Motivational Monday

The last few weeks I have been focused on one thing - reading. I set a goal at the beginning of the year to read 100 books. Yes, 100 books. Just a few. Recently, I heard a reader will read an average of eight books a year, so to set a goal of 100 is kinda crazy. But I did.

And for the last few weeks I've been reading my bootie off! I am this close to my goal. I reached 96 books last night, which ties me for how many books I read last year {2013}. Four more books to reach my goal.

But, how is this motivational? Well, I suppose the fact that I set a goal in January and I'm almost there is motivational. I had months where I did really well {19 books in January}, but also had months where it didn't go so well {one in April...if I had only read a few more books that month!}. Now we're 12 months into the goal and I am almost there...I kept at it even when I had months that didn't go so well. I made up the lack of April in other months.

What I'm trying to say is this, while I love to read {your goal might be something else}, it is motivational staying the course, finishing a goal. Reading may not seem like a goal to some, but to me being able to say I read 100 books in one year is incredible. I was able to do something I love and feel accomplished. I read some amazing books {and some not so much}, but I followed through. I did what I said I would.

That's what motivation is all about. Setting a goal, following through to the end through the highs and lows of it. Some days you feel like you'll never reach your goal; other days you can't believe how easy it is. But, day after day you slog on in the hopes that at the end, you will accomplish what it was you set out to do.

So, by December 31 I will be able to say I read 100 books. That is my goal and that is what I will accomplish. And by doing so, I prove to myself I can do what I set out to do, no matter what obstacles {internal or external} come my way.

There are 16 days left in 2014, what goal will you accomplish before then?

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Well, we are the end of June and that means we're halfway through the year. I had a couple of goals for the year and I am going to go over them in total in another post, but this post is dedicated to my books.

My goal this year is to read 100 books by the end of the year. I have an obsession with reading and generally am reading multiple books at a time. I read a wide variety of genres including history, science fiction, mystery, sports, historical romance, horror, and anything that falls outside those that sound interesting. The books above are on my bookshelf currently from when I wrote my M.A. thesis on "How the National Sports Media Perpetuates Fan Stereotypes." It was a lot of fun researching that!

So, where do I stand in my goal? At this point I need 50 books to be exactly on track. Drum roll please...55! Woot!! Totally on track for 100 this year!

What are some of my favorites from this year?

Fever of War ~ Carol R. Byerly
Forgotten Tales of Pennsylvania ~ Thomas White
Shadow of the Titanic ~ Andrew Wilson
The Great War As I Saw It ~ Frederick George Scott
Lost In Italy ~ Stacey Joy Netzel
Solomon's Throne ~ Jennings Wright
The Seven Steps to Closure ~ Donna Joy Usher

Just so you know, I'm getting nothing for linking them over to Amazon for you. I just thought if you were interested in checking them out this makes it easier. These books were really fun reads and if you are interested go read up on them!

With six months of the year to go I need 45 books to reach my goal of 100. Here's to the next six months!

Update: Add another book to the list. Finished one while getting my hair done today. LOL! 56 books total.
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June Books

June books! It was a good month for reading. Maybe not so much for other aspects of my life, but I did get a few books in this month. LOL!

1. The Five Kisses by Karla Darcy
2. Never a Mistress, No Longer a Maid by Maureen Driscoll
3. Why Prohibition! by Charles Stelzle
4. 12 Health & Fitness Mistakes You Don't Know You're Making by Michael Matthews
5. The Silver Locket by Margarey James
6. The Office Idiot Review by Pete Sortwell
7. The Variant Effect by G. Wells Taylor
8. The Top 30 Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes for Busy Women by Sarah Jessica Cook
9. R is for Running by Ray Charbonneau
10. Snow Bound by Blake Crouch
11. Conduct Unbecoming a Gentleman by Wareeze Woodson
12. Weight Loss Motivation Hacks by Derek Doepker
13. A Father's Odyssey: 75 Marathons in 75 Days by Terry Hitchcock and Peter Jessen (June 30, 2013)

Yup, that's 13 books for June. Not bad. Some books were longer than others, but a book is a book. Always fun to get lost in the pages of a story.

