An Acceptable Time by Madeleine L'Engle

I don’t remember what a wrinkle in time was about but I remember loving it as a kid. I have to re-read it because I’m not enjoying An Acceptable Time as much. I don’t think it’s because I’m older. It’s because the characters are not believable and don’t connect to each other which makes it impossible for me to connect to them. The story seems chopped up and doesn’t flow. I like religious fiction but this one was too preachy and predictable.

Young adult science fiction -

Polly takes some time from her large family and is spending the autumn with her grandparents. Zachary Gray comes to visit, a troubled college student whom Polly met in Greece and dated the year before. Then, while walking near her grandparents' Connecticut home, Polly travels through time, three thousand years ago, meeting druids Karralys and Anaral and a warrior named Tav.

The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien

Húrin defies Morgoth and a curse is placed on his entire family. We see the life of Túrin, his son, on his journey through life in Middle Earth.

This is my first Tolkien read and that was a mistake. This is a very dark tale, too dark for me. I wasn’t expecting a happy ending but I was not prepared for the amount of despair present in this story. The writing style is very similar to The Lord of The Rings. It is recommended that one reads other Tolkien books like the Silmarillion before giving The Children of Húrin a try.

My favorite thing about the story was the fact that individual characters take on different names depending on what they were going through in life.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

I don’t know where to begin. This book is extraordinary. It touched me on so many levels. The story centers on deep rooted racism seen through the eyes of child, it is written in the voice of a very wise nine-year-old girl known as Scout. The story takes place around the 1930s in a small town in the Deep South and touches on the law, justice, the jury, racism and rape, how children see the world they live in and what they are taught by family and the people they come in contact with.

After reading this book, unfortunately I feel that things have not changed much when it comes to racism. I feel that no one group is hated and dehumanized more than the black man. In chapter 26, Scout makes an observation. How can it be that her teacher hates Hitler and what he is doing to the Jews, but see nothing wrong with the way they treat Negros in America.

40 Days to Power Living by Teresa Kay-Aba Kennedy

Power Living is a 40 Day intense look at your self. It took me 80 days to finish the book because I had to spend 2 weeks on every chapter. I highly recommend 40 Days to everyone. The book helps you to think about your dreams, helps you focus and asks 3 important questions that I keep close to my heart. The book delivers what it states on the cover “Transform your Mind, Body & Spirit and Think, Eat & Live on Purpose”.

Teresa writes: “Power is not defined by how much control you have over others, but how much control you have over your self”.

Christopher Columbus and the Afrikan Holocaust by John Henrik Clarke

Afrikan Holocaust takes you on a historical journey. A real eye opener and a must read. There is a lot of information about Africa before slavery by the Europeans. It’s a different perspective then what my generation was taught in school.

Dr. Leonard Jeffries wrote: Professor Clarke’s analysis provides us with a perspective that lets us understand that slavery and genocide were institutionalized and systematized into a global system of domination, destruction and death which not only control land, labor and resources but colonialized information.

Un Monsieur Bien Mis - Jean Vautrin

Une ville de banlieue avec sa gare de banlieue, ses barres de béton, ses éboueurs noirs dans leurs uniformes fluo, ses ahènepéistes et ses trois-huit, ses bandes de bric et de broc et ses crânes trop rasés.

Un monsieur bien sous tous rapports file un balayeur des rues jusque dans l'ascenseur de sa cité-dortoir. Montent avec eux un camionneur balèze, un couple en bisbille, un petit rouquin avec son jeu japonais, un électeur de Le Pen, une jeunesse maghrébine...

Panne entre deux étages. Un cadavre de nègre découvert un peu plus haut quand les portes se rouvrent... Qui a joué du couteau dans le noir de la cabine?

Translation

A suburban town with its railway station of the suburbs, its concrete bars, the black garbage collectors in their fluorescent uniforms, and the too many shaved skulls.

A man follows a sweeper of streets to the elevator of his dormitory suburb. A couple in tiff, a small redhead with his Japanese game, a voter of Pen, a teenage girl takes up a truck driver are also in the elevator.

The elevator breaks down between two floors. The body of a Negro is discovered when the doors open again... Who played the knife in the black of the cabin?

Une Héritière en danger - Debbi Rawlins

An Heiress in danger - I haven’t touched a Harlequin Romance since I was 17 or 18, but I needed something easy to read in French. No matter what language, a Harlequin is a Harlequin. If you are learning a new language I recommend a Harlequin in that language. You will absolutely understand what they are talking about.

Strong gorgeous hunk saves beautiful damsel (albeit always dumb) in distress. During which they have sex (oh sorry make love), fall madly in love and live happily ever after.

He: Qu'est-ce que tu veux de moi? - What do you want of me?
She: Est-ce que tu m'aimes? - Do you love me?
He: Oui, répondit-il, incapable de lui mentir. - Yes, he answered, unable to lie to her.
She: C'est tout ce que je veux. - That’s all that I want.

We The Living by Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand wrote “We The Living” to tell the story of Communist Russia- The Revolution. She wanted to show the rest of the world what was really happening in Russia.

The story is extremely depressing. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. She argues that under the extreme control of a government that tries to bring about the idealism of Marxism, a country and its people will die. Everybody loses the rich and the poor. The Marxist ideal of everyone living on equal ground can never come true. The Revolution never lived up to the fair and equal society it promised. Before the revolution only the poor were exploited, now both the poor and the rich were exploited.

Man has to want to help his fellow man. He cannot be forced into it. People want to give what they want to give, not what they are told to give.

As I mentioned earlier the story is really dark, I had a difficult time completing the book, but I wished Rand showed a lot more of life before the revolution.

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

This book did not leave me feeling warm and fuzzy for the Gods. Like all the other books The Last Olympian has many positive messages for its young audience. The one that stood out the most for me is Achilles’ advice to Percy (page 134) “no man may be completely invulnerable”. Lose sight of what makes you human and you will cease to exist.


I only have one bone to pick with the Rick; why does he write Annabeth so girly dumb when it comes to Percy.

Money Business, Playing the Market, Be Your Own Boss from Heinemann

Reading level: grades 3-5

These books are great for anyone who wants to learn a little about economics.

Be Your Own Boss -Describes simple characteristics of small businesses and how to start and manage a small business.

Money Business - Focuses on the fundamental forces that drive the economy, as well as history and economic principles. It touches on the laws of supply and demand and a quick history of the first bankers.

Playing the Market -There is a brief definition of the economy, savings and investments and how companies raise money. It explains the differences between stocks and bonds, interest rates, the role of government and the Federal Reserve. The book ends with instructions for reading newspaper stock reports.