false 909 73 68 true 5680431 read 1 true 1853006 currently-reading 4 true 1853005 to-read 8 false 1853009 favorite-books http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75521522 to: While the Wind Blows (Paperback) by Diana Higbee Reginato
Grief is a natural part of our lived experience. Of course, it is helpful to have a means of coping, especially with the loss of a loved one. Diana Higbee Reginato's While the Wind Blows is an excellent reading for anyone who is struggling with the passing of someone dear.
This beautifully illustrated collection of prose and poetry details the process of grief, from the point of its introduction into one's life to its acceptance and eventual incorporation into our understanding of what it is to love and then lose. The sequence of the work takes the reader along a journey of healing and will prove helpful for anyone dealing with this harsh emotional climate.
Reginato had the grieving reader in mind when she wrote the work. It seems that Reginato was inspired to create this piece in response to her own loss of someone dear. She must be commended for demonstrating to others through her well-written work that grief, though it floods the mind and body with feelings for some time, will not last forever. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75521397 to: The Boy with the Blue Cap Van Gogh in Arles (Paperback) by Norman Beaupre
The work of certain artists impress upon our minds. What qualities in an artistic piece make it special or appealing?
There are times when we must turn to the characters who were responsible for the creation of these masterpieces in order to better understand the pieces themselves. One controversial artist whose work is liable to be better understood through glimpsing into his life experiences is Vincent Van Gogh, the painter whose vibrant, colorful paintings will leave an impression with any person to look upon them. And where do we turn to view a portrait of Van Gogh's life? The answer is Norman Beaupre's The Boy with the Blue Cap.
Beaupre's The Boy with the Blue Cap is the vision of this brilliant artist's life and time painting in Arles as told through the eyes of the son of the region's Postmaster, who actually knew the subject of the piece. The work itself is fictional but littered with elements of the real, and the story proves enticing and suspenseful as the relationship between the Van Gogh and the Postmaster's son carries us through this phase of Van Gogh's life and work.
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75521294 to: Beyond Jack Squat (Paperback) by Pat Frank
In life, there will always be trial. We learn through our experiences, both negative and positive, to overcome adversity and to embrace joy when they come our way. And life's course proves that both will come our way. In the spirit of overcoming challenges, Pat Frank writes Beyond Jack Squat.
The book's protagonist, Jackie O' Riley, lives in a time of great uncertainty and turmoil, where war and impoverished communities threaten the stability of the American landscape and its people. As he moves across the country in search of himself and his own path, he witnesses the evolution of our society. And always he is motivated by the will to become something greater.
Beyond Jack Squat is an excellent read for anybody who encounters negative forces in his or her life and is inspired to rise against solely by way of an intrinsic desire to succeed and to be “somebody.” In this time of our society's own global and economic trials, Beyond Jack Squat will prove relevant to any reader whose will to work against and move beyond has not yet been drowned in the sea of life's turmoil and in the midst of social unrest.
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75521174 to: Soul Progression (Paperback) by Ron Pieris
In our world, we have a great deal of confusion stemming from virtually every aspect of life. Society entrances and titillates with many indulgences, gluttony persists, and we falter along an unclear path weather-beaten and shaded by false ideas. How do we ever make sense of this turmoil into which we are born? Author Ron Pieris sees the way to a better course, and, in his book Soul Progression, he tries to show us how to come onto that path and follow it.
Pieris believes that in order to possess true faith, one must first have what he calls “works of faith.” Through his understanding of these conditions and activities—charity, hopefulness, love of fellow man—Pieris elaborates upon what is required in order to achieve a state where the evolution of the soul becomes possible.
This book is ideal for anyone who wishes to change and grow as a person from the inside out. It delivers an understanding for which the world in its present circumstance is desperate. If you seek clarity and a means of recapturing the power of true faith, Peiris's Soul Progression is a must-read. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/229155-difficult-but-necessary-story Readersentertainment made a comment on Burnt Cookies:

Arny Alberts reveals his horrific experience at the hands of an older man when he was just fifteen. 