Top Books

Why Prohibition! is probably my favorite of all the books this month. Remember, I'm a history person, so this book may not be your thing, but I loved it! The book was written in 1918 and gave all the reasons why prohibition needed to happen and how to counter-argue those who felt Prohibition shouldn't pass. I loved reading all the arguments for Prohibition. It really is crazy all the reasons given that I never would have thought of: after the war, Europe would need our grain to rebuild; non-drinkers do not get paid as much as they should because bosses take into account the drunks at work; if passed, imagine all the money the family will have for food and luxuries. What I liked especially about this book is knowing how Prohibition went. It's interesting hearing the very logical explanations for Prohibition, which makes sense but that just didn't actually play out the way the dry's anticipated. Such a neat read not only for the content, but also for the writing itself. The writing style of the turn of the 20th century is truly different than how we write today. It's a great book to expose yourself to that writing style!

The Variant Effect was a good book too. I'll be honest, it was a bit graphic in terms of violence, but it was a really cool book. In a world where drug companies come up with medications that get passed quickly by the FDA, this book tells the story of a drug that cured just about everything, then it turned out to be worse than any disease it cured. Think zombies meet drugs with lots of violence and there you go. I liked this one because I've been on a zombie book kick lately and while this book kinda fit into that genre, it wasn't about zombies. It was definitely one of those books that I kept trying to find time to read it when I should have been doing other stuff. 

Don't Read

This month, there weren't too many in this category. I'll be honest, none of the books in June were awful (thank heavens!), so while the following books are not "don't read" worthy, I just wasn't digging them.

The Office Idiot Review is supposed to be a funny book and I've read another one similar that was funny, but this one just didn't seem to hit the mark. The premise of the book is the whole book are reviews of products by one particular office, where the people overlap in their reviews. Some of the reviews for office products were funny. But, for the most part, the reviews fell flat to me. I just didn't find them very funny. Maybe it was the story lines being woven through the reviews that didn't interest me. But, for some reason this book just did nothing for me.

Conduct Unbecoming a Gentleman is a mindless romance novel. I like these, especially in summer. Sadly, this one just annoyed me. The whole time the male protagonist just stuck to his own prejudices and refused to see what was in front of him. I get that's the way these books are supposed to go, but ugh. Maybe there were just too many examples of how the female protagonist was the opposite of what he wanted so the reader could fully be just as frustrated with him as she was. I don't know. I liked the premise of the book, but it just bothered me how stubborn the make was in this one. It was a decent read and I finished it, but it did make me a little annoyed...never good for a mindless romance novel.

The rest of the books were ok. Nothing to write home about, but not awful. I just love the Kindle because of all the books I read these days, unless it's a history or running book, I can pick something up for free on it and not worry if it's a great book or not. Best.Christmas.Present.Ever!

What did you read in June? Any recommendations?  

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May Books

Here we go again! It is time to see what I've been reading in the month of May. Apparently reading was not high on my priority list! Wow. Just five books. I'm a little surprised. But, I'll be honest, I've been reading a book by the bed for the past few months and I think that has distracted me from other books.

So without further ado, here are my five books from May:

1. Coralina by Anica Valle

2. Just Evil by Vickie McKeehan

3. Get Off Your Ass And Run by Ruth Field

4. Zombie, Inc. by Christine Dougherty

5. Married By Midnight by Julianne MacLean

Alright, here's a first. I've already reviewed one of the books on this list. Yea. I was so disappointed in one of these books that I've already done a review. So, rather than giving you another discussion of Get Off Your Ass And Run you can just check it out here. It's much more in depth than these posts. Let's just say I have some fundamental disagreements with the author. 

So, if we take that book out of the equation, the rest of them weren't half bad. I really liked Just Evil and Zombie, Inc. Those two I would highly recommend. And honestly, there isn't anything wrong per se with Coralina and Married By Midnight.

