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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 sentient computer who runs everything on Luna, along with Manuel “Man”. Wyoh-beautiful girl, and Prof – professor – start the whole thing. They succeed by building a catapult and throwing rocks at Earth. Prof dies when Luna is finally free. Mike dies too – no explanation – but never talks to Manuel again – like he used to – his best friend. Style of writing is like a shorthand-strange. Example: “was most sensible word heard in hour.”

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 Florence–unemotional widow-gourmet cook; John the farmer–rich neighbor, in love (he thinks) with Emerald; Patience and Ernest – siblings and old friends of Clovis and Emerald.

All gather for a birthday dinner for Emerald.

But on that evening a horrible train wreck causes the house to be filled with uninvited guests-survivors-of the train wreck sent to Sterne by the railway to await further instructions. Starts out as about 12, ends up being 50 or so. Very strange, demanding guests. They keep them in the “Morning Room” at first. They decide to serve the dinner to the guests. One of them, who shows up at the door all by himself, Charles Traversham-Beechers, befriends Clovis, and joins the family. Starts a horrible game called “hands and hounds” in which they go around the table picking on one person telling little known truths about the person. First they pick on Ernest – an awkward young boy who has become a handsome and loving doctor. Then his sister, Patience. Then, Charlotte, the Mom. Charles called her a whore, a slut. And reveals her secret past; that she was, indeed, a whore.

Turns out, Charles, and the 50 uninvited guests, are all ghosts, who were killed in the train wreck. Charles was in love with Charlotte as a young man, and could never forget her. He tries to ruin her life by revealing her past to her family. When they don’t abandon her, he tries to kill Smudge out on the balcony. Charlotte cries, “You would kill your own daughter?” He forgives her, goes to the great beyond, along with the 50 uninvited guests. And in the meantime, Emerald and Ernest, are in love. Clovis and Patience are in love. And John and Florence have had a tryst which heals them both. And Charles somehow manages to leave 60,000 pounds to Charlotte and Smudge, which saves the house, Sterne, because they were so broke they were going to lose it. LOVED it!!!

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 and it takes months of agony, bones breaking, etc. Maybe after 4 years they are finally healed but they are never able to really walk free like we can. Lily and Snow Flower grow up and get married – leave their families, have children. Lily marries into a wealthy family, the Lu family. Snow Flower marries a butcher – the lowest of the low. Snow Flower loses many of her children, but at age 5 her 2nd son dies. Her husband beats her out of grief. Snow Flower seeks compassion from Lily but Lily responds with admonitions to keep trying to have sons, etc. Snow Flower writes on their secret fan that “3 sworn sisters have promised to love me.” Lily misinterprets this (Laotong are like a marriage no one can come between them) and she tries to forget Snow Flower. For 8 years she stays away. Then Spring Moon, Snow Flower’s daughter, comes to tell her that Snow Flower is dying. Lily goes to her and ministers to her every need until she dies. Then she takes care of her children and sees her grand-daughter marries her grandson and becomes the next “Lady Lu.” Lily realized the error of her thinking too late and lives with the regret for 40+ years. “Please forgive me.” (Last sentence of the book.) NuShu is the secret writing of women that they use to communicate with one another. Snow Flower starts the communication on a fan and they continue this throughout their lives because women are not free- they spend most of their lives in “upstairs chamber,” embroidering, writing, etc.

Very strange book – sure glad I was not an 18th century Chinese female!

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 confides to Mma. Ramotswe that his book was not popular and only sold about 80 copies. He and Mma. Ramotswe save Mma. Potokwane (the matron of the orphanage) from being dismissed by uncovering the corruption of Mr. Ditso Ditso, one of the orphanage’s Board members, who contracted with a company to build a large cafeteria for the children to eat in rather than in their individual homes with their house-mothers. Mma Potokwane had protested that idea because the children live and eat with their house mothers and it provides them with a stable, loving small family.

Grace and Phuti are building a home and the builder they contracted is charging double and using the extra money to build a home for himself.

Fanwell gets arrested for working on a stolen car. He is innocent. It looks like he’s going to be convicted because of a bumbling lawyer but Charlie convinces the real criminal, Chobie, to confess on the stand, that Fanwell didn’t know the car was stolen. He did that by telling Chobie that Mma. Ramotswe was a contract killer.

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 landing 101 days later on an uninhabited South Sea island. They were fed by flying fish landing on the boat every night, like manna from heaven. They had dangers from sharks. Whales scared them but never crashed into the boat. What a great book. They didn’t know each other but became a true team. They almost lost one at sea once but another wrapped the lifeline around him, jumped in and swam hard and got him.

