Title:The Sun's Heartbeat: And Other Stories from the Life of the Star That Powers Our Planet
by Bob Berman
Publisher: Little, Brown, and Co.
Published: July 13, 2011
ISBN: 9780316091015
Pages:304

The Sun's Heartbeat and Other Stories from the Life of the Star That Powers Our Planet is Bob Berman's engrossing biography of the sun.  Chronicling from the creation of the Sun to it's predicted future, The Sun's Heartbeat gives many facts about the Sun previously unknown by the average person.  Examples include:

• Every rainbow is unique to the person viewing it. Two people can never see the same rainbow; One person can never see the same rainbow twice.
• The sky is really violet but on that end of the color spectrum, our eyes easily perceive the blue.  Hence, we see blue skies.
• Our eyes are designed to see the color green.  Green is the last color the human eye can see in the dark.
• Shockingly contrary to everything we've been told, sunblock might be more of a con than a pro due to the reduction of vitamin D production in its wearers.

From the cataclysmic events that led to the sun's creation to the wacky behavior of the sun in recent, we see how the sun has shaped human civilization and continues to affect our daily life.  It's really startling to see the progression of sun science from ancient temples designed for various equinoxes and eclipse viewing to people being harassed for espousing doctrine that varied from the Church's stance on the Sun, its origins, and its relation to earth.  We seemingly have made a loop recently from massive gains in our knowledge of the sun to the denial by many of global warming even with vast and mounting evidence.  (Yes, it exists even though many places had brutal winters recently.  Most of our temperature gain will be during the winter nights when most people aren't awake or outside to tell the difference.)

For us amateur sky observers, Berman details the varied solar events (eclipses - full and partial, rainbows, diffraction, aurora borealis, etc. and how to observe some of these.  He also includes a handy list of solar eclipses in case the reader wants to see one. 

This book is right up my alley with all the random cool and strange facts about our Sun.  If you are a science fan or enjoy learning about new things, this is a great book for you.  Bob Berman was able to explain pretty complex science in understandable language.  He uses sources from various cultures not just European to show the way earthlings have dealt with the sun and used it to develop cultures (some ancients using their knowledge of eclipses and such to lord it over other less advance cultures).  He gives plenty of evidence of the whole global warming phenomena that explains the cold winters/moderate summer in many place.  Get this book to increase your solar awareness.

**This book was provided by the publisher Little, Brown, and Co. in exchange for my honest opinion.**

Review: Vanished in the Night by Eileen Carr

 

Title: Vanished in the Night by Eileen Carr
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: July 26, 2011
ISBN: 9781439183878
Pages:352

    Vanished in the Night begins with the discovery of human remains at a construction site in Sacramento, California.  When the police arrive to notify Veronica Osborne that the remains belong to her long missing brother Max, she is both saddened and relieved.  She finally knows what happened to her brother.  Panic takes over when she realizes that the officers suspect her father in the death which is quickly ruled a homicide.  She knows her father, George Osborne, is a hostile drunk with a history of abusing Max but she can't give in to the possibility that he might have killed Max.  Veronica decides to conduct her own investigation to protect her father and find out what happened to Max.  Her desire to keep her dad out of harm's way is only intensified by her annoyance and lust for the detective on the case Zach McKnight.  Neither does Zach expect to develop feelings for Veronica who utterly annoys him with her meddling in the investigation and refusal to let him do his job. As more deaths occur, the police delve into the past to figure out the killer's motivation and try to stop him.  The increasing danger of the case brings Zach and Veronica together.  This togetherness sets the killer off and he makes Veronica his next target.  Now Zach has to stop the killer before he gets Veronica.

Vanished in the Night is a pretty quick,enjoyable read; I read it in one day. We learn pretty early in the book who the culprit is but we are on edge waiting for him to finish his plan or be caught by the police.    The main characters are well written - Veronica as the eager to please child of violence and alcoholism and Zach as the reform school graduate turned cop.  The choices made by the characters seem in keeping with their personality as described.  The only detraction for me was some of the pop culture references and dated slang; all in all, this book was a great read for a summer's afternoon.


