Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by Rk Rowling

Whew, read it and liked it and that is that. I still consider it a Broken and Healing book. Anyone want to debate that one?

Harry Potter?

Which Hogwarts House Would You Be In?
	The Sorting Hat would put you in Hufflepuff. You are reserved, rational, and down-to-earth. You work well with others, are a great team player, and you always take a stand against injustice.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Mansfield Park by Jane Austin

I had to finish this book before I went and saw Becoming Jane the movie. (Finally figured out the babysitting and my two sister in laws and I went to a matinee) I loved this book. I liked the movie but wasn't too impressed with the PG-13 places in the movie. Way too much buns for me. AND the movie focused on Pride and Prejudice not her other writings. The movie also focused on only one part of her life. She did quite a few more interesting things even though she didn't get married.

Back to the book: Mansfield Park was really long. She took over 200 pages just setting up the characters. There is a lot of stuff about manners, what is proper and improper. A bunch about money and marriage. At first you think the heroine is a rich girl but it turns out to be the quiet unlikely to ever get married or fall in love poor girl.

My favorite character was Edward. He is kind to everyone and tries to do the right thing no matter what. I don't want to give away the ending but it sure ended different then I thought. The main characters were very happily married for ever after like all her books but it still had a few surprising twists to get there.

She focused most of the book on moral choices and their emotional consequences. After seeing the movie I understood a bit more about why she had so many people eloping. Great book, complex and classic! WHOLE BOOK

Dragonsong by Anne McCafferey

This is volume one of the Harper Hall Trilogy. I love these books! My grandfather used to read them and actually got me hooked on the dragon books at an early age of 11. I haven't read them in so long this book was brand new to me.

Dragonsong is about a world called Pern. There is a whole society there with customs and creatures...also humans live there. A planet or star orbits close to Pern and drops dangerous silver Thread, a micro-organism of some sort that eats everything it touches. There are also large Dragons on the land that humans can impress to be kind of like soul mates with, or best friends, they can talk to each other through thoughts...anyway the Dragons can burn up the Thread with their firey breath. They fight it off so it doesn't fall on the people below and ruin everything.

A girl lives in one of the Halls and she loves music. Unfortunately traditionally only boys can be good at music. Her family is embarrassed that she is so musically talented...anyway without giving it all away she ends up making friends with smaller dragons called fire lizards and she teaches them to sing. She has such an intriguing story it was hard to put this book down. Plus if you have ever read any of the Pern books they are so addictive you can't get enough of it's fascinating dragon lore. I love science fantasy books!

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Under the Same Stars by Dean Hughes

What would it have been like to have lived during the early days of the Mormon church? This book is about a boy named Joseph Williams. He is about 9 yrs. old. His family moves to Jackson County Missouri in 1832. They followed the prophet's counsel and set up homesteads, started plowing and planting the land. Joseph W. learns about differences and loyalty. He also learns the hard way about violence and hatred. Through the trials he faces and his family faces he learns how to rely on the Lord when you have done your best and all you can do. The mobs come and run his family and the Mormon's our of Missouri. They had to leave everything behind. Joseph W. has to be strong and help his brother to safety after he is shot in the leg. His father is beaten and his mom has to give birth in a makeshift shelter in the pouring rain. The shelter also leaked. But they persevere and their faith is strengthened.
This was a historical novel and I think it was lacking a bit in something. It was interesting but also not quite , I don't know...anyway I probably won't encourage my son to read it. I found it at DI while in Utah and it looked like a good book about a Mormon boy for a Mormon boy to read. oh well.

Two short books....

Abraham Lincoln the Great Emancipator by Augusta Stevenson:
This book is from the Childhood of famous Americans series for children. It was short and sweet. Interesting things about his life as a boy. He was strong, smart and brave. His mother and step mother played a huge part in his success from the beginning they believed in him and fought to make sure he got an education despite his father just wanting him to work on the farm.
Abraham Lincoln was a real American hero to me.