“The world was simple-stars in the darkness. Whether it was 1947 B.C. or A.D. suddenly became of no significance. We lived, and that we felt with alert intensity. We realized that life had been full for men before the technical age also–in fact, fuller and richer in many ways than the life of modern man…”

Angatau – first island they saw but could not land on: “About three o’clock the forest of palms ashore opened, and through a wide gap we saw right into a blue glassy lagoon. But the surrounding reef lay as compact as ever, gnashing its blood-red teeth ominously in the foam. There was no passage, and the palm forest closed again as we plodded on along the island with the wind at our backs. Later the palm forest became thinner and thinner and gave us a view into the interior of the coral island. This consisted of the fairest, brightest salt-water lagoon, like a great silent tarn, surrounded by swaying coconut palms and shining bathing beaches. The seductive, green palm island itself formed a broad, soft ring of sand round the hospitable lagoon, and a second ring ran round the whole island-the rust-red sword which defended the gates of heaven.”

“I shall never forget that wade across the reef toward the heavenly palm island that grew larger as it came to meet us. When I reached the sunny sand beach, I slipped off my shoes and thrust my bare toes down into the warm, bone-dry sand. It was as though I enjoyed the sight of every footprint which dug itself into the virgin sand beach that led up to the palm trunks. Soon the palm tops closed over my head, and I went on, right in toward the center of the tiny island. Green coconuts hung under the palm tufts, and some luxuriant bushes were thickly covered with snow-white blossoms, which smelled so sweet and seductive that I felt quite faint.”

“…The voyage was over. We were all alive. We had run ashore on a small uninhabited South Sea Island. And what an island!”

“Purgatory was a bit damp,” said Bengt, “but heaven is more or less as I’d imagined it.”

“But none of us was in such a bad state that the sparkling clear lagoon did not entice him to a brisk swim before breakfast. It was an immense lagoon…But here, in the lee of the islands, the trade wind rustled peacefully in the fringed palm tops, making them stir and sway, while the lagoon lay like a motionless mirror below and reflected all their beauty. The bitter salt water was so pure and clear that gaily colored corals in nine feet of water seemed so near the surface that we thought we should cut our toes on them in swimming. And the water abounded in beautiful varieties of colorful fish. It was a marvelous world in which to disport oneself. The water was just cold enough to be refreshing, and the air was pleasantly warm and dry from the sun.

“Tiki had lived – that was the main thing. If he was in hell now, no one was any worse for it but himself; on the contrary, Tupuhoe suggested, perhaps it increased the chances of seeing him again.”

Now I want to go to Tahiti or Moorea!!!

“Thor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian explorer, adventurer, and writer. Born in 1914, he became famous for the 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition. He died in Italy in 2002.”

One of the crew members, Torstein Raaby, was a Norwegian who was a war hero in WWII. He was a Secret Intelligence Officer, and was responsible for undercover operations that helped the Royal Air Force and others. He was awarded the highest military honor that Norway awards for military gallantry. He was a radio operator on the Kon-Tiki.

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 asked for forgiveness. The bloke he was sent to show the way would not lose himself – he kept insisting he had his rights and refused to go with the saint – “grumbling,” “whimpering” a little, he “made off.” Back to the bus.

2nd person met by a saint couldn’t believe he had been in Purgatory, which would be hell if he rejected the offer: The saint told him he was in Purgatory because he was “apostate” A person who forsakes his religion, principals, cause, etc.” He refuses to go with his saint to meet God face to face because he could not let go of his intellect and his ideas of what God was. (He is a Bishop for Episcopalian Church and is writing a paper on what Christ would have been like had he not been crucified so young – he would have changed his views.)

There’s a woman who refuses to go with her “saint” because she’s ashamed of how she looks.

Another woman refuses to go because her husband is there and she can’t nitpick, nag, and control him any longer.

One woman who lost her son may or may not have gone – she was saying she didn’t believe in a God who would take her son.

Only one person gave up his sin – it was a lizard on his shoulder – lust, I think – and he let the “saint” kill it for him. The lizard became a magnificent white stallion – the man became a magnificent man and hopped on the stallion and rode to the mountain where Heaven and God and Jesus await.

Very, very interesting. Amazing!

Wayne’s note: “The unforgivable sin–the one we won’t let go of, the one we prefer over God. Hebrews 10:26.” Hebrews 10:26, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left.”

