National Geographic Kids Weird But True! 7

National Geographic Kids Weird But True!  7: 300 Outrageous Facts             Paperback Book:  206 pages               

Loving this series – seriously – and I am spreading the word on what great books these are.     Just a few of the fun things you will learn here:  Sitting in a box can lower stress for domestic cats – I can attest to this one – if one of my cats gets stressed they always seek out a box to go get in,   chewing gum puts you in a better mood, gotta remember to keep lots of gum in the candy bowl, special vending machines in Istanbul, Turkey automatically dispense food and water for dogs – how nice and thoughtful is that?   Cockroaches that lived 250 million years ago were as big as today’s house cats – geez!  And I cringe if I see the tiny ones and let’s not talk about the one’s outside at night THAT CAN FLY!    A hexagon shaped  hurricane has hovered over Saturn’s North Pole for at least 30 years, volcanoes once erupted on the moon, flashes of light sometimes appear in the sky before and during earthquakes – never heard that before – researching it.    A group of goats is called a trip and with those horizontal pupils it looks like they are tripping.   Some police cars in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,  can go more than 220 miles an hour must be for chaising those naughty folk in the desert downtown Dubai looks like Vegas from the photos, its impossible for a bat to stand upright, as a training tool, the U.S. military created a plan to combat zombies, hey fellas, save some dough and just have them come out on an episode of the Walking Dead win win for the military – win win for the show’s ratings and budget!   Some 20 billion planets in our galaxy could support alien life, every day, 100 tons of cosmic dust from space enters Earth’s atmosphere-that’s the same weight as 400 mountain gorillas, herds of buffalo-size rodents once roamed South America – hey, a capybara today can weigh up to 146lbs!    Until the mid 19^th century cucumbers were known as cowcumbers (that makes me laugh thinking about someone like the guy asking for grey poupon mustard saying, “Would you please pass the cowcumbers?)    Coffee with cream stays hot longer than black coffee, as a hen gets older she produces bigger eggs (like Mark Twain said, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight it’s the size of the fight in the dog!),  crocodiles sometimes climb trees – WHAT?   O.K. rule that escape plan out,  Pippi Longstocking’s full name is:  Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim’s Daughter Longstocking.    Curious George’s name was originally Fifi (all are welcome here),  the Eiffel Tower grows about 6 inches taller in Summer when the heat makes its iron expand, a group of sharks is called a shiver – yeah, no kidding!   A warm golf ball will travel farther through the air than a cold one – guys I’m just saying and leaving that alone…

National Geographic Kids Weird But True! 8:

National Geographic Kids Weird But True!  8: 300 Outrageous Facts                    Paperback:  206 pages             

I love these books.   I have learned so many new things and started so many conversations lately sharing some of what I have learned.   Some people do not believe such fantastic claims as these but Google will always back them up with the in-depth research that supports them.    These books truly are amazing and chock full of so many new wonders to behold.   I love it!    Here is just a taste of the gems that are to be found within these pages:  A compound in human spit can help heal wounds (as children we instinctively knew this when getting a cut on our hands we automatically put it to our mouths),  the planet Mercury is shrinking,  a waterfall in Minnesota drops into a deep hole and disappears and no one knows where the water goes,  a giant black hole ate a star and burped out a flame, lightening strikes men more often than women (see that not wanting to get your hair wet thing pays off), you are made of stardust – true we are made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, Sulphur, oxygen etc. that is found throughout the galaxy, the song was right, “…You are stardust, you are golden…” there is also a percentage of gold in our systems – wow!  We are all the golden child!), a brown bat can eat 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour – hmmm, I need to put some bat houses up in my backyard.     One rare plant grows only on top of diamond deposits – let’s all look that one up!     Famous horror film director, Alfred Hitchcock was afraid of eggs (don’t judge), guess he was too afraid of them to put that in a film, there is a rock on Mars that looks like a floating spoon –photo in the book, a Librocubicularist is someone who reads in bed, there is a body of water floating in outer space that is 140 trillion times bigger than all the Earth’s oceans combined – gotta check that out – whoa!   During Olympic training swimmer Michael Phelps consumed more than 12,000 calories a day – about the equivalent of 80 cups of whole milk (its called “the Munchies”), King Henry III had a pet bear that swam in the Thames and caught fish and too much oxygen can make you sick – who knew?  Oh and that groove between your top lip and your nose is called your philtrum.    How can you not like these books, they are GREAT!

The perfect neighbors

The Perfect Neighbors by Sarah Pekkanen.  339 pages; 10 hour, 30 min audiobook

In beautiful Newport Cove, one of the top 20 safest neighborhoods in the US, everyone's lives are perfect. No, of course not!  Seriously, as soon as you learn about how bucolic this place is, you know someone's up to something.  Anyway, back to the summary.  Kellie Scott has just returned back to work after years of being a stay-at-home mom, but she's distracted by the hot, married guy at her new office. She's married, too, of course. Susan Barrett doesn't mean to stalk her ex-husband and his new girlfriend, but she can't help herself. And Tessa Campbell seems okay, although kind of weird. Which makes sense, considering she's hiding a huuuuuge secret.

