Friday Factoid

FRIDAY FACTOID

This is a meme that I started.  Every Friday I’ll put a factoid based on a book I’m reading. The book can be fiction or non-fiction If you want to participate, just leave a comment and your website to share.

I’m reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. The book centers around Thomas Cromwell. According the http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/cromwell_thomas.shtml

Cromwell was an English statesman and adviser to Henry VIII, responsible for drafting the legislation that formalised England's break with Rome.

Thomas Cromwell was born in Putney in southwest London in around 1485, the son of a cloth worker. He spent much of his early adulthood in Europe as a soldier, accountant and merchant, but returned to England around 1512 and studied law. In 1520, in a pivotal career move, he became legal secretary for Cardinal Wolsey who was in service to Henry VIII. When Wolsey fell out of favour with the king, Cromwell survived and in 1523 he became a member of parliament.

Cromwell earned the king's confidences and rose swiftly. By 1532 he was the king's chief minister. He was a leading figure amongst those who suggested Henry make himself head of the English church. Cromwell presided over the dissolution of the monasteries with great efficiency and as a reward was created earl of Essex in 1540. Cromwell was deeply unpopular in England. In 1536, Catholics in the north of England rebelled in a series of uprisings known as the Pilgrimage of Grace and one of the targets of their anger was Thomas Cromwell.

In 1540, Cromwell persuaded Henry VIII to agree to marry Anne of Cleves, in the hope of securing the support of the north German princes against the Holy Roman Emperor. The marriage was a disaster and the alliance failed. Henry withdrew his support from Cromwell, who was charged with treason. He was executed at the Tower of London on 28 July 1540..

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First Cameraman Review

First Cameraman: Documenting the Obama Presidency in Real Time

by Arun Chaudhary

Genre: Adult non-fiction

Publisher: Times books

Source: Library Thing Early Review Program

Book Description:

The first official White House videographer chronicles his time capturing behind-the-scenes moments of the president and his administration

From the early months of the 2008 campaign and through the first two and a half years of the Obama administration, Arun Chaudhary had a unique perspective on the president of the United States. "I'm sort of like President Obama's wedding videographer," he explains, "if every day was a wedding with the same groom but a constantly rotating set of hysterical guests."

Some of the moments Chaudhary captures are small, like the president throwing warm-up pitches deep inside Busch Stadium in St. Louis before the All-Star game. Some are intensely emotional, as when Obama comforts a grieving teenager whose father had died in a devastating tornado. And some are just plain bizarre—like getting thrown out of the Indian parliament by his belt, or being trapped in a White House bathroom while Obama conducts a YouTube town hall on the other side of the door.

Film and politics have been intertwined ever since the first Edison reels rattled in projection halls a century ago. But with the advent of new technologies and a new public that is hungry for images of their leaders, Chaudhary has been in the right place at the right time to participate in the interplay of film and politics at the very highest level. His entertaining and eye-opening book—which includes stories and images of key players such as Barack and Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton, among others—gives readers a unique view of their government and their president in these historic and challenging times.

Review

This was a great book.  I enjoyed learning about what it takes to show the candidate to the public. I enjoyed how the campaign workers were learning what worked and what didn’t and how the helped show the best face of Barack Obama to help him become the President of the United States.

Arun shows us how he became the videographer for the POTUS and the White House and how he learned what to do and the mistakes he made along the way. He wasn’t always sure what to do and the protocol involved, but he had fun and learned a lot.

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And Live Rejoicing Review

And Live Rejoicing: Chapters from a Charmed Life — Personal Encounters with Spiritual Mavericks, Remarkable Seekers, and the World's Great Religious Leaders by Huston Smith with Phil Cousineau

Genre: Adult non-fiction

Publisher: New World Library

Source: Sent by publisher for review

Book Description:

Spiritual trailblazer Huston Smith has written comprehensive books about religion and a memoir of his own life, but nowhere has he merged the two elements of seeking and experience with such storytelling flair as he has in these pages. Few have done as much as Smith to explore and illuminate the world’s religions and spiritual traditions, and none have done it with such accessibility, wonder, and delight. In this joyous volume, he looks back on his extraordinary life, describing riveting scenes with unforgettable characters in India, Africa, Tibet, and Japan. Smith’s charm and exuberance come through on every page.