Just Evil
When I was younger, I used to read these suspense/horror books all the time. I can't do movies at all. But, horror books? Bring it! The premise of the book is someone is killing people who are close to Kit Griffin, a woman whose mother was a famous movie actress living in Beverly Hills. Their relationship is almost non-existent, so when her mother is killed on Mother's Day, the police immediately question the daughter after speaking to Alana Griffin's lawyer and best friend. What happens next is a killing spree involving those close to Kit, bringing her more and more under the eyes of the police as she tries desperately to clear her name.

Helping Kit to clear her name are her aunt Gloria, her best friend Baylee, and the man she'd been in love with since she was a teen Jake. These three people will be the ones working to assist Kit convince a pair of detectives that Kit couldn't have been the murderer, but can they convince the police of this before the killer reaches Kit?

A fun read, with lots of twists and turns. Multiple characters who are fairly well drawn out. The only downside to this one is I didn't realize it was part of a series (three all together) and there are some loose ends that aren't completely tied up at the end. Other than that, the book does a good job of tying up the important story lines by the end.

Zombie, Inc.
What would life be like years after the zombie apocalypse? How do the survivors keep going? Apparently, by starting a company that assists survivors with keeping the zombies at bay. But, is the company keeping zombies at bay because they are truly a menace to society or are they marketing zombies to a public that knows no different? This is the premise of Zombie, Inc.

Carl works for Zombie, Inc. and has for years. He is currently on his third trainee Dillalia, as last two died through various issues. Dillalia is all alone after her mother was killed early on in the zombie apocalypse and her father being killed when she was in her teens. For years, she worked for Zombie, Inc. in maintenance, but always dreamed of moving up. Working in Assessment was exactly what she hoped for...or was it?

Dillalia brings up questions that Carl doesn't want to answer, such as where are all the zombies coming from? How are there are always zombies available for R&D to find new methods of keeping the public safe? In working these problems out, Carl and Dillalia find out the answers they weren't sure they really wanted to know.

Another fun read, especially if you like zombie books. What I liked about this book so much is it is set in the future of the zombie apocalypse rather than the immediate aftermath. There aren't many books that look into what the future could be like if people survived. An interesting read, that makes you wonder whether zombies should have rights or treated like criminals in the post-zombie world.

Coralina
Coralina is the prettiest of the king's nine adopted daughters. She is spoiled and knows it. And when a local townsman bops her love interest in the head knocking him out and slinging her over his shoulder to be dragged back into the house after slipping out for a little adventure, she vows revenge against him. And she uses the only thing she knows, her looks.

Coralina plans to use her upcoming theater production, with the whole town in attendance, to show him up. But, in the process Coralina may have just lost her interest in revenge. Unfortunately, this change of heart may not have come quickly enough.

The storyline was interesting and there is a nice twist I wasn't expecting. Again, (and this is my fault) this book is part of a series that tells the story of each of the king's daughters. Coralina's story is told in its entirety, but there are hints of her sister's stories to prompt you to read the rest of the series. If you can also get them for free, it's a quick, but entertaining read.

Married by Midnight
A typical romance story - girl shames herself by running off with her tutor to be married, but is caught before doing so. Fiance takes the money offered by girl's father not to marry her, but her reputation is in ruins and is sent off to care for an ailing grandmother. A Lord threatens to donate all his money to charity if his sons do not marry by midnight on Christmas and while three of the four do so, finding their loves along the way, the fourth wayward son drags his feet. Eventually he agrees, but only after telling his brothers to find him a suitable bride - one who would not anticipate a traditional wedding and will be happy to allow him to leave her to continue his life abroad.

Unfortunately, these two who agree to abide by the contract are drawn to one another. As the weeks go by while preparing for the wedding, they start questioning the contract they signed wondering if they might be right for one another. Will they marry before Midnight, saving everyone's inheritance from going to charity or will they find they don't fit together?

I enjoyed this one and it was the perfect mindless read. The characters were entertaining and a nice little plot twist in the end made it interesting. It is a great beach read, even if the story is set at Christmas.