Four Perfect Pebbles a Holocaust Story by Lisa Perl and Marion Blumenthal Lazan:
This was an amazing true story about a family that survives the worst things bad people can do to other human being. Death Camps during World War II. The story really comes to life for me when I realize that the places and cities they are talking about I saw on my mission. I served in Celle for about 3 months. While we were there a gentlemen in our ward got permission to take us to Bergen-Belsen, a Nazi concentration camp. (I am so glad he did this for us, I will never forget the experience and feeling). It is now a monument with pictures and the stories of the thousands of victims that were murdered during Hitlers rein. It is also a cemetery. I cried so hard and will never forget the things we saw and the places we walked around. There were mass graves and gas showers, bunk beds stacked three high where women and children were stuffed. Back then it was dirty stinky and had lice and sickness everywhere. No food but maybe some moldy bread. Sometimes no hope, yet so many Jews never gave up on their Faith and God.

Amazing book...it is hard to believe it was real, yet it was. It is hard to believe that life goes on after something so terrible, yet it does and the little girl in the story, Marion, came to America, learned English, goes to school eventually gets married and has a family of her own. Marion has been giving talks and presentations at schools for the last 15 years and finally got her story in book form. She had to do a lot of research to put the pieces together from the worst 6 years of her life and she has been back to Germany and visited many of the places she thought she would never see again. Marion is an amazing person with a very strong spirit. I hope that if I ever have even the tiniest bit of trial in my life I can be as strong and stalwart as she.

Beauty by Robin McKinley

This is a retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast. It was pretty good. It starts from the beginning and tells of the families life in the city and loosing it all and moving to the country. She puts details about each of the sisters, they are nice sisters not mean sisters like some of the versions of this story. The father is nice and the Beast isn't as mean as Disney makes him. Beauty has a horse and she spends lots of time riding it and talking to it. She is kind of a tom boy.

I think it was very well written even if you have read and seen the story a hundred times. Whole Book

Dyslexia by Paula Wiltshire

This was a great book, finally I have found out why I do things a bit different then others. I am slightly dyslexic. I suspect my mom and two brothers and possibly my daughter all are.
If you tell me to turn right I will turn left unless I think really hard about it. If you ask me what time it is I also have to think really hard. If you were to give me a list of 10 words to memorize I would probably say forget it unless you had a really good reason to do it. Then I would have to think really hard.

Thinking really hard is how I cope with dyslexia. First I either remember something using colors or visually where it is located on the page or spot, or I remember a sound or a motion associated with whatever it is I am trying to remember. Instead of one step to remember something I usually have to put it through a series of things to get it to stick in the side of my brain that will remember it. If I am feeling lazy then it is hopeless but when I am on top of things I can be really smart.


This explains why I usually failed all tests that were just names and dates in college or not enough time to take it all through the process it takes to remember it with so many steps. Also explains why I like sports/physical things verses science/math.

When I was learning to read in kindergarten it took a little bit longer then most of the class but when I got it I had it for life. I am really bad at spelling because I look at the whole word as a picture not as individual letters. It was really a blessing that I learned German finally, dyslexic people really suck at foreign language. When I was little I loved music but could never get very far playing the piano because the teacher only wanted me to memorize each piece and play it without the sheet music in front of me, well visual learners don't do it that way, if only I had known...oh well it isn't too late to try again at the piano. (forget passing them off for the cute butterfly sticker).

I feel for others that have really serious Dyslexia, life can be confusing. Luckily there were great people to inspire us that were also Dyslexic, Leonardo da Vinci,
Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill, Hans Christian Andersen, Agatha Christie, Albert Einstein,
Woodrow Wilson, W.B. Yeats.

Dyslexic people process things a bit different in their brain. The left hemisphere specializes in Writing ,Symbols, Language, Reading , Sequences, Directions, Logic and structured thinking. The Right side is creativity, singing, music, spatial relationships, artistic expression, visualization, feelings and emotions, touch, intuition, fantasy and imagination. Many dyslexics find that they excel in what's known as "lateral thinking." That means the ability to look at situations from an unusual angle. This has been to my advantage many times but if I was asked to explain the process to someone else that is where it gets hard.

The book has some great ideas on Structured Multi sensory learning. Not just using one method of learning but may like seeing, hearing, saying and feeling. Kinesthetic methods are really important and fun. So instead of just doing a worksheet, a better way is playing a game or touching, saying, going somewhere or even jumping up and down while studying. This helps to remember what is being taught. Interesting...