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 funny but Wayne couldn’t stand him – Narcissistic. For 2 years he tries everything to become the healthiest man on the planet. He has a 53 page list to start. After 2 years, he lost 16 pounds, exercises regularly. End weight 156, I think. He started at 172, I think – Buddha Belly – his wife called him. He also hated exercise but ends up liking it. He tries just about everything in the latest magazines purported to improve health. In the end, it’s Exercise, eat less (use small plates, small forks, put your fork down between bites, practice Chewdaism), Treadmill Desk, stress reduction (self-massage, outsource your worry, meditate, get a dog or cat); Live Quietly, Avoid Toxins (BpA-“4, 5, 1, and 2, all the rest are bad for you.” Buy organic food. Avoid mercury in fish.)

Don’t use antibacterial soaps – avoid Triclosan toothpaste – use “Tom’s of Maine.” Don’t use non-stick cookware.

Funny part describing brain exercises: “I prefer the logic puzzles created by my son Lucas. They are a version of that game, “Which one of these doesn’t belong?” The trick is, instead of offering three or four items, Lucas gives only 2 options. He’ll ask me, “Which one of these doesn’t belong: the chair or the tomato?” “Chair?” I’ll say. “No, tomato.” It’s more challenging than a Zen koan.”

He loves his grandpa and visits him frequently. He dies during the writing of the book. Also his eccentric Aunt Marti – who didn’t believe in having anything chemical or unnatural. She gets a rare form of Leukemia, “Acute myeloid leukemia.” She goes through chemo, doesn’t help, goes to holistic practitioner, is getting better, slips in the bathroom and hits her head and dies at 63.

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) and Julia (Daughter).

Marcus is about 21, Julia is about 16, Hadassah is Julia’s servant. She loves her like a sister and serves her well, despite the path to destruction Julia takes. Hadassah never stops praying for her. The whole family comes to rely on her calming presence and her songs and stories. Marcus fall in love with her.

Gladiator, Atretes, is taken captive in Germania, where he is a fierce warrior. He hates Rome. They train him to be a gladiator. He becomes the most famous – famous for his looks and his many kills.

Julia falls in love with him when she sees him training on the road while at her first husband’s country villa. (Claudius – a kind, gentle, elderly Roman who Julia was forced to marry by her father.) Julia wants so bad to see Atretes again that she rides to see him all by herself and Claudius falls off his horse and dies trying to rescue her (very dangerous for women to be on the road alone).

Julia then falls in love with an evil man, Caiaus, who abused her and spends almost all her money. Julia poisons him at the suggestion of Calabah – an evil woman who befriends her. Calabah also convinced Julia to have an abortion of Caiaus and her child. Hadassah has to bury the child. Hadassah had saved Julia’s life one night when Caiaus was whipping Julia in a jealous rage. Hadassah ran in and covered Julia with her body and took all the lashes.

Hadassah recovers and the whole family moves back to Ephesus. That is also where Atretes is sent. Julia seduces Atretes and he earns his freedom and wants to marry her; she is pregnant with his child. Julia loves him but Calabah convinces her not to marry him, instead to keep him as her lover while Julia pretend marries a homosexual, Primus. Atretes will have none of it and destroys the villa he had purchased for her and goes to live in a cave. Julia wants the baby to be taken away and set on rocks by the sea. Hadassah takes the baby to the Apostle John who rejoices because a new widow had just lost her child. Hadassah never stops loving and praying for this family. Marcus finds out she is a Christian but loves her and asks her to marry him. She loves Marcus but won’t marry him because she knows he would eventually lead her away from God. Julia overhears the conversation and hates Hadassah for spurning her beloved brother. She brings Hadassah to a feast of an Ephesian who hates Jews. He confronts her and asks her to worship the emperor – she refuses and he sells her to be thrown to the lions. She bravely goes out to the lions singing softly to God – no longer afraid – and she is the first one attacked by the lions. Julia has brought Marcus as a surprise. Marcus is horrified – he disowns Julia – casts her to Calabah’s influence totally and leaves as Hadassah is being attacked by 2 lions.

Ch. 1 of An Echo in the Darkness, Book 2: Hadassah is not dead though. The doctor brings her to his table to dissect her but decides not to. Have to read Book 2 to find out what happens!

Hadassah’s gentle, loving, forgiving spirit doesn’t seem to change anyone – except Decimus – on his death bed, he asks for forgiveness, “I have sinned greatly” and Hadassah knows he is with God. “The troubled look left Decimus’ eyes.”