In unflinching detail he describes how he became involved with Coach without really understanding the consequences it would have on him for the rest of his life.

As a young teenager, Alberts was unsure of sex as most children are. The methods that this pedophile used to entrap Alberts started out innocent enough, but rapidly turned into rape. Once Coach had Alberts, he used every trick in the book to psychologically damage Alberts into staying in this obscene relationship.

The message here: Parents, TALK to your kids about sex, because if you don't, someone else will. The coach was a friend of Alberts and used every means to abuse him at the age of 15 when most boys are looking for answers about their sexual identity. 

This is a hard subject to read, but very important. Alberts suffered his entire life because of this sick man who was supposed to be his protector, "The Coach." Alberts admits he knew it was wrong when it was happening, but he was young and impressionable as most boys are. As hard as it was to read, it needs to be brought out in the open so parents will be aware of the damage pedophiles can inflict on their young boys.
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75506006 to: Burnt Cookies (Paperback) by Arny Alberts
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74439583 to: Imager's Challenge: The Second Book of the Imager Portfolio (Hardcover) by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Video Review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8myTcPvkM...

Though he seemed destined to become a master artisan, Rhennthyl's rare ability to visualize objects and cause them to materialize has altered his life's course completely. Rhenn is an imager, one of the select few on Terahnar, and this is his story.

After recovering from injuries inflicted during his foiling of a plot masterminded by the Ferran envoy, Rhenn is appointed as the imager liaison to the Civic Patrol of L'Excelsis, but this "promotion" is far from glorious, and, owing to the displeasure of the Commander of the Civic Patrol at having a liaison from the Collegium, it leaves him on patrol in the streets of the city's worst district. What is worse is that Rhenn has made powerful enemies since realizing his ability as an imager, and now one of the High Holders intends to destroy Rhenn and his entire family. His only hope is in alliances with the family of the woman whom he cherishes. Their success as merchants and underworld connections may be the only thing that can help Rhenn win against those who would destroy him and all that he holds dear, but will this be enough, and can Rhenn find a way of compromising the intentions of his foes without making more enemies? What will it take to protect the ones he loves? Find out in the next installment of the Imager Portfolio, Imager's Challenge.

L. E. Modesitt, Jr. is an accomplished author of more than forty science fiction novels. Imager's Challenge is the second book in what he has dubbed the Imager Portfolio. This engaging and developed fantasy series is set in L'Excelsis, the capital city of the most powerful nation on Terahnar, a world of Modesitt's ingenious contrivance where magic rules in secret. Modesitt has been treating readers to the brilliance of his magical realms in various science fiction series since the early 1970s. The Imager series bears testament to his ability as a writer to captivate readers with imaginative and exciting tales that unfold on faraway worlds, and, in his writing, Modesitt achieves a level of genuine character development that is not typical of other works in the science fiction genre. According to the Library Journal, "the author's skill in portraying the humanity of characters who possess the power to destroy others with a thought adds a level of verisimilitude and immediacy rarely found in grand-scale fantasy."

If you are a reader of science fiction and fantasy, then the likelihood that you are no stranger to the work of Modesitt seems great. Loyal fans of Modesitt will greatly enjoy this newest novel in his latest fantasy series, but if you are an avid science fiction reader and yet your familiarity with Modesitt's work is nonexistant, it is likely that you will still quickly learn to appreciate the potency of his science fiction. The Imagers Portfolio and its latest installment, Imager's Challenge, comes highly recommended for fantasy and science fiction readers everywhere.
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73686511 to: City of Fire (City Trilogy) by Laurence Yep
City of Fire by Laurence Yep is an exciting, adventurous read for children ages nine and up. Set in the 1940’s, our heroes journey across the Pacific ocean from San Francisco to the Hawaiian Islands meeting shapeshifters, dragons and even the ancient goddess Pele who has disguised herself as a vagabond, but controls the land and the sea through her mystical enchantments.

