by Dale Carnegie, 1936 Wonderful book on Human Relations, full of vignettes emphasizing his points. Loved the historical early 20th Century times and lots of Lincoln quotes and stories. First part of book is best: Part 2: Six ways to make people like you Part 3: How to Win People to Your Way of Thinking […]
Author: bookhound
A Place on Earth
by Wendell Berry, 2012 Twenty stories of the Port William membership. Beautiful stories of the love between farmers and their land; their hard, endless work; the way they help each other with their work and their grief; and the joy and love they share in their community. Days long gone now. Wayne’s favorite is Burley […]
Into the Blue
by Robert Goddard, 1990 (Nord’s book) Intriguing mystery. Starts out on the Greek Isle of Rhodes. Harry Barnett, middle-aged, over-weight, is hiking with Heather Mallender, young girl (20’s), visiting from England, trying to recover from her sister’s death. She wants to go to the top of Profitis Ilias but Harry doesn’t. She goes on, he […]
The African Queen
by C.S. Forester (Hornblower author), 1935 Rose and Allnutt, 2 English people in Africa, decide to take the African Queen down a river, the Ulanga River, full of rapids, and blow up a German ship on the lake to help the war effort. They get down the rapids alive – Rose steers and Allnut mans […]
The American Pit Bull Terrier Handbook
by Joe Stahlkuppe, 2000 “Gameness requires that they never give up.” Great book about APBT – History of the breed and everything you need to know about the APBT. Dog-Aggressive but not human-aggressive. “Avoid places where dogs are allowed to run free.” “Never let your APBT fight or even mock-fight with other dogs.” “To an […]
The Casual Vacancy
by J.K. Rowling, 2012 Harry Potter author’s 1st adult novel Barry Fairbrother dies of a brain anyeurism and leaves a “casual vacancy” on the Pagford Parish Council. The town members are pretty despicable and this was a pretty depressing book. Rowling “is the founder of Lumos, which works to transform the lives of disadvantaged children.” […]
Wallace: The Underdog Who Conquered a Sport, Saved a Marriage and Championed Pit Bulls – One Flying Disc at a Time
by Jim Gorant, 2012 About a young Minnesota couple, Roo and Clara Yoris, who adopt a pit bull from a no-kill shelter, who was probably going to be killed, and turn him into a world champion frisbee dog. Mostly about Roo and Clara, not enough about Wallace.
A Feast for Crows
by George RR Martin, Book 4, 2005 UGH – so many extraneous people and details – does he really expect us to keep track of who all these people are? Who cares – I just want to see Cersei die. In the end she is naked in a cell in the Holy Sept. Done in […]
An Echo in the Darkness
by Francine Rivers, 1994 Book 2 of the Mark of the Lion Series What an excellent book! Hadassah is saved from death after being mauled by lions by the Physician, Alexander. She works for him and becomes known as Rapha, the healer. Her work for God with Alexander enriches him and he loves her. Marcus […]
The Printmaker’s Daughter
by Katherine Govier, 2011 Interesting, not gripping, historical fiction about the daughter of a famous Japanese Painter, Hokusai, and how she probably was responsible for most of his paintings in his later years. Her name is Oei (like “Hey”).
Under the Tuscan Sun
by Frances Mayes, 1996 Frances and her husband, Ed, buy an old villa in Tuscany (Cortona, Italy) and rejuvenate it inside and out. They have terraces and have olive trees. Re-doing the house took years since they only live in Italy in summer (professors in San Francisco). Fun book – love her descriptions of the […]
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
by Robert A. Heinlein, 1966 James’ favorite book. I had a hard time with it. Wayne read it. I got 1/2 way and Wayne told me how it ends so I didn’t finish it. About people on Luna, the moon, who decide to revolt against Terra, the Earth, in order to be free. Mike, the […]
Whitefoot: A Story from the Center of the World
by Wendell Berry, 2009; Illustrations by Davis TeSelle Short, little book with BEAUTIFUL illustrations about a little mouse who gets caught in a flood and floats to another world (downstream) on a log. Wayne says don’t judge Wendell Berry by this book. Juvenile fiction.
The Uninvited Guests
by Sadie Jones, 2012 LOVED THIS BOOK! What an amazing book! Could not stop after 1/2 way! Kind of a mystery, suspense, comedy, romance. 1912 Old English Manor house called Sterne. Main characters: Mom (Charlotte)–beautiful, vain, immature; Emerald–lovely and loving 19 year-old daughter; Clovis–handsome and spiteful 20 year-old son; Smudge–youngest daughter, forgotten little girl; Housekeeper […]
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
by Lisa See, 2005 Lily and Snow Flower, 18th Century China, become “Old Sames” or “laotong” through a matchmaker when they are very young. At age 7, they go through “foot-binding,” which is absolutely horrible – in hopes of having tiny feet – golden lilies – to ensure a good marriage. The mothers perform it […]
The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection
by Alexander McCall Smith (#13 in the series), 2012 Another sweet book where Precious Ramotswe meets her hero, Clovis Andersen, who wrote the Principals of Private Detection. He is visiting Botswana after the death of his beloved wife. He’s from Muncie, Indiana. A lady in Botswana doing charitable work is in love with him. He […]
Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft
by Thor Heyerdahl, 1947 (Skyhorse Publishing 2010) Six men, led by Thor Heyerdahl, build a raft out of Balsa Wood logs and sail from Peru to the South Pacific trying to prove that the Polynesians originated from South America rather than Asia. What an adventure – from getting the logs in the Andes to crash […]
The Great Divorce
by C.S. Lewis, 1945 People get on a bus, arguing, cruel to one another, leave a gray ugly place – go to a beautiful place – get off angrily and in a hurry. Meet “saints” sent to greet them one-on-one. One person is confronted by a saint who was a murderer who humbled himself and […]
Drop Dead Healthy
by A.J. Jacobs, 2012 Pg. 253, 1996 study by Izumi Tabata – Japan: 20 seconds huffing a bike as hard as possible followed by a 10 second rest, for a total of 4 minutes, 4 times a week – raised endurance, lowered blood sugar, improved lung capacity, weight loss. He writes for Esquire. He’s pretty […]
A Voice in the Wind
by Francine Rivers, 1993 Excellent Christian Historical Fiction. Set in Jerusalem, Rome, Ephesus in about 70 A.D. Destruction of Jerusalem. Young Jewish Christian girl, Hadassah, sees her family die, is taken captive to Rome – sold as a house slave to rich Ephesian family in Rome. The Valerians – Decimus (Dad), Phoebe (Mom), Marcus (Son) […]