The Gift of Rest

by Senator Joe Lieberman, 2011

Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath

Shabbat Shalom! Shabbat land

He is a devout Jew and he observes the Sabbath every week from Friday sundown until Saturday sundown and 3 stars visible. No TV, phone, computer. Every light they want on gets turned on before the Sabbath and stays on so they don’t have to turn on a light. He also makes it so the refrigerator light stays off when you open the door. Thirty-nine categories of forbidden labors including, “lighting a fire and by extension, lighting an electric light or using a combustion engine like the one that makes your car move. Handling money is forbidden…Cooking is prohibited…” Food is prepared ahead of time. “Challah” is the specially braided bread of Shabbat.

Vacuuming, dusting, mopping, buying food and wine, gardening, boiling water for coffee and tea (keep it in an electric urn), gathering special reading material. Preparing the whole week in anticipation of Sabbath. Friday afternoon introspection – thinking about the past week – “Did I do right by my family, friends, co-workers? Did I do right by God?”

Lighting 2 candles 18 minutes before sundown on Friday night; the last creative at.

Preparing:

  1. Get your house ready for Sabbath
  2. Plan ahead
  3. Invite friends or family to share the meal
  4. adopt a favorite dish or two
  5. During the week before, try to do something in honor of the Sabbath; buy a food delicacy or a special bottle of wine. (He buys flowers every Friday afternoon.)
  6. Set aside enjoyable reading for the Sabbath
  7. Read from the Bible – Song of Songs is what he reads.

Friday evening service – 45 minutes – at the Synagogue: Opening prayer, say or sing Psalms 95-99, and 29. Then, a Love Song, then the closing prayers: Shema and Amidah. Then, home to dinner.

  1. Turn off the TV, computer, phone
  2. Light 2 candles
  3. Review the week – was it good, what can you do to improve?
  4. Go outside – thank God for the day of rest.

The Shabbat Meal – Friday night at home: Bless your children, “May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face to you and grant you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26. Bless your wife: Proverbs 31:10-31. Hymn welcoming the angels of Sabbath, Kiddush the wine – bless the wine, washing hands, blessing over bread – 2 loaves to commemorate the manna that fell every day but Saturday. On Fridays, a double portion fell – God will take care of us.

Sexual intimacy – Friday Evening: “As with Shabbat in general, we need to give the pleasures of Life, which sustain life, the care and priority they deserve.” Saturday morning – wake up and thank God. Make instant coffee with preboiled water form the urn. Linger over the paper. Shabbat morning service – 2 to 3 hours: Prayer – including the Shema (“Hear”), Deut 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God; the Lord is One…”

  1. Walk to church
  2. Pray with others
  3. Read the Bible and talk about it, go out of your way to interact with people
  4. Consider what is God’s plan for me?

Bible Study – Story about the Rabbi and the skeptical student. Rabbi invites student to his home where there is a beautiful landscape painting of flowers, trees, people, mountains, streams. Student asks who painted it? Rabbi says a house painter spilled his paints and it just happened. Student says, “That’s impossible!” Rabbi says, “You find it impossible to believe that this beautiful painting happened by accident and yet you nevertheless argue that our much more beautiful world was created by accident.”

Pray for the sick. The weekly sermon.

  1. Make a regular time for Study of the Bible
  2. Be open to the possibility that the passage you study today will have meaning for what is happening in your life that very day.
  3. Make your Bible Study a ritualized act.
  4. In studying the Bible…Consider the uniqueness of the Scriptural text and, of course, its divine origin

Saturday afternoon: Kiddush – Social hall for congregational gathering for all sorts of food and whiskey/bourbon/single malt scotch. Simmering stew – cholent. Saturday lunch – long and relaxing. Concluded with singing grace preceded by Psalm 126. Saying grace before and after a meal.

“Pleasing God with our rest.” “With our labor during the week, we seek to change and improve the world. With our rest, we seek to change and improve ourselves and to renew our relationship with God, family, and community and truly feel how much we have to be grateful for.”

Saturday afternoon at synagogue (again!?) Look to redemption, then social hall for 3rd Sabbath meal, or if not in town they have a Shabbat group, 10-40 people, meet in people’s homes.

Sabbath End Service

Wine, candles lit, spice box – the Havdalah Cermony. Red or sing Psalm 23.

-The six days of labor: working with a purpose, good, hard work for six days, meaningful rest and hallow the day on the Sabbath.

-Earning wealth as a worthy calling.