Of course, you think you know what Tessa's secret is, especially since the story reveals bits and pieces of her secret throughout the whole thing. However, there's a twist.  And, this is the only thing that wasn't predictable about the book. I did find it entertaining to listen to, although some of the behavior of the characters made me cringe.  The blurb on the front calls this "A compelling and suspenseful tale," and I would disagree; it was compelling only because it kept my mind off of the awful driving and traffic I experience on my commute every day, and it wasn't truly suspenseful --- although wondering when and how these people would find out about Tessa's big secret did keep me in suspense.

A Little History of Economics

A Little History of Economics by Niall Kishtainy        Audio Book:  9 hours, 52 minutes   Hardback Book:  256 pages            

My Economics teacher would be so proud of me for reading up on the subject, I have to confess though, this is no lofty tome, this is enjoyable learning presented in story form.    While everything in the book is historical/economics fact Niall Kishtainy presents the subject in such an enjoyable way that you learn so much more because you literally want to know what comes next.    He would make an excellent teacher because like my economics professor/mentor he makes hard stuff understandable.   He begins at the beginning when humans learned if one person has something and another wants it they could barter, or trade or work out some amenicable transaction to the satisfaction of each party.   Kishtainy goes from there all the way through history to current times discussing so many things along the way, Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand,” theory,  the stock market crashes, the Great Depression, Black Monday, inflation, recessions, how global warming is effecting global economies, etc. but he covers all that like your best buddy sharing his thoughts with you.    Well done!  I highly recommend this book for anyone considering or currently taking economics classes to give you a foot up and for anyone who has an interest economics.  

National Geographic Kids Weird But True! 3: 300 Outrageous Facts

National Geographic Kids Weird But True! 3: 300 Outrageous Facts          Paperback Book: 206 pages                      

I love this series of books.   It is right up my alley.  Outrageous facts are so fun to learn about and many of these are spurring me on to do further reading on the studies they come from.   Fascinating!    You will learn so much from these books and see so many things in the amazing photography inside each book.   Great!   Elephants, Aligators and Hippos can all outrun humans.   I did not know that, of course if scared enough I bet I could run pretty fast if one of those babies were after me – good to know their awkward gait does not slow them down.    I will totally remember that if I am ever out in the savannah and see one giving me stink face.   (I hope I get the opportunity to see them in the savannah some day – not the stink face part, though!)    A woman’s hear usually beats faster than a man’s heart.  Ladies, no wonder we fall for their lines.   Scorpions glow under black light.   I am so pleased to learn that because if I ever go to the southwest or southern hemisphere I will definetly pack a black light bulb (and accompanying device to be able to use it in another country’s current if outside the border of the U.S.)   There are 100 foot tall sand dunes in Alaska.   I never think about anything that far north being sandy, but hey,  I guess in the early years of the planet things were geographically way different and the leftovers of that time are still hanging around here and there.   Skunks have striped skin under their fur.   I bet they are just as cute bald then as they are with fur.  Astronauts on the space station drink recycled sweat and urine – I really didn’t need to know that one – eww!   Austrailian Aborigines have existed for at least 50,000 years.   They are the world’s oldest living culture.   Hadn’t heard that before.    Parrots talk without vocal cords.   That is going to require further research on my part – I’m intrigued.   Months that begin on Sunday always have a Friday the 13th.   I’m going to try and remember that one, too.   Some people can hear their eyeballs moving – what must that sound like?   (I’m not one of them.)   1 in 100 people can write equally well with both hands.  (I am one of them.)    Some clouds are more than 10 miles tall.    Saturn has more than 60 moons.    A praying mantis has only one ear and is the only insect able to look over it’s shoulder.   All of the people on earth could crowd into half the country of Belgium – seriously?   But there are so many of us and Belgium doesn’t seem to be that big.   We must have to be shoulder to shoulder toe to toe or maybe face to face toe to toe.   A geep is part goat part sheep – wasn’t there a geep in some of the old Popeye cartoons?  I think he was magical or from outerspace.    Your tongue print is as unique as your fingerprint.  (Tongue print?)    Like I said, I love this stuff!

