DS tries the 75 Books Challenge for 2013

This is my non-cookbook 75 Book Challenge. I am also going to try reading 75 Cook Books for 2013

1 Max and the Gatekeeper by James Todd Cochrane and Susan K Szepanski
2 Time for A Duke by Ruth J Hartman
3 Blood from a Stone by Cynthia Lucas
4 The 13th Reality by James Dashner - 506 pages
6 Ravishing in Red by Madeline HUnter 357 pages
7 Man of My Dreams by Johanna Lindsey 405 pages
8 The Rules of Seduction by Madeline Hunter 387 pages
9 French Lessons: A Memoir by Alice Kaplan 232 pages
10 Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broach
11 Remembered: the Vistria Trilogy: Book 1 by E. D. Brady
12 The Ottoman Cage by Barbara Nadel
13 A Hidden Fire: Elementary Mysteries book 1 by Elizabeth Hunter
14 This Same Earth: Elementary Mysteries book 2 by Elizabeth Hunter
15 The Force of Wind: Elementary Mysteries book 3 by Elizabeth Hunter
16 A Fall of Water : Elementary Mysteries book 4 by Elizabeth Hunter
17 Time Between Us by Royn Collard
18 The Bet by Rachel Van Dykan
19 Once Upon A Winter's Eve by Tessa Dare
20 Time Masters Book One: The Call by Geralyn Beauchamp
21 The Book in the Attic (Celia's Journey) by Melissa Gunther
22 The Ugly Duchess by Eloisa James
23 Wildewood Revenge by B A Morton
24 Happy Time Go Fast bt Wes Weston
25 A Train Through Time by Bess McBride

26 - No Sense of Direction by Eric Raff
27 - Game Theory 101:The Complete Textbook by William Spaniel
28 - Wife By Wednesday by Catherine Bybee
29 - Cry Uncle by Judith Arnold
30 - Falon's Fire by Patricia Ryan
31 - A New World by Patricia McLinn
32 - Of One Heart by Cynthia Wright
33 - A Negotiated Marriage
34 - More than A Kiss
35 - Catering to the CEO
36 - The Mogal's Reluctant Bride
37 - Manufacturing Works by Dave Beal and Fred Zimmerman
38 - The Billionaire's Obsession: The Complete Collection Boxed Set
39 - Plain Talk: Lessons from a Business Maverick by Ken Iverson
40 - Pretty Woman Spitting by Leanna Adams
41 - Mrs. Jones by BA Morton
42 - The Time Traveler's Apprentice by Kelly Grant
43 - Molly Brown by BA Morton
44 - HAUNTED ON BOURBON STREET by Deanna Chase
45 - A DRAGON'S SEDUCTION by Tamelia Tumlin
46 - Chasing Shadows by CJ Lyons
47 - Dirty by Debra Webb
48 - Mind Reader by Vicki Hinze
49 - Flirting with Fortune: 4 Bold, Brash and Delectable Heroes
50 - An Island of Illusions (A Sarah Woods Mystery 3)

51 - The Informant (RC Investigations) by VR Marks
52 - Witch Dance by Peggy Webb
53 - The Witness (RC Investigations) by VR Marks
54 - Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold
55 - The Cats of Istanbul: Or A Turkish Farce in 17 Parts by Mahalath Halperin
56 - Last Train to Istanbul: A Novel by Ayse Kulin
57 - The Turkish Ambassador by Emir Kivircik
58 - 2 B R 0 2 B by Kurt Vonnegut
59 - The International Bank of Bob by Bob Harris
60 - Milton Friedman: A concise guide to the ideas and influence of the free-market economist
61 - No Money Down (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery) by Julie Moffett
62 - No One Lives Twice (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery) by Julie Moffett
63 - No One To Trust (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery) by Julie Moffett
64 - Unbreakable Bond (Jamie Bond Mysteries)
65 - Dying for a Date (Laurel McKay Mysteries) by Cindy Sample
66 - Armed and Fabulous (Lexi Graves Mysteries) by Camilla Chafer
67 - No Place Like Rome by Julie Moffett
68 - The Choice by Russell Roberts
69 - The Undercover Economist: Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor--and Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car! by Tim Harford
70 - Who Glares Wins (Lexi Graves Mysteries) by Camilla Chafer
71 - Command Indecision (Lexi Graves Mysteries)
72 - Shock and Awesome (Lexi Graves Mysteries)
73 - Diners, Dives & Dead Ends (A Rose Strickland Mystery)
74 - Last Diner Standing (A Rose Strickland Mystery Series)
75 - Diner Impossible (A Rose Strickland Mystery)

Welcome back!

Max and the Gatekeeper is a good story for kids. Many of the reviews that I read said that they felt a strong influence by Harry Potter, but to me it was more like Fablehaven. This is not to say that the story is any less becuase of it. It is the classic boy goes to stay with his Grandfather and learns that life is not all that it seems.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin -:))

Time for a Duke is a time travel romance. While it was enjoyable, it did require a bit more suspension of disbelief than I would like. There is a time traveling closet, ok, but a Duke that thinks that he can hide a woman in his house & take her to a ball without a chaperone? And get away with it? And no one in his household figures it out?

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Blood from a Stone is about a womanizer who in the year 1511 is cursed and spends his life as a stone gargoyle except for a month every 50 years. This time when he wakes up he saves the life of a pretty nurse, and finds something he didn't think he would ever find - love. He is left with a dilema, he doesn't know how to break the curse, he can't love her and leave her so what can he do? And it seems that his blood has special powers. It was good.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The 13th Reality (Journal of Curious Letters) by James Dashner
The first book in a series that introduces us to the main characters and a world where there is more than one reality. It is an interesting book (Amazon says it is for ages 8 and up) with the premise that every time you made a choice, a new, alternate reality was created.

It is about Atticus Higginbottom, a.k.a. Tick, a 13 year old boy, who for the most part has a normal life (considering his name, his brains, and a large birthmark on his neck) until he receives a strange letter postmarked from Alaska. The letter tells him that dangerous— perhaps even deadly—events have been set in motion that could result in the destruction of reality itself. The letter writer "M. G." says that he will be sending 12 riddles, that will reveal what to do on a certain day, at a certain time, at a certain place, in order for something extraordinary to happen. But, it is dangerous and if he chooses to not be a part of it, or decides to quit all he has to do is burn the letter.

It was pretty good. Tick meets new & interesting people, becomes more confident in himself and has a few adventures. it certainly didn't feel like a 500+ page book.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Ravishing in Red by Madeline Hunter
Format: paperback
Subject: finding the truth
Setting: London, mostly
Characters: Audrianna Kelmsleigh & Lord Sebastian Summerhays
Genre: romance
Source: thrift store

Total score out of a possible 5 -4.5

“How bad is it? How indiscreet?”
“Bad enough for me to call him out and be acquitted, if – “
“A duel! You must not!”
“I was going to finish by saying if I thought he was a true rival. You said he was not. I believe you.”
Two days of worry lifted from her heart. “Thank you I am grateful for your trust. I feared asking you, but it is clear that you are a reasonable man and not given to rash reactions.”
He smiled vaguely at her compliment. “Audrianna, if I had concluded he were a rival, I would not be so reasonable. Just so you know.”
“I do not mean to distract us from the topic at hand, but – I remind you that you agreed that you would accept rivals, and be reasonable. Quite specifically. Once a child was born. That was part of the settlement, in a way of speaking.”
He stopped walking and faced her. He smiled in that bedazzling way “I did indeed say that you could have lovers. But I never promised that I would not kill them.”

Character – 5
Plot – 5
Theme – 4
Style – 4
Setting – 4
Entertaining? 5

I find that the main characters in Madeline Hunter’s books to be very likable with a good banter between them. And the secondary characters are well thought out, you are not left with the impression that they stop existing after they walk out of the room.
Audrianna is trying to prove that her father was not guilty of allowing bad gunpowder to get to soldiers in the war. Sebastian was also trying to find the truth of the bad gunpowder, for his brother. They were lured to an inn outside of London by a notice in the paper. Audrianna’s gun goes off, injuring Sebastian and as a result they find the need to get married.
Will the truth destroy their lives and their families or set them free?

