Summer of Fire: Book One in the Yellowstone Series by Linda Jacobs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Summer of Fire was free when I downloaded it to my Nook.

Jacobs does a good job of taking known events of the 1988 summer fires of Yellowstone and buildinjg fictional stories into those facts.

I recommend it to readers of romance novels.

View all my reviews

Market Upside Down by Vinh Q. Tran
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Market Upside Down was free when I downloaded it for my Nook. It was recommended by the commenter Spec.

This book has a good explanation of the 2008 recession and of other recessions before it. Tran describes why it will be difficult to get out of this mess.

From record government budget deficits to overleveraging in the household and financial sectors, from the unprecedented national debt burden to trade deficits and reliance on foreign countries for debt financing, from a deteriorated domestic manufacturing base, and low personal savings to a weakened world economy, the United States has little flexibility to repair its economy and return to a healthy growth rate.

Tran suggests an Absolute Return Approach and asset allocation strategy that is designed to provide liquidity and income and preserve capital. I agree with his recommendation for a fixed income portfolio. I drawback at his suggestion to use hedge funds to minimize risks for these may be available only to accredited investors. These also are more difficult to withdraw funds plus there is less transparency in accounting and reporting to investors.


View all my reviews

Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Bright Young Things was free when I downloaded it to my Nook.

I started out disappointed in the story because Cordelia married before she went to New York. I kept waiting for her husband to figure into this story, and he never did. Cordelia already had plans to go to New York so why bring the marriage into the story line?



View all my reviews

Canyonlands: Wilderness Of Rocks by Nicky Leach
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is another book I bought for its pictures. It was sold as a part of a set with another book by Nicky Leach, Arches.The photography is by Tom Till.
I recommend it as a souvenir for tourtists or for readers who enjoy landscape photography of the Canyonlands area.

View all my reviews

Arches National Park: Where Rock Meets Sky by Nicky Leach
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I bought this book, when I was on vacation, for the pictures.
The text, written by Nicky Leach, interested me, with its five chapter divisions. Recommendations for other destinations, resources and suggested reading are included.
I recommend it as a souvenir for tourists and for readers who appreciate photographs of Arches National Park.

View all my reviews

The Cerebellum: Brain for an Implicit Self by Masao Ito
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I downloaded this as a Free Friday suggestion from a another reader. Another goodreads reviewer suggested this was not for someone expecting a book written for the lay reader and I thought my background in pharmacy would be enough to help me understand the book. It was not. I finished the book by only reading the introductions and summaries of each chapter.
Ito does write better than most continuing education I wade through but it still above my understanding of the subject for this to be enjoyable. This is more for readers who are majoring in the subject.

View all my reviews

Lake Powell: Glen Canyon National Recreation Area by Gary Ladd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I bought this book when I met the author who visited the Arizona Highways photographic workshop I attended in Page, Arizona.
The author contributed both photographs and text to this book. He includes photo tips and safety principles for Lake Powell.
I recommend this book for tourists and photographers who have an interest in this area.

View all my reviews

The Magnificent 12: The Call with Bonus Material by Michael Grant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I downloaded this as a Free Friday Nook selection in 2011. I like Free Friday selections for the opportunity to read different authors and different genres. This is a fantasy for middle readers, targeting ten-year old boys.

View all my reviews

Landforms of the Colorado Plateau: The Story Behind the Scenery by Gary Ladd
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I purchased this book from the author while I attended an Arizona Highways photographic workshop about slot canyons in Page, Arizona. Gary Ladd attended the farewell dinner with our group.
Ladd wrote the text and took the photographs.
I recommend this book for tourists and locals who want to understand more about what they are seeing all along the Colorado Plateau.


View all my reviews

Phantom by Jo Nesbø
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the last book in my project to read all the translated Harry Hole mysteries, and the author did not disappoint me. I read slowly at first to savor the craftsmanship of this novel and ended up with a 4 A.M. reading session because I urgently had to know if the author was taking this book to where I suspected he was going.
One savory part of the author’s craft I enjoy is the social commentary he includes, even in the thoughts of supporting characters. Here are two examples that I think extend beyond Norwegian culture to American culture.

What a country of lazy shits, with fucking hypocritical politicians claiming that people actually wanted to work if they could. Norwegians voted for the Socialist Party because it made it a human right to shirk their jobs, and who the hell wouldn't vote for a party that gave you three days off without a doctor's note, gave you carte blanche to sit at home and jerk off or go skiing or recover from a hangover? The Socialist Party knew, of course, what a perk this was, but still tried to appear responsible, preened themselves with their "trust in most people" and declared the right to malinger as some kind of social reform. The Progress Party was even more fucking infuriating, buying itself votes with tax cuts and hardly bothering to conceal the fact.

Everyone knew that fat had become the new cancer, yet they bellyached about the dieting hysteria and applauded the "real" women's body. As though doing no exercise and being overfed was some kind of sensible mold.

I recommend new readers start with The Redbreast and read the entire series.


View all my reviews

Don't Know Much About Mythology: Everything You Need to Know About the Greatest Stories in Human History but Never Learned by Kenneth C. Davis
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I downloaded this ebook as a free offering from Barnes and Noble Nook store.

I liked that this book gave me an opportunity to read the mythologies from some cultures I was not familiar; and at the same time, I disliked when Davis often lumped together too many cultures simply because they were on the same continent. I disliked the digressions made to show similarities with other cultures for the digressions slowed the pace of the narrative to the point this reader lost interest. I did not like when he classified former religions as mythologies for his tone became condesending, and maybe disrespectful.

I recommend this book for its bibliography.

View all my reviews

Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am a fan of the series, and I eagerly anticipated the release of Speaking from Among the Bones.

I enjoy the voice and character Bradley gives to the eleven-year-old sleuth Flavia de Luce and the voices and characters given to her supporting cast in her family and the village of Bishop's Lacey, and I am pulled into her imaginative and inquisitive world as fast as her bicycle Gladys will take us. With the last five words, I eagerly anticipate the next novel.

I recommend this for fans of the series, and I recommend new readers start with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

View all my reviews