**This book was provided by the publisher Pocket Books in exchange for my honest opinion.**

Review: The Skin Map by Steven Lawhead

 

Title: The Skin Map by Steven Lawhead
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: August 2010
ISBN: 9781595548047
Pages:345

  On an ordinary day, Cosimo "Kit" Livingstone is rushing to go shopping with his girlfriend, Wilhelmina.  However, this is no ordinary day.  Rerouted trains, a malfunctioning transit card, unhelpful station agents, and traveling an unfamiliar part of London, all seem to conspire to keep him from his shopping trip.  Ducking down an alley for a shortcut, Kit stumbles into an isolated storm.  After emerging from the storm, he meets a man purporting to be his great grandfather Cosimo Livingstone.  The elder Mr. Livingstone requests his help for an epic mission.  Initially Kit scoffs at the old man, but when the old man calls him by his given name and peaks his curiosity, Kit agrees to a short conversation.
  As they make their way to a pub, Kit starts to suspect he's not in London anymore.  At first he thinks, he is in one of those historical villages for visitors.  Over a quick drink, his great grandfather enlightens him to the existence of ley lines, energy trails recognized and marked by ancient man.  The markers were placed at the spot where one could jump from one dimension of the galaxy to the next.  The ancients had knowledge but in the present ages the knowledge of the leys and their uses and how to navigate them have been reduced to superstitions.  Cosimo needs Kit to help him on a quest for a relic related to the use of leys.
  Kit is understandably flustered and refuses to get sucked into a scheme by some random old dude.  When he manages to return to his London, he treks to Wilhelmina, who is none to happy to see him.  Somehow eight hours have passed between his entrance and exit from the other dimension.  Wilhelmina is pissed to have spent her day off waiting for Kit only for him to arrive late telling some weird story.  Determined to prove his story, Kit takes her to the alley and shows her the ley.  In the journey between dimension, they get separated and Kit reunites with Cosimo and sets of to find Wilhelmina before it's too late.

I found the concept of the book enjoyable and somewhat original given my limited forays into sci-fi, time travel, quest literature.  The characters are ok.  Kit and Wilhelmina are ok main characters.  In the beginning of the book, Kit seems like a loser so I guess the choice between his boring life and interdimension travel was pretty easy.  Wilhelmina is way more interesting because she manages to assimilate to her new reality and accomplish many things and really hits her stride - all with only the barest understanding of what has happened to her.  Nevertheless while there are original plot points and characters, some of the other characters are pretty much from central casting.  New world, same old plot.  Reading through the book, I noticed a pretty massive inconsistency in the logic of the books universe; it happened several times.  While I realize this is the first in a series and maybe the inconsistencies will be explained later in the series, these are still pretty big plot holes.  For me, it was like watching a car get swallowed by a pothole.  That being said, I honestly can't say whether I would read book two of this series.  I find the whole idea interesting but what if the inconsistency is stll there.

***  This book was provided by booksneeze.com in exchange for my honest opinion.  *** 

Review: What Did I Do Wrong by Liz Pryor

 

Title: What Did I Do Wrong?: What to Do When You Don't Know Why the Friendship is Over by Liz Pryor
Publisher: Free Press
Published: May 17, 2011
ISBN: 9781451649659
Pages: 208