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Rules of Seduction by Madeline Hunter
Format: paperback
Subject: family and honor
Setting: London, mostly
Characters: Alexia Welbourne & Hayden Rothwell
Genre: romance
Source: thrift store

Total score out of a possible 5 – 4.5

Character – 5
Plot – 5
Theme – 4
Style – 4
Setting – 4
Entertaining? 5

Alexia & Hayden were connected through her dead cousin & his friend, Ben Longworth. Ben & Hayden went to Greece to fight and Ben was lost at sea on their way home. Hayden feels guilty that he didn’t stop Ben from staying on the deck when he was drunk & melancholy. Alexia was sure that Ben was planning on marrying her on his return.
Because of his friendship with Ben Hayden tries to ease the disaster that befalls the family because of the brothers business dealings. Since he gave his word that he would not tell anyone what happened he cannot tell Alexia the truth when her cousin puts the blame for her family’s problems on Hayden.
Hayden’s efforts to clean up the mess reveal deeper secrets and he & Alexia begin to question how well they knew Ben.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Man of My Dreams by Johanna Lindsey
Format: paperback
Subject: finding true love
Setting: England
Characters: Megan Penworthy & Ambrose Devlin St James
Genre: romance
Source: thrift store

Total score out of a possible 5 – 4.5

Character – 5
Plot – 5
Theme – 4
Style – 4
Setting – 4
Entertaining? 5
Megan is a red-headed beauty with men asking her to marry them on a regular basis. The local hostess ‘cut’ her in front of everyone at the church causing her to set her sights on Ambrose Devlin St James, a man she has never met, but who is a Duke and would enable her to get the hostess back.
Ambrose Devlin St James has had a misunderstanding with his best friend and needs to lay low for a couple of months. His grandmother sent him to Megan’s father to hide out in his stables.
Sparks fly as soon when they meet. He calls her the Brat. She tells Devlin her plan to marry the Duke, and he thinks that she is just another scheming girl who wants a title and a rich husband. He teaches her a lesson at a masked ball and she decides that there is no way she will marry such a man.
Sparks lead to the inevitable.
Can the Brat & the Duke make a life together?
For me the romance genre is all about the relationships. There isn’t as much of a plot in this story are there was in the other two books that I read, but the character interaction is very entertaining. In the beginning Devlin is out of his element, trying to be something that he isn’t. Later it is Megan’s turn to be out of her element and learn how to fit in. I found it a very enjoyable read.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I just finished French Lessons: A Memoir by Alice Kaplan who is the chair of French at Yale University, and was a professor at Duke University when she wrote this book. Interestingly enough she grew up in Minneapolis and talks about some things that are familiar, but the blurb on Amazon just says that she grew up in the Midwest so it was a nice surprise.

It was an interesting read. She talked a lot about learning French in the first part, and I wish that she had continued more along that line, because that was the main reason that I got the book. But it is after all a memoir, and her life shifted in its focus from learning French to other things.

A pretty lame review, but I feel lazy today :-)

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broach

Format: kindle
Subject: new school, friends & family, missing diamond
Setting: small town in Maryland
Characters: Hero, Danny, Mrs Roth
Genre: YA
Source: Amazon

Total score out of a possible 5 – 4.5

This was a pretty engaging book. Hero’s family has moved, once again. It is time for a new school, where once again she will not fit in, to be the new kid in 6th grade, with the weird name. Her sister, Beatrice, will of course fit right into her new school and be one of the ‘popular’ girls.

What I liked about the story was it brought Shakespeare and the mystery of who he was or could be to a younger audience that probably would have no interest in him.

And there is Hero’s sister, Beatrice. The beautiful one, the popular one, who we find doesn’t have it as easy as her sister thinks.

Tying everything together is the mystery of the Murphy diamond. The 17 carat diamond that disappeared and many believe is hidden in the house that Hero and her family now live in. While trying to figure out the clues Hero learns about Edward de Vere, Anne Boleyn, Shakespeare and Elizabeth I.

The characters are well written and engaging. The story is plausible and filled with issues that a sixth grader might encounter

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Remembered (The Vistira Trilogy: Book 1) by ED Brady

Format: kindle
Subject: family
Setting: NYC, Vistrira
Characters: Emily/Annie, Kellus
Genre: fantasy/romance
Source: Amazon

Total score out of a possible 5 – 2.17

Character – 3
Plot – 2
Theme – 1
Style – 3
Setting – 0
Entertaining? 4

Ok, 20 out of the 31 reviewers on Amazon gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. Did we read the same book?

This book clearly has a lot of weak areas. The main character, Emily, grabs your attention right away, but the other characters & settings seem to only exist when she is around. World building seems non-existent.

Clearly, even without ‘trilogy: book 1’ in the title, this is the first book in the story. But shouldn’t that mean that this is the book to bring the readers into the world of Vistrira? Should we not be given a clear picture of this world? Is it an island? Is it surrounded by mountains? Who are its neighbors? Enemies? Who are its rulers? How is society structured? Does it have a religion? How common is magic? Do they have electricity, indoor plumbing? Their houses have bathrooms. One scene has Emily making breakfast using frozen bacon and yet she cooks on a stove with a fire (or the stove is next to the fire . . .) They use horses and carriages to get around. When her sister becomes ill, her brother has to run into town to get a healer. And sorry (slight spoiler) how could the main character not know that the man she loves belongs to the wealthiest family in the area?? Really? They live within walking distance of each other! I don’t care how modest his family is.

I would like to see where the story leads, but I am not sure that I want to spend $7.98 to get the other two Kindle books.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I just saw The Gender Dance: Ironic Subversion in C. S. Lewis's Cosmic Trilogy on Amazon. And it reminded me that I need to finish this trilogy. I wish that the book wasn't didn't cost so much! It would be interesting to read. The author also wrote The Feminine Ethos in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.

There aren't enough hours in the day!!!

Ds
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Ottoman Cage by Barbara Nadel

Format: paperback
Subject: murder, family, ethics
Setting: Istanbul, Sultanahmet area
Characters: Çetin İkmen, Mehmet Süleyman, Arto Sarkissian
Genre: mystery
Source: Amazon

Total score out of a possible 5 – 4.67

Character – 5
Plot – 4
Theme – 5
Style – 5
Setting – 4
Entertaining? 5

I came really close to giving this a 5 out of 5.

This is the second book in the Inspector İkmen series which takes place in Istanbul. Inspector Çetin İkmen, is married and has 9 kids, he smokes & drinks too much, never takes a bribe and doesn’t believe in God or religion. He spends very little time at home, leaving his wife to deal with the children and his aging & ill father. His handsome sergeant, Mehmet Süleyman, is from a wealthy, aristocratic family and has an unhappy arranged marriage. Çetin’s best friend, Arto Sarkissian, the police pathologist, is an Armenian and grew up with Çetin.

Unlike most mysteries that I have read where the main character is pretty much the only one with any depth, and despite the fact that it is called ‘Inspector İkmen series’, this series is more of an ensemble, which makes it very enjoyable.

A young man is found murdered in a house in Sultanahmet. The house has been occupied, or so the neighbors say, by Mr. Zekiyan, a man who may, or may not be an Armenian, but no one can give a description except that he dressed nicely and wore a Christian ring with diamonds and emeralds. The young man was obviously a drug addict, and yet so many things don’t seem to add up.

Also, I see that this book was released earlier with the title – The Chemical Prison.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Ok, I really wanted to read something good. . .so I re-read Elizabeth Hunter's series. I love Gio and B.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Time Between Us by Royn Collard

Totally forgetable, very disapointing after The Ottoman Cage . . .which is why I am re-reading the Elizabeth Hunter. Vampires and intrigue. . .

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Ok, really, I should be studying and not reading a romance novel. But I won a Kindle Fire in our e-learning challenge at work and yielded to temptation.

The Ugly Duchess was a enjoyable read, and maybe if I find time, sometime, somewhere I will write a review. . .

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Taking a much needed break from Economics and getting some fun reading done. Finally 1/3 done.

Wildewood Revenge was very good but pretty much ended in a cliff-hanger, which I find very frustrating. It is the first of two time-traveling books that I read today. Grace is out walking her dog, where she shouldn't, and he strays into the woods, of course she follows and it isn't long before she is shot by an arrow, of course she is saved by a wayward knight who only wants to keep her alive so he can collect a much needed ransom. I found it very entertaining.

A Train Though Time is the second time travel story. This time Ellie falls asleep on the train to Seattle and wakes up in Victorian times. Robert is convinced that she is a time traveler and she is convinced that she is just dreaming and will wake up any minute.