National Geographic Kids Weird But True! 2: 300 Outrageous Facts

National Geographic Kids Weird But True! 2:  300 Outrageous Facts                Paperback:  206 pages                      

I am loving this series of books.    Who knew bottle-nosed dophin’s brains are bigger than human brains?   Only female bees sting and only female mosquitoes bite.    Dreams average 20 minutes in length.   The air around a lightning strike is 5 times hotter than the sun – more research required on that one – then how can we bear it?     Who knew bats have thumbs?   I knew they have little fingers man if my cats had thumbs they wouldn’t need me.    A jiffy is one-hundredth of a second.   I have been lying for years saying I will get to that in a jiffy.   Humans are made of 10 trillion cells.     A 95 mile long underground  river flows beneath Mexico – I have never heard that before.    I bet it would be cool to check that out, though.    Neil Armstrong left his space boots on the moon.   You know, from what I am hearing lots of stuff was left there.   We may need to go back and tidy up.   It says there is gold on the sun.   (How do they know?   More research!)    Animals that lay eggs don’t have belly buttons but then, why would they?     Russia is only two miles from Alaska, so that Tina Fey line on Saturday Night Live could have been true, Sarah Palin may very well have been able to see Russia from the roof of her house.     A group of Blue Jays is called a Party.    Me, too in a group.   A tigers stripes are different on either side – Zoo here I come gotta check that out.   Tyrannosaurus Rex means Tyrant Lizard King in Latin.   So was Jim Morrison of the Doors Saurus Rex in Latin?   A cat’s top speed is 31 miles per hour.   I can believe that.   Don’t get in the way when it’s kibble time at my house.   Christopher Columbus saw a manatee and thought it was a mermaid.   He must have been into those Rubenesque mermaids.    Saturn is made partly of helium the same gas used to fill party balloons can you imagine if there is life on Saturn?   Would they speak in Munchkin voices?    Contrary to the popular consensus most pirates NEVER buried their loot.   Why would they?    You can’t spend it if its sitting in a hole somewhere you are not.   Kangaroos wet their forearms to stay cool.    I wonder if they lick their wrists?    Queen Elizabeth has a crown studded with more than 3,000 precious gems.    I’ve seen a replica of this one.   I’ve got to say if I were her sometimes I would have to walk around with that on just for the fun of it.    The offspring of a whale and a dolphin is called a wholphin – does that happen?  More research!    A rattlesnake’s rattle is made of the same material as human fingernails.     Facts are stranger than fiction.   Love it!

National Geographic Kids Weird But True! 6: 300 Outrageous Facts

National Geographic Kids Weird But True!  6: 300 Outrageous Facts        Paperback: 206 pages

I am so addicted to these books.   So fun and so enlightening.   You learn so many things about a myriad of topics.    I picture Mr. Spock saying, “Fascinating.”   And he would be correct.   Just some of the stuff you will learn in this book are: the people who performed the voices of Mickey and Minnie Mouse were married in real life, sunlight reflected off a building in London, England melted a nearby car, more than half of the world’s geysers are in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming,  Nasa is developing a 3-D printer that it hopes will “print” edible pizza (will it taste like paper?) , some catfish leap out of the water to catch pigeons on the shore, people throw away enough ribbon each year to tie a bow around the entire earth,  Americans eat over a billion chicken wings during Super Bowl weekend,  there is a town in Canada called Saint Louis Du Ha Ha!    Loads of great info here.   New Zealand has more cats per person than any other country in the world,  Capuchin Monkeys greet each other by sticking their fingers up each other’s nose – yikes!  That could be painful I would think.   A designer created a glow-in-the-dark wedding dress (great for a romantic turn down the lights dance with the groom or to brighten up the bride and her father dance), an ice-cream truck in London served scoops just for dogs- cute picture, too,  it’s impossible to hum while holding your nose (yeah I tried it too- they are right) ,  a palm tree is not a tree it is a type of grass,  an elephant’s skin is as thick as 12 stacked pennies and a human’s is as thick as 15 sheets of paper.    The White House was originally called the President’s Palace, Amazon was originally called “Cadabra,” the blue whale – the largest animal on earth – can’t swallow anything bigger than a beach ball (they must have to chew everything at least 20 times to get it small enough to swallow must be tough with seals), nearly half of the world’s land is still wilderness – yippee! We need to keep some wilderness, a study found that choir members’ heartbeats sync when they sing together, cats and dogs can get sunburned – I did not know that.      So much good stuff here.    It will keep you amused from 1st page to the last one.   Excellent book series.  

National Geographic Kids Weird But True! 5: 300 Outrageous Facts

National Geographic Kids Weird But True!  5: 300 Outrageous Facts           Paperback Book:  206 pages    