    Friendships between women are the thing of lore: bosom buddies, summer sisters, sisterhood of the traveling pants, and so forth.  But what happens when the fun is over?
    There are tons of books of that celebrate the greatness of the bond between two women, but none about how to fix the friendship once it starts going south.  It's relatively easy to find books or societal validation of the heartbreak caused by the end of a relationship, but none specifically about female friendships.  If your spouse/lover/partner walked out on you, everyone would understand your need for a grieving period, why should a breakup with your bff be any different?  Liz Pryor set out to find out the reasons for the failure of friendships and ways to fix or end them in a way that gives both parties closure. 
   The book is full of tips on how to recuperate from being dumped by your bff.  There are also several chapters about how to dump bffs, particularly with crazy, emotional, or otherwise unpredictable people. She has a couple situations where the friendship doesn't end, it just changes.  With a little help from her husband, she even gets reunited with one of her own former bffs.
   This is a great book from someone that just lost a friendship and is trying to come to terms with the loss.  Believe me there are some stories in the book that are so petty or so terrible, you will definitely feel better or get some guidance about your situation.  She encourages letter writing, which isn't always a good thing.  Know yourself: if you're scared you're coming across like a stalker, you probably are being stalkerish.  Also watch those emails and voicemails.  The last friendship explosion I had resulted in some really crazy emails and voicemails.  If your friend, sends you a letter, open it.  You do not want to regret what could have been.  The main thing I got is to treat your friendships like all the other major relationships in your life.  Don't negate the value of the friendship because it is a platonic, female friendship.

* This book was provided by the publisher Free Press in exchange for my honest opinion. *

Review: In Stitches by Anthony Youn, M.D.

Title: In Stitches by Anthony Youn, M.D.
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: April 26, 2011
ISBN: 9781451608441
Pages: 288

    Growing up Anthony Youn was one of two Asian kids in his small Michigan town.  He struggles to fit in and be one of the cool kids -- a mission not made any easier by his immigrant father's commands for him to study to be a doctor (surgeon, not family practitioner), to practice tennis, and to do the yard work.  Even brief periods of coolness by association can't help Anthony in his mission to be a "cool" kid.  He buckles down and works hard to follow his father's directions or at least appear to.  Then, in high school, it happens.  His underbite becomes more and more massive as his jaw refuses to stop growing.  He undergoes surgery to correct his jaw problem and a spark for his eventual career is born.
    Youn goes to college convinced that he will become a doctor and that he will finally get a girl.  He aces his classes and makes friends, but still has trouble meeting girls.  No matter what advice his friends give; he always seems to strike out.  After four years of college, he's ready for medical school but his social life is in an even worse condition.  Not until medical school does Youn finally starts to see being a doctor as a career and not a job where he can make money.  He begins to have more success with the ladies, not without hilarious incidents along the way.  Eventually, he meets his eventual wife.  During his pediatric rotation, he answers a call of a baby that was mauled by its mothers pet raccoon (yeah I know).  Seeing the plastic surgeon planning how to piece the baby's face back together and remembering his own jaw surgery, he feels called to become a reconstructive plastic surgeon.  He begins a mad scramble to become accepted into a plastic surgery program.  He is accepted to his first choice and is on his way to being a plastic surgeon.

In Stitches is a reference both to Dr. Youn's career as a plastic surgeon and the humor in the memoir.  He takes us back through his life detailing his victories and his defeats.  He is self-deprecating, especially in his accounts of his failed "relationships" and dates.  We can see the growth in his relationship with his father.  He realizes that his father is trying to instill a work ethic in him.  The same unfailing work ethic is what took his father from being a poor farm boy in Korea to being a Michigan OB/GYN married to a woman from a higher social class.  His father is able to relax and accept him being any type of doctor and his having a white girlfriend.  After being part of a humiliating verbal attack on his gay roommate, Youn also reevaluates his religion and chooses to practice a Christianity that accepts gay people and encourages tolerance to all of mankind.  The biggest change might be that being a doctor becomes his calling rather than a job that pleases daddy.  He realizes the responsibility he owes to his future patients to help them the same way he was helped.

There is cursing, crude humor, and other foul language in the book.  Something that detracted from the book was the fact that every woman he found intimidating was described as manly.  In addition, any woman that weren't "hot" (blond sorority girls, his eventual wife, and a couple of fiery Latinas) seemed to have been treated as wastes of space.  He routinely critiques his friend's dating choices as less than attractive because they didn't fit the Playboy/Penthouse standard.  It's just a very crude, immature point of view and hopefully he grew out of it.