And the biggest mystery of all has been solved...I love Spidergrams!!!! I learned them in 8th grade and have used this way of taking notes forever after, I thought it was just a weird thing and wondered why no one else did it with a passion like me...well it is because I am slightly dyslexic and this is how I keep track of life. Spidergrams are a series of small pictures and symbols with colors and all linked to the middle. Wow now I don't feel so very weird.

I don't think nondyslexic people will have much sympathy for my method of learning and life but for all the other side of the brain thinkers out there I have crossed into the zone of understanding diffrent but effective, just like them. I hope I can now find out more information on this subject and help my daughter find ways to cope with her brilliant mind so she can share it with others.

Incident at Hawk's Hill - A Novel by Allan W. Eckert

This book was based on factual events but dialog was added to help it move along and make it long enough to be a novel. It was very interesting. My sister Kim was excited about it and let me borrow it.
It is a book takes place around 1870. It is about a little boy around 6 or 7 years old. He likes animals and has a way of communicating with them better then people. He likes to imitate animals and he isn't afraid to get right down in the mud and dirt with them.
One day he gets lost and finds a Badger hole. He becomes friends with the poor lonely Badger that just lost her whole family. (I think that was the saddest part of the book and I cried). Well after a while he becomes a badger boy and then finally his family finds him. I think he was living and surviving with the Badger for 2 months. Pretty amazing. Great book and fun to read if you like nature/adventure.

Whole Book

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Interesting book about a girl that was home-schooled and she moved to Arizona. She starts going to high school (public school) for the first time. Her life "beats to a different drum". She doesn't care about being popular or fitting in. She just wants to help others and do her own thing. She doesn't care what people think about her.
Well eventually this boy named Leo becomes her friend. He tries to change her but realizes it isn't a good thing. She holds her own and is just happy being herself.
Interesting book. I guess it is WHOLE.

Home Ranch by Ralph Moody

This was of course a great book. I love the way this guy tells stories about his life when he was a little boy working on a Ranch. He has adventures and falls in love with a girl, innocent puppy love, and he learns about life the hard way when he was stuck in a sand storm and one time lost. I enjoyed his stories of taming a horse and teaching a girl how to do some trick riding.
Whole Book sequel to Little Britches and Man of the Family

A Cricket in Time Square by George Selden

Whole Book - We listened to this in the car. It was exciting and magical...a little cricket accidental ends up in New York. He makes friends with a boy and a mouse and a cat. He can chirp the most beautiful melodies. He gives concerts. He becomes famous. He gets homesick...

Anyway it is a great children's tale of friendship and loyalty. Read it!

Special Men A LRP's Recollections by Dennis Foley

I thought I would read something different for a change. This was a Vietnam/nonfiction book. Mike recommended it.

The author, Dennis Foley, served in three armies between 1962 and 1982: a post World War II, atomic-age army; a Vietnam War Army; and a post Vietnam army.

The book was fascinating as he took us through all the training and schools he had to go through. He also analysed the way things were and how they could be better and how they prepared him for things to come. He was very optimistic and a bit too humble. He always thought he was doing horrible and would get kicked out of each class but then he ends up being the top of the class.

He describes heroes and brave men throughout the book. Usually, sadly, it was too late for him to go back and thank them because they died either while serving in the war or were just gone from old age by the time he realized how much they had done for him and taught him.

He almost lost his leg once and it was awesome how he never gave up or got discouraged in the hospital, regained almost full use of it and served another tour in Vietnam. He mentions that he was married and then divorced and remarried then she died in a car crash but that was it for his personal life. Sad.

He made friends and allies where ever he served and improved the system anyway he could to help save lives and train others so they could effectively serve our country. His whole person was devoted to the army, he gave 100% all the time, despite the conditions or hardships along the way. He made a difference.

He is truly an American Hero.

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The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker by Cynthia DeFelice

This was a suspenseful historical fiction book about Tuberculosis or TB in the year 1849. Back then they called it Consumption and usually you died from it and your whole family.

An orphaned boy of about 12 years old starts working for a doctor. He learns all kinds of weird things like taking baths more then one time a year. He also learns the hard way what superstitions can do to the hearts and minds of the people that just want something to give them hope as they helplessly watch their loved ones slowly die of illnesses they can't explain.

