Brent's bookshelf: all en-US Fri, 09 May 2025 04:12:57 -0700 60 Brent's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Into the Gray Zone (Pike Logan, #19)]]> 212081521
While on a routine security assessment in India, Taskforce operator Pike Logan foils an attempted attack on a meeting between the CIA and India’s intelligence service. Both government agencies believe it’s nothing more than a minor terrorist attack, but Pike suspects that something much more sinister is at play. After another terrorist operation at the Taj Mahal, he begins to believe that outside powers are attacking India in the gray zone between peace and war, leveraging terrorist groups for nothing more than economic gain. But the separatists conducting the operations have their own agenda.

After a massive slaughter and kidnapping of hostages during an elaborate Indian pre-wedding party, two global powers are destabilized, and only Pike Logan and his team can de-escalate the tension by rescuing the captives. What follows is a race against the clock that winds through the bustling markets of Old Delhi, the luxurious resorts of Goa, and the epic halls of the Taj Mahal. It will take everything that Logan and the taskforce have to foil an intricate plot that leaves countless lives in the balance.]]> 464 Brad Taylor 0063222086 Brent 0 currently-reading 4.21 2025 Into the Gray Zone (Pike Logan, #19)
author: Brad Taylor
name: Brent
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/09
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> When Crickets Cry 241387 A man with a painful past. A child with a doubtful future. And a shared journey toward healing for both their hearts.

It begins on the shaded town square in a sleepy Southern town. A spirited seven-year-old has a brisk business at her lemonade stand. But the little girl's pretty yellow dress can't quite hide the ugly scar on her chest.

Her latest customer, a bearded stranger, drains his cup and heads to his car, his mind on a boat he's restoring at a nearby lake. The stranger understands more about the scar than he wants to admit. And the beat-up bread truck careening around the corner with its radio blaring is about to change the trajectory of both their lives.

Before it's over, they'll both know there are painful reasons why crickets cry . . . and that miracles lurk around unexpected corners.]]> 352 Charles Martin 1595540547 Brent 4
This story is about a little girl who needs a heart transplant. She is on a list but she is also hoping that a doctor who has disappeared from society will step back into his scrubs and perform the heart transplant when the right heart is found.

Annie and her aunt Cindy are befriended by Reese and his blind friend Charlie. Reese and Charlie's story goes back to when they were kids. Charlie's older sister married Reese. Emma and Reese had grown up and become childhood sweethearts. Emma has heart issues, and Reese wants to do all he can to help his wife.

Many medical terms and procedures are described, since issues with the heart and transplants are the background to this story. Yet, the story is heartwarming and has some twists and turns which I always enjoy.
]]> 4.25 2006 When Crickets Cry
author: Charles Martin
name: Brent
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/08
date added: 2025/05/09
shelves:
review:
Charles Martin is one of my favorite authors. He tells the tale, and various patches in the story are filled in throughout the book.

This story is about a little girl who needs a heart transplant. She is on a list but she is also hoping that a doctor who has disappeared from society will step back into his scrubs and perform the heart transplant when the right heart is found.

Annie and her aunt Cindy are befriended by Reese and his blind friend Charlie. Reese and Charlie's story goes back to when they were kids. Charlie's older sister married Reese. Emma and Reese had grown up and become childhood sweethearts. Emma has heart issues, and Reese wants to do all he can to help his wife.

Many medical terms and procedures are described, since issues with the heart and transplants are the background to this story. Yet, the story is heartwarming and has some twists and turns which I always enjoy.

]]> <![CDATA[Towards Zero (Superintendent Battle, #5)]]> 16351 301 Agatha Christie Brent 3
Lady Tressillian has a bunch of people staying at her home on Gull's Point for 3-4 weeks every summer. This time, Neville Strange brings his current wife, Kay, and his former wife, Audrey. Tad Latimer, a friend of Kay's, and Thomas Royade, a cousin of Audrey's, along with the servants, including Mary Aldin, Tressillian's companion, are present.

First, Treves, a lawyer and friend of Tressillian, dies climbing stairs when the elevator is out of service, then Tressillian is brutally killed with a golf club. The maid is drugged, so she couldn't respond to Lady Tressillian ringing the bell. Who is the killer?

We find out that the first two deaths are only the means to an evil end that is planned by someone. Superindent Battle shows up to investigate and determine who the killer is and why they are so determined to keep the evil going.

Angus McWhirter, a near suicide a year earlier, comes back and helps solve the mystery.]]> 3.94 1944 Towards Zero (Superintendent Battle, #5)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Brent
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1944
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/06
date added: 2025/05/03
shelves:
review:
This is the 5th book in which Superintendent Battle makes an appearance.

Lady Tressillian has a bunch of people staying at her home on Gull's Point for 3-4 weeks every summer. This time, Neville Strange brings his current wife, Kay, and his former wife, Audrey. Tad Latimer, a friend of Kay's, and Thomas Royade, a cousin of Audrey's, along with the servants, including Mary Aldin, Tressillian's companion, are present.

First, Treves, a lawyer and friend of Tressillian, dies climbing stairs when the elevator is out of service, then Tressillian is brutally killed with a golf club. The maid is drugged, so she couldn't respond to Lady Tressillian ringing the bell. Who is the killer?

We find out that the first two deaths are only the means to an evil end that is planned by someone. Superindent Battle shows up to investigate and determine who the killer is and why they are so determined to keep the evil going.

Angus McWhirter, a near suicide a year earlier, comes back and helps solve the mystery.
]]> <![CDATA[The Moving Finger (Miss Marple, #3)]]> 16341
Librarian's note: this entry is for the novel, "The Moving Finger." Collections and other Miss Marple stories are located elsewhere on Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ. The series includes 12 novels and 20 short stories. Entries for the short stories can be found by searching Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ for: "a Miss Marple Short Story."]]> 299 Agatha Christie 0007120842 Brent 4
Miss Marple doesn't appear in this mystery until 2/3 of the way in. She swoops in and corrects the police who are about to jail someone innocent of the crime.

What is the crime? Brother and sister Jerry and Joanna Burton move to the small town of Lymestock as Jerry is recovering from an aircraft accident. When they arrive, Jerry receives an anonymous letter that makes nasty insinuations about Jerry and his sister. Jerry learns that others in the town have been receiving similar letters. Suddenly, someone who receives an anonymous letter kills themselves. Then, a servant who works in the home of the suicidal employer is killed. What is going on?

Two-thirds of the books involve Jerry investigating all of the possible letter writers and, along with the police, meeting the would-be killer. One of the townspeople calls Miss Marple to the scene, and she sets things straight.]]> 3.85 1942 The Moving Finger (Miss Marple, #3)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Brent
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1942
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/28
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves:
review:
This is the 3rd book from the Miss Marple series by Agatha Christie.

Miss Marple doesn't appear in this mystery until 2/3 of the way in. She swoops in and corrects the police who are about to jail someone innocent of the crime.

What is the crime? Brother and sister Jerry and Joanna Burton move to the small town of Lymestock as Jerry is recovering from an aircraft accident. When they arrive, Jerry receives an anonymous letter that makes nasty insinuations about Jerry and his sister. Jerry learns that others in the town have been receiving similar letters. Suddenly, someone who receives an anonymous letter kills themselves. Then, a servant who works in the home of the suicidal employer is killed. What is going on?

Two-thirds of the books involve Jerry investigating all of the possible letter writers and, along with the police, meeting the would-be killer. One of the townspeople calls Miss Marple to the scene, and she sets things straight.
]]> Life, and Death, and Giants 222376836 "With Life, and Death, and Giants, Ron Rindo has performed literary magic. This is a remarkable, profoundly moving novel." –Larry Watson, author of Montana 1948


A heart too big for this world.
A life that changes everyone.

Gabriel Fisher was born an orphan, weighing eighteen pounds and measuring twenty-seven inches long. No one in Lakota, Wisconsin, knows what to make of him. He walks at eight months, communicates with animals, and seems to possess extraordinary athletic talent. But when the older brother who has been caring for him dies, Gabriel is taken in by his devout Amish grandparents who disapprove of all the attention and hide him away from the English world.

But it’s hard to hide forever when you’re nearly eight feet tall. At seventeen, Gabriel is spotted working in a hay field by the local football coach. What happens next transforms not only Gabriel’s life but the lives of everyone he meets.

Life, and Death, and Giants is a moving story of faith, family, buried secrets, and everyday miracles.]]> 336 Ron Rindo 1250375339 Brent 0 to-read, first-read 4.30 Life, and Death, and Giants
author: Ron Rindo
name: Brent
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves: to-read, first-read
review:

]]> Storm Child (Cyrus Haven, #4) 227828375 Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac return in Robotham’s latest psychological thriller, which finally unlocks the secrets of Evie’s past and reaffirms why Stephen King has proclaimed this author “an absolute master.�

The mystery of Evie Cormac’s background has followed her into adulthood. As a child, she was discovered hiding in a secret room where a man had been tortured to death. Many of her captors and abusers escaped justice, unseen but not forgotten. Now, on a hot summer’s day, the past drags Evie back as she watches the bodies of seventeen migrants wash up on a Lincolnshire beach.

There is only one survivor, a teenage boy, who tells police their small boat was deliberately rammed and sunk. Psychologist Cyrus Haven is recruited by the police to investigate the murders—but recognizes immediately that Evie has some link to the tragedy. By solving this crime, he could finally unlock the secrets of her past. But what dark forces will he set loose? And who will pay the price?]]> 352 Michael Robotham 1668031000 Brent 0 to-read, first-read 4.00 2024 Storm Child (Cyrus Haven, #4)
author: Michael Robotham
name: Brent
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves: to-read, first-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dead Man's Folly (Hercule Poirot, #35)]]> 16329 Whilst organising a mock murder hunt for the village fete hosted by Sir George and Lady Stubbs, a feeling of dread settles on the famous crime novelist Adriane Oliver. Call it instinct, but it's a feeling she just can't explain...or get away from.

In desperation she summons her old friend, Hercule Poirot -- and her instincts are soon proved correct when the 'pretend' murder victim is discovered playing the scene for real, a rope wrapped tightly around her neck.

But it's the great detective who first discovers that in murder hunts, whether mock or real, everyone is playing a part.

]]> 6 Agatha Christie 1572705477 Brent 3
Ms. Oliver invites Poirot to an estate to give away the prize to whoever can solve the fictional mystery she creates. Ms. Oliver is a mystery writer who is Agatha Christie's fictional self. Something goes wrong and the fictional murder victim becomes a real murder victim. Poirot to the rescue. His grey cells do things no one else's could by wrapping it all up with an explanation that defies logic at the end.]]> 3.83 1956 Dead Man's Folly (Hercule Poirot, #35)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Brent
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1956
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves:
review:
Christie's last few books, including this one, have been so outrageously crafted so as to shock the readers that they go beyond the point of believability. I was really enjoying this story till once again Christie sweeps in at the end with a blizzard of facts that were kept from the reader till the end when Poirot explains all. I really enjoy Christie's stories till she takes them a step too far.

Ms. Oliver invites Poirot to an estate to give away the prize to whoever can solve the fictional mystery she creates. Ms. Oliver is a mystery writer who is Agatha Christie's fictional self. Something goes wrong and the fictional murder victim becomes a real murder victim. Poirot to the rescue. His grey cells do things no one else's could by wrapping it all up with an explanation that defies logic at the end.
]]> <![CDATA[Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)]]> 214331246 When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.]]> 387 Suzanne Collins 1546171460 Brent 2
I enjoyed the Hunger Games series. I even enjoyed the first prequel written by Collins. Collins goes to the well again using the same themes used in the past for this prequel, with the only change being that this is the 50th anniversary of the reaping, so the tributes who are called to submit to the winner-take-all all survival match are doubled. Instead of a boy and a girl from each of the 12 districts, now 2 boys and 2 girls from each district are called.

Collins needs to come up with something new. She needs money, so she dips again into her franchise, which guarantees her a big paycheck. This is told from the viewpoint of District 12 boy, Haymitch Abernathy. I wonder who wins? (Insert sarcastic tone).

I don't mind series I enjoy them. This is just a repeat of previous books with different characters. ]]> 4.60 2025 Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Brent
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2025
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/24
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves:
review:
This is the 0.5 book from the Hunger Games series.

I enjoyed the Hunger Games series. I even enjoyed the first prequel written by Collins. Collins goes to the well again using the same themes used in the past for this prequel, with the only change being that this is the 50th anniversary of the reaping, so the tributes who are called to submit to the winner-take-all all survival match are doubled. Instead of a boy and a girl from each of the 12 districts, now 2 boys and 2 girls from each district are called.

Collins needs to come up with something new. She needs money, so she dips again into her franchise, which guarantees her a big paycheck. This is told from the viewpoint of District 12 boy, Haymitch Abernathy. I wonder who wins? (Insert sarcastic tone).

I don't mind series I enjoy them. This is just a repeat of previous books with different characters.
]]> This Happened to Me: A Memoir 220161042 An inspiring and elegant memoir about the profound power of healing that is perfect for fans of The Glass Castle, Hillbilly Elegy, and Know My Name.

As a young child, the first complete sentence Kate Price ever uttered was “Where’s Daddy?â€� Not because she wanted to find her father—but because she »ĺľ±»ĺ˛Ô’t want her father to find her.

As a little girl growing up in Appalachia, her father was the hunter and she and her sister were the prey. Price knew he was a violent threat to her very existence, but she could not fully grasp the extent of his abuse.

It wasn’t until, at the urging of her mother, she finally escaped via her academic accomplishments and started a new life in Boston, that she discovered and reconciled the full truth of her dark past. Now, in her exquisitely rendered, transformative memoir, Price describes how she both broke free of the generational cycle of abuse, poverty, and violence that defined her childhood and eventually returned to the very same Appalachian community to provide the supports and services to children there that she never received. She is able to ultimately marry these two worlds to create a loving and meaningful life and family on her own terms and in service to others.

With breathtaking insight and revelation into the evolution of her healing, This Happened to Me chronicles Price’s enduring transformation from fearful child to empowered adult, from victim to advocate, and from despair to triumph.]]> 336 Kate Price 1668036223 Brent 0 to-read, first-read 4.50 This Happened to Me: A Memoir
author: Kate Price
name: Brent
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves: to-read, first-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Beast in the Clouds: The Roosevelt Brothers' Deadly Quest to Find the Mythical Giant Panda]]> 220161314 For lovers of history, nature, and adventure, the stunning true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s sons and their 1929 Himalayan expedition to prove the existence of the beishung, the panda bear, to the western world, from the New York Times bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls.

The Himalayas—a snowcapped mountain range that hides treacherous glacier crossings, raiders poised to attack unsuspecting travelers, and air so thin that even seasoned explorers die of oxygen deprivation. Yet among the dangers lies one of the most beautiful and fragile ecosystems in the world.

During the 1920s, dozens of expeditions scoured the Chinese and Tibetan wilderness in search of the panda bear, a beast that many believed did not exist. When the two eldest sons of President Theodore Roosevelt sought the bear in 1928, they had little hope of success. Together with a team of scientists and naturalists, they accomplished what a decade of explorers could not, ultimately introducing the panda to the West. In the process, they documented a vanishing world and set off a new era of conservation biology.

Along the way, the Roosevelt expedition faced an incredible series of hardships as they disappeared in a blizzard, were attacked by robbers, overcome by sickness and disease, and lost their food supply in the mountains. The explorers would emerge transformed, although not everyone would survive. Beast in the Clouds brings alive these extraordinary events in a potent nonfiction thriller featuring the indomitable Roosevelt family.

From the soaring beauty of the Tibetan plateau to the somber depths of human struggle, Nathalia Holt brings her signature “immersive, evocative� (Bookreporter) voice to this astonishing tale of adventure, harrowing defeat, and dazzling success.]]> 288 Nathalia Holt 1668027747 Brent 0 to-read, first-read 5.00 The Beast in the Clouds: The Roosevelt Brothers' Deadly Quest to Find the Mythical Giant Panda
author: Nathalia Holt
name: Brent
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves: to-read, first-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Offside (Rules of the Game, #1)]]> 219446175
Following a string of scandals and substandard grades, Chase is on thin ice with his teammates and tyrannical coach. The last thing he needs is to have his focus and loyalty called into question by fraternizing with his team's #1 rival. But a beautiful stranger who throws herself at him one night is too tempting to pass up... Until she throws up on his shoes.

Caught in the midst of a bitter rivalry that extends far beyond the arena, Bailey and Chase are on opposite sides of the bench. He's worked his entire life to secure a future in the NHL. She's tagged along for the ride while her brother Derek, star defensive for the Bruder College Bulldogs, has done the same. Fraternizing with the enemy is definitely out of the question. Except this enemy is impossible to resist.

*

Please This listing is for the published, revised version of Offside only as there will be some substantial edits and changes.

To review the Wattpad version, please find the other listing for Offside.]]> 560 Avery Keelan 1250400600 Brent 0 to-read, first-read 3.86 2019 Offside (Rules of the Game, #1)
author: Avery Keelan
name: Brent
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves: to-read, first-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[John Hancock: First to Sign, First to Invest in America's Independence]]> 218696060 A compelling, intimate portrait of John Hancock, going beyond the flamboyant signature to provide insight into the pivotal role that he had in the American Revolution.

A contemporary of Samuel Adams, John Adams, George Washington, and the Marquis de Lafayette, Hancock’s contacts read like a who’s who of the American Revolution. But shockingly little has been written about the man himself—and current biographies tend to over-rely on critical portrayals by his political opponents. John Hancock the story of a man who deserves far more acknowledgment for his involvement in the American Revolution than previously credited—and award-winning scholar Willard Sterne Randall is determined to give him his due at last.

Born to relatively modest means, Hancock was sent to live with his wealthy uncle and aunt as a child, who raised him as their own and prepared him to take over the family company. An incredibly successful businessman, Hancock began to get involved in politics in the mid-1760s. He quickly rose in the ranks, eventually serving as the president of the Continental Congress and the first governor of Massachusetts.Ěý

John Hancock details all of the major moments in the Revolution, from the Boston Tea Party to the battles of Lexington and Concord to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Hancock’s actions fundamentally altered each of these events—and ultimately the course of the United States—in ways never taught in the history books. Randall also dives into less-known parts of Hancock’s life with nuance and compassion, including his education and controversial work with Harvard; his long courtship and complicated marriage to Dorothy Quincy; and his close relationship and eventual bitter rivalry with Samuel Adams.

John Hancock was immensely popular in Massachusetts at the time of the Revolution, but his lack of personal writings have allowed him to be pushed aside in favor of easier biographies to tell. Through extensive research, Randall aims to restore Hancock to his rightful place, celebrated for his achievements as one of our Founding Fathers at last.]]> 288 Willard Sterne Randall 0593472144 Brent 0 to-read, first-read 3.67 John Hancock: First to Sign, First to Invest in America's Independence
author: Willard Sterne Randall
name: Brent
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves: to-read, first-read
review:

]]> Maggie (Awakening #2) 129562 "When Maggie opened her eyes that New Year's Day some seventeen months ago, I felt like I could see again. The fog lifted off my soul, and for the first time since our son had died and she had gone to sleep—some four months, sixteen days, eighteen hours, and nineteen minutes earlier—I took a breath deep enough to fill both my lungs."


Life began again for Dylan Styles when his beloved wife Maggie awoke from a coma. A coma brought on by the intense two-day labor that resulted in heartbreaking loss. In this poignant love story that is redolent with Southern atmosphere, Dylan and Maggie must come to terms with their past before they can embrace their future.]]> 311 Charles Martin 1595540555 Brent 4
In this book, Maggie and Dylan battle to start a family. There are unsuccessful pregnancies and struggles with adoption. This story is about their struggle as a couple, and Maggie's struggle as a woman to have a child.

I am familiar with the struggles of fertility and the emotional struggles brought on by the adoption process. These struggles are not mine, but I have seen their effects on those I love. I am not sure going through all of that is possible without God.

There wasn't enough God in this story. He was present in the undercurrent, I just wish His presence was brought out more clearly.

This wasn't as good as the first book in the series, although I gave both four stars. I enjoyed the series, and I enjoy Charles Martin's books. I am selfishly glad he pursued his love of writing and turned down the job with the insurance company.

]]> 4.22 2006 Maggie (Awakening #2)
author: Charles Martin
name: Brent
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/16
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves:
review:
This is the second book from the Awakening series about Dylan and Maggie Styles. In the first book, Maggie goes into a coma after a failed pregnancy. Dylan stays by her side until she awakens.

In this book, Maggie and Dylan battle to start a family. There are unsuccessful pregnancies and struggles with adoption. This story is about their struggle as a couple, and Maggie's struggle as a woman to have a child.

I am familiar with the struggles of fertility and the emotional struggles brought on by the adoption process. These struggles are not mine, but I have seen their effects on those I love. I am not sure going through all of that is possible without God.

There wasn't enough God in this story. He was present in the undercurrent, I just wish His presence was brought out more clearly.

This wasn't as good as the first book in the series, although I gave both four stars. I enjoyed the series, and I enjoy Charles Martin's books. I am selfishly glad he pursued his love of writing and turned down the job with the insurance company.


]]> <![CDATA[Don't Look Back: Getting Unstuck and Moving Forward with Passion and Purpose]]> 201335515 240 Christine Caine 140022666X Brent 1 first-read, never-received 3.00 Don't Look Back: Getting Unstuck and Moving Forward with Passion and Purpose
author: Christine Caine
name: Brent
average rating: 3.00
book published:
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves: first-read, never-received
review:

]]> <![CDATA[More Than Two, Second Edition: Cultivating Nonmonogamous Relationships with Kindness and Integrity]]> 203708927
“Can you love more than one person?� A lot of conversations about nonmonogamy start this way. When we discuss “opening� relationships, contemplate whether we want to be exclusive with our partners, or introduce multiple partners to friends and family, we are asking the people in our lives, and ourselves, to contend with this question.

The answer is obvious, and misleading. The love one feels in their heart and the love one expresses through daily acts of care and affection are both “love� in the true sense, but they have different requirements, present different options and produce different outcomes.

More Than Two can’t promise outcomes, but it is a guide to the paths—from anchor or nesting partnerships to relationship anarchy—possible within nonmonogamy. This long-awaited second edition bridges emerging theories on attachment and relationship diversity with authors Eve Rickert and Andrea Zanin’s insight and experience. The arcs of nonmonogamous partnerships bend towards complexity, introspection and compromise—or at least they can, if we work at it.]]> 480 Eve Rickert 1990869580 Brent 0 to-read, first-read 4.54 2014 More Than Two, Second Edition: Cultivating Nonmonogamous Relationships with Kindness and Integrity
author: Eve Rickert
name: Brent
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/12
shelves: to-read, first-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Double Sin and Other Stories (Hercule Poirot, #38)]]> 140354
The stories are: (1) Double Sin, (2) Wasp's Nest, (3) The Theft of the Royal Ruby, (4) The Dressmaker's Doll, (5) Greenshaw's Folly, (6) The Double Clue, (7) The Last SĂ©ance, and (8) Sanctuary. Of the eight, Hercule Poirot stars in (1), (2), (3), and (6). Miss Marple is the lead in (5) and (8). And there are two Christie standalones, not part of any novel or short story series, (4) and (7).

"The Theft of the Royal Ruby" is actually an expanded version of 1923's "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding." A young prince from the Middle East, during a visit to London, has dabbled with the wrong woman and lost a magnificent jewel which only Hercule Poirot may be able to recover. Talking of dabbling, that is what Miss Marple does in "Sanctuary." She offers advice to her goddaughter on a religious matter; a man has died in the woman's church under mysterious circumstances. Readers are also sure to enjoy "The Last SĂ©ance" in which a young medium holds one too many.

Librarian's note: this entry is for the collection of short stories, "Double Sin and Other Stories." Individual entries for each of the stories, including the title story, can be found elsewhere on Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ. The entries for Hercule Poirot short stories can be found by searching: "a Hercule Poirot Short Story." For Miss Marple, "a Miss Marple Short Story," and for Christie short stories without such leading characters, "an Agatha Christie Standalone Short Story."]]> 288 Agatha Christie 0312981678 Brent 3
With any collection of short stories, there are good stories and some that aren't so good. I enjoyed Greenshaw's Folly the most. Most of the other stories were lukewarm.

Nice, quick read which will either help you to complete your reading of Poirot or Marples, or give you a taste of them before you tackle the better stories which are set out in her complete novels.