So, there ya go! This month's books with a bit more detail than usual. I think there may be more books in June for some reason. Who knows, but hope you enjoyed the review this month.

What have you been reading? Anything you'd recommend? Anything you were surprised with?

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April Books

It's that time again! Monthly book review. This month I read even fewer books than last month (only by 1 though!), but that's ok. It happens. It seems like I'm averaging 8-9 books a month. Without further ado, here are this month's books:

1. The Frenchman's Revenge by Taylor Lee (April 6, 2013)
2. How To Be A Totally Awesome Zombie by Melody Litton and Travis Thorton (April 6, 2013)
3. The Girl With The Cat Tattoo by Theresa Weir (April 8, 2013)
4. Out of Time by Monique Martin
5. Mistress Trevelyan by Jennifer St. Giles
6. Wild One by Danelle Harmon
7. The Skinny Rules by Bob Harper (April 28, 2013)
8. Plague Zone by David Wellington (April 28, 2013)

Top Books

1. The Skinny Rules by Bob Harper was probably the only book I would put in the Top Books list this month. I'll explain why a little later. I picked this book up because I am trying to find as much wisdom as I can to find the key to losing weight. The 20 rules are pretty straight forward and simple. Honestly, they aren't earth shattering or complicated. 

I enjoyed the tone of the book, as if Bob really is talking to you. He recognizes some of his rules aren't easy and he gives step down methods if going straight off is too tough. Once you are through the rules, you move onto the menus for the four weeks needed to start a new habit. The last chapter are the recipes for the menus in chapter two. 

This is what I will say. It's in hard back right now and at Barnes and Noble's cost me $28.00. I later saw it on Amazon.com for $15.00. If you are going to pick this one up (as much as I hate to say it), go the on-line route. $13.00 isn't to be sneezed at.

Don't Read

This was hard. I didn't find one that stood out like other months as being a bad book. I'll be honest, there is only one that I would say even comes close to don't read and so I will place that book here with why I only feel it's half a don't read.

1. The Frenchman's Revenge by Taylor Lee was a bit Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde honestly. The storyline itself was good with a half-French/half-Chinese man taking charge of a gang in California that takes on the corrupt California government. It is a romance as well with the main character focusing on marrying his love during all the action. The issue I have with the book is that while a romance novel may have sex scenes, the ones in this novel were exceedingly graphic and long. I finally got to the point where I skipped them altogether and just read the part about bringing the renegade gangs to heel. That part was well written, engaging, and kept you wanting to read.

I will say, this month many of the books were ok. Not fantastic, but not horrible. They were entertaining, but not jump up and down shouting about how fabulous they are. I enjoyed Out of Time (which is part of a serialization I can't quite manage to read in order) and Plague Zone. Out of Time follows a professor and his assistant as they are jerked back to New York City 1929. They must find a way to survive until the next eclipse of the moon in six weeks. The two take jobs in a speakeasy and must help bring down a supernatural being before they possibly make it home. Plaque Zone follows the travels of a man whose family is killed in the first wave of the Zombie infection. He goes from Chicago to California to Seattle to avenge their death by locating the zombie who killed them. Along the way he has to dodge zombies himself and the Colonel who set himself up as despot in the area around Seattle. These two books were good, but not great. I would recommend them for their entertainment value, but they aren't the best of the best.

What did you read this month? Read anything great? Share with me! I'm always looking for a new book!

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March 2013 Books

Wow. Run a half marathon and see how few books you read...

