An Excellent Library

Review coming soon at http://excellentlibrary.wordpress.com/

In each daily reading, the author provides a brief biography of a person who appears within the Bible, giving insight into his or her life.In God’s kingdom, the first are last, and the last are first. God chooses to bless us simply because of His good pleasure and grace, not because of anything we have done.These short, daily biographies are great insights into the people through whom God shares His wonderful story. Each is short enough to read in just a few minutes, and give enough background that most people with basic Biblical background knowledge should be able to follow it and make the connections the author presents.In purely stylistic preferences, I wish the people had been presented chronologically instead of randomly, as I tend to think rather linearly and would have an easier time connecting the fascinating people together with their contemporaries and their place in history.

When R, a teenaged zombie, brings home a Living girl, Julie, he begins to change in ways that are very un-Dead-like.I don’t have a name anymore. Hardly any of us do. We lose them like car keys, forget them like anniversaries.As far as zombie books go, this one actually stands out, which, in our world oversaturated with paranormal romance, is really saying something. The narrator’s voice — vivid, somewhat sarcastic, and sorrowful for all of life that he’s missing out on — is unique and pulls you in from the first pages. Who knew that it would be so easy to sympathize with a zombie?Zombie traditionalists may have issues with how the zombies are portrayed — most aren’t your typical arms-out-moaning/slow-moving genre, and the Boneys (the ones farthest gone) are a new terror that’s barely ‘zombie’ at all.Heads up: I could have done without the frequent use of ‘colorful’ language; it was overall unnecessary.Overall: A post-apocalyptic Romeo & Juliet that’s not your typical paranormal romance.

A novella that fills in some of the gaps that of what took place for April and Kent during The Masque of the Red Death.“Be pretty… It’s the only thing that might protect you.”Perhaps if I had read this sooner after I had read The Masque of the Red Death, it wouldn’t have taken me so long to become re-acquainted with the characters, but as it was, I had a hard time getting into the story. The violence and torture in the first few pages certainly didn’t help matters.Once I had re-oriented myself to Masque‘s world, though, I appreciated the tidbits of information and the insight into two of the ‘sidekick’ characters. Since the entire thing took place within the time frame of the first novel, I’d assume that those skipping this and moving straight to the sequel would be filled in on important facts later, and wouldn’t really be missing a whole lot of the story.

Fresh out of high school and unsure of her future, Indigo takes on a job at Annabelle’s Angels, a new age shop, in hopes of some guidance for her life.I was confused about so many things. It was as if this crazy world of mine that existed in my head and body had no rules to follow, no regulations.The synopsis I read for this book talked of a young woman discovering what she wanted to do with her life while living in the Glebe neighborhood of Ottawa, Ontario. Having lived in Ottawa, somewhat near the Glebe, for a year, I knew I had to see if they did justice to one of my favorite cities. Aside from implying that the Royal Oak is in the Glebe, and neglecting to have the characters skate down the canal at any point in the novel, I’d have to say it was a pretty accurate depiction of Ottawa’s culture.As far as the actual story goes, however, I really struggled with figuring out what the driving force of the novel is. I found out later that there is prior book about Indigo called Through Indigo’s Eyes, and perhaps reading that would have helped some of my initial confusion, but even once I got into it, it seemed that the book was trying to do too many things all at once.What exactly is this book about? Well… living independent from parents, post-high-school identity crisis, dealing with bad breakups, dealing with unwanted sexual attention, dealing with rape, coping with the death of a loved one, finding one’s purpose in life, putting aside the past, learning to trust after being hurt, ghosts and hauntings, the occult and demons, new age beliefs, reincarnation, tarot readings, intuition, angels, and spirits. Overwhelmed? Yup, me too.

17-year-old Althea vows to marry for money in order to prevent her family’s perilously-perched castle from falling into ruin.“Oh, but Miss Crawley, lovely as you are, surely you of all ladies cannot find being a woman to be a burden!”Ah well. He was charming, handsome, wealthy, and titled. I supposed it was a bit much to expect him not to be a fool.This clever, ironic, Regency-era satire seems to take Jane Austen’s Emma, place her in a rather exaggerated state of poverty, then throw in a couple stepsisters and an ill-mannered Mr. Darcy, just to see what shakes out. The result is a witty, complex, tangled web of misunderstandings and misadventures that sticks close to Austen’s own writing.Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen just happens to be one of my all-time favorite books, so it didn’t take long for me to figure out how it was all going to work out in the end, and there were parts where the plot slowed to a near stand-still, but it’s a cute story definitely worth a read.