]]> 3.77 1961 Double Sin and Other Stories (Hercule Poirot, #38)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Brent
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1961
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/10
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves:
review:
This is listed as the 38th Hercule Poirot book, although it is a compilation of 8 short stories. Four of the stories are Hercule Poirot stories, two of the stories are Miss Marple stories, and two of the stories are not connected to either Poirot or Marple.

With any collection of short stories, there are good stories and some that aren't so good. I enjoyed Greenshaw's Folly the most. Most of the other stories were lukewarm.

Nice, quick read which will either help you to complete your reading of Poirot or Marples, or give you a taste of them before you tackle the better stories which are set out in her complete novels.


]]> We Begin at the End 50279680
Duchess Day Radley is a thirteen-year-old self-proclaimed outlaw. Rules are for other people. She is the fierce protector of her five-year-old brother, Robin, and the parent to her mother, Star, a single mom incapable of taking care of herself, let alone her two kids.

Walk has never left the coastal California town where he and Star grew up. He may have become the chief of police, but he’s still trying to heal the old wound of having given the testimony that sent his best friend, Vincent King, to prison decades before. And he's in overdrive protecting Duchess and her brother.

Now, thirty years later, Vincent is being released. And Duchess and Walk must face the trouble that comes with his return. We Begin at the End is an extraordinary novel about two kinds of families—the ones we are born into and the ones we create.]]> 384 Chris Whitaker 1250759668 Brent 5 first-read, favorites
What a great book. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. The characters are set out in-depth. The story pulls out a variety of emotions from the reader. The book is also full of twists and turns that I love.

Duchess Day Radley is a 13-year-old outlaw. She has a 5-year-old brother named Robin who she takes care of. She has to be Robin's mother because their real mother, Star, doesn't do a very good job in taking care of them.

The Radley family's lives change even more when Vincent King is released from prison after 30 years. King was convicted of murdering Star's sister, Sissy when King was 15. King and Star were dating and Sissy was merely 9.

Throw in Walk, the Sheriff, who hung out with King and Star in their hometown of Cape Haven, California before Sissy was killed. Walk's testimony led to his friend Vincent's conviction.

This is a complex story that had me rereading pages to make sure I understood what was going on. Whitaker sets out the skeletal background of the story and fills in the meat of the past as you read about what is going on presently.

An excellent book by an author who I had never read before. This book is well worth your time in reading it. I will be reading more of Whitaker's books.]]> 4.10 2020 We Begin at the End
author: Chris Whitaker
name: Brent
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/02/14
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: first-read, favorites
review:
I won this book through GoodReads First Read program.

What a great book. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. The characters are set out in-depth. The story pulls out a variety of emotions from the reader. The book is also full of twists and turns that I love.

Duchess Day Radley is a 13-year-old outlaw. She has a 5-year-old brother named Robin who she takes care of. She has to be Robin's mother because their real mother, Star, doesn't do a very good job in taking care of them.

The Radley family's lives change even more when Vincent King is released from prison after 30 years. King was convicted of murdering Star's sister, Sissy when King was 15. King and Star were dating and Sissy was merely 9.

Throw in Walk, the Sheriff, who hung out with King and Star in their hometown of Cape Haven, California before Sissy was killed. Walk's testimony led to his friend Vincent's conviction.

This is a complex story that had me rereading pages to make sure I understood what was going on. Whitaker sets out the skeletal background of the story and fills in the meat of the past as you read about what is going on presently.

An excellent book by an author who I had never read before. This book is well worth your time in reading it. I will be reading more of Whitaker's books.
]]> <![CDATA[The Dead Don't Dance (Awakening #1)]]> 241385
The Dead Don't Dance is a bittersweet yet triumphant love story—a tale of one man's spiritual journey through the darkness of despair and into the light of hope.]]> 314 Charles Martin 1595541616 Brent 4
When I haven't read a Charles Martin book in a while, I am amazed at how good a storyteller he is. This isn't his best book, but it was really enjoyable.

This is the story of Dylan and Maggie, a young couple in South Carolina expecting a baby. Things go bad for them. Their son dies at birth, and Maggie goes into a coma. The rest of the story is Dylan living with the tragedy that has come his way.

I really enjoyed the characters that come into Dylan's life after tragedy strikes. Amos, Brice, and the kids from his research and writing class he teaches at South Carolina Junior College. My favorite character was Amanda. She, too, has dealt with tragedy, but you would never know it the way she acts. Her story is inspiring.

God is always an undercurrent to all of Martin's stories. This was his first book, and it is worth the read.

]]> 4.22 2004 The Dead Don't Dance (Awakening #1)
author: Charles Martin
name: Brent
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves:
review:
This is book #1 of the Awakening series.

When I haven't read a Charles Martin book in a while, I am amazed at how good a storyteller he is. This isn't his best book, but it was really enjoyable.

This is the story of Dylan and Maggie, a young couple in South Carolina expecting a baby. Things go bad for them. Their son dies at birth, and Maggie goes into a coma. The rest of the story is Dylan living with the tragedy that has come his way.

I really enjoyed the characters that come into Dylan's life after tragedy strikes. Amos, Brice, and the kids from his research and writing class he teaches at South Carolina Junior College. My favorite character was Amanda. She, too, has dealt with tragedy, but you would never know it the way she acts. Her story is inspiring.

God is always an undercurrent to all of Martin's stories. This was his first book, and it is worth the read.


]]> <![CDATA[Testimony (Kindle County, #10)]]> 31934385
At the age of fifty, former prosecutor Bill ten Boom has walked out on everything he thought was important to his law career, his wife, Kindle County, even his country. Still, when he is tapped by the International Criminal Court--an organization charged with prosecuting crimes against humanity--he feels drawn to what will become the most elusive case of his career. Over ten years ago, in the apocalyptic chaos following the Bosnian war, an entire Roma refugee camp vanished. Now for the first time, a witness has stepped Ferko Rincic claims that armed men marched the camp's Gypsy residents to a cave in the middle of the night--and then with a hand grenade set off an avalanche, burying 400 people alive. Only Ferko survived.

Boom's task is to examine Ferko's claims and determinine who might have massacred the Roma. His investigation takes him from the International Criminal Court's base in Holland to the cities and villages of Bosnia and secret meetings in Washington, DC, as Boom sorts through a host of suspects, ranging from Serb paramilitaries, to organized crime gangs, to the US government itself, while also maneuvering among the alliances and treacheries of those connected to the Layton Merriwell, a disgraced US major general desperate to salvage his reputation; Sergeant Major Atilla Doby,a vital cog in American military operations near the camp at the time of the Roma's disappearance; Laza Kajevic, the brutal former leader of the Bosnian Serbs; Esma Czarni, Ferko's alluring barrister; and of course, Ferko himself, on whose testimony the entire case rests-and who may know more than he's telling.

A master of the legal thriller, Scott Turow has returned with his most irresistibly confounding and satisfying novel yet.]]> 496 Scott Turow 1455553549 Brent 4
Turow is one of my favorite authors. I have always referred to him as the thinking man's Grisham which I am sure wouldn't please either one of them. Turow weaves a complicated tale which mimics a lot of which actually took place in Bosnia in the 1990s and the early 2000s. You have a massacre of a group of 400 gypsies which took place according to the lone survivor who is now Ten Boom's lone witness. He is assisted by another gypsy Ersma who is sexy and beguiling to Ten Boom. In fact, Bill gets it on with Ersma and Nara, the married lady who he is staying with in Denmark. His behavior didn't endear him to me and made it hard to root for him through the book.

It is a good tale which resulted in me learning about the ICC, Bosnia and the Gypsies. Learning through a good story is always a good thing.]]> 3.53 2008 Testimony (Kindle County, #10)
author: Scott Turow
name: Brent
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2017/08/05
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves:
review:
This is another book from Turow which is listed as being in his Kindle County series, although the only connection to Kindle County is the main character being originally from there. This book takes place mainly in Bosnia and Denmark at the Hague. William Ten Boom leaves his law practice in Kindle County (there you go, that is it), his family and country to move to Denmark to prosecute cases for the International Criminal Court (ICC). I learned a lot about the ICC, the Bosnian war and how in war almost anything is legal. Well, not quite but it will be tough to get you convicted even if you do something illegal.

Turow is one of my favorite authors. I have always referred to him as the thinking man's Grisham which I am sure wouldn't please either one of them. Turow weaves a complicated tale which mimics a lot of which actually took place in Bosnia in the 1990s and the early 2000s. You have a massacre of a group of 400 gypsies which took place according to the lone survivor who is now Ten Boom's lone witness. He is assisted by another gypsy Ersma who is sexy and beguiling to Ten Boom. In fact, Bill gets it on with Ersma and Nara, the married lady who he is staying with in Denmark. His behavior didn't endear him to me and made it hard to root for him through the book.

It is a good tale which resulted in me learning about the ICC, Bosnia and the Gypsies. Learning through a good story is always a good thing.
]]> <![CDATA[The End of Forever (Cassiopeia Vitt, #5)]]> 57739648
Cotton Malone.

And his life will depend on what she does next.

From the rocky coasts of northern Spain, to a medieval building site in France, and finally into Italy and the oldest surviving republic in the world, Cassiopeia must confront a devil from her past, a man obsessed with her destruction. The choices she has to make will be the toughest she’s ever faced. Life and death decisions that force her—to the end of forever.]]> 111 Steve Berry 1952457513 Brent 3
Travers, the villain from book 4, is back in this one and wants revenge against Cassiopeia. He kills her close friend, Esmerelda, and damages her castle's construction site. He also plans to kill her good friends Nicodeme and Cotton Malone before he ultimately kills Cassie. He wants to see her reaction to the bad things he does before killing her.

This novella is very predictable. The hatred Travers possesses for Cassiopeia is not fleshed out in this short book. I enjoy the Cassiopeia books, but her character is somewhat boring. We understand she is rich, beautiful, and adventurous. That is about it.]]> 4.19 2021 The End of Forever (Cassiopeia Vitt, #5)
author: Steve Berry
name: Brent
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:
This is the fifth book in Berry and Rose's Cassiopeia Vitt series. It continues from the previous book in the series, so make sure you have read that novella before you read this one.

Travers, the villain from book 4, is back in this one and wants revenge against Cassiopeia. He kills her close friend, Esmerelda, and damages her castle's construction site. He also plans to kill her good friends Nicodeme and Cotton Malone before he ultimately kills Cassie. He wants to see her reaction to the bad things he does before killing her.

This novella is very predictable. The hatred Travers possesses for Cassiopeia is not fleshed out in this short book. I enjoy the Cassiopeia books, but her character is somewhat boring. We understand she is rich, beautiful, and adventurous. That is about it.
]]> <![CDATA[Robot Santa: The Further Adventures of Santa's Twin]]> 32440 72 Dean Koontz 0060509430 Brent 3 Dean Koontz went to the well for another look.
Similar to the first one, there is rhyme.
Reading it to your kids at Christmas could be a good time.

Bob Claus has turned a new leaf; he is good.
Robot Claus he creates to help Santa it could.
Things go wrong, and deliveries are bad.
Unless things are fixed, the world will be sad.

Emily and Lottie are in this book, too.
Helping the kids avoid a day of boo hoo hoo.
I hope this isn't a spoiler, things turn out right.
Santa Claus is back in his sleigh, and to all a good night.






]]> 4.04 2004 Robot Santa: The Further Adventures of Santa's Twin
author: Dean Koontz
name: Brent
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves:
review:
In the Santa Twin series, this is the second book.
Dean Koontz went to the well for another look.
Similar to the first one, there is rhyme.
Reading it to your kids at Christmas could be a good time.

Bob Claus has turned a new leaf; he is good.
Robot Claus he creates to help Santa it could.
Things go wrong, and deliveries are bad.
Unless things are fixed, the world will be sad.

Emily and Lottie are in this book, too.
Helping the kids avoid a day of boo hoo hoo.
I hope this isn't a spoiler, things turn out right.
Santa Claus is back in his sleigh, and to all a good night.







]]> <![CDATA[The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (Hercule Poirot, #37)]]> 690146
First came a sinister warning to Poirot not to eat any plum pudding� then the discovery of a corpse in a chest� next, an overheard quarrel that led to murder� the strange case of the dead man who altered his eating habits� and the puzzle of the victim who dreamt his own suicide.

What links these five baffling cases? The little grey cells of Monsieur Hercule Poirot!]]> 304 Agatha Christie 0007121083 Brent 4
In this short story, Poirot is investigating a missing ruby that was given by a prince to a lady who disappeared with it. Poirot goes to a home in England where the thieves are going to be for Christmas.

Lots of Christmas traditions are covered, including the serving of Christmas Pudding at the Christmas dinner. I had never heard of this tradition before. Each person stirs the pudding and makes a Christmas wish. Then, each person has something within their serving of pudding that goes towards their earlier-made wish. This all goes into the discovery of the thieves and their later apprehension.

A typical Christie book with twists and turns that are all straightened out in the end. ]]> 3.79 1960 The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (Hercule Poirot, #37)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Brent
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1960
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves:
review:
This is the 37th Hercule Poirot book.

In this short story, Poirot is investigating a missing ruby that was given by a prince to a lady who disappeared with it. Poirot goes to a home in England where the thieves are going to be for Christmas.

Lots of Christmas traditions are covered, including the serving of Christmas Pudding at the Christmas dinner. I had never heard of this tradition before. Each person stirs the pudding and makes a Christmas wish. Then, each person has something within their serving of pudding that goes towards their earlier-made wish. This all goes into the discovery of the thieves and their later apprehension.

A typical Christie book with twists and turns that are all straightened out in the end.
]]> <![CDATA[Santa's Twin (Santa's Twin, #1)]]> 268565 A contemporary Christmas classic for children
of all ages -- including those who pretend to have grown up!

Charlotte and Emily are determined to save Santa from his mischievous twin -- Bob Claus -- who has not only stolen Santa's sleigh and stuffed his toy bag full of mud pies, cat poop, and broccoli, but has also threatened to turn Donner, Blitzen, and the others into reindeer soup!

How the brave but foolhardy sisters fly to the North Pole and rescue Santa from his "deeply troubled" twin is an utterly charming and unforgettable story sure to add sparkle to your holiday season.

Read it aloud, preferably to someone you love to hear laugh!

This perennial yuletide favorite was written by bestselling novelist Dean Koontz in 1996 at the request of his fans and has been pleasing readers every holiday season since. Winner of an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition while he was just a senior in college, Koontz today is a world-famous author whose books have been published in thirty-eight different languages and have sold more than three hundred million copies.

Lavishly illustrated with spectacular paintings by Phil Parks, this thoroughly modern masterpiece breathes new life and warmth into the world's most beloved legend.]]> 64 Dean Koontz 006057223X Brent 3 It has great illustrations that will bring about looks.

Koonz is an author who I enjoy.
Though this book is written for a young boy.

Santa's twin, Bob, is evil and no good.
He kidnaps Santa, and he really could.

Instead of giving good things to kids,
bad things are given, like vegetable container lids.

This book is ok, it isn't great.
But it is a book to read to your kids on Christmas Eve late.
]]> 4.00 1995 Santa's Twin (Santa's Twin, #1)
author: Dean Koontz
name: Brent
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1995
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves:
review:
This is book #1 of the Santa's Twin books.
It has great illustrations that will bring about looks.

Koonz is an author who I enjoy.
Though this book is written for a young boy.

Santa's twin, Bob, is evil and no good.
He kidnaps Santa, and he really could.

Instead of giving good things to kids,
bad things are given, like vegetable container lids.

This book is ok, it isn't great.
But it is a book to read to your kids on Christmas Eve late.

]]> <![CDATA[The House of Long Ago (Cassiopeia Vitt, #4)]]> 53507574
Also inside are fifteen paintings, each one a masterpiece, together representing an investment in the tens of millions of euros—her father’s private art collection—which she intends to donate to museums. But when an art expert declares all fifteen paintings fake, and suggests that her father may have been involved with something illegal, she embarks on a quest to find answers.

From a secret repository in Andorra, to a mysterious yacht in the Mediterranean, then finally onto the streets of Paris and a horrific reminder from World War II, Cassiopeia must battle every step of the way to stay alive—a fight that will finally bring her face to face with the truth about the House of Long Ago.]]> 114 Steve Berry 1952457041 Brent 4
I enjoyed this book more than the first three in the series. This is a novella centered on Cassiopeia's father's collection of 15 famous paintings that are now owned by Cassie as a result of her parents' death. Cassie is back in Spain with the intent of selling the home she grew up in. She also intends to give two museums the 15 famous paintings that her father collected and that she enjoyed as a child.

Cassie gets one of her friends to inspect the paintings and, shockingly, finds out they are all fakes. Cassie cannot believe this, knowing her father's knowledge of art and his love of the 15 paintings she grew up with.

Cassie begins her investigation which leads her to a secret vault in Andorra, and then to Paris as she trys to discover what happened to the original paintings and why the 15 fake paintings were in their place.]]> 4.20 2020 The House of Long Ago (Cassiopeia Vitt, #4)
author: Steve Berry
name: Brent
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves:
review:
This is the 4th book in the Cassiopeia Vitt series by Berry and Rose.

I enjoyed this book more than the first three in the series. This is a novella centered on Cassiopeia's father's collection of 15 famous paintings that are now owned by Cassie as a result of her parents' death. Cassie is back in Spain with the intent of selling the home she grew up in. She also intends to give two museums the 15 famous paintings that her father collected and that she enjoyed as a child.

Cassie gets one of her friends to inspect the paintings and, shockingly, finds out they are all fakes. Cassie cannot believe this, knowing her father's knowledge of art and his love of the 15 paintings she grew up with.

Cassie begins her investigation which leads her to a secret vault in Andorra, and then to Paris as she trys to discover what happened to the original paintings and why the 15 fake paintings were in their place.
]]> <![CDATA[The Lake of Learning (Cassiopeia Vitt, #3)]]> 46005517
Once the Cathars existed all across southern France, challenging Rome and attracting the faithful by the tens of thousands. Eventually, in 1208, the Pope declared them heretics and ordered a crusade—the first where Christians killed Christians—and thousands were slaughtered, the Cathars all but exterminated. Now a piece of that past has re-emerged, one that holds the key to the hiding place of the most precious object the Cathars possessed. And when more than one person becomes interested in that secret, in particular a thief and a billionaire, the race is on.

From the medieval walled city of Carcassonne, to the crest of mysterious Montségur, to a forgotten cavern beneath the Pyrenees, Cassiopeia is drawn deeper and deeper into a civil war between two people obsessed with revenge and murder.
]]> 144 Steve Berry 197007745X Brent 3
Cassiopeia is in the middle of constructing an authentic castle from the 13th century in south France when her workers find a gold box. The box contains a book from the 13th century written by the Cathars, a religious sect that was nearly wiped out by fellow Christians in 1208. The Pope had ordered a crusade to destroy the Cathars.

The book, which was found in the gold box, leads to a search by Cassiopeia for the treasure referred to in the book. Two competing rivals are after the book so they can find the treasure too. All three have differing reasons for wanting the treasure.

This is a treasure hunt that leads to everyone ending up at the same place at the same time. Search and then fight it out with the ending predictable.]]> 3.83 2019 The Lake of Learning (Cassiopeia Vitt, #3)
author: Steve Berry
name: Brent
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/26
date added: 2025/03/27
shelves:
review:
This is the 3rd book in the Cassiopeia Vitt series.

Cassiopeia is in the middle of constructing an authentic castle from the 13th century in south France when her workers find a gold box. The box contains a book from the 13th century written by the Cathars, a religious sect that was nearly wiped out by fellow Christians in 1208. The Pope had ordered a crusade to destroy the Cathars.

The book, which was found in the gold box, leads to a search by Cassiopeia for the treasure referred to in the book. Two competing rivals are after the book so they can find the treasure too. All three have differing reasons for wanting the treasure.

This is a treasure hunt that leads to everyone ending up at the same place at the same time. Search and then fight it out with the ending predictable.
]]> Crossroads 55881796 Jonathan Franzen's gift for wedding depth and vividness of character with breadth of social vision has never been more dazzlingly evident than in Crossroads.

It's December 23, 1971, and heavy weather is forecast for Chicago. Russ Hildebrandt, the associate pastor of a liberal suburban church, is on the brink of breaking free of a marriage he finds joyless--unless his wife, Marion, who has her own secret life, beats him to it. Their eldest child, Clem, is coming home from college on fire with moral absolutism, having taken an action that will shatter his father. Clem's sister, Becky, long the social queen of her high-school class, has sharply veered into the counterculture, while their brilliant younger brother Perry, who's been selling drugs to seventh graders, has resolved to be a better person. Each of the Hildebrandts seeks a freedom that each of the others threatens to complicate.

Jonathan Franzen's novels are celebrated for their unforgettably vivid characters and for their keen-eyed take on contemporary America. Now, in Crossroads, Franzen ventures back into the past and explores the history of two generations. With characteristic humor and complexity, and with even greater warmth, he conjures a world that resonates powerfully with our own.

A tour de force of interwoven perspectives and sustained suspense, its action largely unfolding on a single winter day, Crossroads is the story of a Midwestern family at a pivotal moment of moral crisis. Jonathan Franzen's gift for melding the small picture and the big picture has never been more dazzlingly evident.]]> 592 Jonathan Franzen 0374181179 Brent 4 first-read
This is the first book in Franzen's A Key to all Mythologies trilogy. It is the story of the Hildebrandt family and takes place in December 1971 in New Prospect, Illinois, a fictional suburb of Chicago.

Russ is the father who is an associate pastor of the Reformed Church. Russ is no longer attracted to his wife Marion. He is contemplating an affair with one of his recently widowed named Frances.

Marion also is contemplating an affair with a man from her past. You will learn about her past and all she went through before she met and married Russ.

The oldest is Clem who is in his first year of college, which he isn't enjoying. He is enjoying sex with his new girlfriend Sharon though. Despite this, he is contemplating dropping out and going to fight in Vietnam, which his parent will hate.

The second oldest is Becky who is very popular and is a senior in high school. She has found God and is planning to give up what everyone thinks is her future to do what God is calling her to do.

Next is a boy who is a freshman in high school named Perry. Perry is using and selling drugs.

The youngest kid is Judson, who is in elementary school. You don't learn much about Judson.

Crossroads has a double meaning with this book. Each of the well-drawn-out characters is facing a crossroads in life. What will their future be if they go down each path before them? Crossroads is also the Church youth group which has connections with each of the main characters from Russ leading it and facing push-back from the kids, and the kids each participating somewhat in the group.

So who is my favorite character? I would have to go with Becky. Each has things to like and dislike about them. I enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to the next in the series.
]]> 4.05 2021 Crossroads
author: Jonathan Franzen
name: Brent
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/03/23
shelves: first-read
review:
I won this book through GoodReads First Read program.

This is the first book in Franzen's A Key to all Mythologies trilogy. It is the story of the Hildebrandt family and takes place in December 1971 in New Prospect, Illinois, a fictional suburb of Chicago.

Russ is the father who is an associate pastor of the Reformed Church. Russ is no longer attracted to his wife Marion. He is contemplating an affair with one of his recently widowed named Frances.

Marion also is contemplating an affair with a man from her past. You will learn about her past and all she went through before she met and married Russ.

The oldest is Clem who is in his first year of college, which he isn't enjoying. He is enjoying sex with his new girlfriend Sharon though. Despite this, he is contemplating dropping out and going to fight in Vietnam, which his parent will hate.

The second oldest is Becky who is very popular and is a senior in high school. She has found God and is planning to give up what everyone thinks is her future to do what God is calling her to do.

Next is a boy who is a freshman in high school named Perry. Perry is using and selling drugs.

The youngest kid is Judson, who is in elementary school. You don't learn much about Judson.

Crossroads has a double meaning with this book. Each of the well-drawn-out characters is facing a crossroads in life. What will their future be if they go down each path before them? Crossroads is also the Church youth group which has connections with each of the main characters from Russ leading it and facing push-back from the kids, and the kids each participating somewhat in the group.

So who is my favorite character? I would have to go with Becky. Each has things to like and dislike about them. I enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to the next in the series.

]]> <![CDATA[Chicken Soup for the Soul: Answered Prayers: 101 Stories of Hope, Miracles, Faith, Divine Intervention, and the Power of Prayer]]> 11224114
These fascinating stories prove that God is actively involved in our lives, listening to our heartfelt hopes and needs. You will be awed by miraculous true accounts of healing, divine appointments, angels among us, signs from above, timely gifts, and other answered prayers, ]]> 384 Jack Canfield 1935096761 Brent 0 currently-reading 4.25 2011 Chicken Soup for the Soul: Answered Prayers: 101 Stories of Hope, Miracles, Faith, Divine Intervention, and the Power of Prayer
author: Jack Canfield
name: Brent
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Chicken Soup for the Christian Family Soul: Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit (Chicken Soup for the Soul)]]> 451290 406 Jack Canfield 1558747141 Brent 5
They have heartwarming stories that are Biblically based. I look forward to reading the 3-6 pages every day and often think of the story I read throughout the day.