March
1. Titanic with Zombies by Richard Brown (March 1, 2013)
2. An A-Hole Gets in Shape by Andy Ostrom (March 4, 2013)
3. Kate's Kisses by Mary Manners (March 4, 2013)
4. Reinventing Claire by Darian Wilk (March 6, 2013)
5. Handbook for the Living Dead by R.I.Peace (March 7, 2013)
6. Fit is the New Skinny: The No-BS Truth About Getting Thinner, Leaner, and Stronger by Michael Matthews (March 7, 2013)
7. Lose Weight and Live Strong: The Ultimate Guide to Beat Obesity by Jane Willis (March 7, 2013)
8. Treason by Meredith Whitford (March 22, 2013)
9. I Wish I Knew That U.S. Presidents by Christopher W. Davis (March 24, 2013)

Top Books

Titanic With Zombies by Richard Brown. I will state right now, I am a Titanic fanatic. I have books, movies, watch the shows, read the articles, have been to the exhibit about five times, and when we go to Ireland we are going to Belfast to visit all the Titanic sights. I am a purist and think being too flippant desecrates the names of those who perished. With that being said, I loved this book! It was awesome how it mixed the Titanic historical story with the idea of a zombie outbreak on board. The author used real people to move the story along while using fictional people as the zombies. It had just the right about of true history, mixed with the zombie storyline that didn't detract from the historical significance. Really, I highly recommend this book.

Treason by Meredith Whitford. This book took me most of the month to get through, but that isn't a bad thing. It was a fabulous read! The writing is great, the storyline is engaging, and the history of it seems accurate (I'm not 100% up to date on my Richard III history). The book follows the life of Richard III through the eyes of his cousin, who comes to live with him when he is eight. The book contains a nice blend of history with the extra storyline of Martin, the cousin. This Kindle book took me longer than usual to read, but the writing was so good and the storyline so engrossing that I was ok with that. I looked forward to reading this book and was slightly sad when it ended.

I Wish I Knew That: U.S. Presidents by Christopher M. Davis. I will state here and now, I did not write this book under the male version of my name (my maiden name is Christina M. Davis). I read the vast majority of it on the way to and from Virginia Beach. It was a quick read with some interesting facts about the Presidents, First Ladies, and random Presidential facts. The writing is at a lower level, probably the book is aimed more at children than adults, but I'll be honest there are a lot of good information on some of the lesser known Presidents. The book starts with George Washington and continues up through President Barrack Obama. This book is a great refresher with some stuff you probably didn't know (I know there were lots of things I didn't know) and good to share with your kids. I will say, I have the Kindle version and the formatting isn't great, several times the "fact" is one letter per line centered. Not the easiest to read. I skipped the facts when this happened. Yea...I'm lazy that way.

Don't Read

Handbook for the Living Dead by R.I. Peace. Awful. Just awful. I like zombie books and I thought this would be fun, but no. The concept is the author is sharing how to adjust to being a zombie after being turned. I anticipated it being a funny, quirky book. It was not. I actually almost didn't bother with finishing it, but I did just because I was about halfway through. I really wouldn't recommend this book. At all.

This month I didn't have the same completion rate as January and February. No idea what happened this month. I know I read a good deal during my gym visits and I sure didn't get as many sessions at the gym as I should have. Hopefully April will give me a better completion rate.

Read any good books this month? Have you picked up any I've read? Your thoughts?

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February 2013 Books

Another month, more books! Here are this month's books, plus the good and the bad!

February
1. Scarlette by Davonna Juroe (February 1, 2013)
2. Killer Cat: A Prison Journal by Michael Aguilar (February 2, 2013)
3. Inside the Mind of the Brain Dead Kind by Walter M. Lake (February 2, 2013)
4. Interesting Fitness by Jonathan Kamp (February 3, 2013)
5. Best Inspirational Quotes Ever! World's Most Powerful Inspirational Quotes & Motivational Quotes Manual by The Success Sculpting Coach (February 3, 2013)
6. America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918 by Alfred W. Crosby (February 3, 2013)
7. The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back by Sariah Wilson (February 6, 2013)
8.  The History of the World According to Facebook by Wylie Overstreet (February 11, 2013)
9. Royal Bachelor by Trudi Torres (February 11, 2013)
10. Lynna's Rogue by Kitty Margo (February 20, 2013)
11. The Stress Free You: How To Live Stress Free and Feel Great Everyday Starting Today by Elizabeth O'Brien (February 22, 2013)
12. The Spice of Life by Jennifer L. Jennings (February 23, 2013)
13. Cracked by Tara Logan (February 25, 2013)
14. Venice Vampyr by Tina Folsom (February 25, 2013)
15. Pandemia by Nick Lancaster (unsure)

