A weekly meme about (mostly) books and reading. It is November 11th, known here in the U.S. as Veteran’s Day, formerly Armistice Day to remember the end of WWI but expanded to honor all veterans who have fought for their country, so this week’s question is:
Do you read war stories? Fictional ones? Histories?
War stories and military history are not the type of books I usually read. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t read one, I just don’t seek them out. Recently I bought a copy of The Things They Carried“ by Tim O’Brien, a book about those who served in the Vietnam War. It was highly recommended so I will give it a chance.
While I don’t go looking for war as a genre, I don’t mind it as part of a story. Gone With The Wind is one of my favorite novels and the Civil War is an ever present backdrop in the book. I read a lot of science fiction and war and battles are frequently at the center of the plot. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman is an all-time favorite of mine as is Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. Those are just the first few that came to mind.
The Unwanted by Daniel L. Carter
Genre: Science Fiction
Published: August 2010
Rating: 4 of 5
Two young nurses working at a clinic overhear a plot to murder them and the five newborn babies they are caring for. They flee into the night taking the infants with them to safety. Fourteen months earlier FBI Agents investigating a spree of crime scenes in which five babies are always among the casualties close in on a suspect only to watch him get away. Moments later there is an explosion of smoke and flames and more dead bodies. A brilliant but evil scientist has been conducting genetic experiments and things have been going horribly wrong.
We learn all of this in the first few pages. I enjoy a book that starts out fast and drops the reader right into the middle of a thrilling adventure. As I was reading the first few chapters I was already asking myself questions: what was happening, who was doing this, how would they resolve this? I was hooked.
Janet, one of the nurses, knows a place they can take the babies where no one will find them. Her uncle, Leigh, has a ranch in Oklahoma with a cabin where they can stay. This is a difficult decision for Janet as she and her uncle have not communicated in years and there was an unpleasant scene when they last spoke. Leigh, however, is a devout Christian and is more than willing to forgive, provide shelter and offer his help.
As they settle in and begin caring for the infants it quickly becomes apparent that these are not normal children. They are growing rapidly and look and act twice their age. As the years pass they manage to stay hidden and out of view of the public. Each of the children have begun to display impossible superhuman abilities. Soon it proves difficult to hide them from the authorities and more importantly from the bad guys they escaped from years ago. They have become a family now and protecting the children and each other is a priority.
This is a blend of action, adventure and science fiction with a Christian theme. Don’t run off it you don’t read Christian books. The religion is subtle; the author does not hit you over the head with it or preach at you. Through a series of events in her past Janet has lost her faith. The children and her uncle help her rediscover what she has lost. This theme is essential to her character’s development and to understanding the children and their fight for good against evil.
This is part one of a trilogy. The ending left me wanting for more while at the same time resolving enough of the story in book one to keep me happy. I recommend The Unwanted to readers of all ages.
————-
Source: Review Copy provided by the author.
More information about the book on The Unwanted Trilogy web page.
————-
I participate in Book Review Party Wednesday. Click the link to find more great reviews.
Musing Monday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. This week’s musing asks in regards to a report on trends in reader’s current book buying habits:
What are your responses to this report? Does it match with what you –as a reader– have observed? With your own buying habits? When was the last time you bought a book? What did you buy and why?
I’m not surprised that Amazon’s share of book sales has increased. They make it easy, convenient and less expensive than the alternative: driving to the bookstore which may or may not even have what I want in stock. Is this a good thing? That depends on who you are asking. I love being able to order a book online and have it appear in my mailbox a few days later. I think the days of the large chain retail book stores are numbered, rarely do I walk into one anymore. Some of the local indie bookstores will do alright if they tap into the book buyers in the community and offer them something more than just full price books. Appearances and readings by authors, hosting a bookclub or some other special event will draw book lovers and potential buyers.
Where do I get my books? The majority of my books come from the Friends of the Library sales and other local used book sales. I’ll order from Amazon if I can’t wait, need a gift or want a specific title like one of my photography or birding books. I’m also a heavy user of the local library. Plus I donate money and books that I am finished with back to the Friends of the Library so they can purchase more books. I rarely buy a hardcover book; only if I intend to keep it for my collection or have it signed. My last book purchase was a hardcover of Skating Around The Law which I bought at my local indie store last month where the author was appearing and signing the books. The book came with a free t-shirt which was very cool; it had the book signing tour on the back of it like a concert t-shirt.