I am always looking for something as a daily devotional and these books have filled that desire for me.]]> 3.96 2000 Chicken Soup for the Christian Family Soul: Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit (Chicken Soup for the Soul)
author: Jack Canfield
name: Brent
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/14
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves:
review:
I use these Chicken Soup books as my daily devotional.

They have heartwarming stories that are Biblically based. I look forward to reading the 3-6 pages every day and often think of the story I read throughout the day.

I am always looking for something as a daily devotional and these books have filled that desire for me.
]]> Calico Joe 13154952 A surprising and moving novel of fathers and sons, forgiveness and redemption, set in the world of Major League Baseball.

Whatever happened to Calico Joe?

When he arrived in Philadelphia, a cab delivered him to Veterans Stadium, where he was quickly fixed for a uniform, given Number 42, and hustled onto the field. The Cubs were already taking batting practice. Understandably, he was nervous, thrilled, almost bewildered, and when the manager, Whitey Lockman, said, "Get loose. You're starting at first and hitting seventh," Joe Castle had trouble gripping his brand-new bat. In his first round of major-league batting practice, he swung at the first two pitches and missed.

He would not miss again for a long time.

In the summer of 1973 Joe Castle was the boy wonder of baseball, the greatest rookie anyone had ever seen. The kid from Calico Rock, Arkansas, dazzled Cub fans as he hit home run after home run, politely tipping his hat to the crowd as he shattered all rookie records.

Calico Joe quickly became the idol of every baseball fan in America, including Paul Tracey, the young son of a hard-partying and hard-throwing Mets pitcher. On the day that Warren Tracey finally faced Calico Joe, Paul was in the stands, rooting for his idol but also for his dad. Then Warren threw a fastball that would change their lives forever.

In John Grisham’s new novel the baseball is thrilling, but it’s what happens off the field that makes Calico Joe a classic.]]> 198 John Grisham 0385536070 Brent 5 favorites
Calico Joe Castle is a rookie who joined the Chicago Cubs in July of 1973 and is on fire. Joe is from Calico Rock, Arkansas, which is how he gets his nickname. Paul Tracey is an 11-year-old fan. Paul's father, Warren, is the fifth starter for the New York Mets and he is barely hanging on to his j0b. Warren is also a horrible father and husband. He thinks only about himself and is cheating on his wife every chance he can get.

Warren faces Calico Joe Castle in a game and after Castle homers off Warren, Warren throws at his head. The ball hits Joe in the face and he is taken to the hospital. Paul, who is at the game, knows his dad threw at Castle intentionally.

Paul hated Warren due to a lot of things you learn about in the book. However, to intentionally hit his hero in the face with a baseball sends that hatred to another level. Warren leaves his family after the Mets kick him to the curb.

Years later Paul travels to Arkansas and Florida to see if his father will meet with Castle and apologize. Will Castle even agree to a meeting is another issue Paul has to deal with.

This is a great story by a great author.
]]> 3.81 2012 Calico Joe
author: John Grisham
name: Brent
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/08
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: favorites
review:
I enjoy Grisham and am a big baseball fan so this book was right up my alley.

Calico Joe Castle is a rookie who joined the Chicago Cubs in July of 1973 and is on fire. Joe is from Calico Rock, Arkansas, which is how he gets his nickname. Paul Tracey is an 11-year-old fan. Paul's father, Warren, is the fifth starter for the New York Mets and he is barely hanging on to his j0b. Warren is also a horrible father and husband. He thinks only about himself and is cheating on his wife every chance he can get.

Warren faces Calico Joe Castle in a game and after Castle homers off Warren, Warren throws at his head. The ball hits Joe in the face and he is taken to the hospital. Paul, who is at the game, knows his dad threw at Castle intentionally.

Paul hated Warren due to a lot of things you learn about in the book. However, to intentionally hit his hero in the face with a baseball sends that hatred to another level. Warren leaves his family after the Mets kick him to the curb.

Years later Paul travels to Arkansas and Florida to see if his father will meet with Castle and apologize. Will Castle even agree to a meeting is another issue Paul has to deal with.

This is a great story by a great author.

]]> <![CDATA[Seven Things You Can't Say About China]]> 216670100 Senator Tom Cotton offers an unflinching look at the deadly threat of Communist China and reveals the truth about America’s most dangerous enemy. �

“As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I’m often asked if the threat from China is as bad as it seems. My answer is no—it’s worse than you can imagine.�

ĚýSeven Things You Can’t Say About China is Tom Cotton’s provocative exposĂ© about the gravest threat to American freedom. The media, Hollywood, academia, Wall Street, and most politicians can’t—or won’t—speak the truth about China. But Senator Cotton will, because America needs to know.

ĚýIn this hard-hitting book, he reveals what others refuse to say,

The inside story—drawn from his intelligence and national-security experience and knowledge—on how deeply the Chinese Communist Party has infiltrated America.How China persecutes Christians and commits genocide against religious and ethnic minorities.The alarming rise of China’s armed forces and nuclear arsenal, which will soon rival our own.The danger our children face from China’s influence on Hollywood, the NBA, TikTok, and so much more.How China lied, stole, and cheated its way to wealth while devastating America’s workers and businesses.ĚýSeven Things You Can’t Say About China sounds the alarm about Communist China’s carefully crafted plans to defeat America in the coming decade—and what we must do to fight back.]]> 208 Tom Cotton 0063392305 Brent 5 3.46 Seven Things You Can't Say About China
author: Tom Cotton
name: Brent
average rating: 3.46
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/10
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves:
review:
If you have read the book you will know why I have not given a lengthy review.......
]]> <![CDATA[Adventures in the Louvre: How to Fall in Love with the World's Greatest Museum]]> 213395444 A former New York Times Paris bureau chief explores the Louvre, offering an intimate journey of discovery and revelation.


The Louvre is the most famous museum in the world, attracting millions of visitors every year with its masterpieces. In Adventures in the Louvre, Elaine Sciolino immerses herself in this magical space and helps us fall in love with what was once a forbidding fortress.


Exploring galleries, basements, rooftops, and gardens, Sciolino demystifies the Louvre, introducing us to her favorite artworks, both legendary and overlooked, and to the people who are the museum’s the curators, the artisans producing frames and engravings, the builders overseeing restorations, the firefighters protecting the aging structure.


Blending investigative journalism, travelogue, history, and memoir, Sciolino walks her readers through the museum’s front gates and immerses them in its irresistible, engrossing world of beauty and culture. Adventures in the Louvre reveals the secrets of this grand monument of Paris and basks in its timeless, seductive power.]]> 384 Elaine Sciolino 1324021403 Brent 0 first-read, to-read 4.33 Adventures in the Louvre: How to Fall in Love with the World's Greatest Museum
author: Elaine Sciolino
name: Brent
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/09
shelves: first-read, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Medici Return (Cotton Malone, #19)]]> 214175230 From celebrated New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry comes the latest installment in his wildly popular Cotton Malone series --- an adventure that takes Cotton to Italy and Tuscany to solve a five hundred year old mystery.
Ěý
Cotton Malone is on the hunt for a forgotten 16th century Pledge of Christ â€� a sworn promise made by Pope Julius II that evidences a monetary debt owed by the Vatican, still valid after five centuries, now worth in the trillions of dollars. ĚýBut collecting that debt centers around what happened to the famed Medici of Florence â€� a family that history says died out, without heirs, centuries ago.Ěý Two more things also hang in the balance. ĚýWho will become the next prime minister of Italy, and who will be the next pope. ĚýFinding answers to all three proves difficult until Cotton realizes that everything hinges on when, and if, the Medici return.]]> 403 Steve Berry 1538770563 Brent 3
This is one of those books where the character I was rooting for from the get-go is killed at the end. I won't say who this is but I was disappointed that the book ended this way. I am sure Berry didn't create this character to be the rooting interest hero, and they might not be to everyone, but all this character stood for put them on my radar.

In the 16th century, the Pope needed money so he took a loan from the Medici family. This loan was never paid back and the Medici family appeared to have died out. Now a possible heir steps forward and says he has proof that he is a living heir of the Medici family and he wants one of two things: the money plus interest (large amount) or endorsement from the Vatican in the alleged heirs run for political office in Italy.

The number two man at the Vatican wants to stop this and put himself in position to become the Pope when the Pope steps down. Lots ov Vatican politics.

Into this steps Cotton who is out to find out what is going on at the Vatican and if the 16th Century pledge made by the Pope is enforceable.

Struggled to get through this and was disappointed with the ending.]]> 3.97 2025 The Medici Return (Cotton Malone, #19)
author: Steve Berry
name: Brent
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/07
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves:
review:
This is the 19th book of the Cotton Malone series.

This is one of those books where the character I was rooting for from the get-go is killed at the end. I won't say who this is but I was disappointed that the book ended this way. I am sure Berry didn't create this character to be the rooting interest hero, and they might not be to everyone, but all this character stood for put them on my radar.

In the 16th century, the Pope needed money so he took a loan from the Medici family. This loan was never paid back and the Medici family appeared to have died out. Now a possible heir steps forward and says he has proof that he is a living heir of the Medici family and he wants one of two things: the money plus interest (large amount) or endorsement from the Vatican in the alleged heirs run for political office in Italy.

The number two man at the Vatican wants to stop this and put himself in position to become the Pope when the Pope steps down. Lots ov Vatican politics.

Into this steps Cotton who is out to find out what is going on at the Vatican and if the 16th Century pledge made by the Pope is enforceable.

Struggled to get through this and was disappointed with the ending.
]]> <![CDATA[A Wrestling Life 2: More Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable]]> 32332620
Through stories funny, heartfelt, intense, and always engaging, Gable shares more about the life he has lead and what can be learned from those experiences. He goes on to detail what have come to be known as the Gable Trained principles that he follows to keep his life full of “wins,� the revelations about how to cultivate success at the highest levels, and the reasons behind these steps for living well.

A Wrestling Life spent two months on the New York Times sports bestseller list, and has become an instant classic of sports memoirs. A Wrestling Life 2 is sure to add to Gable’s ever-growing legacy and entertain and inspire wrestling fans everywhere.Ěý
Ěý]]> 195 Dan Gable 1609384849 Brent 4
I was a one-year, bad wrestler in an Iowa high school. I grew up knowing who Dan Gable was and what he did for the sport of wrestling in Iowa, nationally, and internationally. Dan gives you a glimpse of what it was like coaching at Iowa and internationally. I enjoyed his stories about various wrestlers that he had wrestle at Iowa and the struggles and successes they had on the mat.

I would have liked to see the two books combined into one and I would have preferred them to tell his story chronologically. The stories about Dan are all over the place. Organization was a key for Dan throughout his career. Not here, however.]]> 3.93 A Wrestling Life 2: More Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable
author: Dan Gable
name: Brent
average rating: 3.93
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/26
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves:
review:
This is the 2nd book that Gable put together with a co-author setting out snippets of his high school, college, and international wrestling career; and his college and international coaching career. I enjoyed the first book more than the second, although I gave them both 4 stars.

I was a one-year, bad wrestler in an Iowa high school. I grew up knowing who Dan Gable was and what he did for the sport of wrestling in Iowa, nationally, and internationally. Dan gives you a glimpse of what it was like coaching at Iowa and internationally. I enjoyed his stories about various wrestlers that he had wrestle at Iowa and the struggles and successes they had on the mat.

I would have liked to see the two books combined into one and I would have preferred them to tell his story chronologically. The stories about Dan are all over the place. Organization was a key for Dan throughout his career. Not here, however.
]]> <![CDATA[Presumed Guilty (Presumed Innocent #3)]]> 213890792 New from the author of Presumed Innocent, the #1 bestseller that redefined the legal thriller and is the basis for Apple TV+’s most-watched drama series ever.

Rusty is a retired judge attempting a third act in life with a loving soon-to-be wife, Bea, with whom he shares both a restful home on an idyllic lake in the rural Midwest and a plaintive hope that this marriage will be his best, and his last. But the peace that’s taken Rusty so long to find evaporates when Bea’s young adult son, Aaron, living under their supervision while on probation for drug possession, disappears. If Aaron doesn’t return soon, he will be sent back to jail.

Aaron eventually turns up with a vague story about a camping trip with his troubled girlfriend, Mae, that ended in a fight and a long hitchhike home. Days later, when she still hasn’t returned, suspicion falls on Aaron, and when Mae is subsequently discovered dead, Aaron is arrested and set for trial on charges of first degree murder.

Faced with few choices and even fewer hopes, Bea begs Rusty to return to court one last time, to defend her son and to save their last best hope for happiness. For Rusty, the question is not whether to defend Aaron, or whether the boy is in fact innocent—it’s whether the system to which he has devoted his life can ever provide true justice for those who are presumed guilty.]]> 544 Scott Turow 1538706369 Brent 5 favorites
This book goes forward to Rusty being in his 70s, retired, and handling a few cases now and then as an arbitrator. His love life has changed too. He lives with Bea and her son Aaron, a twenty-two-year-old African-American who Bea and her former husband adopted as a baby. Rusty and Bea are engaged to be married.

Aaron has had an on-and-off relationship since he was a young man with Mae Potter, the daughter of the county prosecuting attorney and granddaughter of a retired appeals court judge. Mae is white and she has had a lot of issues growing up. Aaron has used drugs in the past and has served time in prison as a result. Aaron has allegedly gotten over his addiction.

After Aaron and Mae go away to contemplate their future together, Aaron returns by himself. Mae is later found dead and Aaron is accused of murdering Mae. Rusty agrees to represent Aaron in the murder trial that puts not only Aaron's future at stake but Rusty's relationships with many people, including Bea, at stake.

Turow takes you through each aspect of the trial until a verdict is reached by the jury. There are twists and trial strategies that make this book special. Turow is one of the best.]]> 4.22 2025 Presumed Guilty (Presumed Innocent #3)
author: Scott Turow
name: Brent
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/22
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: favorites
review:
This is the 3rd book from the Presumed Innocent series starring Rusty Sabich. Presumed Innocent brought Turow to the forefront of courtroom thrillers with an awesome twist. Innocent fast-forwarded to Sabich on the bench and dealt with the death of his wife Barbara.

This book goes forward to Rusty being in his 70s, retired, and handling a few cases now and then as an arbitrator. His love life has changed too. He lives with Bea and her son Aaron, a twenty-two-year-old African-American who Bea and her former husband adopted as a baby. Rusty and Bea are engaged to be married.

Aaron has had an on-and-off relationship since he was a young man with Mae Potter, the daughter of the county prosecuting attorney and granddaughter of a retired appeals court judge. Mae is white and she has had a lot of issues growing up. Aaron has used drugs in the past and has served time in prison as a result. Aaron has allegedly gotten over his addiction.

After Aaron and Mae go away to contemplate their future together, Aaron returns by himself. Mae is later found dead and Aaron is accused of murdering Mae. Rusty agrees to represent Aaron in the murder trial that puts not only Aaron's future at stake but Rusty's relationships with many people, including Bea, at stake.

Turow takes you through each aspect of the trial until a verdict is reached by the jury. There are twists and trial strategies that make this book special. Turow is one of the best.
]]> <![CDATA[Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back]]> 4855030
BEYOND BELIEF details the events that led up to the derailment. Josh explains how a young man destined for fame and wealth could allow his life to be taken over by drugs and alcohol. But it is also the memoir of a spiritual journey that breaks through pain and heartbreak and leads to the rebirth of his major-league career.

Josh Hamilton makes no excuses and places no blame on anyone other than himself. He takes responsibility for his poor decisions and believes his story can help millions who battle the same demons. "I have been given a platform to tell my story" he says. "I pray every night I am a good messenger."]]> 272 Josh Hamilton 1599951614 Brent 5
This well-written book is just volume one of his life. Following the 2009 season, Josh excelled in baseball and eventually signed a multi-year mega contract with the Angels. Then things went bad again. Josh was injured, his production fell off, he relapsed with his drug addiction, he and his wife Katie got divorced, and he was charged with physically attacking one of his three daughters. None of this is in the book. I hope Josh turns to Jesus again and can turn his life around again.

This book gives you a front-row seat to drug addiction. These are the things drug addicts will do just to get the high they long for. Josh also shows you the path out of it. It isn't an easy path and there are struggles even as a Christian, but it does work.]]> 4.26 2008 Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back
author: Josh Hamilton
name: Brent
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves:
review:
I love God and baseball. This is the story of Josh Hamilton, an incredible baseball player, who was derailed at various times in his life by cocaine and crack. Josh nearly threw his baseball career and his life away because of his addiction to drugs. Josh hit the bottom and turned to Jesus who was in his life throughout to take control of his life and help him overcome his addiction.

This well-written book is just volume one of his life. Following the 2009 season, Josh excelled in baseball and eventually signed a multi-year mega contract with the Angels. Then things went bad again. Josh was injured, his production fell off, he relapsed with his drug addiction, he and his wife Katie got divorced, and he was charged with physically attacking one of his three daughters. None of this is in the book. I hope Josh turns to Jesus again and can turn his life around again.

This book gives you a front-row seat to drug addiction. These are the things drug addicts will do just to get the high they long for. Josh also shows you the path out of it. It isn't an easy path and there are struggles even as a Christian, but it does work.
]]> <![CDATA[The Thirteen Problems (Miss Marple, #0.5)]]> 31309
Pit your wits against the powers of deduction of the â€Tuesday Night Clubâ€�. But don't forget that Miss Marple is present. Sometime later, many of the same people are present at a dinner given by Colonel and Dolly Bantry. Another set of six problems. Even later there's a thirteenth. Can you match Miss Marple's performance?

The 13 stories are: 1. The Tuesday Night Club, 2. The Idol House of Astarte, 3. Ingots of Gold, 4. The Bloodstained Pavement, 5. Motive v. Opportunity, 6. The Thumbmark of St. Peter, 7. The Blue Geranium, 8. The Companion, 9. The Four Suspects, 10. A Christmas Tragedy, 11. The Herb of Death, 12. The Affair at the Bungalow, and 13. Death by Drowning.

Librarian's note: this entry is for the collection of short stories, "The Thirteen Problems." Entries for each of the stories are located elsewhere in Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ. There are 12 Miss Marple novels and 20 short stories, thirteen of which are in this collection. The 20 short stories about Miss M can be found by searching Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ for: "a Miss Marple Short Story."]]> 315 Agatha Christie 0007120869 Brent 3 3.98 1932 The Thirteen Problems (Miss Marple, #0.5)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Brent
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1932
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Museum of Mysteries (Cassiopeia Vitt, #2)]]> 40512725 114 Steve Berry 1948050676 Brent 3
This novella (100 pages) focuses on Cassiopeia Vitt and her mission to get back the Sabbat Box and its contents for her friend who runs a store in Eze, France. Cassiopeia chases down the thief and finds that inside the box are vials of liquids. She opens one and takes a whiff. She then can dream of a prior life.

The battle for the box includes two brothers and a race for the presidency of France. There is also erotica and fantasy contained in the story. I am not a fan of either but if that is in your bailiwick you will enjoy this.

Legendary King Arthur, Lancelot, Gwenevere and Merlin are involved too.]]> 3.63 2018 The Museum of Mysteries (Cassiopeia Vitt, #2)
author: Steve Berry
name: Brent
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/09
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves:
review:
This is the 2nd book in the Cassiopeia Vitt series.

This novella (100 pages) focuses on Cassiopeia Vitt and her mission to get back the Sabbat Box and its contents for her friend who runs a store in Eze, France. Cassiopeia chases down the thief and finds that inside the box are vials of liquids. She opens one and takes a whiff. She then can dream of a prior life.

The battle for the box includes two brothers and a race for the presidency of France. There is also erotica and fantasy contained in the story. I am not a fan of either but if that is in your bailiwick you will enjoy this.

Legendary King Arthur, Lancelot, Gwenevere and Merlin are involved too.
]]> <![CDATA[Christian Yelich: The Inspiring Story of One of Baseball's All-Star Left Fielders (Baseball Biography Books)]]> 59940125 Read on your PC, Mac, smartphone, tablet or Kindle device! One of many riveting reads in the Baseball Biography Books series by Clayton Geoffreys.

In Christian The Inspiring Story of One of Baseball's All-Star Left Fielders, you will learn the story of one of baseball's best left fielders, Christian Yelich. Christian Yelich has accomplished a lot in his baseball career to date. From winning a Gold Glove Award in 2014 to then receiving the Silver Slugger Award in 2016, 2018 and 2019, and then the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award in 2018, Yelich is considered one of the best sluggers to play the game in recent years.

A two-time All-Star at the time of this writing, Yelich is consistently one of the biggest offensive threats his opponents must face.

Pick up this unauthorized baseball biography today to learn the inspiring story behind baseball star, Christian Yelich! This is the perfect baseball chapter book for sports fans of all ages.

This baseball book explores what makes Christian Yelich great, and what we can learn from his hard work.

Here is a preview of what is inside this Christian Yelich 1: Childhood and Early LifeChapter 2: High School CareerChapter 3: Yelich Goes The Miami Marlins� Minor League Player of the Year 2011-12Chapter 4: 2013 MLB Debut and First Seasons in MiamiChapter 5: A Team TragedyChapter 6: Farewell, MiamiChapter 7: What a Difference a Year The 2018 N.L. MVPChapter 8: 2019: Can He Do It Again?Chapter 9: Struggles in 2020 and 2021Chapter 10: Personal LifeChapter 11: Legacy and FutureAn excerpt from this Christian Yelich Christian Yelich’s professional career began in Miami when the Marlins drafted him out of high school in the first round of the 2010 MLB draft. He then raced through the Minor Leagues, establishing himself as one of the game’s up-and-coming players before making his Major League debut in 2013. During his first few seasons as a Major-Leaguer, he won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger Award before being traded to the Brewers before the 2018 season.

It was there in Milwaukee that his career took a fascinating turn. He was previously considered a player who »ĺľ±»ĺ˛Ô’t have the home-run hitting ability to be an MVP. But in his first year in Milwaukee, he established career-highs across the board while capturing the NL MVP following a scintillating finish to the season. His performance that year was one of the best that Brewers fans had witnessed in a long time. He also led them to the playoffs, where they fell just one game short of their first World Series appearance in nearly forty years.

His ascension to one of the game’s greatest players was a unique study of player progression, one which not too many people saw coming. But the idea of improving as a player was something that he had always believed in, “You really just try to grow as a player all the time and get better. What you are in your first few years doesn’t necessarily mean that’s going to be what you are in your career,� Yelich said of this. His MVP award in 2018 is a testament to his belief that excellence happens over time through steadfast dedication. Another element to his success is his extraordinary humility.]]> 65 Clayton Geoffreys Brent 2 4.44 Christian Yelich: The Inspiring Story of One of Baseball's All-Star Left Fielders (Baseball Biography Books)
author: Clayton Geoffreys
name: Brent
average rating: 4.44
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/08
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves:
review:
I love baseball and follow my team and the players who are stars in the league. I was disappointed by this book though. In this short book, you learn nothing about Christian Yelich that you wouldn't get from reading the newspaper and casually following the sport. There is a chapter on Yelich's personal life but even this short chapter contains nothing that the casual fan doesn't know. I would be shocked to learn that the author had even interviewed Yelich. He read about him and reported how he did each year and that is it.
]]> <![CDATA[Chris Crossed Murder (A Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery Book 4)]]> 77862596 "For the whodunit mystery buff who loves ever-increasing suspense and danger, Lauren Carr's newest series offers up a big dose of both." - 5-Star Review of ICE (a Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery / Book 1) at Blooming with Books

It proves to be a Christmas to remember when Chris Matheson’s body is discovered in the woods near an international airport.

Everyone is stunned—especially Chris Matheson.

The mystery deepens when they discover the victim has Chris’s federal agent badge and appears to have been investigating one of his old cases.

The Geezer Squad’s latest case is not only a whodunit but who-got-dun. Is this a case of mistaken identity? Was Chris the intended victim? If not, then they must identify the murder victim to find his killer.

With Christmas days away, join the Chris Matheson and the Geezer Squad as they race to piece together the clues to their most puzzling case yet.]]> 424 Lauren Carr Brent 3
Let's start with the good. I enjoyed the minor separate story of someone attempting to kill Chris This involves more of his personal life and does not have much, if anything to do with the main story. I think the Mafia is a lazy fallback that too many authors use but it was still a good story.