-Seeing work as your mission

-Work – a partnership with God

“Both the Sabbath and work are commandments and gifts from God – each reinforcing the other…”Rest without work would be meaningless. Work without rest would be purposeless.”

“The Talmud contains a wonderful teaching that if everyone observed 2 Sabbaths in a row, the Messiah would come and preside over the redemption of humanity.”

In the Absence of Sun

by Helie (Hae-Ri) Lee, 2002

True Story about the defection of a family of 9 from North Korea with the aid of Hae-Ri andd her father, in order to reunite her Grandmother (Halmoni) with her eldest son – left in Korea in the 1950’s during the war. They used the help of the Guide, an unnamed Korean man, who knew all the Ins and outs. Bribed many guards, and led the family across the Yalu River into China. They didn’t come at one time. First, three members came and then about a month later, the other 6 came. Hae-Ri is about 34 years old in 1997 when she instigates the plan for her grandmother who is 85 and may not live too much longer.

Hae-Ri was born in S. Korea but moved to L.A. when she was 4 years old (1968). She wrote a book before this called ‘Still LIfe with Rice’ that was about her grandmother’s escape to South Korea during the Korean War. It was that book that put her uncle’s life in danger in N. Korea.

Interesting book. Halmoni is Christian. Helie writes: “Should I ever doubt that God is great, please let me remember this day.” When the family is finally reunited in Seoul with Halmoni. Sincere hope for REUNIFICATION throughout the book.

A Storm of Swords

by George R.R. Martin, 2000

Book 3 of A Song of Ice and Fire, 924 pages!

-Jon becomes Lord Commander of the Wall

-Robb and Catelyn are murdered at a wedding at Lord Frey’s

-Arya is traipsing around the country trying to get to Riverrun but eventually ends up with the Hound Sandor Clegone who she leaves dying of wounds and rides to the sea, sells her horse and is getting on a boat.

-Sansa escapes King’s Landing after being married to Tyrion. They are accused of poisoning Joffrey at his wedding feast. Littlefinger takes Sansa to the Ayrie-married to Lysa, Lysa sees him kiss Sansa out in the snow – tries to kill Sansa by pushing her out the Moon Door. Petyr saves Sansa and pushes Lysa out it.

-Jaime and Brienne make it to King’s Landing but not before Jaime loses his hand. Jaime goes back to being the Lord Commander of the Kings Guard. Discovers Cersei’s evil. Frees Brienne to save Sansa. Frees Tyrion before Cersei has him beheaded. Tyrion discovers Shae in his father’s bed. Kills her and then kills his father, Lord Tywin.

-Sam kills an Other with Dragon glass knife and returns to the Wall after Jon has saved the Wall from the Wildlings.

-King Stannis listens to Davos and goes to rescue the Wall with his knights in the battle against the Wildlings.

-Bran is with the Reeds and Hodor making their way North to the Wall and beyond to find the 3-eyed crow. Bran meets Sam in an abandoned castle but Sam is sworn to secrecy. Everyone thinks Bran is dead. Must keep it that way.

-Daenerys gets her army of slave/eunuchs and captures cities, frees slaves, decides to stay in one of the captured cities.

The Orphan Master’s Son

by Adam Johnson, 2012

Brand new novel (2012) about the nightmare of North Korea. Real hero is Pak Jun Do, an orphan who grows up to be a tunnel fighter, where he learns to be in the dark; then a kidnapper – which he hated – they take row boats ashore in Japan and kidnap people wanted by the Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il. Then his favorite time as a radio interpreter on a fishing boat. He loved listening to the American girl who was rowing around the world with her friend. One would row during the day and the other would row at night – all night every night. With her eyes closed. She ends up getting taken by the N. Koreans and Kim Jon Il keeps her in an underground cell translating his books into English.

Then to Texas with some other powerful North Koreans to meet with a Senator and his wife. They fail at their mission and he ends up in N. Korean prison – working the mines. When prisoners become so weak they can no longer work, they are taken and their blood is drained. He escapes the mines by killing Commander Ga in self-defense and putting on his clothes and going to the warden – who lets him out. He is taken to his (Commander Ga’s) home on a hill in Pyongyang where he assumes the identity wife & children Sun-Moon the national actress. He falls in love with Sun-Moon and she falls in love with him. He helps her and her children defect to America. He is taken to Division 42 and tortured almost to death. An interrogator finally understands the nightmare that is N. Korea and the hopelessness and puts him in the autopilot chair where they sit side-by-side. Commander Ga/Pak Jun Do cranks it up to 10 which is the lethal dose. The Interrogator cranks his only to 6 1/2. He’s hoping to lobotomize himself where he can then be sent to the prison for lobotomized people and maybe find a wife. With no recollection of the horrors he has participated in.