People thought that if you dug up the remains of the first person that died in your family from consumption and "put them to rest" by cutting out their heart and burning it and breathing in the smoke, the rest of the family would be cured. Of course it doesn't work. Sometimes someone would get better after having consumption but it wouldn't be because of burning a heart, yet the people thought it was. As they spread word about the cure the details changed and the facts were distorted and pretty soon it wasn't even true to what actually happened. The boy is challenged to find out the beginning and the ending of the story before he passes the "cure" onto others. He does this and discovers how important it is to collect data over a long period of time, like a scientist. You have to prove the theory with facts and time.

This book was well written and had many interesting history points true to the area it was written in. In the end the doctor gets a microscope. It is a whole new idea to start learning about germs. They weren't even called germs just tiny animals.

Great book...WHOLE BOOK.

Jane Austen Quz

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A Final Farewell by Patricia Wiles

The last book in the Keven Kirk Chronicles! It was great to read. Funny, and also had me crying in parts too...just like the other books in this series. I love them!

If you don't remember it is about a boy who moves to Armadillo Arkansas and his parents are Morticians. He joins the church, has some interesting adventures...and this books takes off in his Senior year of High School. He has to decide to go on a mission or go to college with a full ride. He also likes fishing and is good with children. He wants to be a biologist. This book he has a run in with anti-Mormons. His best falls away from the church and his sister has another baby....okay don't want to give it all away...

It was a great short fun read. I recommend the Chronicles to every young adult reader out there. My 9 yr. old son enjoyed them too. Whole Book.

Austenland: A Novel by Shannon Hale

Loved it!

I think you have to read all of Jane Austen's books to really appreciate this book. You might even have to be obsessed with her books to really get it. I couldn't put it down, even though the ending was a bit forced, it still was worth reading and laughing at.

The book took all of Jane's works and smashed them into one person's experience at a fantasy resort in the modern day. So if you think that a character, say in Pride and Prejudice wouldn't act a certain way, well what if that character was also part of Emma? So you have to take all of the books into consideration to make any sense out of the different chapters in this book.

Who wants to borrow it? I think my sisters will get a kick out of this one so they have first dibs.

Broken almost Whole Book...very funny so I guess it can be a Healing Book also...especially for those of us obsessed with Darcy!

The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan

What a sad past our nation has. This book was a Historical account of what happened in the Great American Dust Bowl. It is the stories of those that stayed.

I didn't even know about the dust storms before reading this book. I always imagined Little House On The Prairie, sweet innocent and always turning out nice and happy. This was not a happy time right after the depression. It actually started before that. Wheat and cows were the culprit. Human error. Check out some of these pictures of the Dust Bowl.

Not only did the topsoil become airborne but there were droughts, starvation, and a total imbalance in the ecosystem. Grasshoppers, rabbits and centipedes in abundance, but no more native grass in the grazing lands were left. Buffalo were killed and cows came to take their place but eventually didn't have enough water to survive. All the Indians were kicked off (first big mistake). People were greedy for land and farming a land that never should have been farmed.

People and children were dying of dust related illnesses. Livestock also drowned in the dust. Cities were turned into ghost towns. After a big dust storm everything would get coated and the dust went everywhere.



I don't' know if it was stupidity that some stayed, there wasn't much work and there wasn't any land anywhere else. It all seems so long ago but it wasn't. 1933 was just a lifetime away from me. Pres. Roosevelt tried to help but it was kind of too late.

I am grateful I didn't have to live during the depression or dust storms... I wonder what we will see in the future that is hard, maybe as hard as what these people went through....

The Virginian A Horesman of the Plains by Owen Wister

What a Classic! This was the first and most sensational western ever written! 1902 to be exact. A lone cowboy working on a ranch, falls in love, wins the heart of his love, has adventure and shoot outs!

The setting was in the Wyoming territory. This book has had many movies made from it and inspired by its classic frontier fiction. Better then Louis L'Amour! Ha Ha.

The book was narrated by a 3rd person most of the time and that took a while to get used too. It was still good. The last two chapters were the best. But I can't tell you about them without giving the whole thing away! Sorry.

I like the part about the chicken and how she sat on a pile of potatoes too!

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