Category: Book Review

I wound up on the battle field right alongside Michael.  ~ Sheila

Mass Casualties

“Look around,” the drill sergeant said. “In a few years, or even a few months, several of you will be dead. Some of you will be severely wounded or so badly mutilated that your own mother can’t stand the sight of you. And for the real unlucky ones, you will come home so emotionally disfigured that you wish you had died over there.”

It was Week 7 of basic training . . . eighteen years old and I was preparing myself to die.

They say the Army makes a man out of you, but for eighteen-year-old SPC Michael Anthony, this fabled rite of passage is instead a dark and dangerous journey. After obtaining his parents’ approval to enlist at seventeen, Anthony begins this journey with an unshakeable faith in the military based on his family’s long tradition of service. But when he finds himself in a medical unit of misfits as lost as he is, Anthony not only witnesses firsthand the unspeakable horror of war, he experiences the undeniable misconduct of the military. Everything he’s ever believed in dissolves, forcing Anthony to rethink his ideals and ultimately risk his career—and his freedom—to challenge the military that once commanded his loyalty.

This searing memoir chronicles the experiences that change one young soldier forever. A seasoned veteran before the age of twenty-one, he faces the truth about the war—and himself—in this shocking and unprecedented eyewitness account.

If this book comes as surprise review out of my “genre” comfort zone to you…. you would be right.  I do not enjoy books about war.  Yet when this book was offered to me for review I had to look at Michael’s story a little closer and came to the conclusion that I didn’t know how I could not read it.

Michael takes us as readers right into his own personal war zone.  Month by month he journals life in the Army as a medic.  A real close up look from the friends he has made… the ones he has not, from sleep or lack there of and grueling work shifts.  Sometimes funny, sometimes horrifying, Michael puts it all in this book.

This was a side to to serving our country I had never deeply thought about.  Michael brought this to life in this book and gave me a close up of what it is like on the inside.

An Iraqi Man is staring at us; I see him; he wears a black and white turban, which I know means he’s been to Mecca. I’m not sure if I’ve seen skin tone like this before; it’s golden auburn.  I notice that it is the same color as the buildings, and the buildings are the same color as the sand blowing in my face.They’re the same color as the sky.  I think that if I were fifty feet away and there was a pile of sand, a building, and a naked Iraqi man, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between them.  They all looked like they belonged together: the tiny buildings, the man with the face that’s tired, the sand, the sky, and the sun.

Biography

Michael Anthony (MA) seemed destined to serve from the day he was born.  The youngest of seven children, Michael has four brothers and two sisters, all but one of whom joined the military. His father and two grandfathers were also in the Military.

After graduating high school, he joined the Army Reserves, went through basic training, and then went through job training to become an Operating Room Medic. One year later he returned home and enrolled in college to begin his first semester. Almost immediately upon finishing his first semester he was shipped off to Wisconsin to train for four months before he would leave and spend his next year in Iraq. Michael is now back in the States and working toward a Bachelor’s Degree in creative writing.

*Note:  This book contains some strong language and some sexual references.

My Amazon review

This book fits into the following challenges:

2010 100+ Reading Challenge

I received my copy from Pump Up My Blog Tour

Holy hot list Batman!  Step aside and watch out for Patch!  ~ Sheila

Exactly what is a girl to do?  Here we have Nora – she does ok for herself.  Keeps her nose clean, does her school work fair enough, and spends a lot of time alone while her mom travels for work.  Then along comes Patch and I have to say if you enjoyed the Twilight series… he has an “Ewardesque” quality to him.  He is dark, brooding, secretive, smoldering good looks – and well…. did Nora really have a chance?

This is our story line to Becca Fitzpatrick’s debut book and ever since I seen the rumblings on blogs and on twitter I couldn’t wait to put my hands and my eyes on this book.   Becca comes through in all aspects of this read and as a YA read this is a must. Wherever Nora goes Patch mysteriously seems to turn up… and at first what seems odd and annoying turns into something more for Nora as there are other forces working around her and she discovers that Patch is really the least of her worries…

Wonderfully dangerous characters mixed in with the high school group… did we all have them?  I think back and can think of one guy from high school that reminds me of Patch.  Hmmmm…. I wonder….

A book that keeps you turning the pages and thinking about it after it is done.  This is one that will stick with me and I am hopeful that Becca Fitzpatrick is wielding her pen and tapping that keyboard now creating another read – because she has indeed created a fan.

Author Becca Fitzpatrick grew up reading Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden with a flashlight under the covers. She graduated college with a degree in health, which she promptly abandoned for storytelling. When not writing, she’s most likely prowling sale racks for reject shoes, running, or watching crime dramas on TV. Her first novel, the YA thriller Hush, Hush, was published in 2009.