Happy Time Go Fast is an auto-biography by someone who started teaching English in Korea with no experience to speak of. He writes very well and it is very engaging. He talks about some of his fails, and triumphs and the stuff in between. He also give a bit of insight into the culture and life of Korean students.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

No Sense of Direction

One day Eric looks at his life and decides that he needs a change. So he decides to take a year off and travel. He has some very interesting experiences and meets lots of people. He doesn't go to the 'popular' places though like Paris and Venice, but Warsaw and Hanoi. While he doesn't spend too much time in one place he does get a glimpse of some of the different cultures, which is interesting.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Game Theory 101: The Complete Textbook

This is the second book on game theory that I have read. For the price this one I would recommend reading first. It did go over the same idea/concept quite a few times and got a bit tedious, but that could just because I have been reading too many economics books lately.

One thing that I didn't like was the use of acronyms. For example IESDS, iterated elimination of strictly dominated strategies was introduced and then it was almost always referred to by it's acronym. I would have preferred that it was indicated by using both for at least the whole chapter that it was introduced, so you could get accustomed to what it stood for. Or at the very least used both in the 'Takeaway Points' that followed each chapter.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Wife By Wednesday

Reading some fluff. Sometimes it's nice to read fluff.

A rich duke needs to get married in order to inherit, and waited until practically the last minute so he hires a matchmaker to find him a temporary wife and decides that she would be the perfect temporary duchess. Of course there are jealous former mistresses, relatives that want his money & title. . . There are some interesting twists.

Is it plausible? Would someone marry someone that they don't know as a business transaction? Yes, it happens all the time. Is it possible to fall in love with the person that you have married as a business transaction? Again, happens all the time. Would you put off finding a wife if millions of dollars were on the line? Please, do you really have to ask?? How many of us have dated someone with commitment phobia??

I enjoyed it.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

So I got the Marriage of Convenience Boxed Set and so far I have completed Cry Uncle, Falcon's Fire and have started A New World

So far Cry Uncle is by far the best of the bunch. An architect witnesses a hit-man murder and testifies against him, but later his sentence is overturned due to a technicality and he is out free awaiting a new trail. The police say that she is paranoid, that he hasn't come near her. So she takes things into her own hands and decides to disappear. She ends up in Key West where she eventually meets a bar owner who needs to get married so he can keep custody of his niece - Lizard. So we have three totally different people trying to live together and do the best that they can. Three people who if their lives had gone how they wanted would have had very little to do with each other.

Falcon's Fire is a historical novel, and seemed that it should have been better, but I can't put my finger on why it wasn't, so maybe it was just me. A sister is taken from the world that she knows in France to England to marry a man that she has never met. Upon landing she lays eyes on a man she believes she is to marry and sparks fly for both of them. But he isn't the right man. The right man turns out to be the wrong man and she is left defenseless. It is sort of live Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot, only Arthur is a total jerk. Add a dishonest priest and jealous in-laws and servants.

New World is about two cousins who have a bar/cafe that seems to be experiencing sabotage. And they hire a musician from Ireland who wants to move the US . . . It seems that he is hiding something, and that someone is sabotaging them is a bit obvious. . . I guess I will see if it get better.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Finished the Marriage of Convenience Boxed Set and another "boxed set" called Loving the CEO.

The first Cry Uncle and last books Of One Heart in the Marriage of Convenience Boxed Set were the best, though I did like A New World after I got further into it.

All of the books in the Loving the CEO set were pretty good. The first one A Negotiated Marriage by Noelle Adams had a bit of a 'twist' if you can call it that in that the story starts 3 years after they have negotiated their marriage so they have been married and living together for 3 years. The Mogul's Reluctant Bride while pretty good was the weakest of the set, but I never wondered if I should continue reading it or just quit.

I am reading The Billionaire's Obsession: The Complete Collection Boxed Set which while good for a 'cheap' read if I had bought each book singly I would have felt ripped off. The ‘books’ are certainly not stand alone books; it is really all one story with no real subplots that would warrant these being more than one book. Still, it is entertaining.

Oh, note that while that these are decent reads they for the most part are more like ‘B’ movies, and not anything like say a Jude Deveraux or Nora Roberts which have extensive characterization etc

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

holy. . . cow! To give you an idea (to people who don't read romances) of the difference in quality for say Jude Deveraux and the 'cheap' romance novels. I just looked up some of her titles for the kindle. A 78 page story by her is $6.99! I won't pay $.99 for a 78 page story let a lone $6.99! That is just CRAZY!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Switched from romances to Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today very interesting book so far.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Manufacturing Works: the Vital Link Between Production and Prosperity

I read this book because it is a required book for a class that I am considering taking this fall. The only reason that I am considering taking 2 classes is because work will pay for what amounts to about 3 classes a year (depending on how many credits the classes are) and if I don’t take 2 classes this fall I don’t take full advantage of this benefit. So otherwise this book is not something that I would have read normally, which considering the vast array of subjects that I do read is almost surprising. There are 3 required books and about 13 optional books for the class, and it is all online so I don’t really anticipate it being too hard, but. . .

It was a very slow read. Written by two local authors, a professor of the University of St Thomas (and a graduate of the Carlson School of Management), and a columnist for a local paper.

One thing that is not going for this book is that it was published in 2002 which means that it is a bit dated, for example Saturn Corporation is touted as an example of a good example of a manufacturing company, and in 2002 it was. However its 2013 and the last model year for Saturn was 2009 and it closed its doors on October 31, 2010. So you have to wonder how many of the companies mentioned in the book still exist today.

Another thing that I don’t like about it is that fact that it just feels like one really, really long magazine article. It’s facts, lots of facts but there doesn't seem to be very much analyzing going on, or depth. (though clearly they did lots of of analyzing & research to get the information presented) What is the book about exactly? What is the main theme? Manufacturing Works . . . works? Is ‘works’ a verb? Adjective? Noun? What? A very weak theme is that when manufacturing prospers so does the rest of the economy. It talks about how manufacturing is no longer ‘cool’ (my word) or valued like it used to be, that the shift is toward service type degree/careers like finance instead of engineering and science. For heaven sakes defend your argument, make me care, but if I don't know what your argument is in the first place how are you going to do that?

One personal note, there is a chapter on mergers and it mentions the Honeywell – Allied Signal merger. I was working at Honeywell when the merger was announced. If I recall correctly only 3 people from my group were not laid off. So I was not unhappy to learn that this ‘wonderful’ merger was not what they told us it would be . . . hopefully all of my former co-workers are doing better than the merger did.

I was really surprised to learn that one of the authors had a degree in Economics and Statistics. I think that this book would have been improved if the authors had clearly defined their purpose and ended each chapter with something that summarizes what the chapter was about and how that supported the purpose/intent of the book.

So pretty much, while there is some interesting information in the book, unless you have to read this book, I wouldn't bother with it. And you know I really, really hate to say that about any book.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Oops! Forgot to put The Billionaire's Obsession: The Complete Collection Boxed Set down as read.

Really? This is a "Complete Collection Boxed Set"?? 288 pages, with only one clear ending and it was supposed to be a trilogy plus bonus story? Ok, the bonus is really a bonus story, bonus short story.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad book (or books) but a trilogy? NO WAY. I totally got my $.99 worth not sure it if was worth more. Yes, there is some bad language, which goes with the characters background sort of.

Simon is a self made man with issues. He's a computer gaming geek. Kara is a struggling nursing student who works for his mother. He kind of sort of stalks her in the beginning, and is able to jump in and rescue her when she needs it.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Plain Talk: Lessons from a Business Maverick

This is the second book that I am reading for a class that I am considering taking this fall. (only 12-15 more to go. . .:-))

Iverson was the president of Nucor from 1967-1998. The book is slightly dated, as it was published in 1998 when Iverson was still working at Nucor and it was the 3rd largest steel producer in the United States and had 8 scrap-based steel production mills, now there are 23 scrap-based steel production mills and it is the largest steel producer in the US. They are also the largest recycler of any material in the US (according to Wiki they recycle one ton of steel every two seconds).

While Iverson is obviously a very good leader, his book is not as riveting as it could be, it lacks that special something that makes it a book that you can’t put down. But, he has a very good message - Nucor is working because of its decentralized management philosophy, performance based compensation, egalitarian benefits, and technological leadership.

I think that almost anyone in business could benefit from reading this book.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Pretty Woman Spitting

In 2006 Leanna Adams moved to China to teach English for a year, because she needed a change in her life. She lived in the ‘real’ China where there were few Westerners teaching English in a rural college in a ‘small’ town of about 4 million people.