The main story was once again a convoluted mess with many open ends that weren't tied up until the last three pages of the epilogue. Carr values twists and turns in her story more than a story someone can relate to. I enjoy twists and turns that you don't see coming in a story but this is overly done in this book.

A mutilated body is found in the trees close to Dulles with the ID of Chris Matheson on it. Funny but Chris isn't dead. What is the connection? The reader is taken back to a group of women who pull off large heists and kill as needed for fun. The first victim appears to be one of their own, a girl named Sky Bennett, who was living with them and was the lead actress in a movie they were all a part of.

Much to enjoy but also much to roll your eyes at with this one.
]]> 4.65 2023 Chris Crossed Murder (A Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery Book 4)
author: Lauren Carr
name: Brent
average rating: 4.65
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/08
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves:
review:
This is the 4th book from the Chris Matheson series.

Let's start with the good. I enjoyed the minor separate story of someone attempting to kill Chris This involves more of his personal life and does not have much, if anything to do with the main story. I think the Mafia is a lazy fallback that too many authors use but it was still a good story.

The main story was once again a convoluted mess with many open ends that weren't tied up until the last three pages of the epilogue. Carr values twists and turns in her story more than a story someone can relate to. I enjoy twists and turns that you don't see coming in a story but this is overly done in this book.

A mutilated body is found in the trees close to Dulles with the ID of Chris Matheson on it. Funny but Chris isn't dead. What is the connection? The reader is taken back to a group of women who pull off large heists and kill as needed for fun. The first victim appears to be one of their own, a girl named Sky Bennett, who was living with them and was the lead actress in a movie they were all a part of.

Much to enjoy but also much to roll your eyes at with this one.

]]> <![CDATA[Murder in an Irish Garden (An Irish Village Mystery, #11)]]> 213870654 Everything’s coming up roses for garda Siobhán and the rest of O’Sullivan family in quaint Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland—until a murder investigation blooms out of a deadly gardening competition.

While Siobhán studies for her Detective Sargeant exams, her brother, Eoin, prepares for the grand opening of his new restaurant, The O’Sullivan Six, and concocts a plan to enter Kilbane’s Top Garden Contest to boost business. But trouble brews when Eoin hires a mercurial landscape designer known for her killer designs. His new partner’s unflattering reputation and questionable practices nearly eclipse her talents—and plunge the prestigious competition into chaos.

A lush and intricate winning garden emerges from the controversy, with a spectacular golden statue in the center of the display. But in a devastating twist, the work of art leads to the shocking discovery of a bold and brutal work of murder.

Everyone in town has an opinion about who committed the crime and planted the evidence, from easily bribed sponsors to green-with-envy gardeners. And with another golden statue found in Eoin’s garden display, rumors about his involvement intensify. As local gossip buzzes and a list of suspects grows, it’s up to quick-witted Siobhán and her husband, Macdara, to suss out the guilty culprit’s identity . . . before the competition buries another victim.
Ěý]]> 304 Carlene O'Connor 1496744454 Brent 0 to-read, first-read 4.16 Murder in an Irish Garden (An Irish Village Mystery, #11)
author: Carlene O'Connor
name: Brent
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves: to-read, first-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Balkan Escape (Cassiopeia Vitt, #1)]]> 8260909 20 Steve Berry 0345525175 Brent 3 3.67 2010 The Balkan Escape (Cassiopeia Vitt, #1)
author: Steve Berry
name: Brent
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[And God Said, "Play Ball!": Amusing and Thought-provoking Parallels Between the Bible and Baseball]]> 284893
The author has been a baseball fan for more than forty years and a Catholic a lot longer than that. He has played, coached, watched, or taught baseball since he was seven years old. He is very active in lay ministry and catechetics at his Catholic parish in Seattle, and has found both the Bible and baseball to be among the greatest teachers in his life.
This book includes 8 pages of timeless photographs. You won't find a more inspiring gift for that baseball player in your life--of whatever age--or that fan in front of your TV!

Paperback


PDF Samples]]> 192 Gary Graf 0764814753 Brent 4
This is a cute little book that stretches to make the comparison between Christianity and baseball. The book is broken down into innings with a top and bottom of a 9-inning game set out for the reader. Each half-inning looks to a topic setting out how the Bible addresses it and also how baseball has addressed it over the years. There will be nothing new to those who are baseball fans and know the Bible. Graf makes large stretches to reach the conclusions he sets out but it is entertaining.

It is nice to read in the dead of winter, looking forward to spring training and God's favorite sport starting up again.

I am not Catholic, which Graf is, but that didn't take away my enjoyment of the book.]]> 3.58 2005 And God Said, "Play Ball!": Amusing and Thought-provoking Parallels Between the Bible and Baseball
author: Gary Graf
name: Brent
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/31
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:
I am a big fan of both God and baseball.

This is a cute little book that stretches to make the comparison between Christianity and baseball. The book is broken down into innings with a top and bottom of a 9-inning game set out for the reader. Each half-inning looks to a topic setting out how the Bible addresses it and also how baseball has addressed it over the years. There will be nothing new to those who are baseball fans and know the Bible. Graf makes large stretches to reach the conclusions he sets out but it is entertaining.

It is nice to read in the dead of winter, looking forward to spring training and God's favorite sport starting up again.

I am not Catholic, which Graf is, but that didn't take away my enjoyment of the book.
]]> <![CDATA[The Last Thing She Said (A Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery Book 3)]]> 46155213
For decades, the writer’s fate remained a puzzling mystery until an autographed novel and a letter put a grown-up Chris Matheson on the trail of a cunning killer. With the help of a team of fellow retired law enforcement officers, each a specialist in their own field of investigation, Chris puts a flame to this cold case to uncover what had really happened that night Mercedes Livingston walked out of Hill House Hotel. Watch out! The clues are getting hot!]]> 383 Lauren Carr Brent 4
This is a cold case that Chris Mateson works to solve with the help of other characters from Carr's series including Mac Farraday, Robin Spencer, Archie Monday, Joshua Thornton, and Cameron Gates. They all work with Chris to find out what happened to Mercedes Livingston, a rising author, and her husband George, who was a corporate VP. They disappeared after it was believed they were kidnapped. A $500,000 ransom was paid but to no avail. George's body was eventually found but Mercedes never was.

Mercedes had written one novel, The Last Thing She Said, which was based on the murder of her college roommate, Lacey Woodhouse. Who killed Lacey? Did that have anything to do with George and Mercedes disappearing?

I enjoyed the story. There are a lot of characters, the plot is complex, and there are twists and turns. An enjoyable story with a few editing errors. The baseball cap one of the characters is wearing is referred to as a Washington Orioles cap. The other two times the cap is mentioned they get it right, it is a Baltimore Oriole cap. The other error I discovered was Sterling is once referred to as the mayor of Spencer when it is Gnarly who is the mayor.

Fun read but read it when you have time to knock out big chunks.
]]> 4.59 2019 The Last Thing She Said (A Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery Book 3)
author: Lauren Carr
name: Brent
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/29
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:
This is the 3rd book from the Chris Matheson Cold Case series.

This is a cold case that Chris Mateson works to solve with the help of other characters from Carr's series including Mac Farraday, Robin Spencer, Archie Monday, Joshua Thornton, and Cameron Gates. They all work with Chris to find out what happened to Mercedes Livingston, a rising author, and her husband George, who was a corporate VP. They disappeared after it was believed they were kidnapped. A $500,000 ransom was paid but to no avail. George's body was eventually found but Mercedes never was.

Mercedes had written one novel, The Last Thing She Said, which was based on the murder of her college roommate, Lacey Woodhouse. Who killed Lacey? Did that have anything to do with George and Mercedes disappearing?

I enjoyed the story. There are a lot of characters, the plot is complex, and there are twists and turns. An enjoyable story with a few editing errors. The baseball cap one of the characters is wearing is referred to as a Washington Orioles cap. The other two times the cap is mentioned they get it right, it is a Baltimore Oriole cap. The other error I discovered was Sterling is once referred to as the mayor of Spencer when it is Gnarly who is the mayor.

Fun read but read it when you have time to knock out big chunks.

]]> <![CDATA[A Wrestling Life: The Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable]]> 23280858
Whether we are athletes or not, we all dream of extreme success and are all looking to make our future the best it can be, but along the way we will undoubtedly need time to recover and rejuvenate. Let these stories inspire you to find your path to strength and achievement along whatever path you take.]]> 176 Dan Gable 1609383400 Brent 4
This is a book chock full of stories from Dan Gable's life growing up in Waterloo and becoming an incredible wrestler at Iowa State University, eventually becoming the head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa. The stories tell about Gable's work to become a great wrestler and coach. They also show the work he put into his character to become who he is.

This book will entertain those who don't wrestle or like wrestling. These stories are what shaped the man who is a great person.]]> 4.11 2015 A Wrestling Life: The Inspiring Stories of Dan Gable
author: Dan Gable
name: Brent
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/23
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:
I grew up in Iowa just north of Iowa State and went to law school at the University of Iowa in the late 1980s during Gable's prime as a coach for the Iowa Hawkeye wrestlers. I even wrestled my junior year in high school after four years of basketball in which I didn't grow an inch and couldn't dribble to save my life. They needed someone to wrestle at my weight so I thought, what the heck, I will give it a shot. Thus, I know how much work wrestling is and what it means in Iowa.

This is a book chock full of stories from Dan Gable's life growing up in Waterloo and becoming an incredible wrestler at Iowa State University, eventually becoming the head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa. The stories tell about Gable's work to become a great wrestler and coach. They also show the work he put into his character to become who he is.

This book will entertain those who don't wrestle or like wrestling. These stories are what shaped the man who is a great person.
]]> <![CDATA[Winter Frost (Chris Matheson Cold Case, #2)]]> 43272037
Chris Matheson and the Geezer Squad, working under the guise of a book club, dig into the events surrounding his late wife’s supposed death halfway around the globe. A state department employee shoots himself in the back three times. A CIA operative goes missing. A woman is targeted by an international assassin three years after being declared dead in a terrorist attack overseas.

Nothing is as it seems.

In his most personal cold case, Chris fights to uncover why the state department told him that Blair, the mother of his children, had been killed when she was alive. What had she uncovered that has made her a target? Who terrified her so much that she had gone into hiding and why are they now after him?]]> 290 Lauren Carr Brent 3
Blair Matheson, Chris' wife is dead. No, she is alive. Nope, dead.

This book starts with Chris seeing Blair at a Metro stop in Northern Virginia. I live in Alexandria so it is fun to know the places that are talked about in the story. This is a surprise because in the first book of the series, we learned that Blair had been killed by an assassin in Europe 7 years ago leaving Chris and his three young daughters to fend without her. An assassin tries to kill Blair right in front of Chris. Chris is able to kill the assassin but Blair is quickly gone on the Metro.

This book is about Chris trying to find out if Blair is alive and why she has hidden for the past few years. In the background is the upcoming confirmation hearing for Daniel Cross to be head of the CIA. Blair had worked with Cross and she didn't care for him.

A good story with lots of twists and turns. The problem is there were also many edit mistakes. A couple I can ignore but there are multiple here. That resulted in the rating. Come on Ms. Carr. You are better than this.]]> 4.59 2019 Winter Frost (Chris Matheson Cold Case, #2)
author: Lauren Carr
name: Brent
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/21
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves:
review:
This is the 2nd book from the Chris Matheson Cold Case series.

Blair Matheson, Chris' wife is dead. No, she is alive. Nope, dead.

This book starts with Chris seeing Blair at a Metro stop in Northern Virginia. I live in Alexandria so it is fun to know the places that are talked about in the story. This is a surprise because in the first book of the series, we learned that Blair had been killed by an assassin in Europe 7 years ago leaving Chris and his three young daughters to fend without her. An assassin tries to kill Blair right in front of Chris. Chris is able to kill the assassin but Blair is quickly gone on the Metro.

This book is about Chris trying to find out if Blair is alive and why she has hidden for the past few years. In the background is the upcoming confirmation hearing for Daniel Cross to be head of the CIA. Blair had worked with Cross and she didn't care for him.

A good story with lots of twists and turns. The problem is there were also many edit mistakes. A couple I can ignore but there are multiple here. That resulted in the rating. Come on Ms. Carr. You are better than this.
]]> A Perfect Day 199798 Ěý
Robert Harlan has three loves in his wife, his daughter, and his writing. But when his thirst for success causes him to lose focus on his family life, it takes a few more missteps—and finally, a stranger with a mysterious message about the brevity of his future—before he discovers the truth about who he has become, what he has lost, and what it will take to find love again...

â€� A Perfect Day examines love, relationships and self-awareness...This well-written story spans the range of emotions from joy to sorrow and grief.”â€� The Sunday OklahomanĚý]]> 352 Richard Paul Evans 0451213262 Brent 3
I have debated with friends whether or not you would like to know when you are going to die. I am in the knowledge camp. I have no issues with dying (not a fan of pain though) and would like to know so I could make everything right, whatever that means.

Robert Harlan is told when he will die by a stranger who Rob thinks is an angel. After getting fired from a job Rob didn't like (being there, doing that), he decides to spend the time finishing writing the novel he has been working on sporadically for four years. The book is called "A Perfect Day" and it focuses on the true story of his wife, Allyson's last few months with her father who after calling Ally to Oregon and spending a great day together, informs her that he has terminal cancer.

Rob finishes the book and then he does all the work to get it published and promoted. After spending all his time on the road promoting the book, it becomes #1 and Rob becomes famous. There is an effect on his relationship with his wife and their daughter Carson. With the knowledge he only has limited time left, Rob tries to correct the problems he has caused as a result of his fame.

RPE gives us a glimpse into the life of a popular author. It isn't what I imagined. Even the description of the promotion that is needed leads most to think "I could do that for the fame." It is hard to picture famous people dealing with problems.

Great book until the end...........
]]> 4.00 2003 A Perfect Day
author: Richard Paul Evans
name: Brent
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/13
shelves:
review:
I enjoy the stories RPE writes. He is a master at storytelling. However, after captivating me, this book had a very disappointing ending.

I have debated with friends whether or not you would like to know when you are going to die. I am in the knowledge camp. I have no issues with dying (not a fan of pain though) and would like to know so I could make everything right, whatever that means.

Robert Harlan is told when he will die by a stranger who Rob thinks is an angel. After getting fired from a job Rob didn't like (being there, doing that), he decides to spend the time finishing writing the novel he has been working on sporadically for four years. The book is called "A Perfect Day" and it focuses on the true story of his wife, Allyson's last few months with her father who after calling Ally to Oregon and spending a great day together, informs her that he has terminal cancer.

Rob finishes the book and then he does all the work to get it published and promoted. After spending all his time on the road promoting the book, it becomes #1 and Rob becomes famous. There is an effect on his relationship with his wife and their daughter Carson. With the knowledge he only has limited time left, Rob tries to correct the problems he has caused as a result of his fame.

RPE gives us a glimpse into the life of a popular author. It isn't what I imagined. Even the description of the promotion that is needed leads most to think "I could do that for the fame." It is hard to picture famous people dealing with problems.

Great book until the end...........

]]> <![CDATA[Spring Thaw and Other Mystery Short Stories (Chris Matheson Cold Case, #1.5)]]> 41139036
A novella, Spring Thaw features retired federal agent Chris Matheson from Lauren Carr’s newest bestselling cold case series. When his late father’s former friend is indicted for the seven year old murder of a church bishop, Chris renews old broken friendships to thaw out the cold case.

Featuring Mac Faraday from Lauren Carr’s popular Mac Faraday Mysteries, an estate auction turns into a deadly affair after Gnarly's antics cause Mac to purchase a gem of a dress, which isn't his color in Killing Bid. (Previously published in Lauren Carr’s BEAUTY TO DIE FOR.)

Beauty to Die For features the Lovers in Crime, Joshua Thornton and Cameron Gates in a race against the Angel of Death to clear the name of a dying woman's son, who was framed for murdering Miss Pennsylvania. (Previously published in BEAUTY TO DIE FOR.)

Countdown to Murder returns to the Lovers in Crime where Cameron and Joshua try to solve the murder of a young pregnant widow before it happens. (Previously published in BEAUTY TO DIE FOR.)

Mystery fans will see that every dog has his day, especially if that dog is Gnarly. In Lucky Dog, Gnarly helps Mac Faraday to solve the murder of a wealthy society girl. (Previously published in BEAUTY TO DIE FOR.)

Dog Loving Mystery Fans will get a special treat when they read The Gnarly Rehabilitation Program. In this Gnarly Mystery Short, Bert and Ernie learn the hard way that crime does not pay when they dognap Gnarly. (Previously published as a bonus feature with A WEDDING AND A KILLING.)

Gnarly, the rambunctious German shepherd, is also featured in Lauren Carr’s Christmas short, A Gnarly Christmas. It is Christmas day and Gnarly has been up to his old tricks again. Now he's in the doghouse--or rather the boathouse--after stealing the Christmas feast! Moments after Archie and Mac leave Spencer Manor, Gnarly hears a call for help from Rocky, the Maltese down the street. Four assassins for hire have invaded the home of Rocky's elderly owners. While the home invaders wait for instructions from a mysterious caller, Gnarly must plot to stop them. Can Gnarly save Christmas with only the help of an 8-pound Maltese dressed in an elf suit? (Previously published as a single short story by the same name.)]]> 240 Lauren Carr Brent 3
I am unsure how many pages result in the term "novella" and what is merely a short story. The book has 6 other short stories coming from the Mac Faraday series and the Joshua Thornton series. Gnarly, the loveable German Shepard, is the main character in the Mac Faraday stories.

I am not a big fan of novellas or short stories but Carr does a good job of cramming a mystery with a lot of twists in each story. If you enjoy her novels you will enjoy the collection of short stories.]]> 4.49 2018 Spring Thaw and Other Mystery Short Stories (Chris Matheson Cold Case, #1.5)
author: Lauren Carr
name: Brent
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves:
review:
This is book 1.5 of the Chris Matheson series. It is labeled such because the first entry and title of the book, a "novella" featuring Chris Matheson and crew, is " Spring Thaw."

I am unsure how many pages result in the term "novella" and what is merely a short story. The book has 6 other short stories coming from the Mac Faraday series and the Joshua Thornton series. Gnarly, the loveable German Shepard, is the main character in the Mac Faraday stories.

I am not a big fan of novellas or short stories but Carr does a good job of cramming a mystery with a lot of twists in each story. If you enjoy her novels you will enjoy the collection of short stories.
]]> Conclave 211119902
Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, one hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will cast their votes in the world’s most secretive election.

They are holy men. But they have ambition. And they have rivals.

Over the next seventy-two hours one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on earth.]]> 286 Robert Harris 0593689585 Brent 0 to-read, first-read 4.13 2016 Conclave
author: Robert Harris
name: Brent
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read, first-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Leaving Independence (Go West, Young Man, #3)]]> 211960880 The Greatest Historical Western Writers of the 21st Century, William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone, bring to life the harrowing journeys of the fearless pioneers who braved the Oregon Trail—and lived to tell the tale . . .

Independence, Missouri, 1865. Seasoned wagon master Virgil Grissom prepares to lead a new group of families westward across the Oregon Trail. Among them are struggling farmer Matt Moran, his wife Katie, and their three small children. In spite of the long, treacherous journey ahead, Grissom is confident that this solid, hard-working farmer and his family are tough enough to endure the harsh elements, the rugged terrain, and the occasional run-in with hostile tribes. But he’s not so sure about the farmer’s younger brother, Clay, who plans to catch up with them along the trail. Alone. Which has Grissom worried . . .

On the Oregon Trail, a lone man is dead man.

Clay Moran fought hard in the Civil War, serving as lieutenant in the US Calvary. Now that Robert E. Lee has surrendered, Clay is free to head west with his brother’s family. Problem is, the wagon train has left Independence already—and Clay has to go it alone. Luckily, the army let him keep his horse. But when a couple of bushwhackers steal that horse and all his money, he’s left high and dry. If Clay hopes to catch up with the wagon train, he’ll have to rely on his wits. His guts. And every skill he learned in the war. Along the way, he’ll have to do things a man should never have to do—just to survive . . .

JOHNSTONE COUNTRY. GO WEST, LIVE FREE, OR DIE TRYING.]]> 320 William W. Johnstone 1496746139 Brent 0 to-read, first-read 3.89 Leaving Independence (Go West, Young Man, #3)
author: William W. Johnstone
name: Brent
average rating: 3.89
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read, first-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig]]> 59285
Lou Gehrig was a baseball legend—the Iron Horse, the stoic New York Yankee who was the greatest first baseman in history, a man whose consecutive-games streak was ended by a horrible disease that now bears his name. But as this definitive new biography makes clear, Gehrig’s life was more complicated—and, perhaps, even more heroic—than anyone really knew.

Drawing on new interviews and more than two hundred pages of previously unpublished letters to and from Gehrig, Luckiest Man gives us an intimate portrait of the man who became an American hero: his life as a shy and awkward youth growing up in New York City, his unlikely friendship with Babe Ruth (a friendship that allegedly ended over rumors that Ruth had had an affair with Gehrig’s wife), and his stellar career with the Yankees, where his consecutive-games streak stood for more than half a century. What was not previously known, however, is that symptoms of Gehrig’s affliction began appearing in 1938, earlier than is commonly acknowledged. Later, aware that he was dying, Gehrig exhibited a perseverance that was truly inspiring; he lived the last two years of his short life with the same grace and dignity with which he gave his now-famous “luckiest man� speech.

Meticulously researched and elegantly written, Jonathan Eig’s Luckiest Man shows us one of the greatest baseball players of all time as we’ve never seen him before.]]> 432 Jonathan Eig 0743268938 Brent 4
I love baseball and history so this was right up my alley. Unlike his teammate Babe Ruth, Gehrig was a quiet person who just did his job, setting the record for consecutive games played at 2,130. This was eventually passed by Cal Ripken, Jr.

You get a glimpse of the people around Lou. He was a momma's boy who did what Christina said until he got married at 30 to Eleanor. Of course, Eleanor and Christina clashed. Lou lived with his parents until he got married. His dad Henri really was quiet and stayed in the background like Lou.

The back of the book made a lot of the relationship of Ruth and Gehrig going south after Ruth had an affair with Eleanor. There is nothing in the book to back this up. It was just a rumor with no backing that Gehrig even thought this.
]]> 4.24 2005 Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig
author: Jonathan Eig
name: Brent
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/07
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves:
review:
This is a good biography of Lou Gehrig, probably the greatest first baseman in baseball. He played with the New York Yankees in the 1920s and 1930s. He was forced to retire from baseball in 1939 due to ALS, which many know today as Lou Gehrig's disease. ALS is a terminal neurological disease which is still a mystery today regarding contracting it and curing it.

I love baseball and history so this was right up my alley. Unlike his teammate Babe Ruth, Gehrig was a quiet person who just did his job, setting the record for consecutive games played at 2,130. This was eventually passed by Cal Ripken, Jr.

You get a glimpse of the people around Lou. He was a momma's boy who did what Christina said until he got married at 30 to Eleanor. Of course, Eleanor and Christina clashed. Lou lived with his parents until he got married. His dad Henri really was quiet and stayed in the background like Lou.

The back of the book made a lot of the relationship of Ruth and Gehrig going south after Ruth had an affair with Eleanor. There is nothing in the book to back this up. It was just a rumor with no backing that Gehrig even thought this.

]]> <![CDATA[Ice (Chris Matheson Cold Case, #1)]]> 37907887 Laura Fabiani, Library of Clean ReadsĚýWhen Sandy Lipton and her unborn child disappeared, the court of public opinion found young Chris Matheson guilty. Decades later, the retired FBI agent returns home to discover that the cloud of suspicion cast over him and his family has never lifted.With the help of a team of fellow retired law enforcement officers, each a specialist in their own field of investigation, Chris Matheson starts chipping away at the ice on this cold case to uncover what had happened to Sandy and her baby and the clues are getting hot!]]> 308 Lauren Carr Brent 4
Carr uses the same successful formula she used with other series with a new character, Chris Matheson. Matheson is a retired FBI agent living in West Virginia with his three girls after his wife is killed by a terrorist in France. Chris and his kids live with his mother Doris, who is a tad domineering. I would find it tough if I were Chris.

At Doris's urging, Chris joins a book club that his deceased father, Kirk, used to belong to. Kirk was a former state police officer. The book club consists of retired people who used to work in some fashion in the thwarting crime industry. The book club is a cover for the group to work to solve cold criminal cases.