Review: The Keepers of the Rose

 

Title: The Keepers of the Rose by D. J. Dalasta
ASIN: B004U2VCII
Available via Amazon Kindle Store


    Hidden for three centuries on Oak Island off the Canadian coast, Captain Kidd's bounty has taunted treasure evaded treasure seekers.  Captain Kidd failed to hide the treasure prior to his capture for piracy.  He was able to pass the mission on to his son Captain Robert Ryder.  Ryder assembled a crew of architects and workmen to build a enclosure to ensure the treasure remained hidden from humans until the year 2012.  Why  2012?  Part of the treasure is vital to humanity's fate.  Several organization -- the CIA, Delega Corporation, and the Keepers of the Rose -- would love to be people with the knowledge and thus the most powerful on earth.  A path of bloodshed, betrayals, and clues that span centuries lead to the point where we begin to understand the secrets of the rose.
    I'm sure you've heard of the ancient Mayan predictions regarding the year 2012.  Rock and his crew realize that the bounty has clues to what the Mayans really meant with their 2012 predictions.  The immense power of the knowledge is further reinforced by the lengths the three groups go to secure the knowledge for themselves.  Who should possess the information that decides the future of humanity?
     If you like suspense and mystery with a touch of  Mayan prophesy lore, this is the book for you.  The book delves into Mayan prophesy and origins and gives an interesting idea of what could be if we were able to understand and harness the Mayan prophesy.  Makes you think.
  
*This book was provided by the author in exchange for my honest opinion.  *

Book Swag

First, I had a couple of posts that didn't post. The review for The Keepers of the Rose will be up for tomorrow. 

Look what I got.  I belong to one of those mail order book clubs and they had a big sale.  And to be perfectly honest, I chose all these books based on the covers.  Intriguing artwork lures me in.

Also, you might have noticed the POC reading challenge on my sidebar.  I joined because I support their goal of spreading the word about books by and about people of color.  I'll link later to the main site.  Yesterday's post will be my first submission for POC.

As always, any suggestions, comments, or requests feel free to contact me at bibliophagista at gmail.com.

Blog Tour: The Buterfly's Daughter by Mary Alice Monroe

 

Title: The Butterfly's Daughter by Mary Alice Monroe
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: May 2011
ISBN: 9781439170618
Pages: 400

           Abuela (Grandma) Esperanza raises Luz after her mother dies.  She spends many years in cold Wisconsin far from her Mexican home working to give Luz a good life.  After receiving some news  from her daughter Maria, Esperanza plans a road trip to San Antonio to see her daughter Maria and then to Mexico to take Luz to visit family, see winter home of the monarch butterfly, and complete a family tradition.  Abuela dies before she can complete her mission.
           Truly alone for the first time in her life, Luz decides to go on the trip Abuela planned for them.   Leaving her home and her boyfriend Sully, she drives southward to fulfill this commitment to herself and her Abuela.  Her cross-country trip becomes a journey of self-discovery; she meets people along the way that seem to appear at the perfect time for their mutual growth and progress.
           In San Antonio at her aunt's house, she finds out the real reason for Abuela's urgency in making this "pilgrimage".  The life-altering secret cause her to rethink her Abuela and her upbringing.  Continuing southward to Abuela's birthplace and the winter home of the monarch butterfly, Luz meets family and participates in cultural traditions for the first time. Eventually Luz has to make a decision whether to embrace the future or cling to her past ideas about her life.
            Each chapter of the novel is preceded with a fact about monarch butterfly's life that correlates with the events of that chapter.  The butterflys are the ties that bind all the characters in the book together.   Just like later generations complete the original butterfly's pilgrimage, Luz completes the path set by her ancestors.  Despite all the obstacles, she emerges from her chrysalis (comfort zone) and sees the long, daunting journey through.
         