She tells it like it was. She tells about her potty journal, where she kept track of the conditions of the bathrooms that she visited, some nothing more than vile troughs in the floors. She talks about the students and how different life is for them when compared to the usual college student in the US.

I think that for anyone thinking about being an English teacher in China, or maybe anywhere, this is a good book to read before you go, especially if you have never traveled outside of the US or the only countries outside of the US that you have been to were European. There are many things that us Americans take for granted, like plumbing and personal space.

It was a very good book, well worth the reading even though you don’t really learn much about her personal life (which is fine). She does mention that she met someone 4 months before she was to leave and it was a very hard decision to follow through with her plans and leave him behind. She also mentions that she was feeling a bit isolated from him and wondering if they were losing touch with each other and another teacher that she met suggested that she call him every day and tell him about all the everyday details that made up her life. But except for that you didn’t know much about her relationship.

So if you are interested in China or in teaching English in another country you should find this an interesting read.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Mrs. Jones

"Ma'am, New York Police Department, Detective Connell." He made an effort to speak slowly and clearly, wondering if they were old and whether that explained the delay in answering. "You called in a report about a hit and run. I'd like to speak with you, ask you a few questions."

A British girl, a New York cop.

A short straw lands Detective Tommy Connell the job of a routine follow up to an anonymous call. And an unexpected Mrs. Jones. Where he decides that something isn’t quite right, and she is scared. Did she really witness a hit and run? In NYC, and no one else saw? And just who and where is Mr. Jones?

First, a lot of Amazon reviews all seem to complain about lack of good editing. This might be true. . . I’m not a real grammar nut, but not once did I think Huh? Or go What? Because of the way it was written. To me as long as the writing doesn't distract from the story then I don’t care.

But I do notice that these all seem to be older reviews, so maybe someone fixed them since then? One reviewer said Tommy said “Put your things in the boot" and I checked (don’t you love the things that you can do with a Kindle?) ‘boot’ shows up only 7 times in my copy and they are all the kind that you wear on your feet.

I liked it. It really has some twists and turns and keeps you interested. Well worth the $.99, in fact I went and got the next book as soon as I finished. And while I like most mystery/detective novels most are not that hard to figure out, and I am not one of those people that tries to puzzle them out so if I figure things out they are really easy to figure out. But this one keeps you wondering where things are going to go.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Time Traveler's Apprentice

This is a nice YA book that takes place (mostly) in King Henry II’s England. Simon met Professor Moira Ananke while visiting the museum that she works at. They have an unlikely friendship, and it is through Moira that Simon is introduced to time travel.

Simon and Moira are looking at a palimpsest (literally meaning “scraped clean and used again”) when Simon disappears. Moira realizes that she must find out where and when Simon went if she can help him, and Simon needs to figure out where and when he is so he can figure out what to do.

First we meet Simon and Moira well after they have met and Simon has already timed traveled a few times. So we don’t know much about how they met or why they became friends. We know even less about how they time travel. Or about Moira for that matter.

While the main story is the mystery that Simon has stumbled on, there are little tidbits about the historical period the may wet a person’s appetite to know more. And there are some gross stuff that will surely leave the younger crowd going EWWWW!

I found it very enjoyable, and am looking forward to seeing where Simon goes next.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Trying to insert a photo. . . .

NOPE. . .still not getting it. . . sigh. . .

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Cammykitty and I went for a walk at the Mill City Ruins a while ago and I now have one of the pictures that I took as my profile pic. The weird black thing that looks like it is sticking out of the Gold Medal Flour grain elevator building is part of the new Guthrie Theater, it juts out over the road. Its very strange to walk under it.

When we were there there was a concert going on in the Mill City Museum (in the ruins), it was very cool to be enjoying a walk along the Mississippi River among the ruins and the modern buildings listening to a concert. And while we were walking past the Guthrie someone was calling for a kid named - Arlo! We thought that was very amusing.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Both you and GingerbreadMan appear to be having difficulties posting pics. You might want to check out his thread to see if any of the suggestions offered there might help you.

Actually it was that thread that inspired me to try posting pics again. . . I thought that I followed the directions correctly. . .

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty

I am currently slogging through this book. It was recommended in my econ 1101 class. I am really starting to wonder - why??

Even if, and it may be a big if, the argument is valid (it’s not religion, culture, geography or race but the type of government & certain individuals at critical times, at least I think that is what they are saying) the writing is not focused or detailed. Ok one of the ‘rules’ of argument is to avoid meaningless detail. It doesn’t say avoid detail.

So rule number one – state your argument as concisely and as soon as possible. Concisely. Just saying, if I have read ¼ of your book and cannot clearly state with 100% of conviction what your argument is you probably have failed this first rule.
When you make an assertion essential to your argument, provide examples that prove your point. Don’t keep providing vague examples of your point (see later in this work for more detail) and move on to another example, and another and then trot out again the same examples, changed slightly. I find the whole bit where they are talking about something, like Botswana and then has parentheses and says see pages so and so. If you are doing your job then this is unnecessary.

“As we will see (pages 404-414), in the nineteenth century. . .”

Provide your example completely before moving on to the next one, don’t jump back and forth. If you start talking about England go in chronological order and finish that argument before moving on to another example. There seems to be bits a pieces of the puzzle thrown around willy-nilly, you learn a bit about England, then another place, say Congo, or China or Botswana or where ever depending on where in the book you are, then later you learn a slightly different bit.

Give the fairest possible treatment to those whose argument is different from yours. Wow, yeah, I would say no ‘bashing’ of someone else’s argument, and don’t mention them by name. I admit that the section that I am referring to was well done, probably the best ‘argument’ in the book so far, but it gave me quite a bit of a ‘jar’ when I read it. It’s kind of like being in the theater watching a movie and having a loud drunk stumble in.

Always admit weakness . . . well so far the weakness seems to be the inability to clearly state what the argument is and give solid examples. I am just guessing here, but I would take a guess that no one wants to admit that as their weakness. . .

I am learning some stuff, and I am hoping that it improves once I get further in, but not going to be surprised if it doesn't.

I read some of the reviews, and wonder if we are referring to the same book. Did they even read it?? “It’s a pleasure to read” no, it isn’t.

Oh, the best review, and probably the most accurate:

“Why Nations Fail is a wildly ambitious work that hopscotches through history and around the world to answer the very big question of why some countries get rich and others don’t.”

Hopscotch describes it exactly, hopping and notice how it doesn’t say that they answered the question?

Has anyone read this book?

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Took a break from Why Nations Fail to read Molly Brown (Mrs. Jones). A much needed break, just don’t get me started on how much I don’t like Why Nations Fail. . .

Tommy Connell is back. Only this time he isn’t a cop living in the city anymore. Nope he’s shacked up with his son and girlfriend Lizzie on a farm in the country with a crazy man. To help ends meet Tommy has taken a job helping out Gerry from internal affairs, and he stumbles across a missing child case that doesn’t quite add up.

Where is Molly Brown? Who is Molly Brown? Why doesn’t anyone else seem to care that she is missing? Tommy is determined to find out. And keep her safe if he can.

I thought that this was a great book. Lots of intrigue that makes you wonder who Tommy can really trust. Did someone set him up? Was it someone he trusted? Pretty soon you are wondering if one of his friends isn’t who they say they are.

On a totally different note my neighbor said that their tree is going to be cut down next week. I know it needs to be taken down, but wow is that going to be a huge change (and it is on the southwest side of our house.) I mean the tree that my hubby cut down was tiny compared to this one it must be at least 50 feet across. I bet that it would take 4 or 5 people holding hands to go around the trunk. I guess they are using a crane to cut it down. Which would probably cool (and probably nerve racking too) to watch, if I were going to be home.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I am reading Keynes: The Return of the Master by Robert Skidelsky.

I like it but a lot of it is over my head, (the New Classical vs New Keynesian's, vs Classical etc) everything is so new to me and I have so much ground to cover I can't really stop and think about the ideas too much. I am one of those people that needs to jam things into my head and let them percolate for a while before they become clear. Which is why I usually try to study a subject a bit before I take a class. . .

I feel like Diane Keaton's character in the old movie Baby Boom after her plumber tells her that she can’t just use the hose ’round back to fill up the well that has run dry at her Vermont home, only for me its money and not water. -

"I just want to turn on the faucet to have water. I don’t want to know where it’s coming from!"