Review

Huston Smith is one of the foremost authorities on religion and religious subjects.  I’ve read some of his books and this was a great book. It is one of his memoirs about his travels to various religious places and people.  Being the son of missionaries he has experienced more places and religious experiences than most of us.

I enjoyed reading about his travels and the various experiences he’s had to make him the man he is today.  He has participated in a sweat lodge, met the Dalai Lama and been friends with some of the world’s interesting people.  If you have been curious about Huston Smith then this book will introduce you to him and maybe you’ll want to read some of his books.  Check out his website for more information on him and his books http://www.hustonsmith.com/.

Happy Reading!

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Cat Girl's Day Off Review

Cat Girl’s Day Off by Kimberly Pauley

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Publisher: Tu Books

Source: Public Library

Book Description:

Never listen to a cat. That will only get you in trouble. Actually, scratch that. Listening to cats is one thing, but really I should never listen to my best friend Oscar. It s completely his fault (okay, and my aspiring actress friend Melly s too) that I got caught up in this crazy celebrity-kidnapping mess. If you had asked me, I would have thought it would be one of my super-Talented sisters who d get caught up in crime fighting. I definitely never thought it would be me and my Talent trying to save the day. Usually, all you get out of conversations with cats is requests for tummy rubs and tuna. Wait . . . I go back to what I said first: Never listen to a cat. Because when the trouble starts and the kitty litter hits the fan, trust me, you don t want to be in the middle of it.

Review

Natalie Ng’s family is unusual, but fun.  This was a fun and quirky book and I loved the names for the cats.  You’ll meet Tiddlywinks aka Rufus Brutus IIII, Pebbles aka PD or Purr Daddy and many others as they help Nat and her friends solve a mystery and catch a potential killer.

I love Nat and how she just wants to be a “normal” teen, even though her family is far from normal.  She feels invisible and that her sisters are more respected by her parents, but she finds out otherwise after her adventures.

This was a fun adventure and a funny book.  I think any girl 12 and up would enjoy this book.

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Delicious and Suspicious Review

Delicious and Suspicious ( A Memphis BBQ mystery) by Riley Adams

Genre: Adult Fiction

Publisher: Berkley

Source: Personal Copy

Book Description:

In this sassy first in a new series from Adams (the pseudonym of Elizabeth Spann Craig), Lulu Taylor, owner of Aunt Pat's, a Memphis, Tenn., rib eatery, is all aflutter because the Cooking Channel has sent food scout Rebecca Adrian to check out Lulu's down-home specialties for a future show. Too bad Rebecca's searching for dirt as well as the best BBQ in Memphis. She quickly insults a number of people, including Lulu's daughter-in-law, Sara, and Lulu's son, Seb, who happens to be Rebecca's former boyfriend. When Rebecca's poisoned, chaos reigns. Lulu later uncovers the corpse of Mildred Cameron, an elderly bookseller and aspiring romance author/sleuth, who was also offended by the tart-tongued Rebecca. Aiding and abetting Lulu's investigation are the Graces, docents at Graceland, whose devotion to Elvis adds some goofy firepower to this sometimes poky paint-bythe-numbers cozy.

Review

This is a fun cozy mystery that will make your mouth water. I love southern mysteries and this one delivers a rib sticking good time.

Lulu sees the best in everybody and everyone in Memphis loves her. She doesn’t want to believe anyone she knows could kill someone. You’ll fall in love with her and this book.  The book also has recipes for some of Aunt Pat’s recipes. If you aren’t from the South this book will transport you there and make you hungry for more. 

I can’t wait to see what Lulu gets herself into next. This is a great start for a new southern series of mysteries. The quirky characters make this a fun read and you’ll laugh and cry and fall in love with Lulu and the patrons of Aunt Pat’s.

Happy Reading!

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Friday Factoid

FRIDAY FACTOID

This is a meme that I started.  Every Friday I’ll put a factoid based on a book I’m reading. The book can be fiction or non-fiction If you want to participate, just leave a comment and your website to share.

I’m reading Delicious and Suspicious by Riley Adams. The book takes place in Memphis, TN. According to Yahoo Travel:

Perched above the Mississippi River, Memphis welcomes visitors to celebrate the city that gave the world blues, soul, and rock 'n' roll, as well as to chow down in the unrivaled barbecue capital of the nation. If it's the Elvis connection that draws you here, you won't leave disappointed. But even the King represents just one small part of the rich musical heritage of the home of Sun and Stax studios.