*This book was provided by the publisher Gallery Books in exchange for my honest opinion.*

Blog Tour: The 17 Day Diet: A Doctor's Plan Designed for Rapid Results

 

Title: The 17 Day Diet: A Doctor's Plan Designed for Rapid Results by Dr. Mike Moreno
Publisher: Free Press
Published: March  2011
ISBN: 9780615419176
Pages: 256

     The 17 Day Diet by Dr. Mike Moreno promises to help you lose weight fast by changing your metabolism so you are constantly burning fat.  The diet is divided into four 17 day cycles: accelerate, activate, achieve, and arrive. Dr. Moreno includes a handy weight chart to give a general idea weights for each height.
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     The cycles are mainly to change the way you eat and to get your metabolism on track. 

• Accelerate -- Improves digestion, gets rid of excess sugar in blood, teaches you to recognizes the signs of hunger and fullness, and reduces body's storage of fat
• Activate -- Resetting metabolism by changing calorie intakes and further cementing changes made during the accelerate cycle
• Achieve -- Cementing diet and weight loss by adding more foods to diet and increasing exercise (particularly aerobic), and add more good foods to diet
• Arrive -- Maintaining weight loss but still allowing free days for where you can eat anything 

    There are only 17 minutes of required exercise every day and it can be any form you choose. The doctor also lists the effects diet on the body for a time frame from 15 minutes after breakfast to 6 months after the main part of the diet.

    During each cycle, you are encouraged to eat lean proteins like chicken, fish, and other foods.  You are allotted different vegetables and fruits for each phase of the diet and told which fruits and vegetables actually slow your metabolism.  The doctor outlines which carbs are acceptable for consumption during each cycle, which fats to indulge in, foods rich in various minerals, the benefits of probiotics, and the benefits of water, coffee, and green tea while on the plan.

   Dr. Moreno also includes tips for following this diet while still enjoying your cultural foods.  Tips include reducing portion size, boiling or steaming or sauteing in a little oil rather than frying, avoiding butter sauces, using whole grains, etc.   He includes tips for women with PMS that can foster weight loss or maintenance of weight loss while providing relief from some PMS symptoms.  There are tips for enjoying a restaurant meal without falling off the wagon.  Another chapter details how to avoid saboteurs (intentional and unintentional), survive holidays, shift work, and travel situations.

   I'm actually on the activate portion of the diet and have actually seen some weight loss (about 3 lbs).  I've started eating breakfast or at least a small meal before leaving the house and have added some fruits while giving up others.  I waited until after Easter to start since there is about a month before another holiday loaded with food.  As far as weight loss goes, my Achilles heel is soda (especially Coca-Cola). I've been gradually weaning myself from soda; I'm down to about a liter every two weeks.  I like this diet plan and have had pretty good results in the week or so I've been doing it.    I appreciate that he included a section for different cultural diets and doesn't assume that everyone is "meat and potatoes" American.  For me, the section on family and potential sabotage will likely be most helpful.  I'll keep updating.


*This book was provided by the publisher Free Press in exchange for my honest opinion.*

An Atlas of Impossible Longing by Anuradha Roy

Title: An Atlas of Impossible Longing by Anuradha Roy
Publisher: Free Press
Published: April 2011
ISBN: 9781451608625
Pages: 336

An Atlas of Impossible Longing follows three generations of men in India from post World War I postcolonial period to after the Partition of India and Pakistan.  The book is divided into the story of Amulya, his son Nirmal, and an orphan Mukunda.  The title comes from a palm reading that Mukunda receives on a whim.

