Dewey Roth
"Almost the Truth is a humorous, widely-ignored blog that appears weekly at http://www.AlmostTheTruth.blogspot.com. This is your opportunity to have three years' worth of posts all in one place."
I actually DID need to read this to check for proper page breaks and table of contents and all that rot. Of course, it was totally self-serving to make sure I read it at a time that would put it first in this 4-month wrap-up...so its picture appears in my timeline and so I can remind everyone that it can only be purchased at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/deweyroth.
56/5: Steven Spielberg's first blockbuster about a resort town's sheriff hiring a crusty, old snowplow driver to conquer a freakishly large blizzard: Snows (My favorite quote: "You're gonna need a bigger blade.")
Curt Brown
"At its most basic, this is the story of how some of the Dakota, forced onto reservations, cheated out of money that was due them for the sale of their land, and starving, rose up against the settlers who were remaking the Upper Midwest into a white man's world. Some of the warriors committed terrible atrocities against settlers during the rebellion, before it ended in their defeat. It is also the story about how settlers, Army leaders, and governors exacted retribution by mass hangings, without representation or a real trial."
This eBook is actually a collection of a series of newspaper articles that ran in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. As such, the chapters sometimes overlap each other, but that is a minor nit to pick in the face of this small book's excellent style and obvious care for documenting details of an almost forgotten chapter of American history, overshadowed by the nation's focus on the Civil War.
56/5: Landscape: Little Crow would ride about six hours from his house near the Lower Sioux Agency at one end of the reservation to the Upper Sioux Agency more than 30 miles northwest. Portrait: Seven hundred picked warriors whipped by cowardly whites.
Tosca Lee
"The most reviled man in biblical history comes to life. In Jesus, Judas believes he has found the One - the promised Messiah and future king destined to overthrow Roman rule.... But Judas' vision of a nation free from Roman rule is crushed by the inexplicable actions of the Nazarene himself, who will not bow to social or religious convention.... Judas must confront the fact that the master he loves is not the liberator he hoped for...."
A very interesting premise, fleshed out by a satisfying story, with a general historical accuracy that doesn't get in the way of the narrative...there aren't long paragraphs explaining "This is this, and that is that.". As far as Biblical accuracy, there is a LOT taken for granted here, and at one point, the author mentions Jesus' older brother (file under "I don't THINK so, Tosca"), but it's only a novel, not a Bible commentary. I especially liked the section that told about The Last Supper from inside Judas' mind. It has been quite a while since I've read a novel, and Biblical fiction was a good entryway drug for me.
56/5: No, what I'm about to tell you I could be killed for...even hung on a tree.
Robert J. Randisi
"It’s 1961 and Las Vegas is still the place to be. Eddie Gianelli, pit boss at the Sands Casino, now considers the Rat Pack his friends. And this time, his friend Frank Sinatra wants him to help Sammy [Davis, Jr.]. Someone has an embarrassing photo of Sammy and wants twenty-five grand for it…. At the rendezvous, in place of a blackmailer, Eddie finds a dead body greeting him."
Yes, it looks and sounds like a cheap, dime-store paperback, using real celebrities as fictional characters, but it’s a hardcover published in 2008 (which I borrowed from the library, of course), and a lot of fun to read. In keeping with the time frame, the swearing in the book is kept to a minimum, leaving plenty of room for plot twists and turns, including the presidential family of the era. This is the third in a series of Rat Pack Mysteries; I may need to see if I can find the first two.
56/5: "Don't touch—” I started.
Gary Chapman
"Dr. Gary Chapman, author of the perennial bestseller The Five Love Languages, provides an easy-to-grasp framework to help couples understand their marriage and seven practical strategies for strengthening or improving their marriage relationship. A valuable resource for couples regardless of how long they've been married, this biblically-based book is a reference tool to help couples through every season of marriage."
I read this because I got it for free on iBooks during a special promotion, but I must say it lives up to the (above) hype. The idea of "constructing" a book is very evident here, but that may just be a function of how it truly is a reference tool as opposed to a read-it-from-cover-to-cover tome. Several meaningful insights are on these pages, and I anticipate my own marriage getting stronger as I put some of what I've read into practice.
56/5: Landscape: Working through the season of winter may never be "fun" or "exciting," like sledding down a steep hill or a ski trip to Vail, but when couples persevere and begin to take positive steps to improve their marriage, they emerge stronger, more committed, and better able to work through their differences. Portrait: Jeanette and Sam have been married for twenty-seven years.
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