Magic is part of this fantastical world and our hero, twelve-year old Scirye, will come face to face with evil and her own abilities to overcome it. She will find friendship in a young boy, Leech, who she first mistrusts, but then comes to understand that he is also on a journey of self-discovery. Leech must find out about his own mysterious past and make the decision to do good or evil.

Gaining the trust of her traveling companions, Scirye, sets out to avenge the death of her sister caused by the evil dragon Badik and the powerfully evil Mr. Roland. Each of her companions have their own personal journey in finding the powers within them that will help them stop the diabolical Mr. Roland from stealing the Five Lost Treasures of Emperor Yu and giving him ultimate power over the world. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73680435 Dragon Moon (Moon Series, Book 11) by Rebecca York
Kenna, a mysterious psychic visitor from another universe, is slave to a terrible master, and she has come to prepare for an invasion the likes of which our universe has never seen. In Talon Marshall, a powerful werewolf, Kenna finds a potential confidant, but she is unable to reveal to him the terrible secret that is her mission. Talon is powerfully drawn to this stranger, but his senses tell him to keep up his guard before he grows to close. He longs to possess her; she longs for his help, but can they learn to trust each other? Can she find a way to communicate her grave message to him before our world and the universe itself is doomed to ruin?
Dragon Moon, the latest installment in Rebecca York's extensive paranormal romance set known as the "Moon Series," tells the tale of Kenna and Talon as they are caught in a struggle for cooperation and reliance upon each other for the sake of our world. The novel, as well as the entire series, incorporates many different elements of the paranormal into the craft of the story: from werewolves to shapeshifters, your desire for the strange and otherworldly will definitely be satisfied by what York has to offer with her new work. York's fascination with werewolves stems from her reading of classic werewolf stories as a teenager, and, although the series began as "Urban Fantasy," York's series has evolved over time to involve a parellel dimension where the paranormal reigns supreme. In Dragon Moon, these two universes, ours and the parallel, are at odds. Now, only an incredible pair of beings can hope to stop the total annihilation of all that we know, but first a trust must be established between them. At the center of this dimensional conflict, there exists the striving between two people for a meaningful connection and a struggle to convey well-kept secrets. This is a major part of the power behind York's most recent romance.
This intriguing and seductive novel will be well-received by fans of York's past efforts in the paranormal genre. Dragon Moon is an ideal selection for faithful readers of her "Moon Series," but general readers of fantasy romance and the paranormal are liable to appreciate this exciting story of passion and hidden intentions. Enter into York's fantasy realm and become a part of the fight for our universe. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72892709 to: Operation: L.O.V.E. (Paperback) by Anne Elizabeth
As a society, we are indebted to those honorable individuals who have served in any of the five branches of the military. Their dedication to our defense and supreme level of patriotism enable the American people to enjoy the luxury of numerous liberties without which so many others in our world must endure. In the spirit of providing support for those who have served, the anthology Operation L.O.V.E. has been written.
Five patriotic authors, Anne Elizabeth, Tara Nina, DC DeVane, Lindsay Downs, and C.H. Admirand, have all contributed stories to this collection, and each story relates to one of the five primary branches of the military's Special Operations forces. However, these five stories are not merely commemorative pieces written with the intention of honoring the brave men and women who have served. In fact, they are romantic pieces that detail the trials and experiences of various characters in pursuit of love. Praise for American forces is brought to a new level with this special romance anthology, where action and adventure is excellently blended with desire and intrigue. According to the authors of this anthology, "the purpose of this short story collection is to support the troops, increase education about the military and its special branches, and to promote romance." And every story contributes in its own way to that commendable aim.
This collection of short, praise-worthy works is ideal for anyone who enjoys romance with a distinct, memorable twist and a touch of action, as well as any reader whose family and friends have been or are currently involved with military service. ]]>