This book fits into the following challenges:

2010 100+ Reading Challenge

2010 YA Reading Challenge

This book is from my personal collection -I purchased at The Mother Ship Barnes and Noble in St Cloud, MN

There are a few books that are like old and dear friends… we cant wait to spend time with them again.  This book – as well as the 6 that followed… are such a friend to me.  ~  Sheila

You dont need me to tell you the story… I would think if you have not read it (oh!  Banish the thought!) or have not seen the movie (horrors at the level of a bad Ear Wax flavored Bertie Bott’s Jelly Bean!) then you have at least heard about Harry Potter.

Yes, my name is Sheila.  I am 42 years old and I am a Harry Potter fan.

This book… is book one.  The begining.  And even reading it now, like I did all those years ago it truly was like hanging out with an old friend.  I had forgotten how richly detailed, and dare I say brilliant J K Rowling was from the very first!  It was interesting to read those first pages and know now where these seeds that were innocently planted in the first book… would come to fruit books later – into a story that became way more amazing then even she could have realized.

I chuckled knowingly through moments like the first mail trying to get through to Harry while he was living ay the Dursley’s.  Remember the address?

“To Harry Potter, In the cupboard under the stairs”  and soon after…. “To Harry Potter, in the smallest bedroom”

The Hogwart’s characters all come to life and spring off the pages…. you can feel Dumbledore’s power through the pages… and sense that Snape is someone not to be forgotten…. even now…. so early on…

I marvel at how lucky we as readers are – those of us who were there as the books came out, as we waited in lines at

midnight to get our copies, or anxiously at doors to have them delivered…. some of us (no names mentioned) planning our day around the books release…. think about it.  How lucky we were to be there to experience first hand as the story came to life.  The next generations will read as the classics they will become…  and as that generation reads these books – those of us – in the know – will have a distant twinkle in our eye…. a memory, of our first steps into the world created by J K Rowling.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, along with the rest of the Harry Potter series, has been attacked by several religious groups and banned in some countries because of accusations that the novels promote witchcraft. However, some Christian commentators have written that the book exemplifies important Christian viewpoints, including the power of self-sacrifice and the ways in which people’s decisions shape their personalities. Educators regard Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and its sequels as an important aid in improving literacy because of the books’ popularity.

What did I learn by reading this book? That Quidich would be a wonderful sport to watch!   Of course, this book deals with great friendships too and I think it teaches kids to really embrace differences in others.

(I started reading this book a couple weeks ago in a mood that nothing I read was filling me…. this book did the trick and I intentionally stopped reading it so I could finish it today and make it my first completed read of 2010)

My Amazon review

This book fits into the following challenges:

The Gilmore Girls reading Challenge

2010 YA Reading Challenge

2010 100+ Reading Challenge

Harry Potter Reading Challenge

This book is from my own personal collection – my original copy that I read in 1998.

Brian Leaf’s book is smartly done!  ~ Sheila

Can you resist the allure of Edward’s myriad charms—his ochre eyes and tousled hair, the cadence of his speech, his chiseled alabaster skin, and his gratuitous charm? Will you hunt surreptitiously and tolerate the ceaseless deluge in Forks to evade the sun and uphold the facade? Join Edward and Bella as you learn more than 600 vocabulary words to improve your score on the *SAT, ACT®, GED®, and SSAT® exams!

Use this workbook side-by-side with your own copy of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight!
• Each chapter of the workbook gives you eight words taken from Twilight, with page references for you to read the words in the context of your favorite novel
• Define the words on your own before turning back to the workbook for their actual definitions
• At the end of each section you’ll take SAT, ACT, GED, and SSAT drills and quizzes to review and integrate what you’ve learned
• Plus, you’ll learn synonyms, Latin word parts, and memorization tools throughout the workbook

Honestly?  I think this is brilliant!  What a clever way Brain Leaf has put together here to learn great vocabulary words and actually make learning fun.  Right from page 1 you have the words from the book Twilight with the page number provided to look it up.  AT this stage of the book you are to write down what the word might mean.  Flip to the next page and the definitions are there so you can see how you did.  From there you move on to synonyms for each word, choosing analogies, and sentence completion.  I had a wonderful time going through this workbook page by page and seeing what I did and did not know.

“Did I learn from this book?“ I would think would be a question you may be asking.  The answer is yes.  Even words that I thought I had a good grasp on, I discovered in a few cases I did not quite hold their correct meaning.  When I read Twilight I did not notice the words that were put into use but now as I see how they are used in Defining Twilight, I am even more impressed with Stephanie Meyer’s work.

For a person who is a lover of words… this was a great exercise for me and I would think if you have a YA in your life who is a fan of Twilight, this is a great companion read that could be very beneficial.

About Brian Leaf

Brian Leaf, M.A., is the author of  six books, including Defining Twilight and the four-book SAT and ACT test-prep series McGraw-Hill’s Top 50 Skills. He is Director of the New Leaf Learning Center in Massachusetts, and has provided SAT, ACT, GED, SSAT, and GRE preparation to thousands of students from throughout the United States.