The people of N. Korea are so brainwashed. They are bombarded with propaganda and lies over loudspeakers. They are starving. They have no freedom. They are rounded up and taken to work camps whenever there is a need. On and on – terrible lives.

A Clash of Kings

by George RR Martin, 1998

Book 2 of A Song of Fire and Ice

4 different kings are vying for the kingdom: Stannis, Lord Renly, Robb, Joffrey.

Tyron the dwarf ends up saving King’s Landing but he’s badly wounded.

Robb is winning battles against the Lannisters.

Lady Catelyn is in the dungeon in Riverrun, about to kill Jaime Lannister, or is she. She learns he is the one who threw Brandon off the castle, but he didn’t hire the man who tried to murder him. Hmmm…

Jon is in the North beyond the Wall and has yielded to the Wildlings.

Sansa is still in the castle at King’s Landing – freed from being Joffrey’s wife but needing to escape.

Bran and Rickon are supposedly murdered by Theon Greyjoy but he ended up murdering 2 little boys that looked like Bran and Rickon – they escaped with Hodor, Osha, and the Meera and Jojen, the “reeds” by hiding in the crypt in Winterfell while Theon loses the Castle and hopefully his life.

Arya is in Harrenhall but has just escaped with Gendry (I think Robert’s bastard) and Hot Pie – I think she’s going to try to get to Riverrun.

Daenerys with her 3 dragons is still trying to get ships to take her across the sea with her Khaleesi and horses.

It’s a messy soap opera, very gory, but I can’t stop reading them now.

The Glass Castle

by Jeannette Walls (author of Half Broke Horses), 2005

This is a memoir of Jeannette Walls’ childhood, born one of 4 children (3 girls, one boy) to Rex and Rose Mary Walls, married in 1956. Rosemary was an artist, Rex was a genius drunk.

It starts out when Jeannette is 3 yrs. old, standing on a chair boiling some hot dogs on the stove and her pink tutu started on fire. She is taken to the hospital and after 6 weeks, her Dad whisks her out of there. They spend the rest of her childhood skedaddling — leaving towns in the middle of the night, only allowed to take one thing – she takes her geode.

These parents are so unbelievably BAD – they are not evil or cruel, just completely self-centered and ignorant. When Maureen is born, the youngest, Jeannette’s mom hands her to Jeannette to hold all the way home. Jeannette is about 6 at the time. The 4 kids take care of each other – stealing food from trash bins, hiding money from their Dad, protecting each other from bullies. When Dad discovers any of their stashes, he takes it for drinking money. They live in Southern Arizona, Las Vegas, Blythe, CA; Battle Mountain, NV; Phoenix; Welch, W. VA.

The children were taught to read by their mom, and taught math by their dad. Sometimes they went to school, sometimes not.

When they were finally old enough, each in turn bought a bus ticket to New York City. Jeannette ended up getting a college degree from Barnard. Lori ended up as an artist for comic books. Brian ended up on NYC Police force. The youngest, Maureen, is the only messed up one – she quit college, lived homeless (squatters in a tenement) with her parents in NYC, and they kicked her out and she went to California.

Mom never drank but she was entirely selfish, never took care of her kids, never really cared for them, just did her art and writing – once in a while she’d get a teaching job because the kids begged her to, when they were tired of starving. But she’d always quit, saying it was time to live for herself. She didn’t mind living in absolute pig sty- no toilet, running water, rat in the kitchen, leaky roofs, falling down houses. When she and Rex followed their kids to NYC, she turned down their offers to live with them and didn’t mind living homeless unless it was winter. Dad was truly a genius but he was a hopeless alcoholic and gambler (poker, pool) and dreamer. He was going to build them “A Glass Castle” and had plans drawn up but it was only going to happen after he discovered gold or invented this or that. Jeannette and her brother, Brian, dug a hole for the foundation. Their Dad used it for a garbage pit. When they moved to Welch, his hometown, he had not wanted to go. But the kids begged him so he went. He became a hopeless drunk there. His parents were poor, white, trash, drunks.

When they finally left Welch to follow the kids to NYC, he was so proud of Jeannette when she went to college. He studied all her text books in the public library so he’d know what she was learning in case she had any questions. He got sick, had a heart attack, and died at the age of 59. Smoked 4 packs a day since 13, drank 2 quarts a day. She “always knew he loved her in a way no one else ever had.” He called her “Mountain Goat.”