Back again,  can’t help it, I am addicted to this series.    So much information here you will be utterly amazed at this series.    Some of the things you will learn in this book: a group of hippos is called a bloat,  some police officers in Cairo patrol the pyramids on camelback (hmm…pursuits ought to be interesting), the world’s largest bat has a wingspan as wide as a sofa – that would be like a vampire sighting!   Whales have belly buttons (born not hatched),  a hot drink can sometimes cool you down faster than a cold one, in 16th century weddings in England it was considered good luck to throw shoes at the bride and groom – not good luck for the person losing the shoes – they were pretty dear back then I should think and not good luck for the bride and groom –getting hit with a shoe could leave some nasty bruises!   Beavers have a set of clear eyelids to see under water.   A pineapple is actually made up of a bunch of berries.   There is a jellyfish that can change from an adult back into a baby –  whoa!  Fountain of Youth or illusion?   More research required.   A Buzz Lightyear action figure spent 15 months on the International Space Station – man, can you imagine what that would go for on Ebay?    The Peacock Mantis Shrimp has claws strong enough to punch through an aquarium’s glass walls –that would put you off shrimp cocktails.   Nighttime rainbows are common at Yosemite National Park in California (how would you see them?), an albatross can glide thousands of miles without flapping its wings.   Yak hair was used to make the wigs for characters in The Hobbit film, half of the pigs in the world live in China – I would not have thought that,  75,000 pounds of meat sank on the Titanic,  Nepal is the only country in the world that doesn’t have a rectangular flag,  bees once made blue and green honey after picking up colorful waster from an M&M’s factory, grass looks greener to females than it does to males.   All kinds of good stuff to be found in this series – it’s like magic – you can amaze your friends with all the stuff you will learn and never be without conversation in any situation,  “Did you know that Air Force One has never landed more than 3 seconds off its scheduled arrival time?”    Love it!

National Geographic Kids Weird But True! 4: 300 Outrageous Facts

National Geographic Kids Weird But True!  4:  300 Outrageous Facts                Paperback:  206 pages          

Another equally great book of weird and fun facts to learn like:   Deep Fried Kool-Aid is served at a County Fair in California, more earthquakes occur in Alaska than in any other U.S. state (that surprised me),  the first stop signs were black and white (today those would so blend into the scenery I bet most all of us would be blowing through them), some chickens are born half-male and half female ( I don’t know – lays eggs but has a comb on its head or what? – more research), a group of owls is called a parliament (got the visual on the olde English House of Commons but I think today they don’t have to wear the wigs anymore), there are about 3lbs. of bacteria living in our mouths – sounds awfully heavy to be carrying around, chalk is made from the skeletons of ancient sea creatures-must be where diatomaceous earth comes from, bat’s knees face backwards – I’ve got to check that one out,  Afghanistan and Azerbaijan are the only countries that begin but don’t end with the letter A,  Tasmanian devils sometimes sneeze to challenge other devils to a fight – hey don’t let him fake you out he is sick with a cold!   One spider species spins a silk bubble around itself so it can breath under water – clever spider!  Barbie (the famous doll) has a first, middle and last name, it is Barbara Millicent Roberts – great trivia, that, more people live in the Tokyo, Japan metro area than in all of Canada (that is news to me, too and kind of staggering when you think about it), Istanbul, Turker is located on two continents: Europe and Asia.     Man, the knowledge in these books is unbelievable.   Why isn’t everyone reading them?

Weird But True Science- Weird But True Weather

Weird But True Science Weird But True Weather by Carmen Bredeson               Hardback Book: 24 pages                

I am such a huge fan of weird science that I could be a character on The Big Bang Theory.   Weird weather is always interesting, the odder it is the more fascinating I find it.    In this book you will learn about snow donuts which occur when a small snowball starts rolling downhill picking up more and more snow as it gains momentum until it becomes this giant snowball, but, because the original bits that are now in the center of the snow orb are the soft powdery snow picked up at the beginning - if a strong wind gusts it can actually blow the soft center out of the now massive snowball creating what appears to be a donut made of snow speeding down the mountain and hurling toward the ground.    It reminds me of kids rolling down hills in a tire or a barrel.      The book brought up something I had never considered before saying that due to rain being in effect recycled because when it rains the rain falls down from the cloud on the ground once it stops raining and the sun comes out, the rain or water that is on the ground eventually evaporates and rises back up into the atmosphere becoming a cloud that will rain again and so on and so on throughout time.   Interesting point made in the book, the rain that falls on us today might be the same rain that fell on the dinosaurs when they walked the earth.   Cool, huh?     I had just heard something about people sighting spaceships that turned out to be enormous clouds that were shaped weird and looked like spaceships.    I was picturing looking at clouds as a kid (and as an adult) and seeing shapes that my mind honed in on and could see how they looked like turtles or angels or ponies, etc.   I haven’t seen a spaceship shaped one, yet, but, I’m going to keep looking.   There is a picture in this book of just such an occurrence and it really does look like a spaceship.   Kind of mushroom cloud looking with saucer shaped definition – I can see where people would think the mother ship was here.    It is actually a phenomenon called a lenticular cloud.     Stong winds blowing over a mountain makes the cloud twist and swirl and the result is a lenticular cloud that looks like it is straight out of the film, Independence Day and will have you wishing Will Smith would fly by on patrol.     Another anomaly is a Sundog.     Sounds like something the Justice League would be going up against and they look truly of science fiction origin but they are actual atmospheric events that occur when ice crystals sink through the air and align in such a way that the sun’s light refracts off of them along the horizon causing the ice to appear as a bright spot to the left or right of the sun.    Makes it look like multiple suns!   Again I say, cool, huh?    Then there are dust devils which I have experienced before.   They are like mini baby tornadoes that just whoosh up from the ground when warm air rises from the ground and meets cool air above and begins to turn picking up whatever is on the ground under it.   It’s really interesting looking.    I saw one in the playground as a child and a few years ago I saw one in a cemetery at night.   I said aloud, “how appropriate!”   Cool looking and duly scary like a sign!    The book also explains mirages, those ripples in the air that make it look like an oasis is just beyond the next sand dune or in this country more like there is water ahead of you on the highway but it is actually dry.    Speaking of sand, another really cool thing happens when lightning strikes sand.   The heat is so intense from the lightning strike that it actually melts the sand!  When the sand cools around where the lightning struck it forms into hard tubes called fulgurites.    Some say they are the shape of the lightning bolt itself, but, from the picture it looks like driftwood to me.   I may have seen a fulgurite at some time in my travels and didn’t realize it thinking it was driftwood.   It also looks like a long version of sea coral only sand color.      I would like to see a piece of fulgurite someday and see what it feels like.   Is it crusty like sand or smooth cause it has been burned?       Science rocks.  