At the same time Chris joins the book club, a cold case involving him arises. 24 years ago Sandy Lipton, who had dated Chris, disappeared. She was very pregnant and she claimed Chris was the father. Chris was cleared of her disappearance but this is all raised again by authorities and the people in the surrounding community. Chris' daughters start asking questions of Chris.

Chris brings the disappearance of Sandy Lipton to the book club to help resolve. This is the tale about what happened to Sandy Lipton and how the gang discovers it.

]]> 4.53 2018 Ice (Chris Matheson Cold Case, #1)
author: Lauren Carr
name: Brent
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/01
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves:
review:
This is the first book from the Chris Matheson series.

Carr uses the same successful formula she used with other series with a new character, Chris Matheson. Matheson is a retired FBI agent living in West Virginia with his three girls after his wife is killed by a terrorist in France. Chris and his kids live with his mother Doris, who is a tad domineering. I would find it tough if I were Chris.

At Doris's urging, Chris joins a book club that his deceased father, Kirk, used to belong to. Kirk was a former state police officer. The book club consists of retired people who used to work in some fashion in the thwarting crime industry. The book club is a cover for the group to work to solve cold criminal cases.

At the same time Chris joins the book club, a cold case involving him arises. 24 years ago Sandy Lipton, who had dated Chris, disappeared. She was very pregnant and she claimed Chris was the father. Chris was cleared of her disappearance but this is all raised again by authorities and the people in the surrounding community. Chris' daughters start asking questions of Chris.

Chris brings the disappearance of Sandy Lipton to the book club to help resolve. This is the tale about what happened to Sandy Lipton and how the gang discovers it.


]]> Grace 2889121 Updated and Renamed now as If Only

A heartwarming and inspirational Christmas novel in the tradition of The Christmas Box, The Gift, and The Christmas List. The New York Times bestselling author of The Christmas Box and The Walk series returns with a holiday novel of hope, love, and redemption.

She was my first kiss. My first love. She was a little match girl who could see the future in the flame of a candle. She was a runaway who taught me more about life than anyone has before or since. And when she was gone my innocence left with her.

As I begin to write, a part of me feels as if I am awakening something best left dead and buried, or at least buried. We can bury the past, but it never really dies. The experience of that winter has grown on my soul like ivy climbing the outside of a home, growing until it begins to tear and tug at the brick and mortar.

I pray I can still get the story right. My memory, like my eyesight, has waned with age. Still, there are things that become clearer to me as I grow older. This much I know: too many things were kept secret in those days. Things that never should have been hidden. And things that should have.]]> 316 Richard Paul Evans 1416550038 Brent 5
This is a story told from the view of Eric, who is 14. He finds a 15-year-old girl from his school rummaging through garbage for food in the alley behind the restaurant where he works. Grace has run away from her mother and stepfather. Eric, and his younger brother Joel, take care of Grace and let her stay in their clubhouse in their backyard.

This is a story of sorrow and young love. Grace refuses to go home because of her stepfather. Eric falls in love with Grace and does what he needs to do to protect her.

The story has a sad ending but that is life. Life isn't always good endings. This is a moving story about the world we face.]]> 4.17 2008 Grace
author: Richard Paul Evans
name: Brent
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves:
review:
Richard Paul Evans tells a great story. It isn't a Christmas story which I mistakenly thought it was. I read it on Christmas Eve and Christmas thinking it was. It is a great story nonetheless.

This is a story told from the view of Eric, who is 14. He finds a 15-year-old girl from his school rummaging through garbage for food in the alley behind the restaurant where he works. Grace has run away from her mother and stepfather. Eric, and his younger brother Joel, take care of Grace and let her stay in their clubhouse in their backyard.

This is a story of sorrow and young love. Grace refuses to go home because of her stepfather. Eric falls in love with Grace and does what he needs to do to protect her.

The story has a sad ending but that is life. Life isn't always good endings. This is a moving story about the world we face.
]]> A Nefarious Carol 54968080
Convinced his demon general Lord Nefarious has successfully conquered America, Satan himself now decides it’s time for him to step out of the shadows and complete his master plan. But for it to succeed, he must find a willing partner�

On the run, frightened, and alone, Rae is cornered one fateful night in a rundown motel room by the devil himself. He has a once-in-eternity offer for her—the chance to change the world forever. But to convince her to freely accept it, Satan needs to connect with Rae’s past, present, and future to prove to her he can be trusted after all. A showdown for the ages is officially on, and humanity hangs in the balance.]]> 112 Steve Deace 164293786X Brent 4
This book had an interesting spin on A Christmas Carol. In it, Nefarious, a name for Satan, has Rae in a motel room, and he is trying to convince her to bear his child, who will rule the Earth as the Anti-Christ.

Like the original Carol, we get glimpses of Rae's past, present, and future. At the end of the story, Rae makes a decision.

I read this book just before Christmas, which seemed fitting. A short read in front of the fireplace which I enjoyed.]]> 4.07 A Nefarious Carol
author: Steve Deace
name: Brent
average rating: 4.07
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves:
review:
I enjoy Steve Deace. Being originally from Iowa, I remember Deace doing a sports talk radio show on KJJC and then moving to WHO. I still listen to his podcasts when I can. I have read Nefarious Plot and looked forward to reading this book, which is patterned after A Christmas Carol by Dickens.

This book had an interesting spin on A Christmas Carol. In it, Nefarious, a name for Satan, has Rae in a motel room, and he is trying to convince her to bear his child, who will rule the Earth as the Anti-Christ.

Like the original Carol, we get glimpses of Rae's past, present, and future. At the end of the story, Rae makes a decision.

I read this book just before Christmas, which seemed fitting. A short read in front of the fireplace which I enjoyed.
]]> <![CDATA[Holy Men of the Electromagnetic Age: A Forgotten History of the Occult]]> 213395458 An international history of the uncanny in the 1920s and 1930s.


The interwar period was a golden age for the occult. Spiritualists, clairvoyants, fakirs, Theosophists, mind readers, and Jinn summoners all set out to assure the masses that just as newly discovered invisible forces of electricity and magnetism determined the world of science, so unseen powers commanded an unknown realm of human potential.


Drawing on untapped sources in Arabic in addition to European ones, Raphael Cormack follows two of the most unusual and charismatic figures of this Tahra Bey, who took 1920s Paris by storm in the role of a missionary from the mystical East, and Dr Dahesh, who transformed Western science to create a panreligious faith of his own in Lebanon. Traveling between Paris, New York, and Beirut while claiming esoteric apprenticeships among miracle-working mystics in Egypt and Istanbul, these men reflected the desires and anxieties of a troubled age. These forgotten holy men, who embodied the allure of the unexplained in a world of dramatic change, intuitively speak to our unsettling world today.]]> 304 Raphael Cormack 0393881105 Brent 0 to-read 3.75 Holy Men of the Electromagnetic Age: A Forgotten History of the Occult
author: Raphael Cormack
name: Brent
average rating: 3.75
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Body in the Library (Miss Marple, #2)]]> 16319
But who is she? How did she get there? And what is the connection with another dead girl, whose charred remains are later discovered in an abandoned quarry?

The respectable Bantrys invite Miss Marple to solve the mystery� before tongues start to wag.

Librarian's note: this entry is for the novel "The Body in the Library." Collections and other Miss Marple stories are located elsewhere on Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ. The series includes 12 novels and 20 short stories. Entries for the short stories can be found by searching Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ for: "a Miss Marple Short Story."]]> 191 Agatha Christie 157912626X Brent 3
Dolly Bantry discovers a dead lady in the library early in the morning. Neither Dolly nor the Colonel knows who the young blonde is. The investigation leads to a hotel where Conway Jefferson reports a young blonde named Rubie Keene missing. Josie Turner, an employee at the hotel and Rubie's cousin goes to the Bantry's and identifies the victim as Rubie.

Conway had previously lost his daughter, son, and wife in a plane accident that had left him paralyzed. Mark, the son-in-law, and Adelaide, the daughter-in-law, continue living with Conway. He had previously given their families their inheritance early. Conway planned on adopting Rubie.

Another murder takes place when another resident of the hotel's car is stolen and found to contain the body of Pamela Reeves, another young blonde lady. Pamela was supposed to meet movie mogul Basil Blake who lived nearby.

Dolly calls on Jane Marple to help with the investigation. Miss Marple ends up tying the two murders together. There is a lot of deception and a lot of loose ends tied up quickly to shock the reader with an out-of-leftfield ending.

Don't read this when you are tired. Too much happens in a rush at the end.
]]> 3.86 1942 The Body in the Library (Miss Marple, #2)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Brent
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1942
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/20
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves:
review:
This is the 2nd Miss Marple book from Christie.

Dolly Bantry discovers a dead lady in the library early in the morning. Neither Dolly nor the Colonel knows who the young blonde is. The investigation leads to a hotel where Conway Jefferson reports a young blonde named Rubie Keene missing. Josie Turner, an employee at the hotel and Rubie's cousin goes to the Bantry's and identifies the victim as Rubie.

Conway had previously lost his daughter, son, and wife in a plane accident that had left him paralyzed. Mark, the son-in-law, and Adelaide, the daughter-in-law, continue living with Conway. He had previously given their families their inheritance early. Conway planned on adopting Rubie.

Another murder takes place when another resident of the hotel's car is stolen and found to contain the body of Pamela Reeves, another young blonde lady. Pamela was supposed to meet movie mogul Basil Blake who lived nearby.

Dolly calls on Jane Marple to help with the investigation. Miss Marple ends up tying the two murders together. There is a lot of deception and a lot of loose ends tied up quickly to shock the reader with an out-of-leftfield ending.

Don't read this when you are tired. Too much happens in a rush at the end.

]]> Naturally Tan 40174034
In Tan's own words, "The book is meant to spread joy, personal acceptance, and most of all understanding. Each of us is living our own private journey, and the more we know about each other, the healthier and happier the world will be."]]> 8 Tan France 1250211077 Brent 1 first-read 3.77 2019 Naturally Tan
author: Tan France
name: Brent
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2019
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves: first-read
review:

]]> Nuclear War: A Scenario 182733784
Every generation, a journalist has looked deep into the heart of the nuclear military establishment: the technologies, the safeguards, the plans, and the risks. These investigations are vital to how we understand the world we really live in—where one nuclear missile will beget one in return, and where the choreography of the world’s end requires massive decisions made on seconds� notice with information that is only as good as the intelligence we have.

Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario explores this ticking-clock scenario, based on dozens of exclusive new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, have been privy to the response plans, and have been responsible for those decisions should they have needed to be made. Nuclear War: A Scenario examines the handful of minutes after a nuclear missile launch. It is essential reading, and unlike any other book in its depth and urgency.]]> 400 Annie Jacobsen 0593476093 Brent 4
Jacobson gives a scenario in which a wild card country with nuclear bombs, like North Korea, attacks the US in two ways. The first is a ICBM that strikes the Pentagon and the second is a nuclear submarine just off the West Coast that attacks a nuclear plant in California. I didn't realize how scary nuclear submarines are. We cannot track them; they can just shoot their weapon and disappear.

The scenario results in the US unloading its nuclear weapons on North Korea. Russia, however, sees the missiles that the US releases and thinks they are attacking Russia. They in turn attack the US resulting in the US responding to the incoming Russian missiles by attacking Russia. The end of the world is happening in a couple of hours.

A scary read. I am amazed that mistakes by countries haven't resulted in a nuclear attack. Also, insane leaders who have nuclear weapons are bound to attack. This seems inevitable. I just hope I am killed immediately or better yet, that I die peacefully of old age before this happens.]]> 4.37 2024 Nuclear War: A Scenario
author: Annie Jacobsen
name: Brent
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves:
review:
I live 13 miles from the Pentagon. If the Pentagon was targeted in a nuclear attack (which I have no doubt it would be), I would not immediately combust and be dead but I would be in the second zone in which my clothes would likely catch on fire, the buildings around me would be severely damaged, and I would likely die of severe burns caused by the massive fires that would surround me. As Kruzchev says, those who do not die immediately will have wished they would have.

Jacobson gives a scenario in which a wild card country with nuclear bombs, like North Korea, attacks the US in two ways. The first is a ICBM that strikes the Pentagon and the second is a nuclear submarine just off the West Coast that attacks a nuclear plant in California. I didn't realize how scary nuclear submarines are. We cannot track them; they can just shoot their weapon and disappear.

The scenario results in the US unloading its nuclear weapons on North Korea. Russia, however, sees the missiles that the US releases and thinks they are attacking Russia. They in turn attack the US resulting in the US responding to the incoming Russian missiles by attacking Russia. The end of the world is happening in a couple of hours.

A scary read. I am amazed that mistakes by countries haven't resulted in a nuclear attack. Also, insane leaders who have nuclear weapons are bound to attack. This seems inevitable. I just hope I am killed immediately or better yet, that I die peacefully of old age before this happens.
]]> <![CDATA[Shadow of Murder (Mac Faraday #14)]]> 59769625
Soon afterwards, contractors discover Konnor Langston’s body at the bottom of an abandoned swimming pool at the new summer home of Mac Faraday’s son.

With Police Chief David O’Callaghan on paternity leave, Deputy Chief Dusty O’Meara must lead the investigation in his first murder case since moving to Spencer. Not only does Dusty have to work under the shadow of the legendary Mac Faraday, but he also has to match wits with Erica, who is determined to find justice for Konnor, her childhood friend.

The police chief and Mac aren’t so difficult. Even Gnarly, the town’s canine mayor, is manageable if his authority is well-respected and he is kept entertained.

Erica Hart, Dusty finds, is more of a challenge. It wouldn’t be so difficult if she wasn’t so irresistible.]]> 498 Lauren Carr Brent 3
I like Carr's mysteries, but this one, not so much. Carr takes the spiritual evil route, which I think is an easy way out for a mystery writer. Other examples are the supernatural and the mafia.

We have two new characters who move into Deep Creek Lake. Dusty O'Meara is the new Deputy Chief of Police, moving from Montana to help cover for David O'Callahan who is on paternity leave. The second new main character is Erica Hart. Erica is known as the Cold Case Diva. She is a blogger who helps solve cold cases and true crimes. She is returning to Deep Creek Lake. Her parents were murdered 20 years ago. Dusty and Erica hook up to solve murders that are taking place in Deep Creek Lake and romance evolves.

Joining the new characters are many of the old and familiar ones including Mac Faraday, his wife Archie Monday, and Gnarly, the mayor of Deep Creek Lake.

Evil spirits, angels, churches burning down, and witchcraft are all involved in a complex story with lots of characters and murders. All tied up at the very end by Carr.

Get back to reality, please.]]> 4.39 2022 Shadow of Murder (Mac Faraday #14)
author: Lauren Carr
name: Brent
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/13
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves:
review:
This is the 14th Mac Faraday book by Lauren Carr 4.

I like Carr's mysteries, but this one, not so much. Carr takes the spiritual evil route, which I think is an easy way out for a mystery writer. Other examples are the supernatural and the mafia.

We have two new characters who move into Deep Creek Lake. Dusty O'Meara is the new Deputy Chief of Police, moving from Montana to help cover for David O'Callahan who is on paternity leave. The second new main character is Erica Hart. Erica is known as the Cold Case Diva. She is a blogger who helps solve cold cases and true crimes. She is returning to Deep Creek Lake. Her parents were murdered 20 years ago. Dusty and Erica hook up to solve murders that are taking place in Deep Creek Lake and romance evolves.

Joining the new characters are many of the old and familiar ones including Mac Faraday, his wife Archie Monday, and Gnarly, the mayor of Deep Creek Lake.

Evil spirits, angels, churches burning down, and witchcraft are all involved in a complex story with lots of characters and murders. All tied up at the very end by Carr.

Get back to reality, please.
]]> Your Big Leap Year 127281284
What if a year from now you could be experiencing more happiness, health and wealth? Learn how to take the big leap � one little leap a day.

Gay Hendricks' bestselling book The Big Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level has sold over 350,000 copies since its original publication. That book outlined the idea of going beyond the reader's happiness ceiling, and into experiencing the joys of life in ever-growing ways. Now comes Hendricks' companion book, Your Big Leap Year, which breaks the larger goals explored in Hendricks� bestseller into smaller daily steps, helping readers move into immediate action and stop delaying their dreams. This 366-day (to accommodate leap years!) guidebook takes readers on a journey to leave good behind in pursuit of extraordinary.

For everyone who wants to break through their self-imposed limits and reach new degrees of success in any area of life, Your Big Leap Year is the perfect book to empower readers to live their greatest lives, at last!]]> 432 Gay Hendricks 1250292794 Brent 2 first-read
I had never read The Big Leap. I am not sure if you must have read the book but I do not doubt it helps. This book is somewhat like a daily devotional in that there are daily readings consisting of one page setting out the daily theme and then your leap for the day. I learned about ULPs (upper limit problems) and your genius zone.

After reading this for over a year my personal opinion is that it is a bunch of crap. I think people are looking for something to fill the hole in their hearts and this isn't it. Jesus is. I do not doubt that people have made this their religion and worship their leader Gay Hendricks. Not me. Sorry.]]> 3.98 2024 Your Big Leap Year
author: Gay Hendricks
name: Brent
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves: first-read
review:
I won this book through GoodReads First Read program.

I had never read The Big Leap. I am not sure if you must have read the book but I do not doubt it helps. This book is somewhat like a daily devotional in that there are daily readings consisting of one page setting out the daily theme and then your leap for the day. I learned about ULPs (upper limit problems) and your genius zone.

After reading this for over a year my personal opinion is that it is a bunch of crap. I think people are looking for something to fill the hole in their hearts and this isn't it. Jesus is. I do not doubt that people have made this their religion and worship their leader Gay Hendricks. Not me. Sorry.
]]> <![CDATA[Chicken Soup for the Soul: Angels All Around: 101 Inspirational Stories of Miracles, Divine Intervention, and Answered Prayers]]> 42865697
Miracles happen every day to people from all walks of life. And angels are all around if we are open to seeing them and accepting their help. You’ll be inspired, awed and comforted by these 101 stories from ordinary people who’ve had extraordinary experiences, ]]> 352 Amy Newmark 1611599938 Brent 5
I enjoyed reading this book and will read other Chicken Soup books about faith. Reading this book was a good way to start the day and had me looking into my own past to see if an angel could have been involved in some of the things that happened to me. Entertaining angels unaware....]]> 4.39 Chicken Soup for the Soul: Angels All Around: 101 Inspirational Stories of Miracles, Divine Intervention, and Answered Prayers
author: Amy Newmark
name: Brent
average rating: 4.39
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/06
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves:
review:
I enjoy the Chicken Soup books. I also enjoy reading stories about God working in our lives. This book is chock full of those stories. I read it as a devotional so I read one story a day. Each story was 2-4 pages long and each shared an experience where God, through angels, worked in someone's life. You can brush it off as coincidental but there are things that happen in this world that often cannot be explained.

I enjoyed reading this book and will read other Chicken Soup books about faith. Reading this book was a good way to start the day and had me looking into my own past to see if an angel could have been involved in some of the things that happened to me. Entertaining angels unaware....
]]> <![CDATA[We Who Wrestle with God: Perceptions of the Divine]]> 207611500 A revolutionary new offering from Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, renowned psychologist and author of the global bestseller 12 Rules for Life.In We Who Wrestle with God, Dr. Peterson guides us through the ancient, foundational stories of the Western world. In riveting detail, he analyzes the Biblical accounts of rebellion, sacrifice, suffering, and triumph that stabilize, inspire, and unite us culturally and psychologically. Adam and Eve and the eternal fall of mankind; the resentful and ultimately murderous war of Cain and Abel; the cataclysmic flood of Noah; the spectacular collapse of the Tower of Babel; Abraham’s terrible adventure; and the epic of Moses and the Israelites.Ěý What could such stories possibly mean? What force wrote and assembled them over the long centuries? How did they bring our spirits and the world together, and point us in the same direction?ĚýĚýIt is time for us to understand such things, scientifically and spiritually; to become conscious of the structure of our souls and our societies; and to see ourselves and others as if for the first time.ĚýĚýĚýJoin Elijah as he discovers the Voice of God in the dictates of his own conscience and Jonah confronting hell itself in the belly of the whale because he failed to listen and act. Set yourself straight in intent, aim, and purpose as you begin to more deeply understand the structure of your society and your soul. Journey with Dr. Peterson through the greatest stories ever told.ĚýĚýDare to wrestle with God.]]> 576 Jordan B. Peterson 0593542533 Brent 1
Reading this book was like having to read assignments for class when I was in college. The text was very dry. Free reading should be enjoyable and reading this book wasn't.

Life is too short and reading this book took valuable time away.]]> 3.91 2024 We Who Wrestle with God: Perceptions of the Divine
author: Jordan B. Peterson
name: Brent
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2024/12/06
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves:
review:
I enjoy Jordan Peterson and love God, so this book appeared perfect for me. A friend of mine thought so and got it for me. I was very disappointed.

Reading this book was like having to read assignments for class when I was in college. The text was very dry. Free reading should be enjoyable and reading this book wasn't.

Life is too short and reading this book took valuable time away.
]]> The Gift 550074 A heartwarming and inspirational Christmas novel in the tradition of The Christmas Box and Finding Noel from New York Times bestselling author Richard Paul Evans. Sure to be a classic, this new tale brings to life the joy of the season and demonstrates the redemptive power of there is no hurt so great that love cannot heal it.Nathan Hurst hated Christmas. For the rest of the world it was a day of joy and celebration; for Nathan it was simply a reminder of the event that destroyed his childhood until a snowstorm, a cancelled flight, and an unexpected meeting with a young mother and her very special son would show him that Christmas is indeed the season of miracles. From the beloved author of the international bestseller The Christmas Box comes another timeless story of faith, hope, and healing.]]> 335 Richard Paul Evans 1416550011 Brent 5
This is a book about a boy who is portrayed as a Christ-like figure in this book. Nathan Hurst meets the Park family, which consists of Addison the mom, Collin, the little boy, and Elizabeth the little girl in an airport shutdown due to a snowstorm. Nate talks the family into staying at his hotel in the airport. Collin has leukemia and a gift of healing others. He can't heal himself and when he heals others it saps a lot out of him. Collin also has a connection with the afterlife. He claims to have been to the "other side" and has spoken with those who have died.

Collin heals Nate of his bronchitis and Tourette's syndrome. He has also healed Addison of Lupus. Each time Collin uses his gift, it zaps strength from him. When the public hears of Collin's gift, they flock to him and want to be healed. Collin's father, Steve, wants to use Collin's gift to make a lot of money. Addison wants Collin to stop using his gift to preserve his life.

This is a heartwarming story about self-sacrifice and love.]]> 4.19 2007 The Gift
author: Richard Paul Evans
name: Brent
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/29
date added: 2024/11/30
shelves:
review:
I always enjoy anything written by RPE. He is a talented storyteller.

This is a book about a boy who is portrayed as a Christ-like figure in this book. Nathan Hurst meets the Park family, which consists of Addison the mom, Collin, the little boy, and Elizabeth the little girl in an airport shutdown due to a snowstorm. Nate talks the family into staying at his hotel in the airport. Collin has leukemia and a gift of healing others. He can't heal himself and when he heals others it saps a lot out of him. Collin also has a connection with the afterlife. He claims to have been to the "other side" and has spoken with those who have died.

Collin heals Nate of his bronchitis and Tourette's syndrome. He has also healed Addison of Lupus. Each time Collin uses his gift, it zaps strength from him. When the public hears of Collin's gift, they flock to him and want to be healed. Collin's father, Steve, wants to use Collin's gift to make a lot of money. Addison wants Collin to stop using his gift to preserve his life.

This is a heartwarming story about self-sacrifice and love.
]]> <![CDATA[Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will]]> 5466804
Hyper-spiritual approaches to finding God's will don't work. It's time to try something new: Give up.

Pastor and author Kevin DeYoung counsels Christians to settle down, make choices, and do the hard work of seeing those choices through. Too often, he writes, God's people tinker around with churches, jobs, and relationships, worrying that they haven't found God's perfect will for their lives. Or—even worse—they do absolutely nothing, stuck in a frustrated state of paralyzed indecision, waiting . . . waiting . . . waiting for clear, direct, unmistakable direction.

But God doesn't need to tell us what to do at each fork in the road. He's already revealed his plan for our lives: to love him with our whole hearts, to obey His Word, and after that, to do what we like.

No need for hocus-pocus. No reason to be directionally challenged. Just do something.]]> 128 Kevin DeYoung 0802458386 Brent 4
DeYoung puts a different spin on what I have always believed that God speaks to us about specifics that He wants us to choose. If this is so, why is it so hard to figure out at times? God loves us and wouldn't hold back his will for those who sought it.

