part of this whole experience is that I am writing and that is what I want to do the most. Now I just have to start working on that novel of mine!

I would love to hear from other bloggers on how they manage it and what they get out of blogging.

The Dream by Harry Bernstein - Great Memoir!

Product Description“Dreams played an important part in our lives in those early days in England. Our mother invented them for us to make up for all the things we lacked and to give us some hope for the future.”

During the hard and bitter years of his youth in England, Harry Bernstein’s selfless mother struggles to keep her six children fed and clothed. But she never stops dreaming of a better life in America, no matter how unlikely. Then, one miraculous day when Harry is twelve years old, steamships tickets arrive in the mail, sent by an anonymous benefactor.

Suddenly, a new life full of the promise of prosperity seems possible–and the family sets sail for America, meeting relatives in Chicago. Harry is mesmerized by the city: the cars, the skyscrapers, and the gorgeous vistas of Lake Michigan. For a time, the family gets a taste of the good life: electric lights, a bathtub, a telephone. But soon the harsh realities of the Great Depression envelop them. Skeletons in the family closet come to light, mafiosi darken their doorstep, family members are lost, and dreams are shattered.

In the face of so much loss, Harry and his mother must make a fateful decision–one that will change their lives forever. And though he has struggled for so long, there is an incredible bounty waiting for Harry in New York: his future wife, Ruby. It is their romance that will finally bring the peace and happiness that Harry’s mother always dreamed was possible.

With a compelling cast and evocative settings, Harry Bernstein’s extraordinary account of his hardscrabble youth in Depression-era Chicago and New York will grip you from the very first page. Full of humor, drama, and romance, this tale of hope and dreams coming true enthralls and enchants.

My thoughts:
I enjoyed reading Mr. Bernstein’s first book The Invisible Wall and looked forward to reading this book. I was not disappointed. What this 98 year old author remembers about his youth in Chicago and New York is amazing. He describes in detail his life as a child, his family members, his first job, and meeting the love of his life. All this through the roaring twenties and the Great Depression. I had a sense of being there with him. This memoir is one of the best I have ever read.