Laurels and the Tiara

The Laurels and the Tiara: The Life and Times of Pius II, Scholar, Poet, Statesman, and Renaissance Pope by RJ Mitchell, 237 pages

Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini led a life of struggle, conflict, and, finally, disappointment.  Born into an impoverished Sienese noble family, one of eighteen children of whom only three survived to adulthood, he rose to occupy the highest office in Christendom.  He was raised in a rural backwater but became famed for his urbanity.  He was so immersed in the literature of pagan antiquity that he likely chose the name Pius after Virgil's hero, "pius Aeneas", rather than the second century martyr St Pope Pius I, but he was also devout enough to walk ten miles barefoot through the snow while on pilgrimage in Scotland.  He was a key player at the renegade Council of Basel but repudiated the conciliar theory long before he became Pope.  He undertook to personally lead a crusade to liberate Constantinople despite the persistent illnesses that left him virtually crippled, only to see the project evaporate in the last months of his life.

The very human story told in The Laurels and the Tiara combines international intrigue, Renaissance culture, and high moral purpose, epitomized by a colorful College of Cardinals which included the notorious Rodrigo Borgia alongside famed scholars Basilios Bessarion and Nicholas of Cusa.  The biographer's task is greatly eased by the fact that Pius II wrote an extensive autobiography, supplying him with an abundance of material including a number of amusing anecdotes and revealing trivialities.  Throughout, Mitchell keeps his narrative moving briskly along, even when it might benefit from lingering, and unfortunately this ultimately results in the biography resembling a sketch more than a complete portrait.

Oh: Susannah Series Books 1 and 2 by Carole P. Roman, illustrated by Mateya Arkova

 

Oh Susannah series Books 1 and 2 by Carole P. Roman, illustrated by Mateya Arkova   34 and 62 pages, respectively

Oh Susannah: It’s in the Bag: There’s a lot of stress at Susannah Logan’s house. Her parents have demanding jobs. It’s time to get up, but she doesn’t want to; She dilly-dally’s a bit, but not much. When she gets up, there’s the matter of her unfinished math homework. When Mom starts to yell, she stuffs it into her backpack. From there Susannah’s day gets worse: breakfast is a disaster, Dad and Mom are screaming at each other, her best friend, Lola, invites her to a sleepover and she doesn’t want to do, and she can’t decide what book to get out of the school library. Lola is feeling stressed and overwhelmed too.  She stuffs it all inside her backpack, filling so full, the zipper rips. Trying to sleep, she has a dream---and the backpack explodes!

This is a great story to teach kids about dealing with stress and how to ask for help.

Oh Susannah: Things That go Bump: The day Susannah has been dreading has arrived. It’s time for her best friend, Lola’s, sleepover. Susannah would give anything not to go. She’s afraid of all the noises that Lola’s house makes. And throw in Lola’s brother, Kai, who loves to scare her, well she just as soon stay home. But she doesn’t want to hurt Lola’s feelings, so as she is getting ready for school, Mom packs her overnight bag. The word “Afraid” keeps popping up in  Susannah’s day:  Her teacher is “afraid” she is getting a cold and her sight-impaired friend, Macy, is “afraid” of unicorns. At Lola’s, she learns that houses make noise and that isn’t ghosts. Susannah learns that everyone is afraid of something, and that it’s okay to be afraid. She learns how to confront her fears and keep her imagination in check.

A perfect story for kids who are having fear issues.

Both books are very well done, with delightful illustrations by Mateya Arkova. Each receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.  

Gone on Sunday

Gone On Sunday by Tower Lowe   294  pages

Everyone has some kind of secret. When you live in a small town, secrets are even harder to keep. Secrets, a cold murder case and a new murder are the essences behind Tower Lowe’s first book in the Cotton Lee Penn Historical Mystery series.