DeYoung tells us to read the Bible, which is God's word to us regarding his will. We should consult others for their views. And finally, we should pray for God's guidance. After we do all this, we need to make a decision and move ahead. Doing God's will does not guarantee that we will not go through hard times. Jesus did God's will yet he certainly suffered. We seem to think that God's will takes away any suffering. This is one of the many reasons we seek it.]]> 4.22 2009 Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will
author: Kevin DeYoung
name: Brent
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/28
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:
I have always searched for God's will for my life. I was jealous of those like Moses, who were clearly told by God what to do. Even specific dreams would be good. I have looked for God speaking to me through devotionals that seemed oddly on a specific point the day I read them.

DeYoung puts a different spin on what I have always believed that God speaks to us about specifics that He wants us to choose. If this is so, why is it so hard to figure out at times? God loves us and wouldn't hold back his will for those who sought it.

DeYoung tells us to read the Bible, which is God's word to us regarding his will. We should consult others for their views. And finally, we should pray for God's guidance. After we do all this, we need to make a decision and move ahead. Doing God's will does not guarantee that we will not go through hard times. Jesus did God's will yet he certainly suffered. We seem to think that God's will takes away any suffering. This is one of the many reasons we seek it.
]]> <![CDATA[Identity Unknown (Kay Scarpetta, #28)]]> 204593543
And this victim is sending Scarpetta a message�

Summoned to an unnerving, abandoned theme park to retrieve a body, Dr Kay Scarpetta is devastated to learn that the victim is a man she once loved. While teaching in Rome during the early days of her career, Scarpetta had an intense love affair with Sal Giordano that led to a lifelong friendship.

The murder scene is bizarre, with a crop circle of petals around the body, and Giordano’s skin is strangely red. Scarpetta’s niece Lucy believes he was dropped from an unidentified flying craft. Scarpetta knows an autopsy can reveal the dead’s secrets, but she is shocked to find her friend seems to have deliberately left her a clue.

As the investigators are torn between suspicions of otherworldly forces, and of Giordano himself, Scarpetta detects an explanation closer to home that, in her mind, is far more evil . . .]]> 400 Patricia Cornwell 1538770385 Brent 3
This story could have been told in 150 pages. Instead, Cornwell describes each movement of Scarpetta in minute detail resulting in 386 pages.

The whole gang is back in this one: Scarpetta, Marino, Lucy, Tron, and Wesley. They are investigating the mysterious death of Sal Giordano, an old flame of Scarpetta. Sal was dropped from what is believed to be a UFO in an abandoned amusement park. Throw in Lucy's wacko former lover, Carrie Gretchen, who is still out for revenge against Lucy and the gang.

This was a boring story until Cornwell decided to wrap it up. Then she was forced to have a story. The last 50 pages are good. The first 310 pages were just Cornwell treading water.
]]> 3.81 2024 Identity Unknown (Kay Scarpetta, #28)
author: Patricia Cornwell
name: Brent
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/26
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves:
review:
This is the 28th book from the Kay Scarpetta series.

This story could have been told in 150 pages. Instead, Cornwell describes each movement of Scarpetta in minute detail resulting in 386 pages.

The whole gang is back in this one: Scarpetta, Marino, Lucy, Tron, and Wesley. They are investigating the mysterious death of Sal Giordano, an old flame of Scarpetta. Sal was dropped from what is believed to be a UFO in an abandoned amusement park. Throw in Lucy's wacko former lover, Carrie Gretchen, who is still out for revenge against Lucy and the gang.

This was a boring story until Cornwell decided to wrap it up. Then she was forced to have a story. The last 50 pages are good. The first 310 pages were just Cornwell treading water.

]]> <![CDATA[Your Father's Story: Dad, I Want to Know Everything About You]]> 48638498 204 Piccadilly 1620091518 Brent 4
I intended to answer one question a day. This plan fell through and I ended up doing chunks of questions until I ran into a question that I had to think about.

I am sure that when I am dead and gone my daughter will be able to pull this book out and review my thoughts and memories. She can even give it to her kids. Filling the book out results in you living on even when you are no longer around.
]]> 4.00 2018 Your Father's Story: Dad, I Want to Know Everything About You
author: Piccadilly
name: Brent
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/26
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
review:
I was given this book by my daughter quite some time ago. It is a book of questions in which you are to provide a written response. The questions range from growing up to raising your kids.

I intended to answer one question a day. This plan fell through and I ended up doing chunks of questions until I ran into a question that I had to think about.

I am sure that when I am dead and gone my daughter will be able to pull this book out and review my thoughts and memories. She can even give it to her kids. Filling the book out results in you living on even when you are no longer around.

]]> <![CDATA[Evergreen Christmas (Frosted Firs Ranch, #1)]]> 204294898 The first in a new cozy Christmas series where the 12 annual Competitions of Christmas in the, close-knit town of Noel, North Carolina are underway! This year horse breeder, and newcomer, Jordyn Banks decides to take on the resident Christmas tree decorating champion, who happens to be her handsome next door neighbor. Barrel racer Jordyn Banks is thrilled to discover affordable land for sale in charming Noel, perfect for breeding her horses. But that’s not all. A nomad with no family—other than her beloved Quarter Horse, Star—she also hopes to find a home within the close-knit Appalachian Mountain community. Yet Jordyn »ĺľ±»ĺ˛Ô’t bargain on inheriting a controversial Fraser Fir—or falling for a handsome single dad whose adorable little girl tempts her to dream of being far more than a property owner . . . Since losing his wife in childbirth six years ago, Nate Reed has devoted himself to their daughter, Roxanna, and built up their thriving Frosted Firs Ranch. For nine years straight he’s won Noel’s contest for the most perfect Christmas tree for the Town Square. It’s a tradition he began with his late wife. But this year, Jordyn Banks is determined to harvest her Fraser Fir and compete—meaning Nate will finally be challenged—in more ways than one . . . Throughout the event, Nate can’t help noticing that Roxanna is dazzled by Jordyn’s strength, beauty, and quirky sense of humor. Soon enough, Nate is falling for her, too. But can a feisty wanderer ever really settle down? Is Nate ready to open his heart to someone new? And is it possible that sometimes love does grow on (Christmas) trees? . . .]]> 288 Janet Dailey 1496747895 Brent 3 first-read
This is the 1st book of the Frosted Firs Rach series which will come out every Christmas. This is similar to the Christmas Tree Ranch series which Dailey, or her people wrote. I have read all of those. They were set in Branding Iron, Texas.

This series is set in Noel, North Carolina. Nate Reed owns the Frosted Fir Ranch. He has won the Christmas Crown for 9 straight years. The crown is given to the winner of points gained in the Christmas competition which consists of a number of Christmas-themed contests held in Noel. Nate is a widow having lost his wife in childbirth years ago. His daughter, Roxie, is the focus of his life and he has no intention of finding a new love.

Enter Jordyn Banks, a former barrel racer, who moves to Noel and buys Chestnut Ridge Ranch which is right next to Nate's ranch. Of course, there is an attraction as they compete in the Christmas competitions.

Add in the four Nanas and Nate's brother Tucker for humor and you have a sappy story with some humor. No big surprises. ]]> 3.78 2024 Evergreen Christmas (Frosted Firs Ranch, #1)
author: Janet Dailey
name: Brent
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/18
date added: 2024/11/19
shelves: first-read
review:
I won this book through GoodReads First Read program.

This is the 1st book of the Frosted Firs Rach series which will come out every Christmas. This is similar to the Christmas Tree Ranch series which Dailey, or her people wrote. I have read all of those. They were set in Branding Iron, Texas.

This series is set in Noel, North Carolina. Nate Reed owns the Frosted Fir Ranch. He has won the Christmas Crown for 9 straight years. The crown is given to the winner of points gained in the Christmas competition which consists of a number of Christmas-themed contests held in Noel. Nate is a widow having lost his wife in childbirth years ago. His daughter, Roxie, is the focus of his life and he has no intention of finding a new love.

Enter Jordyn Banks, a former barrel racer, who moves to Noel and buys Chestnut Ridge Ranch which is right next to Nate's ranch. Of course, there is an attraction as they compete in the Christmas competitions.

Add in the four Nanas and Nate's brother Tucker for humor and you have a sappy story with some humor. No big surprises.
]]> Trace (Kay Scarpetta, #13) 6530
Deprived of assistance from colleagues Benton and Lucy, who are embroiled in what appears to be an unrelated attempted rape by a stalker, Scarpetta is faced with investigating the death of a fourteen-year-old girl, working with the smallest pieces of evidence --- traces that only the most thorough hunters can identify. She must follow the twisting leads and track the strange details in order to make the dead speak --- and to reveal the sad truth that may be more than even she can bear ...]]> 401 Patricia Cornwell 0425204200 Brent 0 3.81 2004 Trace (Kay Scarpetta, #13)
author: Patricia Cornwell
name: Brent
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Precinct (Kay Scarpetta, #11)]]> 320167 Librarian's Note: This is an alternate-cover edition for ISBN 0751525359

Physically and psychologically bruised by her encounter with the killer Chandonne, Dr Kay Scarpetta has to leave her home in the hands of the police team investigating the attack. She finds shelter with an old friend, Anna Zenner, but it is not the haven of security she needs when she discovers that Anna has been subpoenaed to appear before a Grand Jury which is investigating Scarpetta for murder. Kay knows she is being framed and she also knows she can trust no-one. Meanwhile it appears that Chandonne killed a woman in New York before his murderous spree in Virginia, but when Scarpetta looks more closely into that case with the prosecutor Jaime Berger, proof of his guilt is far from certain - in fact she begins to believe that he may not be the perpetrator of any of the crimes he is accused of. As she follows the forensic trail to the real killer she gradually realises that someone has been spinning a web for years with the aim of entrapping her. Who is it, and why are they so desperate to be rid of her?]]> 565 Patricia Cornwell 0751525359 Brent 0 3.89 2000 The Last Precinct (Kay Scarpetta, #11)
author: Patricia Cornwell
name: Brent
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Shift: 7 Powerful Mindset Changes for Lasting Weight Loss]]> 56269188 240 Gary Foster 1250277752 Brent 3
This book is all about your attitude and mental approach to the journey of losing weight. What is your reaction when the scale doesn't seem to move despite following the program? What is your reaction when you have a bad day?

Basically, this book comes down to being nice to yourself and not having a negative view of your body, no matter where you are in the diet process. There are 7 mindset changes fleshed out but they really are the same.]]> 3.89 2021 The Shift: 7 Powerful Mindset Changes for Lasting Weight Loss
author: Gary Foster
name: Brent
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/12
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves:
review:
I want to lose 15 pounds. I have been on diets where I lost weight, but I blink, and a month later, it is back on. This book was recommended by a friend of someone who lost 50 pounds and has kept it off. I thought I would give it a try.

This book is all about your attitude and mental approach to the journey of losing weight. What is your reaction when the scale doesn't seem to move despite following the program? What is your reaction when you have a bad day?

Basically, this book comes down to being nice to yourself and not having a negative view of your body, no matter where you are in the diet process. There are 7 mindset changes fleshed out but they really are the same.
]]> <![CDATA[The Letter (The Christmas Box, #3)]]> 199796 336 Richard Paul Evans 0684834723 Brent 5
This book contains more than one letter. The first letter is found at the foot of the angel monument at Andrea's grave. Some think David's mother, who left him as a child in California and again in Utah after he forwarded her money to head to Chicago to make it in show business. The other letters turn up when David heads to Chicago to find his mother and inquire why she left him. As you see, this book is really about David coming to grips with his mother leaving him.

David's investigation into his past and his mother's whereabouts in Chicago comes to a head after MaryAnne has left him after Andrea's death. David withdrew from MaryAnne and she felt all alone. This book gives us a glimpse into how different people deal with grief and the effects it has on others. No one wants to go through losing a child. How would you react? Would you be able to move on?

Lots of issues and lots of drama. There is even a twist, which I enjoy, at the end.]]> 4.17 1997 The Letter (The Christmas Box, #3)
author: Richard Paul Evans
name: Brent
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/09
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves:
review:
This is the 3rd book of The Christmas Box trilogy.

This book contains more than one letter. The first letter is found at the foot of the angel monument at Andrea's grave. Some think David's mother, who left him as a child in California and again in Utah after he forwarded her money to head to Chicago to make it in show business. The other letters turn up when David heads to Chicago to find his mother and inquire why she left him. As you see, this book is really about David coming to grips with his mother leaving him.

David's investigation into his past and his mother's whereabouts in Chicago comes to a head after MaryAnne has left him after Andrea's death. David withdrew from MaryAnne and she felt all alone. This book gives us a glimpse into how different people deal with grief and the effects it has on others. No one wants to go through losing a child. How would you react? Would you be able to move on?

Lots of issues and lots of drama. There is even a twist, which I enjoy, at the end.
]]> <![CDATA[Timepiece (The Christmas Box, #2)]]> 312085 240 Richard Paul Evans 0684815761 Brent 4
This is a prequel to The Christmas Box, the trilogy's first book. The book examines the lives and marriage of David and MaryAnne. David is the young owner of a successful company who is lonely but doesn't have time to find a partner on the social scene. Then MaryAnne comes to his company to be his assistant. He falls in love with her and wants to marry her even though she is pregnant with another man's child. They marry and have Andrea.

This book covers the death of Andrea and how her loss affects David, MaryAnne, and their marriage. The loss of someone close to you will change your life. Sometimes that change has a deep impact on those around you.

I am looking forward to the final book of the trilogy.]]> 4.07 1995 Timepiece (The Christmas Box, #2)
author: Richard Paul Evans
name: Brent
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/06
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves:
review:
This is the 2nd book of the Christmas Box trilogy.

This is a prequel to The Christmas Box, the trilogy's first book. The book examines the lives and marriage of David and MaryAnne. David is the young owner of a successful company who is lonely but doesn't have time to find a partner on the social scene. Then MaryAnne comes to his company to be his assistant. He falls in love with her and wants to marry her even though she is pregnant with another man's child. They marry and have Andrea.

This book covers the death of Andrea and how her loss affects David, MaryAnne, and their marriage. The loss of someone close to you will change your life. Sometimes that change has a deep impact on those around you.

I am looking forward to the final book of the trilogy.
]]> <![CDATA[The Christmas Box (The Christmas Box, #1)]]> 161361 128 Richard Paul Evans 0684832356 Brent 4
This is a short little book that you can read in a day. I read the story by the fire as we march towards the Christmas season. This book gives you the meaning of Christmas. It answers the question of what the first Christmas gift was.

Richard, his wife, and his four-year-old daughter move into the palatial home of an old lady who is dying. They do so with the understanding that they will cook meals, and clean up inside the home and outside the home. Richard finds a box of letters in the attic written by the lady who owns the home to her daughter. They didn't know she even had a daughter.

I am looking forward to reading the other two books of the trilogy.]]> 3.99 1993 The Christmas Box (The Christmas Box, #1)
author: Richard Paul Evans
name: Brent
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/02
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves:
review:
This is book #1 from the Christmas Box trilogy.

This is a short little book that you can read in a day. I read the story by the fire as we march towards the Christmas season. This book gives you the meaning of Christmas. It answers the question of what the first Christmas gift was.

Richard, his wife, and his four-year-old daughter move into the palatial home of an old lady who is dying. They do so with the understanding that they will cook meals, and clean up inside the home and outside the home. Richard finds a box of letters in the attic written by the lady who owns the home to her daughter. They didn't know she even had a daughter.

I am looking forward to reading the other two books of the trilogy.
]]> The United States of Trump 44536210 A rare, insider’s look at the life of Donald Trump from Bill O'Reilly, the bestselling author of the Killing series, based on exclusive interview material and deep researchReaders around the world have been enthralled by journalist and New York Times bestselling author Bill O’Reilly’s Killing series—riveting works of nonfiction that explore the most famous events in history. Now, O’Reilly turns his razor-sharp observations to his most compelling subject thus far—President Donald J. Trump. In this thrilling narrative, O’Reilly blends primary, never-before-released interview material with a history that recounts Trump’s childhood and family and the factors from his life and career that forged the worldview that the president of the United States has taken to the White House. Not a partisan pro-Trump or anti-Trump book, this is an up-to-the-minute, intimate view of the man and his sphere of influence—of “how Donald Trump’s view of America was formed, and how it has changed since becoming the most powerful person in the world”� from a writer who has known the president for thirty years. This is an unprecedented, gripping account of the life of a sitting president as he makes history. As the author will tell you, “If you want some insight into the most unlikely political phenomenon of our lifetimes, you’ll get it here.”]]> 301 Bill O'Reilly 1250237211 Brent 4
With the election upcoming I thought I should read this one to learn more about President Trump. This book was written midway through his first term before Joe Biden beat him in the 2020 election. It gives a great look at the personality of Donald Trump. Why does he react the way he does? What are the important issues for him? The book also gives us the background of Donald Trump, which I did not know before reading this book.

The book does a great job of telling the Donald Trump story up to his election in 2016. After that, the first couple of years of his presidency are discussed in a limited fashion. More in-depth analysis would have been appreciated.

This election in 2024 is so important. Get out and vote for Donald Trump to stop what we have gone through in the last four years. Donald Trump has been constantly attacked by the media. He is not the villain they have painted him to be. Trump isn't conservative enough for me. The woke attitude which has infected our country makes me want to vomit. Make America Great Again.]]> 4.23 2019 The United States of Trump
author: Bill O'Reilly
name: Brent
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/02
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves:
review:
I have read nearly all of Bill O'Reilly's books and have enjoyed every one of them, and this one is no exception.

With the election upcoming I thought I should read this one to learn more about President Trump. This book was written midway through his first term before Joe Biden beat him in the 2020 election. It gives a great look at the personality of Donald Trump. Why does he react the way he does? What are the important issues for him? The book also gives us the background of Donald Trump, which I did not know before reading this book.

The book does a great job of telling the Donald Trump story up to his election in 2016. After that, the first couple of years of his presidency are discussed in a limited fashion. More in-depth analysis would have been appreciated.

This election in 2024 is so important. Get out and vote for Donald Trump to stop what we have gone through in the last four years. Donald Trump has been constantly attacked by the media. He is not the villain they have painted him to be. Trump isn't conservative enough for me. The woke attitude which has infected our country makes me want to vomit. Make America Great Again.
]]> <![CDATA[Spirit Crossing (Cork O'Connor, #20)]]> 199798007 A disappearance and a dead body put Cork O’Connor’s family in the crosshairs of a killer in the twentieth book in the New York Times bestselling series from William Kent Krueger­, “a master storyteller at the top of his game� (Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author).

The disappearance of a local politician’s teenaged daughter is major news in Minnesota. As a huge manhunt is launched to find her, Cork O’Connor’s grandson stumbles across the shallow grave of a young Ojibwe woman—but nobody seems that interested. Nobody, that is, except Cork and the newly formed Iron Lake Ojibwe Tribal Police. As Cork and the tribal officers dig into the circumstances of this mysterious and grim discovery, they uncover a connection to the missing teenager. And soon, it’s clear that Cork’s grandson is in danger of being the killer’s next victim.]]> 318 William Kent Krueger 1982179244 Brent 3
I really like WKK as an author. However, when I read I try to get away from the political and social issues of the day. WKK took us down the wake highway when he didn't need to. The murder mystery would have been good without it.

We have the inequitable treatment of races (racism), peaceful?!? protests of oil pipelines, and a lesbian relationship. None of which were needed.

The good part of the story is oddly enough the sex trafficking that is taking place. Waboo, Cork's grandson, sees the spirits of various girls trying to find their way home. These are women who are buried in an isolated area at a cabin that has a little-known blueberry patch.

WKK, please stick to the murder mysteries you are good at spinning for your fans, ]]> 4.02 2024 Spirit Crossing (Cork O'Connor, #20)
author: William Kent Krueger
name: Brent
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/28
date added: 2024/10/28
shelves:
review:
This is the 20th book from the Woke O'Conner series.

I really like WKK as an author. However, when I read I try to get away from the political and social issues of the day. WKK took us down the wake highway when he didn't need to. The murder mystery would have been good without it.

We have the inequitable treatment of races (racism), peaceful?!? protests of oil pipelines, and a lesbian relationship. None of which were needed.

The good part of the story is oddly enough the sex trafficking that is taking place. Waboo, Cork's grandson, sees the spirits of various girls trying to find their way home. These are women who are buried in an isolated area at a cabin that has a little-known blueberry patch.

WKK, please stick to the murder mysteries you are good at spinning for your fans,
]]> <![CDATA[The Big Guy: How a President and His Son Sold Out America]]> 201205965 The New York Post columnist, Fox News contributor, and national bestselling author of Laptop from Hell returns with the explosive, definitive account of the Biden family scandals.

It’s rare that a campaign season has anything like an IRS whistleblower and a California US attorney saying they were blocked from pursuing charges, foreign wire transfers of millions of dollars going to several members of politician’s family, suspicious slap-on-the-wrist plea deals, mounds of incrimination texts, a previously unacknowledged child with a stripper, and multiple congressional investigations. It’s unprecedented to have them all tied to one politician like Joe Biden.

The federal government and the mainstream media have been selling the narrative for years that Hunter Biden is a good son with addiction problems who has suffered enough. But what if the Biden family has been involved in sketchy financial dealings and coverups that get bigger every passing year?

Miranda Devine goes deep into the dark underbelly of American politics, where it’s okay to break the law as long as you follow the rest of the elite’s rules. With a surgeon’s precision she dissects the shady dealings of the Biden family in China and Eastern Europe, exposing the cover-up within the government and media. With meticulous research and insider sources, Devine uncovers the shocking truth about Joe Biden's involvement in his son Hunter's business dealings and the extent of their corruption.

Many have argued that intelligence agents and social media companies tilted the 2020 election in Biden’s favor by hiding the contents of Hunter’s laptop. Devine goes beyond their coverage to “silence the truth� and in The Big Guy finally reveals the corruption within the Biden family and the government.]]> 395 Miranda Devine 006337482X Brent 3
Nothing new if you follow the news at all. It is very detailed though.

Hunter would be tough to have a son—lots of problems that bit Joe in the butt. He was always the second son behind Beau, the anointed one who was to take over the name of Biden in politics. This affected Hunter and his actions. Porn, drugs, corruption, etc. all on his laptop which he stupidly left at a computer repair shop.

With Joe stepping out from running for President, the focus on the Big Guy will disappear. Joe will pardon Hunter after the election as he packs up and heads to Delaware to spend the millions he made off Hunter's grift of foreign governments. Hunter and Joe will both get away with things the average person never would.
]]> 4.44 2024 The Big Guy: How a President and His Son Sold Out America
author: Miranda Devine
name: Brent
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/19
date added: 2024/10/20
shelves:
review:
A friend of mine, who is of the same political bent, gave me this book.

Nothing new if you follow the news at all. It is very detailed though.

Hunter would be tough to have a son—lots of problems that bit Joe in the butt. He was always the second son behind Beau, the anointed one who was to take over the name of Biden in politics. This affected Hunter and his actions. Porn, drugs, corruption, etc. all on his laptop which he stupidly left at a computer repair shop.

With Joe stepping out from running for President, the focus on the Big Guy will disappear. Joe will pardon Hunter after the election as he packs up and heads to Delaware to spend the millions he made off Hunter's grift of foreign governments. Hunter and Joe will both get away with things the average person never would.

]]> <![CDATA[Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden]]> 203578943 The #1 New York Times and USA Today Nonfiction Bestseller!
Authors of the acclaimed Killing books, the #1 bestselling narrative history series in the world, Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard begin a new direction with Confronting the Presidents. From Washington to Jefferson, Lincoln to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Kennedy to Nixon, Reagan to Clinton, Bush to Obama, Trump, and Biden, the 45 United States presidents have left lasting impacts on our nation. Some of their legacies continue today, some are justly forgotten, and some have changed as America has changed. Whether famous, infamous, or obscure, all the presidents shaped our nation in unexpected ways. The authors' extensive research has uncovered never before seen historical facts based on private correspondence and newly discovered documentation, such as George Washington's troubled relationship with his mother. In Confronting the Presidents, O’Reilly and Dugard present 45 wonderfully entertaining and insightful portraits of each president, with no-spin commentary on their achievements—or lack thereof. Who best served America, and who undermined the founding ideals? Who were the first ladies, and what were their surprising roles in making history? Which presidents were the best, which the worst, and which »ĺľ±»ĺ˛Ô’t have much impact? How do decisions made in one era, under the pressure of particular circumstances, still resonate today? And what do presidents like to eat, drink, and do when they aren’t working—or even sometimes when they are? These and many more questions are answered in each fascinating chapter of Confronting the Presidents. Written with O’Reilly and Dugard’s signature style, authority, and eye for telling detail, Confronting the Presidents will delight all readers of history, politics, and current affairs, especially during the 2024 election season.]]> 417 Bill O'Reilly 125034641X Brent 5
I am a big fan of Bill O'Reilly. I have read his Killing books and listen to his podcasts regularly. His analysis of Trump and Biden at the end, which includes a study by his co-author Dugard, proves I agree more with his thinking than Dugard's. I think he is too generous with Biden though. He rates Biden as the second worst President of all time behind only Buchanon. I think Biden is the worst President of all time.