Top Books

Best Inspirational Quotes Ever! World's Most Powerful Inspirational Quotes & Motivational Quotes Manual by The Success Sculpting Coach (February 3, 2013)

America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918 by Alfred W. Crosby (February 3, 2013)

The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back by Sariah Wilson (February 6, 2013)
The History of the World According to Facebook by Wylie Overstreet (February 11, 2013)

So many good books this month! Yea! Always good to see ones that were worth the read. I'll admit Best Inspirational Quotes Ever! World's Most Powerful Inspirational Quotes & Motivational Quotes was an easy read, but it was exactly what I was looking for this month. I wanted to find some quotes to motivate me throughout the year and I am pulling from them for Motivational Mondays. I really liked it. 

America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918 was a real book, not an ebook. It was very good and very helpful for my research. It had a bit more medical technical jargon than I was able to handle, but overall a very good book. I am sure I will be able to utilize it in my book.

The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back was just one of those fun, teenagey type books. I love Cinderella and thought this could be fun. It was a fun, silly book that if you like romance you'll like. I did think the book title was a bit off though. The main character, the ugly stepsister, really wasn't. She was a pretty, smart girl who's stepsister seemed to have it all. I think the title may have been a bit more mental than physical, which is really what the Cinderella story was. Overall though, I liked it. I laughed and really just enjoyed the story.

The History of the World According to Facebook was another real life book. Hilarious! I recommend you buy this book right now! It's a quick read, but so freaking funny! It starts all the way back at the Big Bang and goes pretty close to 2012. It covers just about every major historical happening in history, some more than others, but in a fun way. It is short, which might be the only negative I have regarding the book; I would have loved for more details.

Don't Read

Killer Cat: A Prison Journal by Michael Aguilar (February 2, 2013)

Pandemia by Nick Lancaster (unsure)  

I was very excited by Killer Cat: A Prison Journal. I love thinking my cats have their own thought process on this whole "pet" thing. But, it didn't live up to expectations. It was a true disappointment. It just really annoyed me. It was mostly negative, rather than funny. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't find that funny. And the amount of effort the cat put into trying to kill the owner? I don't know. I like to think my cats would just rather be free than kill me off.

Pandemia had hit for me all over it. And then it ended. Seriously. In the middle of the two main characters riding cross country to NYC to find the wife's sister in the middle of a virus outbreak. I realized quickly that in small print the cover said Part 1. It wasn't the full book. Now I can't be too mad, it was a free book, but I anticipated the whole thing. And it was really good. I was getting into it. I was rooting for the characters. I was thinking the wife was an idiot for wanting to drive from the Mid-West to NYC to check on her sister in the middle of what was turning out to be a worldwide pandemic. Then bam! End. Haha! Go buy the rest of the book. Blargh! This did not make me happy. Now, if you chose to purchase the whole book, I would say you would probably like it. Unless something odd happened, I bet this book would have been on my Top Books list, but since it was only Part 1? Not so much.

So, that's my books for February. One more than January in several fewer days. What about you? Did you read anything good this month? Check out any of the books I read last month? I would love to hear about it!

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January 2013 Books

I'm a book-aholic. I love to read. I would much rather read a book than many other "normal" activities. My favorite genres include history, sports, trivia, biography, (cheesy) romance (historical generally), sci-fi, and sometimes fiction.

On January 1, a friend posted to Facebook that he had read 30 books last year. This made me wonder, how many books do I read in a year? I've never kept track. It's never something I thought about, I just read. So, this year I decided to check and see. Why not? So, you can see I have a page at the top about my 2013 books - what I've read and when I finished it.

