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It hurts me to admit this, but this book was painful to read. This might be the worst book I have ever read actually. Not only did most of these short stories NOT make sense, but they were all very similar and quite frankly...poorly written.

Written by Josepha Sherman, the book Merlin's Kin: Tales of the Heroic Magician consists of 30 short stories written about wizards from around the world. The places and names change, but most of the stories are the same. Each story begins interestingly enough, but almost all of them end abruptly and without reason. The theme of magic is one of good versus evil and the good does always win which is nice.

But if you are hoping to read about Merlin don't buy this book. If you want to read it for the cultural aspects since it does take place in locations from Iceland to Southeast Asia, then go right ahead.

I bought this book for my son. He loves magic just like I do. I decided to read it first to make sure it would be age appropriate. I'm no longer worried about the age, but I won't be reading this to Braeden. It won't make a bit of sense to him, which means he will ask a hundred questions and get frustrated.

Interested parties can click Merlin's Kin (World Storytelling) to buy the book.

Labels: folklore, magic, short stories, world

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| 8:55 AM | 0 comment(s)!

Christy invited me to join the book club. I thought the best way to introduce myself would be to share my thirteen books that had a profound influence on me.

Thursday Thirteen #1

1. Ulysses, Dubliners, Portrait - I love James Joyce. I love his arrogance and belief in himself. I love that he worked, raised four children and supported his partner. I probably wouldn't have liked him in person, but his work is amazing and his life is honorable. What else can you say about a person? And the books? They're amazing.

2. Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien - I read this book for the first time when I was sick with scarlet fever for six weeks. As a young child, this book had a profound influence on me and my life. I learned about honor, friendship, trust and love.

3. The Dark is Rising (series) by Susan Cooper - Another series I found as a child. I'm not sure what the call of this series was, or still is, but I love the simplicity of good vs. evil as depicted here.

4. Earthsea by Ursala Le Guin - I was given these books when I was in high school but I didn't read them until I was a junior at UC Berkeley. I love the profound way that Ged deals with his "dark" and the lesson - we must confront what we fear, confront our dark, to be free of it.

5. Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling and Mitford Series by Jan Karon - I found Jan Karon after the Columbine "incident". As a therapist, I was overwhelmed by my own reactions and needed to be available for other people's reactions. I needed to find a place where things make sense and are safe. That's Mitford. I found Harry Potter after 9/11 for similar reasons. At least the first four books are wonderful escapes.

6. In the Electric Mist with the Confederate Dead by James Lee Burke - Have you read James Lee Burke? You owe it to yourself. He has a wonderful way of showing the struggle of life without ever giving into the despair. His characters are real, full blooded, passionate and very imperfect. I like this particular book because of the interactions between the Confederate captain and the main character. (Heaven's Prisoners is my second favorite and Black Cherry Blues is a wonderful book.)

7. The Roads to Freedom by Jean Paul Satre - My father used to say that I was a "decent" person until I met Satre. (I wish I had met Satre.) This book series is about another imperfect person who tries to do the right thing and fails over and over again. Finally, he decides to be himself, do what is in his heart and soul and he is free. Beautifully written, these books changed me in a deep fundamental way.

8. Happiness (tm) by Will Ferguson - The premise of this book is that an book editor pulls a manuscript out of the slush pile that is the true self help book. People truly lose weight, find inner peace, and achieve happiness. Now what? The book is very funny and profound, in it's own way. You'll laugh.

9. Lives of the Mayfair Witches Series by Anne Rice - This series came out when I was first getting to know my husband. We read these books together. Although I cannot delineate it right at this moment, these books had a profound influence on our life.

How about 3 Non-fiction books

10. Ultrametabolism by Dr. Mark Hyman - Dr. Hyman believes that food is information and what we eat informs our body about the environment, our safety and the world through the food we eat. I know this is true for bees (I'm a beekeeper), so why wouldn't be true for us? He also believes what I know is true: Losing weight is more complicated than burn more calories than you eat. This book is complicated so he wrote a more friendly starter book called Ultrasimple Diet. If you want to lose weight, check it out. The ideas and science are good.