Culturally and geographically, Memphis has always had more in common with the delta of Mississippi and Arkansas than with the rest of Tennessee. Founded in 1819 and named for Egypt's ancient Nile capital, its fortunes rose and fell with cotton. The Confederate defeat that ended slavery briefly plunged the city into economic chaos, but thanks to its potential for river and rail transportation it soon bounced back. The nation's second largest inland port became a major stopping-off point for black migrant farmers and sharecroppers escaping the poverty of the Delta, and many stayed, significantly shaping the city's identity.

In the 1950s and 60s, Memphis had a confidence that belied its size. The city reached its lowest ebb, however, when Dr Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated here in 1968, and for a couple of decades thereafter it tottered on the brink of terminal decline, with downtown blighted by white flight. In the 1990s the city regenerated itself, pouring money into projects like the transformation of Mud Island and the construction of the 321ft stainless-steel Pyramid. More recently, downtown has seen the arrival of not only the huge Peabody Place mall, but also a handsome minor league baseball stadium – Autozone Field, home of the Redbirds – and a major performance arena, the Fed Ex Forum. The fabled blues corridor of Beale Street is booming once more, while the recent Rock'n'Soul Museum, Gibson Guitar Plant and Stax Museum keep true to the city's musical heritage. Then there is Graceland – a refreshing change from the usual "gracious southern home" – which provides an intimate glimpse of the city's most famous son.

Happy Reading!

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Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Mine is from pg. 2 of Delicious and Suspicious by Riley Adams

Ben’s mother, Lulu, perched behind the desk and beamed out a empty space like it was her dearest friend. She brandished, oddly enough for the office, a pair of tongs.

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The Hunt for Atlantis Review

The Hunt for Atlantis by Andy McDermott

Genre: Adult Fiction

Publisher: Bantam

Source: Personal Copy

Book Description:

A LOST CIVILIZATION.

A DANGEROUS QUEST.

A DEADLY SECRET.

It’s one of history’s most enduring and controversial legends—the lost city of Atlantis. Archaeologist Nina Wilde is certain she’s solved the riddle of its whereabouts—and with the help of reclusive billionaire Kristian Frost, his beautiful daughter, Kari, and ex-SAS bodyguard Eddie Chase, she’s about to make the most important discovery in centuries. But not everyone wants them to succeed: a powerful and mysterious organization will stop at nothing to ensure that a secret submerged for 11,000 years never resurfaces.

More than one would-be discoverer has already died in pursuit of Atlantis’s secrets—including Nina’s own parents. Failure isn’t an option. From the streets of Manhattan to the Brazilian jungle, from a Tibetan mountaintop to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, Nina and Eddie will race against time—and follow a trail of danger and death to a revelation so explosive, it could destroy civilization forever….

Review

If you like adventure, Indiana Jones then you’ll enjoy the first book in this series featuring Nina Wilde and Eddie Chase. 

The action is almost non-stop and keeps you engaged.  I love the history and the budding romance between Nina and Eddie.  I couldn’t put this book down and am looking forward to more from this author. 

Whether you believe that Atlantis existed or not,if you like action, history and fun then you’ll enjoy this book.  To learn more Andy McDermott click here 

http://www.andy-mcdermott.com/books.html

Happy Reading!

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Friday Factoid

FRIDAY FACTOID

This is a meme that I started.  Every Friday I’ll put a factoid based on a book I’m reading. The book can be fiction or non-fiction If you want to participate, just leave a comment and your website to share.

I’m reading The Hunt for Atlantis by Andy McDermott.

According to Wikipedia.com:

Atlantis (in Greek, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, "island of Atlas") is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC. According to Plato, Atlantis was a naval power lying "in front of the Pillars of Hercules" that conquered many parts of Western Europe and Africa 9,000 years before the time of Solon, or approximately 9600 BC. After a failed attempt to invade Athens, Atlantis sank into the ocean "in a single day and night of misfortune".

Scholars dispute whether and how much Plato's story or account was inspired by older traditions. In Critias, Plato claims that his accounts of ancient Athens and Atlantis stem from a visit to Egypt by the legendary Athenian lawgiver Solon in the 6th century BC. In Egypt, Solon met a priest of Sais, who translated the history of ancient Athens and Atlantis, recorded on papyri in Egyptian hieroglyphs, into Greek. Some scholars argue Plato drew upon memories of past events such as the Thera eruption or the Trojan War, while others insist that he took inspiration from contemporary events like the destruction of Helike in 373 BC[1] or the failed Athenian invasion of Sicily in 415–413 BC.