A mother-and-daughter duo visit their Iranian homeland fifteen years after immigrating to the United States for refuge amid the Iraq/Iran war.You will go to Wall Street, Dean Bailey had lectured. But first, she would go to Number 3 Takesh Street in Tehran, Iran. She would land firmly on that street and take in that other world again.This book, following Darya and Mina as they adapt first to life in America, and then to Iran once more upon their return visit, portrayed not only the harsh realities of war and the difficulties in adapting to a new culture, but also the sweetness of familial love and the things that we go through for one another. The author constructs real characters with silly quirks and idiosyncrasies that make the reader feel like they could be someone they might know, a member of their own family. Despite it’s serious subject matter, this story was truly quite cute.Personally, though, I felt it dragged on a bit. The chronology jumps from modern-day to the past and back again, but the past is simply expounding on things that the reader already knows about from the first section — the family’s life before the war, their personal loss, their escape, adjusting to the new life in America. Because we already knew what was going to happen, I found this section a bit tedious; I felt I knew enough already about their past, and was more interested in their present-day storyline.Overall: A novel about culture, culture shock, and belonging

When Sophronia is sent off to an exclusive finishing school, she finds that the school has a unique, ulterior purpose: training spies.Are those glass baubles decorative or deadly? They are rather knifelike. Can one call a chandelier sinister?This YA steampunk is precisely everything YA steampunk should be… equal parts elegant and absurd, with a mix of clockwork and gaslamps. Even Sophronia’s new school — a finishing school on a dirigible, where they are taught how to be a lady and how to be a spy — is both clever and ridiculous all at the same time. It uses the same ‘world’ as her adult series, but doesn’t include all of the sexual aspects and is quite a bit less violent.Some readers may not appreciate that much of this book revolves around world-building and describing things both Victorian and mechanical. After an initial burst of excitement, the plot really doesn’t progress a lot until the final chapters.

Behavioral specialist Noel Janis-Norton outlines step-by-step strategies that will help parents provide consistent discipline for their children.It helps to understand that we do not need to feel calm or positive. All we need to do is temporarily act calmer. This ‘act’ helps children calm down and start cooperating faster than our display of annoyance would.This book focuses around a few core strategies and applies them to many different situations in parenting, in order to develop a calmer, more positive method of dealing with misbehavior and frustrations of parenting.Descriptive praise – Telling children specifically when they are doing something right and praising them as soon as they switch from misbehavior to behaviorPreparing for success – Thinking ahead and planning for instances that you know will be difficult for your children to deal withReflective listening – Using “feeling” words to convey that you understand your child, even if you don’t agree with themNever Ask Twice – A method of curbing parental ‘nagging’ so that kids listen the first timeRewards & Consequences – How to use these effectivelySo often parenting books give advice on what to do without really establishing how to do it. ”Be consistent!” is often said, but in this book, the author breaks it down into specifics so that parents have a guide for how to be consistent in their rule-making and disciplining.On the flip side, because there are only really five strategies that are used over and over in nearly every situation, actually reading through this book can get rather tedious, since essentially, she’s saying the same thing over and over again.In my own household, I found that a lot of these were things that I do anyways, but it’s always good to be reminded and encouraged to use. Descriptive Praise works particularly well with my 3-year-old. Although I like the idea of think-it-through sessions (where the parent questions the child about new rules and their applications, allowing the child a chance to verbalize them and ask questions), some of the examples came across as a bit ”Brady Bunch” cheesy.There were also some pieces of advice with which I downright disagreed. As a teacher, the advice to only do homework for an hour and then put it away (whether it’s complete or not) does not go over well. Also, her statement that lying isn’t morally wrong and not to make a rule about “no hitting” also bothered me, as those are things that I want to teach my children, and she seemed rather dismissive of them.Overall: Great reminder of positive, effective, specific strategies to help households run more smoothly

A fictionalized biography of Katherine Luther, wife of the great Protestant reformer, Martin Luther.Katherine had been an object of interest before to the citizens of Wittenberg. People had stopped and stared at the runaway nun but had soon accepted her and become used to her. Now she was again a special object of interest. She was the wife of the famous Dr. Martin Luther.Katherine von Bora (Kitty Luther) is one historical character that has always been of special interest to me. This brisk biographical novel of her life was incredibly well-researched, and gives the reader a glimpse into the incredibly difficulties this pastor’s wife faced in her fascinating life. From escaping a convent to marrying the most well-known “heretic” of the time, dealing with the loss of two children, putting up with Luther’s idiosyncrasies and the pressures of his ministry, and finally struggling to make a living as a widow whom her husband’s followers seemed to forget about almost immediately after his death.The writing style is a bit dated; I think a modern writer might try to get into Katherine’s head a bit more, whereas this seems to at times just jump from one event to the next without a lot of time for reflection in between. The author also assumes that the reader knows at least a bit about Reformation history and the history of the world at the time. Concepts such as indulgences, diets, electors, and other people and events in Reformation history are referred to, but not explained.Overall: A touching (yes, even tear-jerking) story of Luther’s wife and helper and the daily life that they enjoyed together

