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Review Date: 3/13/2011
Chris Rose is a reporter for the Times-Picayune in Louisiana. He continued to write his column for the paper after Katrina devastated New Orleans.
How this man was able to survive and forgo his devastation and continue to see the good and the bad during this disaster is the most striking part of these vignettes about life in the aftermath.
The stories of refigerators that line the roads, appliances being sunk into potholes big enough to do that in, how some people didn't experience any devastation, how some holed up in their homes and didn't face it, how some brought major crime to the area, how some went out of their way to help others, even with just a smile or a touch.
I felt a poignant feeling reading this, as I was reading this as Japan became devastated by it's own horrific weather-related undoing. It makes you ponder what you would do in such a situation.
Cudos to Chris Rose and people like him who are working toward making Louisiana a community again, however slowly that happens.
How this man was able to survive and forgo his devastation and continue to see the good and the bad during this disaster is the most striking part of these vignettes about life in the aftermath.
The stories of refigerators that line the roads, appliances being sunk into potholes big enough to do that in, how some people didn't experience any devastation, how some holed up in their homes and didn't face it, how some brought major crime to the area, how some went out of their way to help others, even with just a smile or a touch.
I felt a poignant feeling reading this, as I was reading this as Japan became devastated by it's own horrific weather-related undoing. It makes you ponder what you would do in such a situation.
Cudos to Chris Rose and people like him who are working toward making Louisiana a community again, however slowly that happens.
102 Minutes: The Unforgettable Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
5
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
5
Review Date: 1/16/2020
8:46 am, 9/11/01. That is when the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. People were inside either getting ready to start their workday, working their workday, meeting, etc. Little was understood by those inside exactly what had happened. Their only thoughts were to try to get out of where they were and get out of the building.
There were also people in the South Tower who had no idea about what had happened just a short distance away.
9:03 am, 9/11/01. A second plane hits the South Tower of the World Trade Center. More people unaware from their offices of what had occurred.
This book gives names and instances to something that appeared to be a tragic movie, although it was not a movie. We come to know some of the people who survived and others who didn't.
Let us never forget all that were lost in this tragedy. Government, businesses, fire, police, etc all need to recall the devastation of this tragedy and work to remedy the issues that were faced in trying to save people on that day.
There were also people in the South Tower who had no idea about what had happened just a short distance away.
9:03 am, 9/11/01. A second plane hits the South Tower of the World Trade Center. More people unaware from their offices of what had occurred.
This book gives names and instances to something that appeared to be a tragic movie, although it was not a movie. We come to know some of the people who survived and others who didn't.
Let us never forget all that were lost in this tragedy. Government, businesses, fire, police, etc all need to recall the devastation of this tragedy and work to remedy the issues that were faced in trying to save people on that day.
Review Date: 1/20/2013
These are short stories of the noir genre. They are categorized in groups such as: The Weird, The Hardboiled, The Manny Vassey stories, the Brutal, etc.
These are pretty well-categorized and while this is not a genre that I often read, these were very readable stories.
I have to say that my favorites were the Manny Vassey stories. I really could have read many more of them beyond the three that were included.
Very descriptive wording by the author and the stories pull you in for the short time that you are involved. This is definitely an author I would give another opportunity to take up my time with his writing.
These are pretty well-categorized and while this is not a genre that I often read, these were very readable stories.
I have to say that my favorites were the Manny Vassey stories. I really could have read many more of them beyond the three that were included.
Very descriptive wording by the author and the stories pull you in for the short time that you are involved. This is definitely an author I would give another opportunity to take up my time with his writing.
Review Date: 12/18/2006
In this dazzling work of fiction, Nobel laureate Saul Bellow writes comically and wisely about the tenacious claims of first love. Harry Treilman, an aging, astute businessman, has never belonged anywhere: not in the Chicago orphanage where he was sent by his mother, not in high school (too brainy), not even on the streets. AS for his human attachments, they are like everything else in his life, singular and irregular. But Harry's ovservational talents have not gone unnoticed by billionaire Sigmund Adletsky, who retains Harry as his advisor on human affairs. Soon the old man discovers behind Harry's stoic mask as intense foty-year passion for a twice-divorced interior designer, Amy Wustrin. At the exhumation and reburial of her husband, Harry is provided, thanks to Sigmund, the means, perhaps the final means, for discolsing feeling amassed over a lifetime.
All God's Children: Inside the Dark and Violent World of Street Families
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
9
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
9
Review Date: 9/7/2010
There is a body of a young girl found on the train tracks in Oregon. She has been beaten and burned beyond recognition. It is found out that her name is Jessica and that she had been involved with a family living on the streets.
The street families have their own "laws" and if you do not abide by them, you pay the price.