This book is full of facts I didn't know, which I love. Also, this book shows two things that ease my concerns about our country. The first is that we have had our nation polarized ideologically in the past. We have survived and come out stronger. The difference is the strength and bias of our media. That frightens me.

The second is that we have had plenty of past elections where one candidate won the popular vote and lost the electoral count, thus losing the presidency. When this happened with Trump winning in 2016 despite losing the popular vote our media acted like this had never happened before and should never happen again. I fear for the loss of the electoral college and its role in the election of our nation's leader.

We hear it often but I think it is correct this time. This is the most important election in our history.]]> 4.20 2024 Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden
author: Bill O'Reilly
name: Brent
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/03
date added: 2024/10/14
shelves:
review:
I was a political science major and history minor in college so I have always enjoyed books on famous politicians. The most famous politicians are Presidents of the United States. There is no book I am aware of like this- an analysis of each President.

I am a big fan of Bill O'Reilly. I have read his Killing books and listen to his podcasts regularly. His analysis of Trump and Biden at the end, which includes a study by his co-author Dugard, proves I agree more with his thinking than Dugard's. I think he is too generous with Biden though. He rates Biden as the second worst President of all time behind only Buchanon. I think Biden is the worst President of all time.

This book is full of facts I didn't know, which I love. Also, this book shows two things that ease my concerns about our country. The first is that we have had our nation polarized ideologically in the past. We have survived and come out stronger. The difference is the strength and bias of our media. That frightens me.

The second is that we have had plenty of past elections where one candidate won the popular vote and lost the electoral count, thus losing the presidency. When this happened with Trump winning in 2016 despite losing the popular vote our media acted like this had never happened before and should never happen again. I fear for the loss of the electoral college and its role in the election of our nation's leader.

We hear it often but I think it is correct this time. This is the most important election in our history.
]]> The Christmas Candle 232266
The young man soon realizes that the old man meant, as the poor and ill he encounters on his journey, illuminated by his Christmas candle, become the faces of his relatives, so he feels compelled to help them. He arrives home cold and penniless, but richer for his newfound realization that we are all part of one family.

This beautifully illustrated original fable by the acclaimed author of The Christmas Box will become a treasured part of many families' Christmases for years to come.]]> 32 Richard Paul Evans 1416926828 Brent 3
The main character goes to a candle maker to replace the candle in his lantern. The candle maker gives him a special candle. When the light shines on people, Thomas sees the beggars as his mother, then his sister, and finally his brother.

Right before I read this book I was confronted by a beggar at the grocery store. I ignored him as I do most of the time. This book will make you think when you face the homeless in our world today.]]> 4.21 1998 The Christmas Candle
author: Richard Paul Evans
name: Brent
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1998
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/05
date added: 2024/10/06
shelves:
review:
I am a big fan of Richard Paul Evans. This is a little book with a decent story—something you might want to read to your five-year-old.

The main character goes to a candle maker to replace the candle in his lantern. The candle maker gives him a special candle. When the light shines on people, Thomas sees the beggars as his mother, then his sister, and finally his brother.

Right before I read this book I was confronted by a beggar at the grocery store. I ignored him as I do most of the time. This book will make you think when you face the homeless in our world today.
]]> <![CDATA[Comeback Kings: The San Francisco Giants' Incredible 2012 Championship Season]]> 15806822 128 Bay Area News Group 1600787509 Brent 4
Why not five stars? The Pablo Sandoval article just ended in mid-sentence, obviously cut off unintentionally. I also would have made this book chronological, starting with the off-season and ending with the World Series (even though it was a sweep). This book started with the World Series and ended with the National League Championship series.

Great photos and it brought back great memories.]]> 4.53 2012 Comeback Kings: The San Francisco Giants' Incredible 2012 Championship Season
author: Bay Area News Group
name: Brent
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/05
date added: 2024/10/06
shelves:
review:
I am a San Francisco Giants fan. I lived in Iowa in 2012 (now in Virginia), but my wife and I went to Game 2 of the 2012 World Series. MadBum pitched a great game and the Giants won 2-0. I had forgotten much about the game so this book was a good walk down memory lane for the 2012 season.

Why not five stars? The Pablo Sandoval article just ended in mid-sentence, obviously cut off unintentionally. I also would have made this book chronological, starting with the off-season and ending with the World Series (even though it was a sweep). This book started with the World Series and ended with the National League Championship series.

Great photos and it brought back great memories.
]]> <![CDATA[A Question of Belief (Commissario Brunetti, #19)]]> 8248017 “MasterfulĚý.Ěý.Ěý. Brunetti allows readers to share his belief that decency and honesty can, for a little while, stave off the angst of the modern world.â€� —Publishers Weekly, starred review Ěý With his hometown of Venice, Italy, beset by hordes of tourists and baking under a glaring sun, Guido Brunetti’s greatest wish is to go to the mountains with his family, where he can sleep under a down comforter and catch up on his reading. But before he can go on vacation, a folder with court records has landed on his desk, brought by an old friend. It appears that cases at the local court—hardly known as a model of efficiency—are being delayed to the benefit of one of the parties. A creative new trick for corrupting the system, perhaps, but what can Brunetti do about it? Ěý But just when it looks like Brunetti will be able to get away, a shocking, violent crime forces him to stay in the simmering city, in this atmospheric mystery in the New York Times–bestselling series. Ěý “Leon creates such a rich sense of place that reading often feels like a slow vaporetto ride through the swelteringly humid canals of Venice, past splendid bridges and palazzi with time out for tramezzini and rich Italian coffee.â€� —The Boston Globe]]> 273 Donna Leon 0802197116 Brent 2
Leon's best is actually the first Guido book "Death at La Fenice". The last few have not been good reads.]]> 4.23 2010 A Question of Belief (Commissario Brunetti, #19)
author: Donna Leon
name: Brent
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at: 2011/05/07
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves:
review:
Donna Leon's 19th Guido Bruntetti mystery is very disappointing. Leon has two seperate stories going which aren't tied together at all and neither of which is resolved at all. The first involves Vianello's aunt giving money to a horoscope provider and the second involves the death of a momma's boy who is a homosexual. At the end of the book the murder isn't resolved. It can be one of two people and Guido just lets it go because either one of them would get off anyways.

Leon's best is actually the first Guido book "Death at La Fenice". The last few have not been good reads.
]]> Odyssey (The Academy, #5) 8729668 543 Jack McDevitt 1101208627 Brent 5
The Moonriders make their appearences during the investigation and start directing asteroids to destroy various planets and hotels. The Earth is now interested in the Moonriders and wants to refinance the Academy. This book has some twists and turns and has a very good ending.

Good read. Despite not being a big SF fan I really enjoyed it.]]> 4.09 2006 Odyssey (The Academy, #5)
author: Jack McDevitt
name: Brent
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2011/01/09
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves:
review:
This is the 5th of 6 Priscilla Hutchins novels and I think it is the best so far. Hutch is still working as an administrator in the Academy which is under attack as a result of heavy spending with not much to show for it. Orion Tours, an interstellar touring outfit, starts seeing Moonriders on various parts of the tour. Moonriders are basically UFOs. The Academy sends out a ship to see if there are such a thing as Moonriders. On the ship are MacCallister, a newspaper reporter who has been critical of the Academy; Valya a Greek lady pilot; Amy, the daughter of a Senator who is critical of the Academy and Eric who is the publicity director of the Academy who wants to see some action.

The Moonriders make their appearences during the investigation and start directing asteroids to destroy various planets and hotels. The Earth is now interested in the Moonriders and wants to refinance the Academy. This book has some twists and turns and has a very good ending.

Good read. Despite not being a big SF fan I really enjoyed it.
]]> Trains to Treblinka 53727648
As the sobering truth about Treblinka sinks deeply into the workers' hearts, a few of the men and women begin to plan a revolt. Based on a magnificent true story, Trains to Treblinka deftly interweaves the lives of several revolt organizers who pledge everything for the chance to burn down the camp and escape into the woods. When the day comes for the uprising, the young workers are barely able to contain their excitement and they risk betraying their own motives under the watchful eyes of the continually distrusting Nazis.

This well-researched, inspiring historical book is an authentic look at Treblinka written as a suspense novel. From Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize review, "It may be difficult and heart-wrenching to read the in-depth details about the atrocities that occurred at the Treblinka concentration camp, but this book is hard to put down. Causey presents a powerful linear approach to the arrival of the victims, the losses, the physical and emotional tortures, and the escape attempts. This profoundly memorable story about Treblinka serves as a reminder that every individual victim's name is worth remembering." Learn about the beauty of hope, the tragedy of war, and the enduring power of the human heart, all in Trains to Treblinka.]]> 200 Charles Causey 1400330114 Brent 5
This book takes a horrible historic event and turns it into an exciting story which is told as though it was a fictional novel. Causey tells the story of the Nazi concentration camp in Treblinka, Poland that was responsible for the death of an estimated 1.2 million Jews. He does so with dialogue from both the Jewish prisoners and the Nazi tormentors. This is my favorite way to tell a historical story.

You get descriptions of the horrific events that make you feel like you are actual there. The train cars stuffed with Jews so crammed that human waste covered the floors of the rail cars. The torture and murder of Jews by sadistic Nazis such as the Doll. The disposal of the bodies which at first took place in pits and then when the Nazis wanted to cover up that the Final Solution even took place, by burning the corpses including digging up those that had been previously buried.

You become attached to many of the actual people who were there hoping that they will somehow escape and be safe. For each one that dies, you feel like a part of yourself actually dies. You also find yourself cheering when the Revolt takes place and some are able to escape.

Causey ties it all up at the end telling you what happened to each of the Jews you came to care about and what happened to each of the Nazis you found yourself despising. This book brings out a roller coaster of emotions and teaching you what actually happened during a sad part of our history.

This book would make a very good movie.]]> 4.32 2020 Trains to Treblinka
author: Charles Causey
name: Brent
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2020/05/08
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves:
review:
I was given a copy of the transcript of this book to read by the author prior to its release.

This book takes a horrible historic event and turns it into an exciting story which is told as though it was a fictional novel. Causey tells the story of the Nazi concentration camp in Treblinka, Poland that was responsible for the death of an estimated 1.2 million Jews. He does so with dialogue from both the Jewish prisoners and the Nazi tormentors. This is my favorite way to tell a historical story.

You get descriptions of the horrific events that make you feel like you are actual there. The train cars stuffed with Jews so crammed that human waste covered the floors of the rail cars. The torture and murder of Jews by sadistic Nazis such as the Doll. The disposal of the bodies which at first took place in pits and then when the Nazis wanted to cover up that the Final Solution even took place, by burning the corpses including digging up those that had been previously buried.

You become attached to many of the actual people who were there hoping that they will somehow escape and be safe. For each one that dies, you feel like a part of yourself actually dies. You also find yourself cheering when the Revolt takes place and some are able to escape.

Causey ties it all up at the end telling you what happened to each of the Jews you came to care about and what happened to each of the Nazis you found yourself despising. This book brings out a roller coaster of emotions and teaching you what actually happened during a sad part of our history.

This book would make a very good movie.
]]> <![CDATA[A Refiner’s Fire (The Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries, #33)]]> 175749504
Around one AM on an early spring morning, two teenage gangs are arrested after clashing violently in one of Venice’s squares. Commissario Claudia Griffoni, on duty that night, perhaps ill-advisedly walks the last of the boys home because his father, Dario Monforte, failed to pick him up at the Questura. Coincidentally, Guido Brunetti is asked by a wealthy friend of Vice-Questore Patta to vet Monforte for a job, triggering Brunetti’s memory that twenty years earlier Monforte had been publicly celebrated as the hero of a devastating bombing of the Italian military compound in Iraq. Yet Monforte had never been awarded a medal either by the Carabinieri, his service branch, or by the Italian government.

That seeming contradiction, and the brutal attack on one of Brunetti’s colleagues, Enzo Bocchese, by a possible gang member, concentrate Brunetti’s attentions. Surprisingly empowered by Patta, supported by Signorina Elettra’s extraordinary research abilities and by his wife, Paola’s, empathy, Brunetti, with Griffoni, gradually discovers the sordid hypocrisy surrounding Monforte’s past, culminating in a fiery meeting of two gangs and a final opportunity for redemption.

A Refiner’s Fire is Donna Leon at her very best: an elegant, sophisticated storyteller whose indelible characters become richer with each book, and who constantly explores the ambiguity between moral and legal justice.]]> 274 Donna Leon 0802162541 Brent 1
This book deals with baby gangs in Venice. Baby gangs are gangs of boys under 16 who meet up to fight. One such meeting is twarted and one of the baby gangsters isn't picked up by dear old Dad. The "mystery" is the background of dear old dad. He was trumpeted at once as a hero for his actions in Iraq but now something is off.

YAWN. I couldn't wait to get done with this non-story. I will miss you Guido but I have missed the real you for quite a few years now.]]> 3.75 2024 A Refiner’s Fire (The Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries, #33)
author: Donna Leon
name: Brent
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2024/09/25
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves:
review:
This is the 33rd Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery book. I have read the previous 32 and am sad to say this one will be my last. I used to enjoy a Guido and Crew book. The last half dozen have fallen off and this one was just unreadable.

This book deals with baby gangs in Venice. Baby gangs are gangs of boys under 16 who meet up to fight. One such meeting is twarted and one of the baby gangsters isn't picked up by dear old Dad. The "mystery" is the background of dear old dad. He was trumpeted at once as a hero for his actions in Iraq but now something is off.

YAWN. I couldn't wait to get done with this non-story. I will miss you Guido but I have missed the real you for quite a few years now.
]]> <![CDATA[The Final Deception (New York Confidential #5)]]> 45553550 How do you confront a threat that is hiding in plain sight? FBI agent Craig Frasier and psychologist Kieran Finnegan hunt an escaped serial killer in the latest explosive thriller in the New York Confidential series.

It was one of Kieran’s most chilling her assessment of a murderer known as the Fireman. There was no doubt that the man needed to be locked away. Now Craig is called to a gruesome crime scene that matches the killer’s methods, and news breaks that the Fireman has escaped prison.

Amid a citywide manhunt, Kieran and Craig need to untangle a web of deceit, privilege and greed. They suspect that those closest to the killer have been drawn into his evil, or else someone is using another man’s madness and cruelty to disguise their crimes.

When their investigation brings the danger right to the doorstep of Finnegan’s Pub, Kieran and Craig will have to be smarter and bolder than ever before, because this time it’s personal, and they have everything to lose.]]> 318 Heather Graham 1488055424 Brent 3
Final Deception is a good title to this book. For 2/3 of the book I enjoyed the story. Craig and Kiernan are involved in trying to find a religious fundamentalist serial killer who escapes immediately after interviewing with Kiernan. Voices in his head told him to kill evil witches who were out to do bad things to people. The killer confessed. Kiernan was trying to determine if he was criminally insane or not.

Immediately, and I do mean immediately, after the killer's mistake another person is killed in the exact same method as the prior killings. Strangulation, cut out tongue, gouged out eyeballs and set on fire. Yet it happened so fast that Craig questions if it is the same person.

Good so far. Enjoyed connecting with the gang at Finnegan's. Enjoyed Craig and Kiernan's new dog Ruf and how they got him. That is about it though.

The ending was horrible. We were deceived in believing this was going to be a good story with a twist at the end. Nope....that was the Final Deception.

Merged review:

This is the 5th book of the New York Confidential series....and I hope the last.

Final Deception is a good title to this book. For 2/3 of the book I enjoyed the story. Craig and Kiernan are involved in trying to find a religious fundamentalist serial killer who escapes immediately after interviewing with Kiernan. Voices in his head told him to kill evil witches who were out to do bad things to people. The killer confessed. Kiernan was trying to determine if he was criminally insane or not.

Immediately, and I do mean immediately, after the killer's mistake another person is killed in the exact same method as the prior killings. Strangulation, cut out tongue, gouged out eyeballs and set on fire. Yet it happened so fast that Craig questions if it is the same person.

Good so far. Enjoyed connecting with the gang at Finnegan's. Enjoyed Craig and Kiernan's new dog Ruf and how they got him. That is about it though.

The ending was horrible. We were deceived in believing this was going to be a good story with a twist at the end. Nope....that was the Final Deception.]]> 4.12 2020 The Final Deception (New York Confidential #5)
author: Heather Graham
name: Brent
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/06/30
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves:
review:
This is the 5th book of the New York Confidential series....and I hope the last.

Final Deception is a good title to this book. For 2/3 of the book I enjoyed the story. Craig and Kiernan are involved in trying to find a religious fundamentalist serial killer who escapes immediately after interviewing with Kiernan. Voices in his head told him to kill evil witches who were out to do bad things to people. The killer confessed. Kiernan was trying to determine if he was criminally insane or not.

Immediately, and I do mean immediately, after the killer's mistake another person is killed in the exact same method as the prior killings. Strangulation, cut out tongue, gouged out eyeballs and set on fire. Yet it happened so fast that Craig questions if it is the same person.

Good so far. Enjoyed connecting with the gang at Finnegan's. Enjoyed Craig and Kiernan's new dog Ruf and how they got him. That is about it though.

The ending was horrible. We were deceived in believing this was going to be a good story with a twist at the end. Nope....that was the Final Deception.

Merged review:

This is the 5th book of the New York Confidential series....and I hope the last.

Final Deception is a good title to this book. For 2/3 of the book I enjoyed the story. Craig and Kiernan are involved in trying to find a religious fundamentalist serial killer who escapes immediately after interviewing with Kiernan. Voices in his head told him to kill evil witches who were out to do bad things to people. The killer confessed. Kiernan was trying to determine if he was criminally insane or not.

Immediately, and I do mean immediately, after the killer's mistake another person is killed in the exact same method as the prior killings. Strangulation, cut out tongue, gouged out eyeballs and set on fire. Yet it happened so fast that Craig questions if it is the same person.

Good so far. Enjoyed connecting with the gang at Finnegan's. Enjoyed Craig and Kiernan's new dog Ruf and how they got him. That is about it though.

The ending was horrible. We were deceived in believing this was going to be a good story with a twist at the end. Nope....that was the Final Deception.
]]> Chasing Fireflies 18929722 They have one summer to find what was lost long ago.


"Never settle for less than the truth," she told him. But when you don't even know your real name, the truth gets a little complicated. It can nestle so close to home it's hard to see. It can even flourish inside a lie. And as Chase Walker discovered, learning the truth about who you are can be as elusive—and as magical—as chasing fireflies on a summer night.

A haunting story about fishing, baseball, home cooking, and other matters of life and death.]]> 349 Charles Martin Brent 5
The story's narrator is Chase Walker who has recently been released from prison. He goes to the only place he has ever considered home. That is the home of Uncle Willie and Aunt Lorna. Chase grew up being moved from foster home to foster home. Chase is searching for who he is and his past.

Tommye, his cousin, is coming home to live with Unc and Lorna too. Chase grew up with Tommye and she left to become an adult film actress in LA. Tommye is dying of AIDS.

Chase, who is a reporter, receives an assignment to write a story about a little boy who was found by the railroad tracks after the lady he was with was killed in her car on the train tracks. The little boy doesn't speak but he is an excellent drawer and they name him Sketch. Sketch comes to live with Unc, Chase, Lorna, and Tommye while they search for his family if he has one.

This is a book of discovery. The past of all of the characters are brought out and each character has to deal with their past in differing ways. Martin brings in the gospel very subtly in his work. He doesn't hit you over the head with it but you can see it in the story he tells.



]]> 4.48 2007 Chasing Fireflies
author: Charles Martin
name: Brent
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/21
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves:
review:
I love Charles Martin's books. He is a great storyteller; the story always has twists and meanings that make you think days down the road.

The story's narrator is Chase Walker who has recently been released from prison. He goes to the only place he has ever considered home. That is the home of Uncle Willie and Aunt Lorna. Chase grew up being moved from foster home to foster home. Chase is searching for who he is and his past.

Tommye, his cousin, is coming home to live with Unc and Lorna too. Chase grew up with Tommye and she left to become an adult film actress in LA. Tommye is dying of AIDS.

Chase, who is a reporter, receives an assignment to write a story about a little boy who was found by the railroad tracks after the lady he was with was killed in her car on the train tracks. The little boy doesn't speak but he is an excellent drawer and they name him Sketch. Sketch comes to live with Unc, Chase, Lorna, and Tommye while they search for his family if he has one.

This is a book of discovery. The past of all of the characters are brought out and each character has to deal with their past in differing ways. Martin brings in the gospel very subtly in his work. He doesn't hit you over the head with it but you can see it in the story he tells.




]]> The Night We Lost Him 207299448
Though the authorities rule Liam's death accidental, Nora and her estranged brother, Sam, believe otherwise. As they form an uneasy alliance to unpack the mystery, they start putting together the pieces of their father’s past and uncover a family secret that changes everything.

With Laura Dave’s “signature blend of pulse-pounding suspense� (PEOPLE) and “trademark emotional heft� (The New York Post), The Night We Lost Him is a “propulsive� (Oprah Daily) must-read, with a heartbreaking final twist you’ll never see coming.]]> 298 Laura Dave 1668002930 Brent 0 to-read, first-read 3.56 2024 The Night We Lost Him
author: Laura Dave
name: Brent
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: to-read, first-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Crimes Past (A Mac Faraday Mystery Book 13)]]> 41038957 245 Lauren Carr Brent 3
I enjoyed the "drama" in the background of the main characters' lives. David O'Callaghan, a lady's man throughout the series with relationships with fiancee Chelsea and Texan debutante Dallas, has a girl from his past come back into his life and she has brought a surprise with her. We shall see if this will slow David down.

The mystery involves the killing of two cops who Mac worked with 17 years ago, on the night of their wedding. All the suspects are brought to the Spencer Inn for another wedding, this being the wedding of Gina, the daughter of the slain bride 17 years ago.

Too many murders and suspects. The story is very complex. Too complex. Just tell a simple story and rely on the great core of characters you have instead of trying to make this too cute.]]> 4.54 2018 Crimes Past (A Mac Faraday Mystery Book 13)
author: Lauren Carr
name: Brent
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/08
date added: 2024/09/09
shelves:
review:
This is the 13th book from the Mac Faraday Mystery series.

I enjoyed the "drama" in the background of the main characters' lives. David O'Callaghan, a lady's man throughout the series with relationships with fiancee Chelsea and Texan debutante Dallas, has a girl from his past come back into his life and she has brought a surprise with her. We shall see if this will slow David down.

The mystery involves the killing of two cops who Mac worked with 17 years ago, on the night of their wedding. All the suspects are brought to the Spencer Inn for another wedding, this being the wedding of Gina, the daughter of the slain bride 17 years ago.

Too many murders and suspects. The story is very complex. Too complex. Just tell a simple story and rely on the great core of characters you have instead of trying to make this too cute.
]]> <![CDATA[Candidate for Murder (Mac Faraday Mystery, #12)]]> 30636526 When the political parties force-feed two unsavory mayoral nominees on the town residents, Police Chief David O’Callaghan decides to make a statement—by nominating Gnarly, Mac Faraday’s German shepherd, to run as mayor of Spencer!
What starts out as a joke turns into a disaster when overnight Gnarly becomes the front runner—at which point his political enemies take a page straight out of Politics 101. What do you do when you’re behind in a race? Dig up dirt on the front runner, of course.
Seemingly, someone is not content to rest with simply embarrassing the front runner by publicizing his dishonorable discharge from the United States Army, but to throw in a murder for good measure.
With murder on the ballot, Mac Faraday and the gang—including old friends from past cases—dive in to clear Gnarly’s name, catch a killer, and save Spencer!
]]> 465 Lauren Carr Brent 4
In this one, Gnarly is running for mayor of Spencer against two other candidates nobody really likes, like our current Presidential election. Each candidate for mayor has a checkered past, including Gnarly. Each has situations from their past which are investigated by Mac, Sheriff David O'Callaghan, and others including Murphy, Jessica, and Sheriff Turow, from the nearby county.