11. This year I will.... by MJ Ryan - I picked up this book in January and have read a chapter a day all year. When I finish the book, I start over at the beginning. I have learned more about change from using this book than all of my studies, research, a Master's degree in Clinical Psych combined. If you'd like to change anything in your life, I'd encourage you to read a chapter a day.

12. When things fall apart by Pema Chodron - As a therapist, I gave this to clients when their lives fell apart. The book is profound in that it acknowledges that everyone's life falls apart. In the moments and hours of that wreckage, you find your humanity. Most people found relief in knowing that life is supposed to fall apart and come back together again. There are great tools, interesting ideas, but more than anything, comfort in knowing you are not alone.

13. Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen - I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Remen right after 9/11. She had such wonderful perspective on the glory and beauty of the human spirit. You can find that wisdom and delight in these pages. The book reads like a novel with short stories about life, people and the way of the world. When my heart feels dark, I reach for this book and am warmed by it's light.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Labels: books, favorites, humor, influential books

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| 10:42 AM | 9 comment(s)!

When it comes to mystery thrillers I love the work of Iris Johansen. She writes such fantastic thriller novels, I can hardly put them down when I get a new one. The character development is always impeccable and impressive considering most of her novels tends to have 4 or 5 strong characters.

Sophie Dunston is the main gal in "Killer Dreams". She is a strong, independent woman who is divorced and have a ten-year-old son who suffers from night terrors. His name is Michael and he has been suffering from these traumatic terrors since witnessing his Grandfather killing his Grandmother and trying to shoot him, but his Mom stepped in the way of the bullet. (I'd say he has every right to have trouble at night).

Anyway, Sophie is a brilliant chemist who has devoted all of her time to sleep research. Her father suffered from severe insomnia and that is what prompted her fascination with sleep patterns and disorders. She develops a product called REM-4 that ends up having such control over subjects that it is almost as if it brainwashes them into being slaves. Sophie rebels against what she created, insisting it never be used, but Sanborne (her boss) decides it can be the greatest chemical weapon of their time.

Needless to say Sophie quits and as we are getting into the book we find out she intends to kill Sanborne and destroy all of the REM-4 research.

Meanwhile Sanborne has been using the drug on many people along with a General they refer to as Boch. He has turned people into savage kiling machines that lack all emotion. One of the people who ends up escaping the program is Matt Royd. He too wants to kill Sanborne and Boch for that matter. He ends up joining forces with Sophie. You see where that is going, I'm sure.

Another chemist has altered REM-4 to make it stronger, but now the forumla has a very high fatality rate. Sanborne ends up sending people after Sophie and her son, Michael, because he needs her to fix REM-4 so that it won't kill the subjects, only control them. They end up losing everything and having to go into hiding with Royd.

It is easy to imagine where this book will end up, but how the author gets us to that point is full of twists and turns. Once again Iris Johansen has written a compelling novel that has left me wanting to read even more! Predictable at times, it still has enough suspense to keep me turning the pages. Plus, I really, really love her character profiles; excellent development.

Buy it, Killer Dreams!

Labels: fiction, Iris Johansen, Killer Dreams, medicine, mystery, suspense, thriller

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| 10:45 AM | 0 comment(s)!

This book was written by someone who is pro-life. It was an enjoyable and eye-opening read. You can choose to read this post or not, but there is no need to take personal offense.

A seventeen year old girl found herself pregnant and afraid. She went to Planned Parenthood and was influenced to get an abortion. She didn't question it because she thought it was the right thing to do at the time. Tina was seven months along in the pregnancy. A saline abortion was attempted, but it failed. Tina gave birth to a live baby girl.

The baby girl grew into a woman who became an advocate for pro-life, because she survived an abortion. Her name is Gianna and from a young age she began to tell people about her story. She had forgiven her birth Mom and she lived with a good family. She felt a purpose in her life and she devoted herself to that purpose.