Unbelievable book!

The Golden Impala

by Pamela Ropner, 1958

One of Wayne’s favorite books as a child. Set in Africa (South Africa). Peter lives on a game preserve with his father and mother. He loves Africa, everything about it. He sees a beautiful Golden Impala from his window one night – in the moonlight. Thousands of impala are coming onto the reserve. Philip Keen tells him the legend of the Golden Impala. He comes only when necessary to save his race from extinction. Peter is the white boy that saves the impalas by saving the life of the Golden Impala from the mad, red-bearded hunter, Leroux. He was poaching them for their horns to make fake pearls. Turns out the pearls turn to dust in a little while. Quite the adventure tale – Peter and his father and Umosogo and Richard on their way to Philip’s almost get swept down a river in a flash flood. Then Peter is kidnapped by the poachers, saved by Umosogo, then lost, then captured, then saved again while the stampeding impala kill Leroux. Great adventure tail, set in beautiful Africa.

The Light of the Western Stars

by Zane Grey, 1914

Very romantic Western set in southern New Mexico in early 1900’s, about a beautiful, rich Eastern girl, Madeline (Majesty) Hammond, and Gene Stuart, the brave and handsome cowboy she loves, although it takes the whole book for her to realize it, and lots of strife. It was good, though. Adventurous and a good ending: A very long car ride through the desert into Mexico to save Gene from execution. Lots of wonderful characters – many cowboys. Lots of beautiful descriptions of the desert Southwest.

A Game of Thrones

by George RR Martin, 1996

Couldn’t put it down! Like Ken Follett only his evil characters aren’t as evil – or he isn’t as graphic.

Loved the children, especially Jon Snow, the bastard of Lord Eddard Stark, who loves his 1/2 brothers and sisters so much, but decides to swear himself to the Night Watch, on the Ice Wall that stretches across the Northern part of the kingdom, to guard against the Others and other evils out of the North. He shows true character.

And Bran, little 8 year-old son of Lord Eddard who loves to climb all over. He climbs up to one of the highest parts of the castle, Winterfell, and sees the Queen Cersei with her brother, Jaime (Yuch-but they are Lannisters and that is their tradition). Jaime pushes Bran. He falls hundreds of feet but miraculously doesn’t die, is crippled though. So, the Lannisters send someone to slit his throat. Catelyn, Bran’s mother, and Bran’s direwolf, save his life and Catelyn decides to go to her husband, Lord Eddard (Ned, she calls him) who has been called south to serve as the King’s hand for his dear friend, King Robert (who is married to Cersei). Lord Eddard Stark (Ned) is another good man, but it was a mistake for him to ever leave his family and Winterfell. The Lannisters, Jaime and Cersei, their father, their brother – a dwarf named Tyrion – all are untrustworthy and have ambitions. The 3 children of Cersei and Robert are actually the 3 children of Cersei and Jaime and Eddard figures it out. The Lannisters arrange to have King Robert killed by a boar while hunting. They accuse Eddard of treason because he wants the king’s brother to be king rather than their own, Joffrey, a despicable boy. He (Joffrey) has Eddard beheaded in front of his daughters, Sansa and Arya, after tricking him into confessing treason before all the realm. Meanwhile, Eddard’s oldest son, Robb, is commanding an army and moving south to, at first rescue his father, and then to avenge his father. Very, very interesting characters!

At the same time all this is going on, across the sea is the Saga of Princess Dany. She is the dragon’s blood – the last remaining descendant of the first kings. Her evil brother marries her to a powerful warlord – Genghis Khan type – named Khal Drogo. She falls in love with him. Her brother insists on his rights and is cruel and rude and winds up dead. Dany is pregnant and in love with her “son and stars.” Then Khal Drogo is injured in battle and dies of his wounds but not until after a slave woman Dany rescued performs black magic to try to bring him back – ends up bringing him back but at the cost of Dany’s and his son – who is birthed monstrous – and Drogo’s manhood and sight. Dany mercy kills him, burns his body on a huge pyre with her dragon eggs and they hatch (!) from the heat of the fire – so dragons are at her breasts (!) at the end of book one – the first dragons in centuries. Very strange ending.

Next book is A Clash of Kings and then, A Storm of Swords.

Murder on the Orient Express

by Agatha Christie, 1933

I LOVE Hercule Poirot!!!