You find out what happened with Gnarly when he was dishonorably discharged from the Army. There are a lot of murders in this book. One of the mayoral candidates gets murdered. Gnarly's handler in the Army is killed right before Gnarly is discharged. Others include an investigative reporter; Fiona Davis, who had dinner with the investigative reporter; and family members of the mayoral candidates.

You will need to keep all the plot lines straight in your head but it all works out in the end. You will also see connections to what we are experiencing in our current elections such as a press that misleads you; corrupt candidates; and government agencies that will do anything and everything to make sure their candidate wins.]]> 4.39 2016 Candidate for Murder (Mac Faraday Mystery, #12)
author: Lauren Carr
name: Brent
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/09/01
shelves:
review:
This is the 12th book from the Mac Faraday Mystery series.

In this one, Gnarly is running for mayor of Spencer against two other candidates nobody really likes, like our current Presidential election. Each candidate for mayor has a checkered past, including Gnarly. Each has situations from their past which are investigated by Mac, Sheriff David O'Callaghan, and others including Murphy, Jessica, and Sheriff Turow, from the nearby county.

You find out what happened with Gnarly when he was dishonorably discharged from the Army. There are a lot of murders in this book. One of the mayoral candidates gets murdered. Gnarly's handler in the Army is killed right before Gnarly is discharged. Others include an investigative reporter; Fiona Davis, who had dinner with the investigative reporter; and family members of the mayoral candidates.

You will need to keep all the plot lines straight in your head but it all works out in the end. You will also see connections to what we are experiencing in our current elections such as a press that misleads you; corrupt candidates; and government agencies that will do anything and everything to make sure their candidate wins.
]]> <![CDATA[Can't Live with 'Em, Can't Live without 'Em: Dealing with the Love/Hate Relationships in Your Life]]> 611148 160 Stephen F. Arterburn 0849912717 Brent 1
Many complicated relationships are used as illustrations for complex therapy-driven analysis. This would be a difficult book to apply to your life and relationships.

It was a short book which turned out to be a blessing.]]> 3.00 2006 Can't Live with 'Em, Can't Live without 'Em: Dealing with the Love/Hate Relationships in Your Life
author: Stephen F. Arterburn
name: Brent
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2006
rating: 1
read at: 2024/08/27
date added: 2024/08/27
shelves:
review:
I wanted to love this book since I enjoy so many of Arterburn's other books, but I hated it. There is my love/hate relationship for you.

Many complicated relationships are used as illustrations for complex therapy-driven analysis. This would be a difficult book to apply to your life and relationships.

It was a short book which turned out to be a blessing.
]]> <![CDATA[A Pitch for God: 31 Baseball-Themed Devotions to Help You Live an Abundant Christian Life]]> 53783800 131 Jim English Brent 5
I have read quite a few devotionals that combine God and baseball and have enjoyed each of them. English, however, does it different than any I have read. He spends the first part of the devotional going in-depth on the baseball topic of the devotional. He explains that part of the game and the history of the game.

The second part of the devotional is how this topic is demonstrated in God's word-the Bible. English uses verses from the Bible to show how the baseball topic is played out in God's plan for us.

I enjoyed this devotional and would recommend it to any baseball fan.]]> 4.67 A Pitch for God: 31 Baseball-Themed Devotions to Help You Live an Abundant Christian Life
author: Jim English
name: Brent
average rating: 4.67
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/26
date added: 2024/08/26
shelves:
review:
I love God and baseball so this devotional was perfect for me.

I have read quite a few devotionals that combine God and baseball and have enjoyed each of them. English, however, does it different than any I have read. He spends the first part of the devotional going in-depth on the baseball topic of the devotional. He explains that part of the game and the history of the game.

The second part of the devotional is how this topic is demonstrated in God's word-the Bible. English uses verses from the Bible to show how the baseball topic is played out in God's plan for us.

I enjoyed this devotional and would recommend it to any baseball fan.
]]> <![CDATA[Cancelled Vows (Mac Faraday Mystery, #11)]]> 27859597
Lauren Carr takes fans of the Mac Faraday mysteries to the Big Apple in this nail biting adventure. In Cancelled Vows, David, Mac, and Gnarly, too, rush to New York City to dissolve David’s marriage to an old girlfriend—and he’s got five days to get it done. When murder throws up a road block, it is up to David’s best man, Mac Faraday, and Gnarly, K9-in-waiting, to sort through the clues to get David to the church in time!
]]> 320 Lauren Carr Brent 3
In this installment, David O'Callaghan, Mad Faraday's half-brother, will marry Chelsea on the coming weekend. When Chelsea and David go down to get their marriage license they find out David is still married to Yvonne, a high school girlfriend in New York City. David is shocked. They were drunk in Vegas a few years ago and must have married. David, and his best man Mac, head to New York City to get Yvonne to sign the divorce papers. When they confront Yvonne she is shot and killed.

The story blows up from there. A good story gets sabotaged by an outlandish story which is both complex and unbelievable. Mac and David just happened to be there at that time. Lots of circumstantial things take place that are tied up haphazardly at the end by Carr to make it all fit together.

I did like Dallas being thrown in to throw a wrench into the potential marriage of David and Chelsea. Will David marry Chelsea even though he may be in love with Dallas? Isn't that what Patrick, David's dad, did with Violet when he was in love with Robin?

]]> 4.40 2016 Cancelled Vows (Mac Faraday Mystery, #11)
author: Lauren Carr
name: Brent
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/25
date added: 2024/08/26
shelves:
review:
This is the 11th Mac Faraday book from Lauren Carr.

In this installment, David O'Callaghan, Mad Faraday's half-brother, will marry Chelsea on the coming weekend. When Chelsea and David go down to get their marriage license they find out David is still married to Yvonne, a high school girlfriend in New York City. David is shocked. They were drunk in Vegas a few years ago and must have married. David, and his best man Mac, head to New York City to get Yvonne to sign the divorce papers. When they confront Yvonne she is shot and killed.

The story blows up from there. A good story gets sabotaged by an outlandish story which is both complex and unbelievable. Mac and David just happened to be there at that time. Lots of circumstantial things take place that are tied up haphazardly at the end by Carr to make it all fit together.

I did like Dallas being thrown in to throw a wrench into the potential marriage of David and Chelsea. Will David marry Chelsea even though he may be in love with Dallas? Isn't that what Patrick, David's dad, did with Violet when he was in love with Robin?


]]> Under the Eye of the Big Bird 205673377 From one of Japan's most brilliant and sensitive contemporary novelists, this speculative fiction masterpiece envisions an Earth where humans are nearing extinction, and rewrites our understanding of reproduction, ecology, evolution, artificial intelligence, communal life, creation, love, and the future of humanity.

In the distant future, humans are on the verge of extinction and have settled in small tribes across the planet under the observation and care of "Mothers." Some children are made in factories, from cells of rabbits and dolphins; some live by getting nutrients from water and light, like plants. The survival of the race depends on the interbreeding of these and other alien beings--but it is far from certain that connection, love, reproduction, and evolution will persist among the inhabitants of this faltering new world.

Unfolding over fourteen interconnected episodes spanning geological eons, at once technical and pastoral, mournful and utopic, Under the Eye of the Big Bird presents an astonishing vision of the end of our species as we know it.]]> 288 Hiromi Kawakami 1593766114 Brent 0 to-read, first-read 3.76 2016 Under the Eye of the Big Bird
author: Hiromi Kawakami
name: Brent
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/21
shelves: to-read, first-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sparkling Cyanide (Colonel Race, #4)]]> 212622
But then Rosemary had always been memorable—she had the ability to arouse strong passions in most people she met. In one case, strong enough to kill...

Titled in America Remembered Death.]]> 336 Agatha Christie 0007136854 Brent 3
Rosemary is killed, or was it suicide, at a restaurant with a group of people around her. She died from drinking cyanide that was mixed in her champagne.

One year later, Rosemary's husband George gathers the same people in the same restaurant to celebrate the life of Rosemary and her sister Iris who is celebrating her birthday. This time George dies from cyanide in his champagne.

Who is the killer? Is there even a killer? Did George and Rosemary both commit suicide? Christie examines the lives of each of the attendees at the shindig, especially their interactions.

This is really a typical Christie novel—murder with a limited number of suspects.

The ending felt rushed after a slow slog through of the backgrounds of the suspects.]]> 3.90 1945 Sparkling Cyanide (Colonel Race, #4)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Brent
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1945
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/18
date added: 2024/08/19
shelves:
review:
This is the 4th book from the Colonel Race series.

Rosemary is killed, or was it suicide, at a restaurant with a group of people around her. She died from drinking cyanide that was mixed in her champagne.

One year later, Rosemary's husband George gathers the same people in the same restaurant to celebrate the life of Rosemary and her sister Iris who is celebrating her birthday. This time George dies from cyanide in his champagne.

Who is the killer? Is there even a killer? Did George and Rosemary both commit suicide? Christie examines the lives of each of the attendees at the shindig, especially their interactions.

This is really a typical Christie novel—murder with a limited number of suspects.

The ending felt rushed after a slow slog through of the backgrounds of the suspects.
]]> <![CDATA[Hide and Seek (Helen Grace, #6)]]> 29430031 Prison is no place for a detective
Helen Grace was one of the country's best police investigators.
Now she's behind bars with the killers she caught.

Framed for murder
She knows there is only way out:
stay alive until her trial and somehow prove her innocence.

Locked up with a killer
But when a mutilated body is found in the cell next door,
Helen fears her days are numbered.

A murderer is on the loose.
And she must find them.
Before she's next . . .]]> 368 M.J. Arlidge 0718183843 Brent 5
Helen is in prison awaiting her trial for a triple murder in which she was framed by her nephew, seeking revenge because Helen had shot and killed her sister in the first book. See...you really need to start at the beginning. While Charlie is trying to hunt down Robert and get Helen free, an even more interesting string of events is taking place in prison. In-mates are being killed and their eyes, mouths, vaginas and anuses are being sewed up. Wax petroleum is being put in their noses and ears. Who is doing these killings and why? The prisoners are becoming more and more wound up with each killing.

I seriously thought I knew who the killer was and it turned out I was wrong. I like books with twists and turns and this one is loaded with them.

Great book and great series.]]> 4.23 2016 Hide and Seek (Helen Grace, #6)
author: M.J. Arlidge
name: Brent
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2019/04/15
date added: 2024/08/19
shelves:
review:
This is the 6th book of Arlidge's incredible Helen Grace series. And this one is one of the best. Nothing beats a prison background. This brings back memories of two awesome Stephen King prison stories "The Green Mile" and "Rita Hayward and the Shawshank Redemption." To know how Helen ended up in prison you should really read the 5th book prior to this one. In fact you should really read them all in order. I can't imagine not doing so.

Helen is in prison awaiting her trial for a triple murder in which she was framed by her nephew, seeking revenge because Helen had shot and killed her sister in the first book. See...you really need to start at the beginning. While Charlie is trying to hunt down Robert and get Helen free, an even more interesting string of events is taking place in prison. In-mates are being killed and their eyes, mouths, vaginas and anuses are being sewed up. Wax petroleum is being put in their noses and ears. Who is doing these killings and why? The prisoners are becoming more and more wound up with each killing.

I seriously thought I knew who the killer was and it turned out I was wrong. I like books with twists and turns and this one is loaded with them.

Great book and great series.
]]> <![CDATA[The Sex Talk You Never Got: Reclaiming the Heart of Masculine Sexuality]]> 201335509
In our sex-saturated world, it might seem surprising that men needĚýmoreĚýtalk about sex. But the reality is that sexuality is one of the most neglected aspects of men's lives. From the woefully inadequate sex talks many young men receive from parents (little more than an anatomy lesson or a purity lecture, if anything at all) to cultural messages that unhelpfully weave both shame and permissiveness into men's understanding of their own sexuality and masculinity, too many boys and men experience sexual desire as an area of struggle, confusion, and brokenness.

But it doesn't need to be this way. God made men to be moved, to live with wonder and awe--and sexual desire must be formed within the context of that design. Sam Jolman, a professional therapist who specializes in men's issues and sexual trauma recovery, shows men the way out of the wilds of sexual struggle. This timely and incisive book will help readers

learn about the vital link between sexual desire and their identity as worshipers;regain a wild and vigorous sexuality within the context of God's design;understand how purity culture has needlessly put men in a conflict-ridden relationship with their sexuality;see sexual purity not as theĚýgoalĚýbut as theĚýpreparationĚýfor becoming fully alive to beauty, awe, and worship; anddiscover how to trade shame and confusion for a sexuality that's filled with innocence and wonder.Ěý

In the Bible, Jesus' greatest kindness was often offered to those suffering sexual harm and brokenness. He offers this same kindness today. He does not want men to repent of their sexual desire. Rather, through reconnecting sexuality with innocence and awe, God opens the door for men to experience the wild joy of desire, rightly ordered toward worship and God's good purposes for their life.]]> 240 Sam Jolman 1400243904 Brent 2 first-read
This is certainly not your typical religious book dealing with sex. I think that is a good thing. I liked the ideas presented by Jolman, I just didn't think they were explained clearly.

This is a book geared towards men which is important because there are differences between the genders when it comes to sex. This was downplayed by Jolman however.

I found myself wanting to finish the book and not dwelling on the pleasure of reading it. It felt like a task I had to accomplish, not something I could sit back and enjoy.]]> 4.56 The Sex Talk You Never Got: Reclaiming the Heart of Masculine Sexuality
author: Sam Jolman
name: Brent
average rating: 4.56
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/14
date added: 2024/08/15
shelves: first-read
review:
I won this book through GoodReads First Read program.

This is certainly not your typical religious book dealing with sex. I think that is a good thing. I liked the ideas presented by Jolman, I just didn't think they were explained clearly.

This is a book geared towards men which is important because there are differences between the genders when it comes to sex. This was downplayed by Jolman however.

I found myself wanting to finish the book and not dwelling on the pleasure of reading it. It felt like a task I had to accomplish, not something I could sit back and enjoy.
]]> <![CDATA[The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams]]> 66088900
It was 1953, the Korean War in full throttle, when two men—already experts in their fields—crossed the fabled 38th Parallel into Communist airspace aboard matching Panther jets. John Glenn was an ambitious operations officer with fifty-nine World War II combat missions under his belt. His wingman was Ted Williams, the two-time American League Triple Crown winner who, at the pinnacle of his career, had been inexplicably recalled to active service in the United States Marine Corps. Together, the affable flier and the notoriously tempestuous left fielder soared into North Korea, creating a death-defying bond. Although, over the next half century, their contrasting lives were challenged by exhilarating highs and devastating lows, that bond would endure.

Through unpublished letters, unit diaries, declassified military records, manuscripts, and new and illuminating interviews, The Wingmen reveals an epic and intimate portrait of two heroes—larger-than-life and yet ineffably human, ordinary men who accomplished the extraordinary. At its heart, this was a conflicted friendship that found commonality in mutual respect—throughout the perils of war, sports dominance, scientific innovation, cutthroat national politics, the burden of celebrity, and the meaning of bravery. Now, author Adam Lazarus sheds light on a largely forgotten chapter in these legends� lives—as singular individuals, inspiring patriots, and eventually, however improbable, profoundly close friends.]]> 304 Adam Lazarus 0806542500 Brent 4 first-read
I am a big baseball fan and knew quite a bit about the Kid, Ted Williams, but I learned much more about his military career. He served his country after being called up by the Marines in the Korean War. He wasn't too happy about it and complained a lot, but he flew many missions for his country.

This book focuses on the friendship of John Glenn and Ted Williams, which developed due to their service together in the Korean War. They flew 8 missions together, which isn't a lot considering how many missions they both flew.

Glenn and Williams were quite different. Glenn is someone who I would have liked to hang around with more than Williams, who was a narcissist who attempted to dominate people and was allowed to do so based on his personality. The epilogue to the book does a great job of summarizing the differences between the two men. The only thing that I liked better about Williams than Glenn was his political ideology.]]> 3.80 2023 The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams
author: Adam Lazarus
name: Brent
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/10
date added: 2024/08/11
shelves: first-read
review:
I won this book through GoodReads First Read program.

I am a big baseball fan and knew quite a bit about the Kid, Ted Williams, but I learned much more about his military career. He served his country after being called up by the Marines in the Korean War. He wasn't too happy about it and complained a lot, but he flew many missions for his country.

This book focuses on the friendship of John Glenn and Ted Williams, which developed due to their service together in the Korean War. They flew 8 missions together, which isn't a lot considering how many missions they both flew.

Glenn and Williams were quite different. Glenn is someone who I would have liked to hang around with more than Williams, who was a narcissist who attempted to dominate people and was allowed to do so based on his personality. The epilogue to the book does a great job of summarizing the differences between the two men. The only thing that I liked better about Williams than Glenn was his political ideology.
]]> Civil War (Tarizon #2) 6606943 297 William Manchee 1929976526 Brent 4
Lots of twists and turns which I like. Lots of battle scenes and a looming love battle for Leek involving his mate Luci, Lorin the Chancellor and Tehra who is the mother of his brother Torin. Stan got it on with her when she was on earth helping him deal with the Tarizon issue in one of the Stan Turner novels.

I am looking forward to reading Tarizon: Conquest Earth to finish out the story. Not a big sci-fi guy but Manchee does it well.]]> 3.78 Civil War (Tarizon #2)
author: William Manchee
name: Brent
average rating: 3.78
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2014/01/01
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:
Manchee does write a good sci-fi tale. I have read all of his Stan Turner novels and some of them are good but he appears to be in his element with this Tarizon series. The Civil War is volume 2 of the trilogy. Leek Lanzia f/k/a Peter Turner leads the mutants, seafolken and nanomites back from near exstinction against the formidable TGA led by Videl Lai who is an awful person.

Lots of twists and turns which I like. Lots of battle scenes and a looming love battle for Leek involving his mate Luci, Lorin the Chancellor and Tehra who is the mother of his brother Torin. Stan got it on with her when she was on earth helping him deal with the Tarizon issue in one of the Stan Turner novels.

I am looking forward to reading Tarizon: Conquest Earth to finish out the story. Not a big sci-fi guy but Manchee does it well.
]]> Conquest Earth (Tarizon #3) 8640970 357 William Manchee 1929976658 Brent 4 first-read
It took me awhile to get to this book since this book is the final book of the Tarizon trilogy. I really enjoyed this sci-fi trilogy even though I am not a sci-fi fan. In this final book Leek Lanzia aka Peter Turner is in a race with the Purist party of Tarizon to reach Earth. The Purists want to take over Earth and Peter wants to stop them. Peter is originally from Earth but ended up on Tarizon saving the planet from the Purists rule. Now he must do the same for Earth.

Lots of twists and turns. Presidents killed, some of which are aliens. Manchee even brings Stan Turner, Peter's father into play. Stan is the lead character of 10 of Manchee's mystery books as a lawyer in Dallas, Texas.

Manchee does sci-fi well. Better actually then he does mysteries.]]> 3.47 Conquest Earth (Tarizon #3)
author: William Manchee
name: Brent
average rating: 3.47
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2014/01/12
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: first-read
review:
I won this book through GoodReads first read program.

It took me awhile to get to this book since this book is the final book of the Tarizon trilogy. I really enjoyed this sci-fi trilogy even though I am not a sci-fi fan. In this final book Leek Lanzia aka Peter Turner is in a race with the Purist party of Tarizon to reach Earth. The Purists want to take over Earth and Peter wants to stop them. Peter is originally from Earth but ended up on Tarizon saving the planet from the Purists rule. Now he must do the same for Earth.

Lots of twists and turns. Presidents killed, some of which are aliens. Manchee even brings Stan Turner, Peter's father into play. Stan is the lead character of 10 of Manchee's mystery books as a lawyer in Dallas, Texas.

Manchee does sci-fi well. Better actually then he does mysteries.
]]> <![CDATA[The Man in the Brown Suit (Colonel Race, #1)]]> 209194 Pretty, young Anne came to London looking for adventure. In fact, adventure comes looking for her—and finds her immediately at Hyde Park Corner tube station. Anne is present on the platform when a thin man, reeking of mothballs, loses his balance and is electrocuted on the rails.


The Scotland Yard verdict is accidental death. But Anne is not satisfied. After all, who was the man in the brown suit who examined the body? And why did he race off, leaving a cryptic message behind: "17-122 Kilmorden Castle"?


Twisty, clever, and intriguing, The Man in the Brown Suit showcases Agatha Christie once again at her very best.

]]> 381 Agatha Christie 0007151667 Brent 2
Anne Beddingfeld is the main character. The story is told through her eyes with diary entries from Sir Eustace Pedler. The man in the brown suit turns out to be Anne's love. She first sees him as he assists someone pushed on the subway tracks. She then sees him again at the place of a murder. He is the one she follows to find out what is going on.

Lots of twists and turns as stolen diamonds come into play. The main scene shifts from England to South Africa as the diamonds are chased down. Lots of characters and I found myself wanting the book to end, which is never a good sign.

Not for me but I do enjoy most of Christie's works.]]> 3.97 1924 The Man in the Brown Suit (Colonel Race, #1)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Brent
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1924
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/03
date added: 2024/08/04
shelves:
review:
This is the first book from the Colonel Race series, although he is not the main character and only appears sporadically throughout the story.

Anne Beddingfeld is the main character. The story is told through her eyes with diary entries from Sir Eustace Pedler. The man in the brown suit turns out to be Anne's love. She first sees him as he assists someone pushed on the subway tracks. She then sees him again at the place of a murder. He is the one she follows to find out what is going on.

Lots of twists and turns as stolen diamonds come into play. The main scene shifts from England to South Africa as the diamonds are chased down. Lots of characters and I found myself wanting the book to end, which is never a good sign.

Not for me but I do enjoy most of Christie's works.
]]> Half of a Yellow Sun 58456361 --back cover]]> 543 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Brent 0 to-read, first-read 4.37 2006 Half of a Yellow Sun
author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
name: Brent
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/31
shelves: to-read, first-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Three Blind Mice and Other Stories (Hercule Poirot, #30; Miss Marple, #2.2)]]> 359251
The famous story opens with a blinding snowstorm trapping a small group of owners and guests in an isolated estate, recently re-purposed as a country inn. Although not aware of it, they are also trapped by a homicidal maniac! Out of this deceptively simple set-up, Agatha Christie fashioned one of her most ingenious puzzlers which, in turn, provided the basis for "The Mousetrap," the longest-running play in history.

The book includes this classic and eight more deliciously clever gems (solved to perfection by Hercule Poirot, Miss Jane Marple and Harley Quin). The inimitable Christie at her inventive best - proving her reputation as "the champion deceiver of our time." The New York Times

The collection includes: 1. Three Blind Mice; 2. Strange Jest; 3. The Tape-Measure Murder; 4. The Case of the Perfect Maid; 5. The Case of the Caretaker; 6. The Third Floor Flat; 7. The Adventure of Johnny Waverly; 8. Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds; and 9. The Love Detectives.

Of the nine, the 1st is an Agatha Christie standalone - not part of any series. Following that are Miss Marple in #2, #3, #4, and #5; Hercule Poirot in #6, #7, and #8, and the intriguing Mr. Harley Quin in #9.

Librarian's note: this entry is for the collection as a whole: "Three Blind Mice and Other Stories." Entries for each of the individual short stories, including the title story, can be found elsewhere on Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ.]]> 288 Agatha Christie Brent 4
This collection comprises one novella (Three Blind Mice) and eight short stories. I enjoyed the novella, which probably propelled my ranking to four stars. All but one of the short stories featured Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Not the novella but it was still enjoyable.

Most importantly, there wasn't one of the selections which wasn't enjoyable to some extent. A good sample for those who are interested in Agatha Christie but haven't made the plunge. You can sample Poirot and Marples on this platter.

Give her a try. This is a good sampler to partake from. ]]> 3.88 1950 Three Blind Mice and Other Stories (Hercule Poirot, #30; Miss Marple, #2.2)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Brent
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1950
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/27
date added: 2024/07/28
shelves:
review:
I am not a big fan of a collection of short stories. This is one of the better ones as I enjoyed each selection.

This collection comprises one novella (Three Blind Mice) and eight short stories. I enjoyed the novella, which probably propelled my ranking to four stars. All but one of the short stories featured Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Not the novella but it was still enjoyable.

Most importantly, there wasn't one of the selections which wasn't enjoyable to some extent. A good sample for those who are interested in Agatha Christie but haven't made the plunge. You can sample Poirot and Marples on this platter.

Give her a try. This is a good sampler to partake from.
]]>