My Amazon Review

I received my copy of this book for review from Author Brian Leaf

It is people like Austin Gutwein who inspire me to be a better person.  ~  Sheila

Only God could weave a story that would captivate people all over the world, bring thousands of people from seventeen countries to a free-throw line, raise over a million dollars in international AIDS relief, and build a school and medical clinic in Zambia.

And only God do it through the hands of a nine-year-old boy.

What an amazing story of what a difference one person can make!  Austin’ story is one that made my heart sore.  I love true stories of young people doing things that those two, three, or four times their age have not attempted.  There is something pure int hat kind of thinking and that is what I found within this book – within Austin himself.

This past September I had the opportunity to take part in a bike ride that raised money for children with AIDS.  It was one of those experiences that caused me to step away from my own life and really take a look at what is going on around me.  It was life changing and I am so ready and willing to do it again.  This book, Austin’s story, brings me back to that moment – a moment of seeing things that often are overlooked.

At the end of each chapter are questions to ponder, scripture to think on… and a task to do.  The task could be send a card to someone you know who is ill, connecting with an old friend – all the way to putting together your own Hoops of Hope event.

I found this book to be a wonderful reminder of the power that each of us has within us.  When we think there is nothing possibly that we could do – we need to remember we dont know the power of a smile to someone who is desperately hurting, we dont know the power of a kind word to a stranger, and we do not know what picking up the phone and calling that person who has been on our heart lately will not only do for that person – but for you as well.

Click here for Austin’s Blog

My Amazon Review

I received my review copy from Thomas Nelson

Oh wow – this book is like a step back in time… suddenly I was filled with wonderful memories of childhood toys and games and the friends that gathered around them!  ~  Sheila

We all had a favorite toy or game growing up.  Those toys usually have memories attached to them… bringing up an image to said toy can bring along with it memories of our youth, the home we played with them in as well as the people who were a part of this time.

Arranged in chronological order, this book is a delight for any one – any age.   As I looked through this book I was filled with nostalgia, for games such as Candy Land, Slinky, Silly Putty…

Each game/toy has the year it was originally made, the packaging as it changed through the years, and it’s creator.  I enjoyed reading this book literally page by page absorbing all the facts behind my favorites and seein g the brilliance that was behind favorites like Scrabble:

Alfred Butts was the creator of Scrabble (originally called Lexico (1931-1938) and the n Criss-Cross(1938-1947).  In1931 Butts made sets of this game by hand and sold them to friends and acquaintances.  More significantly, he tried to license his creation with Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers and both rejected him. Butts assigned each letter a face value based on its occurrence in every day language.  He gave the Q and Z 10 point values.  By using this criteria there should have been more S’s in the game than Butt’s had introduced, but he correctly surmised that the game would be too unbalanced if easy points were often scored by pluralizing.  He shrewdly added two blank tiles, which could be used for any letter the player wanted.  By 1953, to fill the demand, 150,000 Scrabble tiles were made daily.

This book is a true treasure that I will keep on my bookshelf for reference for years to come.  My whole family enjoyed looking through this book and sharing facts on our favorites and I am sure yours will too!

My Amazon Review

I received my review copy of this book from author Tim Walsh

I laughed out loud at some of the “spoofy” comments…. ~  Sheila

About three things I was absolutely certain. First, Edwart was most likely my soul mate, maybe. Second, there was a vampire part of him–which I assumed was wildly out of his control–that wanted me dead. And third, I unconditionally, irrevocably, impenetrably, heterogeneously, gynecologically, and disreputably wished he had kissed me.

And thus Belle Goose falls in love with the mysterious and sparkly Edwart Mullen in the Harvard Lampoon’s hilarious send-up of Twilight.

Pale and klutzy, Belle arrives in Switchblade, Oregon looking for adventure, or at least an undead classmate. She soon discovers Edwart, a super-hot computer nerd with zero interest in girls. After witnessing a number of strange events–Edwart leaves his tater tots untouched at lunch! Edwart saves her from a flying snowball!–Belle has a dramatic revelation: Edwart is a vampire. But how can she convince Edwart to bite her and transform her into his eternal bride, especially when he seems to find girls so repulsive?

While this book had its funny moments and there were quite a few:

• Making fun of Belle’s seemingly irresistibly to the male species from every classmate all the way to the mailman….

• Belle’s mother’s obsession by emailing her 40 times to see if she is alright…

• How Edwart would not be able to resist Belle’s blood (her’s was grapefruit scented!)

But honestly for the most part… the humor was a bit lame… the story line (I wont give it away but Edwart is not a vampire after all) is dull and I found myself skipping pages just to see where it all ends up.

While fun to skim through and I did laugh out loud at times…this book would make for a funny gift for the Twilight Fan…. but I would classify it as just that – a gag gift.

My Amazon Review

I received this book from my son Justin for Christmas

“Thanks Justin!”