I have never really thought about where money comes from, what determines the interest rates, the exchange rates, etc. It's there, we get it for work, we give it to other people to buy things. . .but its really just pieces of paper or data on a computer (which makes it even more complicated/scary depending on your viewpoint). I know that I could probably make a pretty educated guess and be really close to being correct, but I never really thought about the formal theory or actual 'nuts & bolts' of how it all works.

Also been watching the PBS series 'Commanding Heights' which is about world economy and is pretty interesting too.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

HAUNTED ON BOURBON STREET by Deanna Chase

Can a book be delicious?

Jade moves into a haunted apartment on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, above a strip bar, Wicked, with a sexy landlord named Kane, who isn’t exactly what he seems to be. He is definitely sexy though.

Jade doesn’t have many friends because she is an empath, and past experiences have made her, guarded. But her best friend Kat convinces her to move to New Orleans. Only she left out the fact that Kat and Jades ex are now an item.

There are some pretty interesting characters too, Pyper, Kane’s partner and Jades boss at the coffee cafe next to Wicked. Charlie the (female) bartender at Wicked. Holly a coffee café coworker. Ian ghost hunter extraordinaire . . . sort of. And a dog, sort of.

This is the first book in a boxed set called - Forbidden Lovers (A Paranormal Romance Box Set) that I got today for my Kindle for $.99, even if the rest of the books are terrible this was well worth the $.99.

It was much longer than I expected too. So many ‘books’ in these collections are just short of being a long short story.

I find that I can only read so much economics before my mind stops paying attention, so I figured a good trashy novel would make a great study break. Which is good because once I am done with Keynes: The Return of the Master I just got Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius and Keynes Hayek: The Clash That Defined Modern Economics and I splurged and got them both for Kindle. Ok, after those I have a few other titles to read . . . but now I have bribes!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I got Meander by Jeremy Seal and started it tonight as a reward for finishing my Econ homework.

It was supposed to be an easy and fun read. I mean Ugh! Really?Unfortunately it seems to be exactly what the title says.. . "its name has long since come to signify the frustrations and the virtues of the indirect approach. . ."

I signed up for an interesting travelogue of a river in Turkey. Not a long winded, history lesson. And one thing that really bothers me is that he 'translates' the Turkish surnames and uses the 'translation' instead of the actual name so for example last names are Darkeye or Trueheart.

I may or may not go back and finish this book. I switched to Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius by Sylvia Nasar, the same author who wrote Beautiful Mind. It is way better and much more enjoyable.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

A DRAGON'S SEDUCTION by Tamelia Tumlin

I finished half of Grand Pursuit and celebrated by reading the second book in the Forbidden Lovers boxed set for kindle. It was a nice, quick, enjoyable read.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Mind Reader by Vicki Hinze

The third book in the Dangerous Desires (A Boxed Set) for kindle, is the most enjoyable so far. While the others were good reads, they were more along the lines of crime thrillers with a dash of romance, this one is more of a romance with a dash of crime thriller.

Caron Chalmers is an empath who only 'images' victims. A year previously she made a mistake and a woman died, and Caron lost her 'gift'. Now that gift is back with a vengeance, a little girls life is on the line and no one believes her.

Parker Simms has been trying to prove that she is a fraud, that her 'psychic' abilities are faked. He gets an opportunity to work closely with her and takes it.

Two people who only work alone working together for two very different reasons. She doesn't know what he has against her, and he is trying to figure out what her angle is, what is the benefit to her?

I did have a bit of an issue in one section where it seems my kindle skipped and repeated a section, but now I wonder if it is the kindle since Keynes Hayek: The Clash the Defined Modern Economics seems to have two pages that disappear once I get the 'page' completely turned. Very annoying. They are there and then it is blank.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I got Money, Markets, and Sovereignty (A Council on Foreign Relations Book Seri) for my kindle.

One of the reviews says - ' a fascinating intellectual history of monetary nationalism'. Maybe a bit too intellectual? I mean if I have to keep looking up words to see what they mean I wonder what the average reader thinks?

And unless the book changes it tone in later chapters the review that said - ' a surprisingly easy read', was smoking crack, and not the good kind. For example the second sentence starts with " On a more visceral level, its popular tableau. . ." I know what visceral & tableau mean but does the average English reader know? (Not that any of them hang out here. . .) And the first paragraph, which isn't short, contains only two sentences and almost 100 words.

I did really like one part that talks about global interaction between people which said - "Critics of globalization do not generally object to such interaction, provided it does not involve commerce. But this is like approving of marriage while objecting to childbearing."

I just wanted something that was an easy read that talked about, well, money, markets and sovereignty. Because one of our next topics in my econ class is money.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

So I indulged, and read all of Flirting with Fortune: 4 Bold, Brash and Delectable Heroes. It is 2 novels, & 2 long novellas but it is only listed as having 490 pages, so I figured that I would just list it as one. It is pretty entertaining, the main characters are all pretty complex from Niko with his American model mother and Greek shipping family, to Race. I think that the most complex characters are in the second story. The last two, being novellas don't really get into to much depth for the characters, which is too bad since they seem like they have a bit more that we could know about but are only told hints of their back stories.

First one, the bride discovers her fiance having raunchy sex in the limo during his bachelor party and calls off the wedding. Her father and stepmother insist that she go on the luxury yacht (that belongs to her step-mother's family) that was supposed to be for her honeymoon with her 'step-uncle', Niko, as the captain. Only her step-mother's half brother is a sexy Greek god that she finds resistible. And then there are pirates. . .

The second book is about Sophie who went a bit crazy 6 years previously after her mothers suicide and slept with a man who was a complete stranger, that she picked up in a hotel bar. He turned out to be a very rich Italian who owned the hotel. Now, they have crossed paths again. They both have issues that they need to work out.

In the third book we we Danielle Pires who has a boyfriend, that she never sees and a growing career as in interior designer. But when her newest client shows up on the same Caribbean cruise using a a pseudonym her plans for quietly sitting by the pool getting caught up on designs fly out the window.

The fourth book is another jilted bride story. Gina books the honeymoon suite in her name & credit card and didn't cancel the reservation when she broke off the wedding. Now her ex wants it for his honeymoon with the woman that she caught him in bed with. In a bit of bravado she tells him no, that she will be using it herself. So he checks in with his bride into the room next door, and Race a sexy 'Rent-A Gent' shows up and her door, saying that his services were paid for in advance by a third party. Who sent him? And why does it look like her ex is stalking her?

If you want something to spend some time with for just pure fantasy this is a pretty good read.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

An Island of Illusions (A Sarah Woods Mystery 3)

This books turns out to be a bit dark. And apparently I have read books 2, and now 3 but missed book one.

Sarah Woods is a massage therapist, she is married and has a teenage son. Her husband spends a lot of time traveling for his job. But Sarah has a little secret, she is bored with her job and has taken little side job helping a private investigator named Carter.

Sarah is on vacation with her husband in Hawaii when she discovers that he was manipulated by Carter to take her to Hawaii, who wanted her there to help with an investigation. Unfortunately, or fortunately her husband injures his back and then they fight so he leaves for home without her, leaving her to work with Carter and his team to locate an abducted baby boy without having to sneak around and make excuses.

It was pretty good, with lots of twists and turns. Makes you think about what is important and what people do for family, ideals or just because they think that they are doing the right thing. . .

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Informant (RC Investigations) by VA Marks

The fourth book in the Dangerous Desires (A Boxed Set) for kindle (which looks like it is no longer available) was a romance along the lines of crime thriller.

DEA Agent Hannah Thalberg has a few problems, her informant was brutally murdered and she is next, but that isn't her biggest problem it turns out that she is pregnant and the DEA has put the father under surveillance. Oh and she is being re-located and hasn't told anyone that she is pregnant. And she told her boss that she got married, and now needs to have backup for that story, oh and somehow tell her husband before anyone else does.

And Karl 'Bart' Bartholomew seems to be having trouble of his own when he finds his cook murdered and dumped in the dumpster outside of his truck stop diner.

Can they figure out who killed the cook, who is setting Bart up, and figure out their relationship at the same time?

This is another book where I have apparently jumped into the middle of a series. I think that this story was good enough to get at least some of the others.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Witch Dance by Peggy Webb

The fifth and last book in the Dangerous Desires (A Boxed Set) for kindle.

Not sure that I liked this one. I think that is was well written, and it wasn't as if i was thinking that this is boring or unbelievable, I think maybe it was a bit 'dark' for my taste.