This book was very well researched and you are quickly pulled into the street life and the different families that reside in Oregon. What is the hardest to realize is the violence of members who claim to be Wiccan and don't want anything to do with our "normal" society.
They have formed families and they turn on each other for their "laws" being broken, whether or not the "laws" were really broken or it was just implied that they were.
Be warned that this is an extremely violent group of people and if you have a weak stomach when it comes to this stuff, don't read the book.
I guess my biggest question is, what appeal is there to living on the streets and living by the code of the families? There were some very intelligent and well familied individuals involved in this book. Are kids really just looking for that kind of freedom? But where do they get the idea that this is the freedom, since the rules of the street families seem so much harsher than that of the normal world?
This was just sad and really makes you think about the roles that parents play and how hard it is being a parent and wanting the best for your children, when they believe that what they are seeking is much more important. Unfortunately, there are lots of influences upon a teenager and you hope for the best.
The street families have their own "laws" and if you do not abide by them, you pay the price.
This book was very well researched and you are quickly pulled into the street life and the different families that reside in Oregon. What is the hardest to realize is the violence of members who claim to be Wiccan and don't want anything to do with our "normal" society.
They have formed families and they turn on each other for their "laws" being broken, whether or not the "laws" were really broken or it was just implied that they were.
Be warned that this is an extremely violent group of people and if you have a weak stomach when it comes to this stuff, don't read the book.
I guess my biggest question is, what appeal is there to living on the streets and living by the code of the families? There were some very intelligent and well familied individuals involved in this book. Are kids really just looking for that kind of freedom? But where do they get the idea that this is the freedom, since the rules of the street families seem so much harsher than that of the normal world?
This was just sad and really makes you think about the roles that parents play and how hard it is being a parent and wanting the best for your children, when they believe that what they are seeking is much more important. Unfortunately, there are lots of influences upon a teenager and you hope for the best.
All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
266
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
266
Review Date: 5/18/2006
Most of what I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life-learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life-learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.
Review Date: 5/12/2017
This novel had the best flowing language I have read in a very long time
Marie-Laure and Werner are two young individuals growing up in different cultures during WW II. Marie-Laure has a constant secret and Werner is an absolute genius with radios and hardware to fix radios.
War always has more than one side and this book is absolute evidence of that.
I was a little disappointed with the ending, but, it is what it is, it was not my work to create.
Marie-Laure and Werner are two young individuals growing up in different cultures during WW II. Marie-Laure has a constant secret and Werner is an absolute genius with radios and hardware to fix radios.
War always has more than one side and this book is absolute evidence of that.
I was a little disappointed with the ending, but, it is what it is, it was not my work to create.
All These Wonders: True Stories About Facing the Unknown (The Moth Presents)
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
1
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
1
Review Date: 12/26/2020
All These Wonders edited by Catherine Burns
Review Date: 3/17/2010
Helpful Score: 6
Really could not get into the characters in this book. Maybe it is just written with a younger generation in mind.
Review Date: 9/8/2005
Very fast-paced reading. A little hard to keep up with, but good writing.
Review Date: 11/10/2005
Wonderful writing about a boyhood in impoverished Ireland. Had me so enthralled, I even dreamt about it.
Review Date: 8/8/2010
Bailey Khane is an author of novels that tell the stories of young girls that are murdered heinously. What people do not know is that the novels are the real stories of these girls who appear to her as apparitions. Their spirits are wanting Bailey to find the murderer.
Andy Bennett is a private investigator who has read at least one of Bailey's books. The book in question is so accurate in the description of the murder of his sister, Erika, that he believes that Bailey had something to do with the crime.
Bailey lives alone in a cabin on a lake in White Sands, Michigan, and surrounds herself with silver and any other weapon, including a guard dog, Thor, against evil.
The real source of this carnage comes from a very unexpected source and that is really part of the real pull of this story.
This book is really for the reader of horror. Raven Bower does a really good job of creating a novel that keeps you reading and her use of language is top-rate. I hope that she continues writing in this genre. We need more women writing this kind of novel.
Andy Bennett is a private investigator who has read at least one of Bailey's books. The book in question is so accurate in the description of the murder of his sister, Erika, that he believes that Bailey had something to do with the crime.
Bailey lives alone in a cabin on a lake in White Sands, Michigan, and surrounds herself with silver and any other weapon, including a guard dog, Thor, against evil.
The real source of this carnage comes from a very unexpected source and that is really part of the real pull of this story.
This book is really for the reader of horror. Raven Bower does a really good job of creating a novel that keeps you reading and her use of language is top-rate. I hope that she continues writing in this genre. We need more women writing this kind of novel.
Review Date: 4/22/2012
These are all short stories, 4 in all, that deal with clowns. There were really only a couple of them that made sense to me. The first short story, Giggles, grabs your attention quickly. That was the only one that did that. And it is my philosophy with short stories that if you are not grabbed by the first paragraph, the story is lost. Giggles was the best of the four.