Set in Virginia in the years 1932 and 1972, Lowe provides readers with a taste of Southern Gothic—both from the Old South and the New South. It is sad that those tastes hadn’t changed in those forty years.

The book opens with lawyer Max Mayfield hiring the novel’s protagonist, Cotton Lee Penn, to help him investigate the beating death of Little Mary in 1972. The case is quite disturbing in that it bears many, many similarities to the unsolved 1932 beating death of Bead Baker (I found it both odd an interesting that each time Bead is mentioned, it’s always with her full name: Bead Baker.). Even more fascinating is that Little Mary is Bead Baker’s granddaughter.

Many in the town wonder why Max turned to Cotton Lee. After all, she is a cripple thanks to polio and walks with a limp. But as far as Max is concerned, Cotton Lee is the “smartest white person Sussex County.” (That was uttered in 1972!)

The novel jumps back and forth between 1932 and 1972, as Cotton Lee is certain that the two murders are connected. The hard part about this novel is that the possible suspects all have ties to Bead Baker’s murder. Keeping the character straight was often difficult at times. It would have been nice to have a character list in the front or back. Still, that doesn’t hinder the fast pace of the novel, or this reader’s inability to put it down.

But, quickly, here are the suspects: Did Sharp Dorn, the local, philandering and abusing minister kill Bead Baker for putting ideas in his wife Verdie’s head? Did Dorn’s son, Ron, kill Little Mary? Or was it the hired help Zed Omen in 1932 and his grandson, Doug, in 1972? I’m not sure how Lowe kept them all straight.

Another thing that bothered me, is the way that flashbacks are told in italics. It’s jarring and as I first began to read, it took me out to of the story. However, once I got into the book’s rhythm, well, it was fascinating.  

When Cotton Lee discovers some of the town’s (current and past) secrets, readers are led to the shocking conclusion.

Although I have the two problem areas, Gone on Sunday, receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. I highly recommend it.

Cosmopolis

Cosmopolis: The Hidden Agenda of Modernity by Stephen Toulmin, 209 pages

In Stephen Toulmin's exhilarating history of ideas, "cosmopolis" is defined as a worldview that unifies the vision of the social world of humanity with the world of nature.  The medieval cosmopolis, which combined a Ptolemaic astronomy that understood the earth as lying at the bottom of the cosmos with a theological social orientation dominated by the Church, faded into an urbane skepticism during the Renaissance.  This was replaced, in turn, by a new cosmopolitical vision, joining together Cartesian philosophy and Newtonian physics.  Toulmin identifies this union as the wellspring of modernity, noting that, contrary to the standard account, it represented a narrowing rather than a broadening of mind.  The late twentieth century, in this view, represents the dawn of another skeptical age, wherein the embryo of the next cosmopolis will form.

Toulmin's argument is marred by some questionable judgments (that Baroque art was "histrionic and grotesque", for example) and exaggerations (while not as oppressive as often imagined, the Middle Ages were hardly as open-minded as he implies).  More incredible is his too-easy identification of postmodern nihilism with Renaissance humanism.  Yet the greatest difficulties are raised by his enthusiasm for the adoption of ecology as the new model for social order, in which he is seemingly oblivious to the obvious problems of invoking biology as a political principle.  Nonetheless, these problems are ultimately forgivable, if only because his book is so rich in audacity and explanatory power.

National Geographic Kids Weird But True! Food: 300 Bite-Size Facts About Incredible Edibles!

National Geographic Kids Weird But True!  Food: 300 Bite-size Facts About Incredible Edibles!          Paperback Book:  206 pages          

Another book in this most excellent series.    I love trivia and this is just stoking my brain with lots of fun facts about food.       Sliced grapes catch fire when heated in a microwave – don’t try this at home kids!   Ben and Jerry originally wanted to make bagels – guess the Einstein Bros. beat them to it.   (Just kidding.)   Worcestershire Sauce is made from vinegar soaked anchovies – I did not know that!  Coconuy crabs pinches are stong enough to crack open a coconut shell!   Tough little dudes!    Tomatoes are related to deadly night shade a lethal poison.   The cherpumple is a cherry, pumpkin and apple pie stuffed inside a 3 layer cake.   That actually sounds really good.  The human stomach can hold up to a half-gallon of food and water – I may have tested that a time or two on Thanksgiving or at least it felt like it.   In the 1960s Jello made celery flavored pudding – whaaaat?   Who knew washing your clothes with a teaspoon full of black pepper saves them from fading?   Starbucks coffee is named after a character, Starbuck in the book, “Moby Dick.”   As you can tell, I can’t get enough of this stuff.    I love these books!

Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens

Believe Me:  A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens by Eddie Izzard      Audio Book: 14 hours, 30 minutes     Paperback Book: 560 pages      

I like Eddie Izzard, he strikes me as someone who would be fun to have for a friend and after completing this autobiography the reader will feel as if you have gotten to know the real person, Eddie Izzard better.    He is rather flamboyant on stage and screen (big or little screen) but this book takes you into his thoughts, dreams, ups and downs.   He sometimes comes across as if confiding truths to the reader as a trusted friend, other times he seems to be self-analyzing himself.   He is a mix of educated, worldly, possessing great savoir-faire, other times, you feel you want to give him a hug because he seems so vulnerable.   I enjoyed learning about him as a person and his life as an ongoing adventure.   I smile at his description of himself, he mentions more than once that he thinks he is a lesbian because while he is a transvestite and does love putting on makeup and heels he also prefers women and is not really all that into having affairs with men saying the majority of his relationships have been with women and he only sites a few of his hetero/lesbian(?) relationships with women in the book.    He says he just likes to go with his mood to dictate how he dresses.    Sometimes he feels like dressing like a male and sometimes he feels more feminine and puts on a dress or sometimes a kilt which he says can go either way.   A fun and comedic person, a friend you could swap stories, lip gloss amd earrings with.   A big hearted soul who is trying to learn as many languages as he can so that he can do his standup comedy in the language of the country he is performing in.    A many faceted human being who has endured a lot, learned a lot and is very open about many extremely personal things.      He tends to go all Madalyn Murray O’Hair throughout the book which was tedious because he goes off on tears and it will make you want to say to him, “I got it the first time you are an atheist.”    But he protests so often and so hard that as a reader it made me think as was credited to Shakespeare  “me thinks thou doth protest too much!”     Is his ardent denial because he is angry that his mother was taken from him at such a young age?  Upon which his father sent him and his brother immediately to boarding school?    Is he coming to grips with his personhood and wants no retribution from an authority figure?   There is a feeling throughout his musings that there is an underlying cause to this vehemence.   But barring these rants I enjoyed the book even if he does get a little chatty and rambling off topic at times, he always throws in extra tidbits about his life during these mental strolls that will make you laugh and isn’t that what Eddie Izzard’s passion is?   Making people laugh.    While he loves acting and doing dramatic roles, his real love is standup comedy, could it be cathartic?  

If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look On My Face?

If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look On My Face? :  My Adventures in the Art and Science of Relating and Communicating by Alan Alda        Audio Book: 6 hours  Paperback Book:  336 pages


The title grabbed me, then when I saw it was by Alan Alda I had to get it.   Really well done book.   You learn not only a lot about Alan Alda and his family that you may not have known but he also goes into some presentations he has done and classes he has taught that teach people how to relate to one another and how to speak to and listen to others in a way that is understandable.    He has worked with Scientists who are notoriously known for talking over the heads of most lay people.   Afterall, we are not all nuclear physicists nor MIT graduates who understand the jargon of the Albert Einstein science minded set nor are the scientists always able to relate to those of us who do not yet understand what a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is.    Alan Alda uses improvisational acting games to create bonds of trust, levels of comfort and clear techniques to not only loosen up the individuals he is working with but to help them to find common ground with those they need to communicate with.   He uses a lot of the games designed by Viola Spolin that give the participants a situation, a scene and their character within the mix.    Then he may change it all around and as students go through the course they begin to become comfortable with speaking in front of groups,  give and take in the Q and A of varying opinons, even hecklers.    He teaches people to understand their audience be it a group or one on one.   He teaches them to pick up on the body language of the people they are speaking with, like how to tell when you are losing the other person or your audience just by the way they are sitting or standing or maybe if close enough by the look in their eyes.   A fascinating study in how we often communicate badly to others unwittingly when we think we are projecting familiarity but it is perceived as off-putting to someone we have not established a close relationship with or uncomfortably overbearing to someone who is skittish of close contact.    Excellent book of the many aspects of communication both audible and silent.   I highly recommend this one.  

His Guilt

His Guilt by Shelley Shepard Gray                Audio Book: 7 hours     Hardback Book:  304 pages            