Dr Kate Malone has been lured to Witch Dance in the tribal lands of Oklahoma to open a clinic by Dr. Clayton Colbert, who she thinks of as a mentor and father figure. What she doesn't know is that he is in love with her. And she was totally unprepared for the resistance and hostility to her & the clinic. And she certainly never expected death threats.

And of course she fell in love with the wrong man. The man who she can't have no matter how much they want each other. They have one wonderful and magical summer together and then years of agony since neither of them can move on.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Witness (RC Investigations) by VR Marks

This is part of a series, with former military men (with issues of course) as the heroes.

Rick is working on a case and is sent to make sure that a friend of someone is ok. She's not. Her apartment has been set on fire, and someone from a gang cuts the rope ladder after she goes back in to save her elderly neighbors iguana. Rick manages to save her from a bad fall.

Then her decides to follow her. Where does she go? To the airport, and ditches her car and phone and makes it look like she is taking a flight out. Instead she goes for a taxi. He catches up with her and makes her go along with him. They check into a hotel to get cleaned up and some rest and that is when it seems that all hell breaks loose. Nicole is now a wanted woman. And she is hiding something.

There is lots of running around, being chased and finding rest in strange places.

Good, quick read.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance

“Do you ever give up?’” Tej demanded.
“Not until you laugh, “he answered gravely. ”First rule of picking up girls, y’know; she laughs, you live.“ He added after a moment. “Sorry I triggered your, um, triggers back there. I’m not attacking you.”

If you have read any of the stories about Miles Vorkosigan you have ‘met’ his cousin Ivan at least briefly. Now Ivan gets his own story.

Ivan is on a trip to Komarr with his boss, the Admiral and is asked by a ‘cousin’ By to do a favor and ‘pick up a girl’, sooner, rather than later, after all he does it all the time. So he tries to pick up the girl and find out more about her, but instead is stunned and tied up to a chair. And then the adventure begins.

The people in Ivan’s life are mostly larger than life and in anyone else’s family he would have been thought as a very capable and successful man. You don’t normally think of the people in your family out of the ordinary or exceptional because, to you they are ordinary. Except of course in Ivan’s case ordinary, is anything but. When not overshadowed by his cousin Miles, or Gregor the Emperor, Ivan is very capable. He is happy to be on the sidelines and single despite the grumblings of his mother. But By’s request turns his quiet and orderly life on its head.

I totally enjoyed this book, and I think that even someone who has not read any of the Vorkosigan books would like it. But I think that you will enjoy it more if you have already read the previous books because then you will see the subtle things that are going on with some of Ivan’s relationships. Otherwise you will be like Tej, and have to learn that Ivan is quite a bit more than he would like everyone to believe.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Cats of Istanbul: Or A Turkish Farce in 17 Parts

"Maybe there is something to be said for staying at the Hilton and being driven around in air conditioned coaches, eating regular, safe and predictable meals at good restaurants, sleeping in clean beds with hot showers and fully flushing toilets and . . .no, then again, maybe not. . . .

And Most of all you wouldn't have the opportunity of a lifetime.

The chance to open your eyes and your ears and take it all in - to breath it, see it, hear it, smell it, experience it. To be a new part of what millions and millions of people take for granted as everyday life. To disappear and be swallowed up as part of these wonderful, terrifying, exciting, depressing, constantly moving worlds that we temporarily become a part of."

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and it was a very fast read. The author is very good 'painting' a picture with words, and this book was well written (there were a few typos, but not distractingly so) but title was misleading. While there are cats, and Istanbul does make an appearance, neither are the focus of the book. Rather it is a meandering tale of a 4 week trip from Australia to Jordan, Israel, Egypt, and Turkey with a few stops in-between.

But you don't really learn much from it, since it seems to be lacking detail. The author is an architect so I was hoping to learn a bit more about the architecture, but there are only a few details talked about here and there.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Last Train to Istanbul: A Novel by Ayse Kulin

Wow. This was an amazing read.

This novel revolves around two sisters from Istanbul, one married to a career diplomat and the other who disgracefully abandoned her family to pursue a life with the man that she loves who is Jewish. Leaving the disappointment of their families behind Selva and her husband Rafo move to France to start a life together without the pain of living so close to their families who have turned their backs on them.

War finds them in France and finally events make them decide that for the sake of their son they must go back to Istanbul despite painful memories. This brings them to a special train car taking 'Turkish citizens' back to their homeland.

Central to the story is the little known story of the Turkish governments involvement to save as many Jews as they could by issuing documents and some of the efforts of the diplomatic staff in France. One of the events in the book is based on the real life event in which Necdet Kent, Turkish consul general in the French port city of Marseille from 1941 to 1944, rushed to Marseille's St. Charles train station when he heard that Turkish Jews had been taken and put on trains to certain death.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Turkish Ambassador by Emir Kivircik

"Understand that his is a war of diplomacy. Whenever they say "No", we'll just change the wording and hit them again and again until we get what we want. Be aware of these balances because they are of the utmost importance. Looking at things from the German perspective we may think they will refuse our requests; but as long as Turkey maintains neutrality, I believe they the Germans will have no choice but to remain sensitive towards our insistent demands. The same does not hold true for the French because they have options. They may do whatever the Germans tell them to do or mirror the Germans to show them that they are more German than the Germans. On the other hand France would like Turkey to remain friendly since we are the most important neutral country so I don't see how they could refuse."

Behic Erkin was the Turkish ambassador to France from 1939 until 1943 and helped save almost 20,000 Jews in France during WWII. While this book only covers that short period he clearly had a very interesting life that would make very interesting reading or a great movie.

Emir Kivircik is the son of Behic Erkin's niece. While waiting to have lunch with a friend who was delayed he visited a small museum in the building where he was meeting his friend and discovered the family history that he was too busy to learn from his mother as a teenager. Shocked to find that the man that he called grandfather helped save Turkish Jews in France during WWII he decided to research the story and write a book.

While he doesn't quite engage the reader throughout this short book imparts a somewhat clear picture of the struggles that faced the Turkish embassy in Occupied France. He does briefly cover some of the events that were clearly the basis for some of the events in the Last Train to Istanbul.

If you are interested in diplomacy, WWII, Jewish or Turkish history this book is well worth reading.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

2 B R 0 2 B by Kurt Vonnegut

"Everything was perfectly swell.

There were no prisons, no slums, no insane asylums, no cripples, no poverty, no wars.

All diseases were conquered. So was old age.

Death, barring accidents, was an adventure for volunteers.

The population of the United States was stabilized at forty-million souls."

I don't normally read or like short stories, I'm more of a give me more kind of girl. . . And OK, so this isn't really a book, it was a pretty short, short story, but I read a series of 4 romance books that I didn't count so I figure this can take their place.

I was looking on Project Gutenberg for something that we could use in the level two English class that I teach on Monday's. I figure that instead of using random, meaningless, made-up news stories we could use books that are easily available and well known. Because language isn't just about grammar and vocabulary, it is about culture, shared history and much of that comes from the literature that we read. And proficiency is greatly increased by reading. And I want something free and easily available.

This story is about a world were no one dies unless they choose to. It takes place in the waiting room of a hospital where a man is waiting for his wife to give birth (it was written in the 1960's . . . )

It had the impact of a very long and well written book.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The International Bank of Bob by Bob Harris

“But the obvious truth is that India, for all its super-rich, accelerating middle class, and great numbers of poor, is no more inherently magical than anyplace else, and often profoundly mundane: government bureaucracy is to paper as an exploding volcano is to lava; traffic between cities may be what NASCAR would look like if it included mules, bicycles, fruit carts, cows, autorickshaws, mass pilgrim crossings, drivers who honk their horns at passing molecules and the occasional steamroller marked with a giant om; and as for air travel, it’s sufficient to note that Kingfisher is both an airline and a kind of beer. . .”

Sometimes when we are looking for one thing, we find something else. I wasn't looking for a book on micro-finance, I was looking for books on central banks of the world when I found this book. Bob Harris wasn't looking for a story on micro-finance when he went to Dubai, he was writing about impossibly expensive hotel rooms and bar drinks. But he also found impossibly poor people and the disparity of wealth was almost too much for him.

It is said that 1/3 of the world lives on $2 a day.

Bob Harris discovered Kiva.org in his search to find a way to help those less fortunate, and that led to this book. He thought that visiting some of the people that he loaned money to would make a great book. And he was right. Of course it helps that he is also a great storyteller.