I thought I might chat a tiny little bit each month about the best ones and the ones totally not worth the price. In case you are inclined to pick up a book and need some feedback on a good one. Here's what I read in January:



1. 90 Miles to Freedom by K.C. Hilton (January 1, 2013)
2. Dublinside by D.M. O'hEidhin (January 2, 2013)
3. Opening Dante's Gate by Paul William Bear Brewer (January 6, 2013)
4. Me and My Ghoulfriends by Rose Pressey (January 7, 2013)
5. A Cruel Wind: Pandemic Flu in America, 1918-1920 by Dorothy A. Pettit, Ph.D. and Janice Bailie, Ph.D. (January 7, 2013)
6. World War I: History in an Hour by Rubert Colley (January 8, 2013)
7. Letters from Alcatraz by Michael Esslinger (January 11, 2013)
8. Just This Once by Rosalind James (January 17, 2013)
9. Always The Last To Know by Crystal Bowling (January 23, 2013)
10. Lincoln's Diary by D.L. Fowler (January 27, 2013)
11. Sweetly Seduced: Why We Can't Say No To Sugar by NJ Rickman (January 28, 2013)
12. To Hell With the Scale by Lee Marcus (January 28, 2013)
13. Christmas Night of the Living Dead by Bill Robertson (January 28, 2013)
14. Rules For A Lady by Jade Lee (January 30, 2013)

Top Books

 Opening Dante's Gate by Paul William Bear Brewer
 A Cruel Wind: Pandemic Flu in America, 1918-1920 by Dorothy A. Pettit, Ph.D. and Janice Bailie, Ph.D.
 World War I: History in an Hour by Rubert Colley
 Letters from Alcatraz by Michael Esslinger

Don't Read

Dublinside by D.M. O'hEidhin

Christmas Night of the Living Dead by Bill Robertson

Opening Dante's Gate took Dante's Inferno and explained how Dante came up with the levels of hell and how the same method is used today. It jumps around a bit at first, which threw me in trying to follow the storyline, but it comes together so well that the bit of wandering early on turned out ok. I liked the end and wouldn't have minded more.

A Cruel Wind: Pandemic Flu in America, 1918-1920 to me was interesting. The first chapter was all medical and I had a hard time following along. After that, it became less technical and more about the pandemic and what happened during it. Since I'm working on a book myself concerning the Influenza Pandemic, this was a great book to read.

World War I: History in an Hour lied a bit. Took me about an hour and a half to read, but I thought it was laid out well and very simple to follow. I'm not a battle person and this book did not focus on battles/generals/etc. It laid out the war and in the end, there was a list of what happened year-by-year breaking it down into even simpler terms.

Letters From Alcatraz was cool! I read it on my Kindle (as with three of the four Top Books) so the letters themselves were hard to read as I couldn't make them larger, but the transcriptions were there. There is a bit of history on Alcatraz itself, then there are chapters with letters written by some of the more well-known inmates, including Al Capone. 

I'm not going into why not to read Dublinside and Christmas Night of the Living Dead. I don't want to give them anymore publicity that I am here. Let's just say, they were awful. I almost stopped reading Christmas Night of the Living Dead, but it turned out being a short story and just as I was to give up, it ended. Thank God.

Have you read anything good this month? Do you read frequently?

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This may have been a bad idea....

My mom bought me the Kindle Fire for Christmas.  She's not technologically advanced, so I ordered it and she is paying me back.  I will say Amazon did a great job.  I ordered it Saturday with 3-5 day shipping (earliest delivery estimated at 12/1).  I received an email last night saying it shipped.  When I opened my mailbox this afternoon, THERE IT WAS!!! 

I have spent most of my evening playing with it.  Downloading and playing games.  Downloading books.  And just in general playing.  :-)  Any suggestions?  So far, I've stuck to the free stuff and am having fun, but I know eventually I'll end up spending money on it.  Heehee! 

Games so far:

Blackjack
Solitare
Skeeball
Air hockey
Zombie


Books:
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
A Short History of the World
Don Quixote
The French Maid (I like cheesy romance novels, sue me!  One can't always read history books.  ;-) )
Mary's Son: A Christmas Tale

So...if I'm MIA for the next few days, you have been warned.  ;-)