Finally, a word on e-books. I don’t read them because I don’t have an e-reader. I won’t spend what I feel is an excessive amount of money on a device that will most likely be obsolete in the next year and does not allow me to share, trade or donate my book when I’m done with it. When the e-readers drop in price to the disposable level, as most electronic devices eventually do when they reach saturation point, I will own one. Until then I am happy with my paperbacks.
On weekends I like to grab my binoculars and camera, go out in my yard or for walk in the park and watch birds. I guess you could say I love birds.
Beginning next weekend and continuing until early April I’ll be participating in Project FeederWatch. It’s a survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. I’ll spend an hour or two each weekend counting the number and species of birds that stop at my backyard feeders. The data will be used by scientists to track bird populations.
Birds are one of my favorite subjects to photograph. They are also some of the most frustrating because they tend to move around a lot resulting in many discarded blurry photos. I’ll be sharing some of my more successful pictures here on the weekends. I usually put them on my garden/nature blog, but I know some of the visitors here like birds too. I’ll also be posting some bird related book reviews both fiction and non-fiction.
So, let me know, do you like birds too? Any other bird watchers?
Last weekend I picked the last of my herbs and vegetables from the garden and needed to use them up, give them away or freeze them for the winter. In an effort to ward off cold and flu season, I brewed up a big pot of chicken broth using some of my tomatoes and parsley.
This is an amazingly easy recipe and will make about 12 bowls of soup. It can be frozen for use later, like when you have a cold and you want soup but the stuff in the can looks unappetizing.
Ingredients:
- 4 pounds chicken, cut up
- 2 carrots
- 4 celery stalks including the leaves
- 1 medium onion
- 1 medium tomato
- 1 small potato
- 1 sml bunch flat parsley (3-4 sprigs)
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/8 tea pepper or 3 peppercorns
Preparation:
Fill large pot ¾ with cold water. Rinse and cut up chicken if bought whole. Place in pot and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes skimming off any scum or foam. Add the vegetables, salt and pepper. Return to a boil and simmer covered for 2 to 2½ hours. Cool and strain broth into jars. Chopped up veggies and chicken can be added back to the soup if desired. I use it as broth and add noodles when reheating.
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Participation is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs.
The Book Blogger Hop, a weekly event hosted by Jen at Crazy For Books, is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word!
Post about the Hop on your blog. Spread the word about the book party! The Hop lasts Friday through Monday. If you don’t have time to Hop today, come back later and join the fun! Each week there is a new discussion question for your post. This week’s question is:
What are your feelings on losing followers?
Have you ever stopped following a blog?
I don’t worry too much about followers. Since this is a WordPress blog I don’t have a google friend connect widget so it’s not immediately visible how many followers I have. My regular readers either follow by email or subscribe to my feed. If I want statistics on visitors and subscribers I have to look them up.
I’m not too sure the google friend connect number is a good indicator of how many people are regular readers. It does tell you how many different people have stopped by at least once. More important to me are comments and conversation. I’m happy if someone comes back again. I realize not everyone that stops by will comment every time, and that’s ok, we’re all quite busy.
I haven’t stopped following very many blogs, maybe a few that I shouldn’t have added in the first place. I try to follow blogs that have the same tastes in books as I do.
What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share your FRIDAY FINDS! This weekly event is hosted by Should Be Reading.
Lawrence Block has a new Matthew Scudder novel, A Drop of the Hard Stuff, coming out in May 2011. This is probably my favorite detective series. This story will be set back in time in the early ’80s and will fill in some of the gaps of Scudder’s early history. I’m eagerly awaiting this one as the early books are some of my favorites.
Grand Master Lawrence Block returns to his most popular character, Matthew Scudder, as Scudder takes on his most personal case. Matthew Scudder is finally on the straight and narrow when he runs into “High-Low” Jack Ellery, a childhood friend from the Bronx. In Scudder, Jack sees the moral man he might have become. In Jack, Scudder sees the hard-won sobriety he hopes to achieve. Then Ellery, following to the letter the dictates of Alcoholics Anonymous’ infamous twelve steps, is shot down while attempting to atone for past sins, and Scudder is drawn into a murder investigation that threatens to upset his path toward recovery–and get him killed in the process.
Under My Apple Tree 