Gianna explained that people who are pro-choice do not feel that a fetus is a human. Gianna says if she was just her mother's tissue than why wasn't she born an organ. No, she was born a child, a baby girl with toes and fingers.

The entire story is from a young girl's perspective. Most of the book is written from her words as a 14-year-old and what she experiences. As an effect of the saline solution her brain didn't get enough oxygen right before she was born. So Gianna has mild cerebral palsy, but that is the only negative thing that happened. Other people who have survived abortions are missing limbs or physically scarred from the saline solution since it essentially burns the fetus.

Gianna's words have stopped many, many people from following through with an abortion. Scared young girls don't always know they are killing a baby, and then when they give birth to a dead child it haunts them forever. It is still legal to abort a baby even in later months of the pregnancy if you can prove that carrying the child will cause physical, psychological or emotional trauma to yourself. I have a feeling there are many abortion clinics that will show just cause during their evaluations and approve even a 7 month abortion.

As a mother, I can tell you that in ultrasounds as early as 10 weeks, I could see my son's head and legs and arms. I could hear his heart beat. People who know me know the circumstances of Braeden's conception. I'm not one of those holier than thou women who has had a piece of pie life. I am one of those women who didn't take my pain out on my child.

Anyway, the book was very good, an easy read and a little bit redundant but informative and eye opening to say the least.

Labels: family, nonfiction, womens studies

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| 2:33 PM | 0 comment(s)!

Over the longer holiday weekend I was able to finish another book. It was a quick read, because I really enjoyed it and it was written well.

"Six Figures" by Fred G. Leebron is a story about a man and his family/work life and all he feels is lacking. From the very beginning of the book you can tell how stressed out and bitter he is with everything.

Warner Lutz doesn't like where he is in life. He doesn't make much money. He has a wife and two kids and they all live in a dirty, small house that he can't stand. They have one car which requires constant car pooling through Charlotte, North Carolina. And he hates his job, which is why they have moved several times.

Warner's wife says he is one of the most negative people she has ever met. I'd have to agree with her. He resents the fact that they have a second child and he resents the fact that he can never seem to prove himself at work. He does fund-raising for a nonprofit organization and the person before him scammed the company out of a lot of money. So he needs to fix that issue while also getting back in good standing with local sponsors. Megan Warner (the wife) works in an art gallery. She makes money when the gallery makes money, so her job isn't particularly stable either.

Meanwhile there are two children who require constant love and attention. And grand parents who for the most part are not at all helpful or supportive of the family life.

An attempt on Megan's life is made while she is alone packing boxes in the gallery. Since Warner and her have been having troubles and he is an angry person, he becomes the suspect. Megan is in a coma for awhile and when she wakes up she doesn't remember anything. Without clear motive and without proof, the charges are dropped, but of course not before he lost his job and his family.

As readers we are left wondering who tried to kill Megan, with several blows to the back of her head via a hammer. We don't know if it was Warner, but would like to believe it's not. She doesn't know if it was her husband either, but she moves back in with him.

**SPOILER ALERT**

Everything turns around for Warner, because he is jobless and he ends up being a stay at home Dad, while Megan gets back to work in the gallery. He begins to calm down, be less angry and bitter, because he is spending quality time with the children and no longer in a job he hates.

Nearing the end of the book, Megan realizes it was not Warner who tried to kill her after all. When his mother dies he throws a fit at the funeral and while he is screaming he says something about the murder attempt and how everyone thinks he did it. What he describes is not exactly what happened and it is in that moment that Megan knows he has been telling the truth.

They end up leaving Charlotte and moving into a nicer house in Pennsylvania. They become a stable and happier family. So it all works out very nicely.

The only thing that bothers me is that the attempted murder sort of drops by the way side. But as long as Megan was able to move past it then I suppose it doesn't matter.

Labels: domestic life, family, psychology

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| 10:00 AM | 0 comment(s)!