O.K., I like to read stories about the Amish.   I have been to Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County, took the tour, listened to the tape and I learned a thing or two about the Amish.   Now, I get it that perhaps the Pennsylvania folks may be old order and more traditional stricter to the precepts of the Amish faith, but, it is my understanding that one of the differences between the old order Amish and the Mennonites, which is a similar but different religious faith (think Catholics and Lutherans sort of example), is that Amish do not go for the colors of the rainbow in their dress while the Mennonites don’t have a problem adding a little dash of spring to their wardrobe.     Amish wear the traditional black and white colors of clothing.   I saw this first hand.   I even saw clothes hanging on the line outside in back of Amish homes and from baby to child to females of all sizes and males of all sizes the clothing was black and white.   Mennonites on the other hand spritz their wardrobes with a bit of color here and there, blue or purple shirts and blouses with black pants, jackets and skirts.   All the gals wore white aprons and white bonnets in both religions.    Old Order Amish to my understanding shun modern conveniences.   Mennonites, a little more lenient in that respect but not completely.    I know about Rumspringa which allows Amish teens to go kick up their heels in the “English” community to see if after sowing a few wild oats and/or checking out what a walk on the English side is like to see if they truly want to commit to a life of foregoing Pepsi’s and t.v. etc. and commit to the church for life and return to the ways of the Amish community (driving buggies to town, dressing plainly, turning the other cheek when the English pick on them and renouncing the modern world ala in the world but not of the world).    I get all that.   So when I read a tale about the Amish and someone is wearing a yellow dress and a guy has Gatorade in his refrigerator?   I grit my teeth a little bit.   If you are going to tell an Amish tale get the details right.   Having said that, I also understand that maybe there are other orders like the Hasidic Jewish people who follow the Orthodox ways and the Reformed Jewish people who don’t (all) have a problem eating ham – maybe the Old Order Amish are stricter than some other Amish communities.   Perhaps there are less strict Amish that I don’t have a clue about as yet.   It just goes against my sensibility to have to integrate what I find to be, shall we say, playing loose with what I think is the way of a thing.   It’s like riding along in a car then hitting the brakes really hard.   It jars me to be caught up in a story then read something that to my mind is not right.   It makes me want to question the author’s facts.   It takes away from the story for me, and that is what happened with this one.   I like the story, but, the few little things that just did not stay in keeping with the cultural life of this group as I understand it grated on me.    Again, I like the story but do the Amish in Hart County, Kentucky really go off the Amish grid that much?  Maybe they do.   I’m willing to learn just not in the midst of a story I am reading.    Give me a clue in the beginning of the tale stating that this sect of folk are a little in touch with their English town more than say the Lancastrians are.   But to just be going along then bump in the road ummmm not so much.   So kudos on the writing, but boo dos on not giving the reader a heads up that these Amish characters may be a little more Quaker or Shaker in their world within the storyline.

Dining with the Famous and Infamous

Dining with the Famous and Infamous by Fionna Ross          Hardback Book:  245 pages      

What a great collection of dining experiences and with such notable dining companions!   A fun romp through several gastronomique experiences with the likes of  Alfred Hitchcock, Picasso, Salvadore Dali, Laurel and Hardy, Liz Taylor along with a few of her husbands, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Gauguin & Vincent Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera, Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall, Woody Allen, The Beatles, Bob Marley, The Rolling Stones, C.S. Lewis, Aleister Crowley, Michael Jackson, Louis Armstrong, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Sylvia Plath, Oscar Wilde, the list goes on.   So fun and so well written that you can almost smell the dishes cooking from the avid descriptions.   Recipes accompany each feast described so the reader can really feel a part of the meal.    One would do well to be mindful of the eccentricities of Salvadore Dali – a dining experience I would definetly pass on – Salvadore didn’t just look bizarre – yikes!   And Aleister Crowley liked to startle guests with his “personal” accoutrements served in the victuals he prepared.   Trust me that was a don’t ask don’t eat there affair, too.     It is said of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera that when they kissed lights in the room or in the street would burn brighter, of course Frida’s father told Diego she was a devil, I’m just saying...  From the brandy Frida hid within her skirts in a perfume bottle to the Duck with Black Mole and Huitlacoche Fry, the chilies weren’t the hottest things at their table.   The Beatles were wined and dined by rich and royals alike but when it came down to it the Liverpudlian lads loved their bacon butties, fish and chips and baked beans on toast (all recipes included here).   Who knew Nostradamus was quite the marzipan maker?   The things you learn here will surprise you.   Lots of stories told and facts revealed that I had never heard before – (Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithful – I will never look at a Mars bar the same way again) and several jaw dropping, rapid eye blinking reveals, too.    GOOD BOOK.   Good from the first page to the last.   I understand this is one book in a series titled, Dining with Destiny which I must peruse all the titles.   Excellent read.    Warning, this book will make you hungry at times and you will be forced to go make yourself a knockoff of what the celebrities are dining on.   (But then some chapters…not so much.)

National Geographic Kids Weird But True! Gross: 300 Slimy, Sticky, and Smelly Facts

National Geographic Kids Weird But True!  Gross: 300 Slimy, Sticky, and Smelly Facts    Paperback Book: 207 pages                

From anatomical occurrences (we are talking methane gasses, boogers and more here) to frightening food facts (really Food and Drug Administration?) to vermin to freaky deaky things under the sea and above if you are into GROSS FACTS you have hit the jackpot here.   This book totally lives up to its name.   It will literally set your teeth on edge but you won’t be able to avert your eyes.    You may actually have to squeeze them shut and close the book more than once because this stuff REALLY REALLLLLLLLYYYYYY is G-R-O-S-S!   However, upon completion you will be able to astound yourself and others with the plethora of revolting information you will now know and have to purge yourself of to lose the visuals and yes there are pictures here folks.    Gross but well done and full of trivia night fare.   Also, you will be able to mystify and out gross any child you come in contact with sharing these truly disgusting but terribly interesting too facts.