Who stabbed Ratchett 12 times on the train called the Orient Express? Turns out all 12 of the 13 passengers took a turn! Except for the one who had the biggest motive, the sister of Daisy Armstrong’s mother, who Ratchett (Cassetti) kidnapped and murdered but was “acquitted on some technical inaccuracy.” Poirot figures this all out after interviewing them all one by one while the train is snowbound.

Amazing! And, because the man Ratchett certainly deserved to die, he (Poirot) comes up with another story of how he was murdered so that none of the 12 people (who knew and/or worked for the Armstrong’s in America) would ever be suspected. Great Book! (I would like to read “A Caribbean Mystery” by Agatha Christie.)

The Bounty Trilogy: Mutiny on the Bounty (1932), Men Against the Sea (1934), Pitcairn’s Island (1934)

by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall

Based on true events starting in 1787 when the Bounty sailed from England to Tahiti to pick up breadfruit trees to bring to the West Indies to provide cheap food for slaves.

Mutiny on the Bounty:

Captain Bligh was so mean, distrustful, cruel, accusatory, greedy, swindler. He accuses Fletcher Christian of stealing 2 of his coconuts and pushes him over the edge. Fletcher decides to abandon ship and has a middle of the night conversation with Roger Byam – really Midshipman Heywood – that greatly affects Roger Byam’s life, because Bligh overhears only the last words, “You can count on me, sir.” – referring to giving a message to Christian’s family in England. Well, the next morning, Christian cannot leave on his little raft because there is no wind and, at that moment, he decides to mutiny. He puts Bligh and 18 others on the “launch” of the Bounty and sails away, back to Tahiti to drop off those who didn’t participate in the mutiny or those who wanted to stay on Tahiti. Roger Byam did not participate in the mutiny and he stays on Tahiti, marries a beautiful Tahitian princess and has 1 child. Then, an English ship, the Pandora, comes to Tahiti and he goes to the captain and is promptly arrested and put in chains, along with all the other English seaman on Tahiti, some of which are guilty of mutiny, some are not. They are treated poorly – on the way back to England, the Pandora sinks in a reef (New Holland, Australia) and they take 2 boats of survivors and make it back to England after an arduous time. Then, the trial, which is very interesting. Only one person (Tinkler) can prove Byam is innocent because he overheard the entire conversation between Byam and Christian – but he was believed lost at sea. Turns out he is alive! And his testimony saves Byam who goes on to become a captain in the English Navy. What an incredibly exciting, perfectly written book! Tahiti and its people are so beautiful – like Eden. Bligh is so despicable. Deserved to be mutinied!

Men Against the Sea: This is the true story (fictionalized account) of Captain Bligh and the 18 seamen who didn’t mutiny who were set adrift on the Bounty’s launch. They didn’t have a chance of survival – the islands (not Tahiti) were full of unfriendly natives – even cannibals – they were overloaded and did not have enough provisions – and their boat, though well-built, was very small (23′ long). They made it, all except one person killed by natives on the 1st island they stopped at. They made it, mostly due to the leadership skills of Captain Bligh, the monster turned good leader. It was excellent, too! 3600 miles from the island of Tofua to Timor.

Pitcairn’s Island: This is the story of the mutineers on the Bounty and their search for an undiscovered island on which to live out the remainder of their lives. They are led by Fletcher Christian. There were 9 Bounty men, with 9 Tahitian wives, 6 Tahitian men with 3 Tahitian wives. This is the most painful book because they find their Garden of Eden, Pitcairn’s Island, a perfect uninhabited island with lots of fresh water and lots of food where they can live their remaining days in peace. There is no way boats can come ashore. They make it part way with the Bounty but it gets stuck and they have to take canoes the rest of the way. Well, due to lust, alcoholism, and prejudice, the Garden of Eden becomes a sin-filled place and all of the men, except 2 seamen – Alex Smith and Edward Young – end up murdered.

Edward Young dies a natural death but not until he has the chance to teach Alex Smith to read and write using mostly the Bible. Alex is so sad when Edward Young dies that he is ready to throw himself off the cliff. He sees 3 sleeping children (he knows them – there were 18 children born there) at the top of the cliff and they melt his heart. He feels God made sure they were there to prevent him killing himself and vows to teach them to read and write. First he asks the Tahitian women, his wife and the others – the childrens’ mothers – and he tells them about Jesus. They all come to believe and finally, they have their Garden of Eden back.

All three books were so wonderful – couldn’t put them down. Bligh’s evilness and the seamen’s evil on Pitcairn were most painful – why do we ruin what could be Paradise?!!!