The possible existence of a genuine Atlantis was discussed throughout classical antiquity, but it was usually rejected and occasionally parodied by later authors. Alan Cameron states: "It is only in modern times that people have taken the Atlantis story seriously; no one did so in antiquity".[2] The Timaeus remained known in a Latin rendition by Calcidius through the Middle Ages, and the allegorical aspect of Atlantis was taken up by Humanists in utopian works of several Renaissance writers, such as Francis Bacon's New Atlantis and Thomas More's Utopia. Atlantis inspires today's literature, from science fiction to comic books to films. Its name has become a byword for any and all supposed advanced prehistoric lost civilizations.

Happy Reading!

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Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Mine is from pg. 114 of The Hunt for Atlantis by Andy McDermott

Hafez clamped his hand over it. “Agh! That bastard son of a syphilitic whore shot me.”

Happy Reading!

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Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack Review

The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder

Genre: Adult Fiction

Publisher: Pyr

Source: Personal Copy

Book Description:

Sir Richard Francis Burton--explorer, linguist, scholar, and swordsman; his reputation tarnished; his career in tatters; his former partner missing and probably dead.

Algernon Charles Swinburne--unsuccessful poet and follower of de Sade; for whom pain is pleasure, and brandy is ruin!

They stand at a crossroads in their lives and are caught in the epicenter of an empire torn by conflicting forces: Engineers transform the landscape with bigger, faster, noisier, and dirtier technological wonders; Eugenicists develop specialist animals to provide unpaid labor; Libertines oppose repressive laws and demand a society based on beauty and creativity; while the Rakes push the boundaries of human behavior to the limits with magic, drugs, and anarchy.

The two men are sucked into the perilous depths of this moral and ethical vacuum when Lord Palmerston commissions Burton to investigate assaults on young women committed by a weird apparition known as Spring Heeled Jack, and to find out why werewolves are terrorizing London's East End.

Their investigations lead them to one of the defining events of the age, and the terrifying possibility that the world they inhabit shouldn t exist at all!

Review

If you’re a fan of steam punk, time travel, fantastical devices and adventure, then hold on to your seats. This was a fun read and I’m glad I picked it up.  This is the first in a series featuring the real Sir Richard Francis Burton and his friend the poet Algernon Swinburne.

The book starts out a little slow, but give in about 6 chapters and you’ll be hooked. This world has Florence Nightingale, Charles Darwin as part of a group of individuals who can prolong a person’s life in unusual ways.

I enjoyed this romp through Victorian London and the unusual devices and the mystery as to who or what is Spring Heeled Jack.  If you want a fun read and pure escapism then this is the book for you.

Happy Reading!

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Friday Factoid

FRIDAY FACTOID

This is a meme that I started.  Every Friday I’ll put a factoid based on a book I’m reading. The book can be fiction or non-fiction If you want to participate, just leave a comment and your website to share.

I’m reading The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder. It has several memorable people. One is Richard Francis Burton.

According to Wikipedia.com:

Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS (19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British geographer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia, Africa and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian and African languages.[1]

Burton's best-known achievements include traveling in disguise to Mecca, an unexpurgated translation of One Thousand and One Nights (also commonly called The Arabian Nights in English after Andrew Lang's abridgement), bringing the Kama Sutra to publication in English, and journeying with John Hanning Speke as the first Europeans led by Africa's greatest explorer guide, Sidi Mubarak Bombay, utilizing route information by Indian and Omani merchants who traded in the region, to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile. Burton extensively criticized colonial policies (to the detriment of his career) in his works and letters. He was a prolific and erudite author and wrote numerous books and scholarly articles about subjects including human behaviour, travel, falconry, fencing, sexual practices and ethnography. A unique feature of his books is the copious footnotes and appendices containing remarkable observations and information.

He was a captain in the army of the East India Company, serving in India (and later, briefly, in the Crimean War). Following this, he was engaged by the Royal Geographical Society to explore the east coast of Africa and led an expedition guided by the locals and was the first European to see Lake Tanganyika. In later life, he served as British consul in Fernando Po, Santos, Damascus and, finally, Trieste. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and was awarded a knighthood (KCMG) in 1886.

Happy Reading!

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