If you are worried that this is a book full of nothing but goodness and light, it is not. Just as George Bailey knew that there was darkness in the world of banking Bob found that there is darkness in the world of micro-finance. But mostly, it is good. Bob is also good at reminding the read that “there but for the grace of God, go I” or as he puts it ‘the birth lottery’.

If you are unfamiliar with Kiva it is a non-profit website that allows people to make loans to people. With as little as $25 you can change the life of someone on the other side of the globe via a loan. When they repay the money you can pick another person to loan your money to. Did I mention that 1/3 of the world lives on $2 a day? What is $25 to anyone reading this? Four or five coffees? A couple of movie tickets?

If you read this book I would be very surprised if it doesn't inspire you to give something even if you already do, be it money or time or school supplies or used clothing.

On a slightly off topic, I recently discovered a web-site called Pack for a Purpose.

My grandparents used to travel to Europe quite regularly and they used to pack their old clothes and discard them as they filled their suitcases up with souvenirs. I like to travel in clothes that I like and don’t want to get rid of, so I am always looking for ways to fill up my suitcase with stuff that I can use up (I just can’t seem to leave it half empty!!) Pack for a Purpose has partner hotels and resorts that collect items for schools, and luckily for me the Ritz-Carlton in Istanbul is a member (their locations in Cancun Mexico and Tokyo also participate.)

The list says that the Istanbul location is working with two schools in Van, where they need school supplies and warm clothing. One thing Minnesotan’s understand is the need for warm clothing! Many of the places that American’s travel for vacation have participants, for example the Sandals resorts sponsor 26 schools in the Caribbean. Really, pencils, chalk, calculators, flash drives hardly take up any room in a suitcase and again would we miss the amount of money that it takes to buy them? Most likely not. But it can make a difference in someone else’s life. And since my hubby is buying two seats for himself, we get an extra suitcase! Just think how many hats, scarves, sweaters and gloves we can get in that extra bag! Not to mention solar calculators and pencils.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

oops! I have probably read 6 or 7 romance novels, but I haven't been keeping track! Oh, well.

Milton Friedman: A concise guide to the ideas and influence of the free-market economist

This was a very interesting and accessible introduction to Milton Friedman. If you do not know who Milton Friedman was here is a bit from wiki -

". . . a recipient of the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, and is known for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory, and the complexity of stabilization policy. As a leader of the Chicago school of economics, he profoundly influenced the research agenda of the economics profession. A survey of economists ranked Friedman as the second most popular economist of the twentieth century after John Maynard Keynes,2 and The Economist described him as "the most influential economist of the second half of the 20th century...possibly of all of it"

Friedman had some radical ideas and is known for reintroducing the quantity theory of money - the quantity of money has a direct, proportional relationship with the price level.

Even if you are not interested in economics this is a good book to read. It explains why free markets are good and anything that tries to impose making everyone equal fails. It explains why things like minimum wage creates more harm then good.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

No Money Down (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery), No One Lives Twice (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery),
No One To Trust (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery) by Julie Moffett

"My best friend Basia dragged me to the beach for her idea of a vacation. All those annoying people, sand in embarrassing places - not exactly R & R for a girl who doesn't like sun, the ocean or bathing suits. I couldn't wait to get back to work. . . .

My name is Lexi Carmichael and I hate the beach.

Okay, maybe hate is too strong a word. I don't really hate the beach. It's just the sun is too bright, sand is everywhere and seaweed gets stuck in my toes. Don't even get me started on how much I dislike bathing suits. It's not pretty.

I don't like people being crammed together in a mathematically disproportionate way in a very small area, Especially when they're half-dressed and strutting around like peacocks. It's too hot, too loud and smells too much of coconut suntan lotion. Beam me out of here, Scotty. Please."

I totally enjoyed these books and can’t wait until the next one comes out later this month.

In this series we meet, Lexi Carmichael, geek extraordinaire. Geek as in really, really, smart, no social skills and spends almost all of her time on a computer. She double majored in math and computers and can neither deny nor confirm that she works for the NSA. Oh she also has no figure to speak of, is whiter than white (remember spends all of her time on the computer), and has had sex exactly once, in college when she had too much to drink, and has no idea what his name was. Her mother is a former beauty queen who is always setting her up with eligible men that are totally not Lexi’s type. And she has one friend, her old college room-mate, Basia.

No Money Down is a prequel to the series (at 90 pages I guess it would be considered a novella??), but it is the book where we get introduced to some of the main people in Lexi’s life, so I am glad that I started there. Lexi is on a beach vacation with her best friend Basia.

Basia is the total opposite of Lexi, pretty, has fashion sense and is used to guys chasing after her. She is an expert in languages. She tries to get Lexi out away from her computer and meeting people, preferably guys. The idea of the vacation is no computers, sitting on the beach and getting some sun, meeting some guys would be a bonus.

Lexi literally runs into one of the ‘famous’ Zimmerman twins, Elvis, at the beach. Famous in her world that is, for hacking and computer security and practically ‘gods’ at the NSA. They are equally geeky and eager to be of any help that they can be. Lexi also runs into a weird guy at a bar and soon Lexi & Basia are being interviewed by the Secret Service and thrown out of their hotel room.

No One Lives Twice is the first book in the series, Lexi has encounters with two gun-toting thugs asking for something that her best friend, Basia has sent her. Only she has no idea what they are talking about. Her apartment has been trashed, Basia has disappeared and people keep showing up in her apartment uninvited, even after she has a security system installed. We also get to meet “Slash” THE uber computer hacker, and a sexy Irish lawyer named Finn.

In the third book No One To Trust (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery) Lexi is no longer working at the NSA and the company that she is working for is hired to find a missing genius researcher, who may or may not have run off on his own because of paranoia. The familiar cast of characters are there. Slash, Finn and Elvis are still helping and making Lexi’s life complicated.

Normally I am not a huge fan of stories told in the first person as these books are. But I like Lexi’s no-nonsense style. And since these are not romances, she doesn't get a guy in the end of the story, she just gets to know some guys and deepen her relationships. It seems clear that 3 guys are very interested in her but, since it is told in the first person we can’t really be sure. Is she misreading the signals? Or are the signals there to mislead her for reasons that she doesn't know about yet? Of course this makes you want to read the next book and see where it all goes.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Oh, a Doctor Who test!
Which Doctor are you??

http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2013/11/personality-quiz-doctor/

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I love quizzes so, of course, I did the "Which Doctor are you?" quiz. Apparently, I have the personality of the Fifth Doctor..... not sure what that means since I never watch the show. Out of curiosity, who was the Fifth Doctor?

1 - William Hartnell - old and cranky with a twinkle in his eye
2 - Patrick Troughton - disorganized and childish
3 - Jon Pertwee - dapper and suave with a love for technology and fast cars
4 - Tom Baker - famous for his long multicolored scarf - dark, brooding rover
5 - Peter Davidson (you may know him as Tristan from All Creatures Great and Small) - was the youngest, most human Doctor
6 - Colin Baker - bombastic with a large ego
7 - Sylvester McCoy - the clown
8 - Paul McGann (TV movie) - kind and patronizing
*Spoiler*
9 - John Hurt ** - the 'newest' Doctor - called "the War Doctor"
10 - Christopher Eccleston - gritty and realistic
11 - David Tennant - cheeky, lovable, witty, fun, and yet bloodthirsty and vengeful
12 - Matt Smith - current Doctor - whimsical and larger-than-life
13 - Peter Capaldi - who knows . . .

So #5 young, cricket playing Doctor with celery in his lapel.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin -))

young, cricket playing Doctor with celery in his lapel.

Celery as a lapel adornment.... novel. ;-) As for Peter Davidson, I remember him - he has played DC Dangerous Davis in The Last Detective and Albert Campion in the Mystery! adaptations of the Margaret Allingham books. I can live with having the personality of the Fifth Doctor!

In an effort to find a series similar to the Lexi Carmichael books I have read Unbreakable Bond, Dying for a Date and Armed and Fabulous (Lexi Graves Mysteries).

Out of these 3 Armed and Fabulous (Lexi Graves Mysteries) is by far my favorite, followed by Dying for a Date and then a distant 3rd Unbreakable Bond. What I didn't like about Unbreakable Bond was the main character, former fashion model who has men all figured out. Maybe in the next books I might like her more, and there just seemed to be a bit too much unreasonableness - really you're a wanted criminal and you make a date with someone from the District Attorney's?