Review Date: 10/17/2005
Very good writing. Didn't really find it all that compelling, though.
Review Date: 5/8/2006
Finding wealthy Elaine Boldt seems like a quickie case to Kinsey Millhone. The flashy widow was last seen wearing a $12,000 lynx coat, leaving her condo in Santa Teresa for her condo in Boca Raton. But somewhere in between, she vanished. Kinsey's case goes from puzzling to sinister when a house is torched, an apartment is burgled of worthless papers, the lynx coat comes back without Elaine, and her bridge partner is found dead. Soon Kinsey's clues begin to form a capital M - not for missing, but for murder: And plenty of it.
Review Date: 12/18/2006
Dear Reader, I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune.
In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.
It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.
With all due respect, Lemony Snicket
In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.
It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.
With all due respect, Lemony Snicket
Review Date: 2/8/2006
Great little picture book. Some of these pictures are such a hoot! Definitely for cat lovers.
Review Date: 3/11/2020
David Loogan has rented a house in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The house belongs to a professor who is away. We don't know too much about our main character at this point. He is writing and keeps dropping off his work to "Gray Streets", a mystery magazine.
David is hired by Tom Kristoll, the publisher of said magazine as an editor. David quickly becomes involved in an affair with Tom's wife, Laura.
David becomes good friends with Tom and is called one night to come to the office, where an unfortunate circumstance has happened with a murder. David helps Tom take care of the body.
From here, there is murder after murder and many different possibilities of who has killed whom. There are many characters with intertwining stories and much history to learn.
I thought this was interesting, with each character being different, so no confusion about their story. Will definitely consider reading more of Harry Dolan's work.
David is hired by Tom Kristoll, the publisher of said magazine as an editor. David quickly becomes involved in an affair with Tom's wife, Laura.
David becomes good friends with Tom and is called one night to come to the office, where an unfortunate circumstance has happened with a murder. David helps Tom take care of the body.
From here, there is murder after murder and many different possibilities of who has killed whom. There are many characters with intertwining stories and much history to learn.
I thought this was interesting, with each character being different, so no confusion about their story. Will definitely consider reading more of Harry Dolan's work.
Review Date: 4/1/2019
Anna, her mom, dad and brother Alex (Stick) are camping. Anna and her brother are in the tent to go to sleep. Anna hears her parents talking, but suddenly her mother screams, which is very unlike her mom. Next, dad comes and puts her and her brother in a large Coleman locker, but shuts it with a secure way of getting it open.
Anna hears noises that aren't quite right. She feels a big black dog sniffing at the opening of the cooler. When that sniffing stops, she gets her brother out of the cooler and finds her mother. Mom tells her to get her brother into the canoe and go for a ride and that she and dad will meet up with them.
What has actually happened is awful. And keep in mind that Anna is only 5 years old and Stick is only 2.
Anna gets them in the canoe and from there scary things happen.
This is written in the wording of a 5 year old taking on the wilderness, taking care of herself and her brother.
This was a very unique concept. You feel so helpless reading this little girl's thoughts, trying to remember that she is as young as she is.
Anna hears noises that aren't quite right. She feels a big black dog sniffing at the opening of the cooler. When that sniffing stops, she gets her brother out of the cooler and finds her mother. Mom tells her to get her brother into the canoe and go for a ride and that she and dad will meet up with them.
What has actually happened is awful. And keep in mind that Anna is only 5 years old and Stick is only 2.
Anna gets them in the canoe and from there scary things happen.
This is written in the wording of a 5 year old taking on the wilderness, taking care of herself and her brother.
This was a very unique concept. You feel so helpless reading this little girl's thoughts, trying to remember that she is as young as she is.
Review Date: 5/16/2006
A tour de force that reads so well that after a while the reader completely forgets he is dealig not with a human being but with a Gregor Samsa metamorphosed into a John Coltrane double. The incredible adventures of the horn-blowing bear left me mesmerized. The climactic gigs must be amon the best at capturing that sort of artistic creation in fiction. Josef Skvorecky
The hero of this sensational first novel is an alto-sax virtuoso trying to evolve a personal style out of Coltrane and Rollins. He also happens to be a walking, talking, Blake-and-Shakespeare-quoting bear whos musical, spiritual, and romantic adventures add up to perhaps the best novel, ursine or human, ever written about jazz.
The hero of this sensational first novel is an alto-sax virtuoso trying to evolve a personal style out of Coltrane and Rollins. He also happens to be a walking, talking, Blake-and-Shakespeare-quoting bear whos musical, spiritual, and romantic adventures add up to perhaps the best novel, ursine or human, ever written about jazz.
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