Review coming soon at http://excellentlibrary.wordpress.com/

Jeremy Johnson Johnson has the ability to hear ghosts — in particular, the ghost of Jacob Grimm, who has sworn to protect Jeremy from the Finder of Occasions, a hidden evil who is waiting for an opportunity to strike again.Besides, what harm could come from a visit to the bakery in the company of three pretty girls?None.That’s what I told myself.But in this matter, as in others, I would be proved wrong.At first, I wasn’t entirely certain what to think of this novel. I liked the fact that it was narrated by the ghost of Jacob Grimm, and the unusual character and place names (such as a town called Never Better) hinted at other fantastical elements. Watching Jeremy open up and begin to enjoy life under the influence of the spunky copper-haired Ginger made it feel like a sweet coming-of-age story, but that’s not really what it was either.In fact, I spent most of the first 2/3 of the novel wondering where the plot was going. Mysteries were hinted at, but the action doesn’t really start until after page 250, at which point the book takes an entirely different turn than I ever expected. While this turn was unexpected, intense, and tied together a number of story elements that had previously seemed somewhat random, I still completed the story with the feeling that the last 1/3 came kind of out of nowhere.Overall: A modern-day fairy tale, though not the Disney version.

The story of Ken Steele, who from the ages of fourteen to forty-six battled persistent, vicious voices in his head and struggled with finding help for his schizophrenia.[T]he voices were always waiting in the dark, prepared to take advantage of any opportunity, any slight break in my confidence, when they would take over and aim me toward self-destruction.This memoir was incredibly intense, the kind of story that you don’t easily forget. Ken Steele’s daily struggles for over three decades brought him down to such depths — alcoholism, prostitution, a seemingly never-ending series of psychiatric wards rife with abuse, even rape. His ‘voices’ are absolutely terrifying, the kind of demonic things horror stories are filled with; that alone made this a difficult book to read.The information that he shares here, though, gives such a clear picture of the struggles people with schizophrenia face that it would be nearly impossible to not feel sympathy for Ken Steele and others who suffer the same illness. He presents a strong cry for mental illness awareness, and the humane treatment of mentally ill patients. The final section picks apart mental health legislature over the last decades, showing the pros and cons of different bills.Overall: A painfully honest, uncensored look at one man’s struggle with schizophrenia. Not pretty, but an important message regardless.

Review coming soon at http://excellentlibrary.wordpress.com/

When child violin prodigy Daniel Horowitz learns the story of his family’s priceless violins that were lost during World War II, his mentor Rafael Gomez vows to help him discover what happened to them.“Don’t you see? It is the gift from your poppa. We must find that violin and we will find your heritage, Dan. Then you’ll play for the whole world.”Books about the Holocaust have a way of being heart-wrenching and poignant simply by their subject matter, and this book was no exception. This book starts with a tale of modern-day child violin prodigy, then tells the story of his family’s violin and how it was lost when they were sent to the concentration camps, followed by the story of how the violin came to its current owner and the special meaning it held for him, and finishes up as Daniel’s mentor tries to re-connect the violin with its rightful owners. I was impressed with the layers of musical and historical knowledge that was woven through this book.Strangely, though, I feel that the weakest section was that of Simon in the concentration camp. I didn’t feel as connected to these characters, so even when there were fatalities, it was simply stated, accepted, and didn’t bring forth an emotional response. The pacing through the entire book was a bit slow, and it took me awhile to get into the story.Heads up: This book does contain some profanity and sexual content.Overall: A book for music lovers who have an interest in history

After a near-death experience, a teen finds herself getting “pulled” into an alien-hunting alternate reality where she and a group of friends must fight their impending invasion of earth.“Don’t listen to him. We still have real lives. They just get temporarily interrupted every now and then.”Awesome premise. I loved the Ender’s Game-type setup, a world under threat of an alien invasion. Being “pulled” via time travel to the battleground, where then, if you succeed, you’re thrown right back to where you were, and if you don’t, then you die in real life, too. The “battle” scene involved high stakes, high energy, intensity.But, that’s where it all kind of falls apart. This book does NOT stand alone; it simply sets the stage for the rest of the series, and ends in a frustrating cliffhanger. Not only that, but SO MANY things are unresolved, things that the main character spends the entire book wondering about and asking about and getting cryptic half-answers about, to the point where I, as the reader, felt like I was being toyed with. The answers that were given were either so obvious that you feel like throwing the book across the room for dragging it out for so long, or were so convoluted that they only raise more questions.Overall: Great premise, but wait for the full series (or at least the next book), because this one isn’t satisfying on its own.