Armed and Fabulous we have a different Lexi, who is a temp, and almost everyone else in her family is a cop. She works late and manages to just miss her boss (sort of) getting murdered and then is almost discovered by the people who did it. There are hot, sexy mysterious guys in this one too.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

No Place Like Rome by Julie Moffett

Squee!!!

I love this series. I wish that they were L-O-N-G-E-R and that there were more of them.

I love that Lexi has super computer skills and is totally clueless when it comes to social skills. I can understand why Finn and Slash like her, she likes them for who they are (smart, interesting, sexy guys) not for what or who they are and what they can do for her.

Finn is her boss, and still wants to date her. She is not so sure about this. And let’s try to forget the incident where she sort-of met his family. Her mother would think that she had died and went to heaven if she found out that Lexi was dating a man like him.

Slash? Clearly he is not just another geeky guy, he has skills that put him in a whole different league. Are they just friends? What is with the flirting, is that just an Italian thing? And what exactly is his status with the Vatican? Will he ever tell her his real name?

And then of course there is Elvis. If he is interested he better make a move soon. I am thinking that it might be better if they got together and found out that they just want to be friends. Because they clearly both need a partner who has some social skills and will get them out of the house.

Of course more importantly will Lexi ever have a date that doesn't involve some kind of disaster? Or have sex more than once in her life?

I can't wait until the next one comes out! Not sure what made the hubby got the first books in this series, but I am sure glad that he did!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Choice by Russell Roberts

I got this book because it is one of the books currently required for an economics class that I am thinking of taking and we are currently covering international trade in my macro econ class.

Really, by now I should have learned to look at the book description and see how many pages it is. This is a very short book, only 132 pages including the index.

It is kind of like It’s A Wonderful Life but instead of showing George what life would be like if he never lived, Ed is shown what life in America would be like with and without free trade. The story is told as dialog between Ed, a TV factory owner and Dave, the ghost of David Ricardo an economist known for his theory of comparative advantage.

One thing that I found sort of annoying, though less so once I recognized it, was how the dialog was treated. If you have ever written anything with dialog you know how tedious the whole how to deal with indicating who said what is. You can only come up with so many variations of he said, she said, said he, etc.. The author avoids this whole issue by having the speakers use the name of the person that they are talking to every once in awhile. So there is a lot of “but Dave” or “couldn't they Dave?”, or “tell me Ed”.

The choice is whether to promote protectionism or free trade. The main point here is that protectionism protects the job, not the person. Protectionism leads to fewer choices and a poorer life for everyone. It clearly illustrates how free trade makes everyone better and why a trade deficit isn't as bad as it is made out to be.
It’s not terribly amusing or entertaining, though, it is just a step up from a text book. As a piece of fiction it is dull, the only reason to get it or read it is because of the topic (but only if you have no or little knowledge or it), so I guess that fact that it is really short is a blessing.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Undercover Economist: Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor--and Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car!

I won Tim Harford's The Undercover Economist Strikes Back: How to Run or Ruin an Economy from the November batch Early Reviewers books, so I thought that I should try one of his earlier books.

I rather enjoyed it, and wish that I had read it before my first economics class. Some how I am doubting that I will have gotten this newer book read before my Macro final, (which I am sure it would help with) but oh, well.

I like that he has a sense of humor. He clearly explains why Starbucks charges so much for a cup of coffee. I hate it when people seem to think that the cost is all about the coffee and forget about how the cost of the building, the staff, the equipment are all included in that price.

He also explains other things about which the public has been mislead, like the environment, trade barriers and sweat shops. I especially liked his section on healthcare.

If you know nothing or very little about economics this is a very good book to get you thinking about how the world works and why some countries are poor and some countries are rich.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Who Glares Wins

Another Lexi Graves mystery. Lexi's job with the Solomon Agency leads her to an undercover temp job at a hotel trying to find out who is sabotaging it. She also takes two pro bono cases without letting her boss know.

I love the characters. I like the relationship between Lexi and her best friend, Lily. The interaction with her family members. And the interactions with her boyfriend, Maddox and her boss, the mysterious, Solomon.

I enjoyed it and can't wait to read the next one!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Command Indecision (Lexi Graves Mysteries)
Shock and Awesome (Lexi Graves Mysteries)
by Camilla Chafer

Yep, I have now finished all of the Lexi Graves Mysteries that are currently available. (And pre-ordered the next one due out on the 10th of this month.)

In Command Indecision Lexi and her uber sexy boss Solomon go undercover to prove the innocence of a man charged with a brutal murder. We get to know a bit more about Solomon and some of the other guys in the agency. . . that's all I'm saying, well that and it was good. The ending has a bit of a cliffhanger for her personal life.

Shock and Awesome has Lexi playing a super-rich single woman and faux dating equally super-rich single men, only one is suspected of robbing his dates houses. She gets to drive a Ferrari, pretend to live in the house next door to Solomon, and borrow expensive clothing from her sister. The agency is working with the MPD so Maddox and his new partner keep showing up, making life complicated. And to top is off Solomon has a sexy, beautiful, younger woman staying at his house.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Diners, Dives & Dead Ends (A Rose Strickland Mystery)
Last Diner Standing (A Rose Strickland Mystery Series)
Diner Impossible (A Rose Strickland Mystery)

In the Rose Strickland mysteries we meet Rose Strickland former rich girl now struggling waitress and college student. It starts with the disappearance of her friend Axton. He leaves her with his backpack and mysteriously disappears. In her efforts to find him she meets Dane, who sat behind her in elementary school, who is now a dashing lawyer with dimples and Sullivan a mysterious man of dubious means and intentions. Rose is joined by her attitude wielding co-worker Roxy and boss AKA "Ma".

Rose is trying to make her own way in life, when she didn't toe the line and do exactly what her parents wanted her to they cut her off financially. Now she works in a diner to support herself and attends the local college while trying to figure out what she wants to do. They don't approve of her friends or her lifestyle.

** some spoilers**

I like that she stands on her own and when say her sister wants to buy her a car for Christmas because her's was stolen she turns them down. Or that even though she is sort of dating a really wealthy guy she doesn't ask him for stuff, and I like the fact that he doesn't show up to her place with expensive presents. He offered her a job, she turned it down and he respected that.

It will be interesting to find out more about Sullivan and what his background is. It is interesting that both the 'good' lawyer and her 'bad' love interest pretty much tell her that its pretty much who you know, and that the real deals are made outside of official channels. While most books that have more than one 'love interest' have them be good guys (cops, FBI, etc) with attitudes and maybe different agendas, Sullivan is very clearly on the other-side of the law and he makes it very clear when he has a different agenda than Rose.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

PS - and that makes 75!

Well done Bruce (or his evil twin). Going back to the beginning and Skaro it seems the personality test dictates that I would be akin to William Hartnell.

Today I have my Macroeconomics final, and I found the Swedish word of the day is-(en) brist på - lack of - to be quite appropriate. The sentence that goes with it was:

Provet avslöjade studenternas brist på förberedelse

And for those of us who don't speak/read Swedish:
With the exam the students revealed a lack of preparation.

My classmates have for the most part of the term demonstrated a total lack of preparation for anything. The first test the average score was 57 out of 100, the second one was only slightly better at 60 out of 100.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I posted on my 13 in 13 thread how I did on the exam. But heck, since I got an "A" it is well worth posting it here! Which gives me an "A" for the term!

Judging by my score and that of my study-mate the average score for the exam was well below 60% since she got a 61% and that RAISED her final grade to a B. Looking forward to my next class with Filippo teaching we shouldn't have all these issues. It's International Economics.

I have read so much this year, and learned so many new things! And laughed and cried with so many books! And found out what Slashes real name is! :-)

I discovered Quizlet.com which is great for flashcards! I have created sets for the first 39 lessons from my Turkish self study set so far. And since I am now the proud owner of an iPhone I can actually use them on my phone (the app didn't really work on my Kindle Fire) and now am totally addicted to the 'scatter' mode where it takes 8 pairs and scatters them and you have to match them up. It times you, so you race against your fastest time. So far I have managed to get a fastest time of 8-9 seconds for each set, though more commonly my time is around 11-12 seconds. Many of the words that were a bit 'fuzzy' are becoming solid in my head now. Now if I could only get the font bigger! I am sure that I could do it faster if the font was bigger!

Happy New Year everyone!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Congrats on getting an "A" for the term... and how the heck did I miss that over on the 1313 group?!

maybe because I posted it about the same time. . . .:-)