Amulya is a man before his time.  He moves his family (a wife and two sons, out of Calcutta to a Songarh, a town bordering on the jungle.  Here, he has all the space for his factory where he creates herbal remedies and medicines from plants he cultivates and studies.  Scorned by his relatives and prodded by his wife for moving to the wilds of Songarh, he predicts the town will one day be a important region where everyone clamors to love.  Though he loves the solitude and quiet provided by the slow pace of life, his wife Kananbala is slowly going mad with loneliness.  One morning one of his workers shows up with a local woman and a baby.  The worker begs for help with the baby; the woman claims it's his married son's child.  Amulya sends the child to an orphanage and pays fees for his sustenance.

Nirmal, the second son, studious and hardworking, is a mama's boy who keeps his mother company every evening.  After he gets married, Kananbala realizes he is withdrawing and would rather spend time with his new wife.  Shortly after, she develops fits of profanity and the family shuts her away to avoid talk.  Nirmal's wife Shanti dies in childbirth.  After her death, Nirmal travels and takes work as far from Songarh as possible to not have to deal with her death or their child. 

Mukunda, an orphan supported by Amulya, is adopted into the household after Amulya's death.  He isn't really treated as part of the family, more like an elevated servant.  Nirmal provides a home and education, but is unable to get any of the others, other than Bakul, to treat him as a member of the family.  As he and Bakul grow up with only each other as playmates, they are extremely close.  The family begins to worry about where the relationship will lead.  Nirmal decides to send Mukunda to school in the city to provide some space in the relationship.  Although very bitter about his treatment by Nirmal, Mukunda realizes as a grown man why he was sent away.  He is able to help Bakul and Nirmal several times.


The best novel I have read this year  -- actually in a couple years.  Each section is great with just enough action and pacing to keep the story moving.  With the amount of characters, it could get very confusing.  However, the way Ms. Roy uses each character helps the flow of the story without distracting from the plot.  She manages to make us aware of some of the cultural limitations placed on the characters -- mistreatment of Mukunda due to his unknown caste status, barrier to the development of a relationships Nirmal and Meera, a widowed distant cousin, and the strife between Nirmal & Kamal his brother towards the end.

** This review is based on a review copy provided by the publisher. **

The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg

Title: The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg
Publisher: Free Press
Published: March 2011
ISBN: 9781451621747
Pages: 416

Fjallbacka, Sweden is an idyllic fishing village.  Rich city folk pay tons of money for summer homes here.  People that live there rarely want to leave.  All is not as it seems though.  Small towns can hold big secrets.  You know the saying, "Two people can share a secret -- if one of them is dead."  Someone has taken that to heart.
Erica Falck returns to her hometown to settle her parents' estate after their death in a car accident.  She didn't expect to find the frozen corpse of her childhood best friend.  Despite all signs pointing to suicide, Erica feels like Alex wouldn't and didn't kill herself.
Patrick Hedstrom is the officer assigned to the case.  Hobbled by an incompetent supervisor,  he tries to uncover why someone would kill, and in Fjallbacka.  With ingenuity and some prompts from Erica, he works slowly but surely to solve the mystery.
The mystery is complicated by the fact that in a small town like Fjallbacka everyone seemingly knows each others business.  Can there be any secrets worth killing for?  Who would have such a secret?  Why murder now?  Horrific deeds come to life despite the best efforts of several people including the murderer to keep them hidden. 
There was lots of extraneous info  in this book.  The characters constantly repeating each others ideas or withholding information from each other.  There are several sections showing either Erica's or Patrick's angst regarding the other.  The multiple viewpoints, one of which isn't revealed until later in the book, can be very distracting.
Overall,  the book was well done.  The main characters were pretty well done and had pretty clearly defined personalities.  The plot was suspenseful and had several interesting twists.  It's a great beach read that keeps you interested but is low maintenance.  I look forward to reading the rest of the series. 

** This review was based on a book provided by the publisher.**

Seven-Tenths: Love, Piracy, & Science at Sea

Title: Seven-Tenths: Love, Piracy, & Science at Sea by David Fisichella
Publisher: Leapfrog Press
Published: 4/15/2010
ISBN: 9781935248101
Pages: 232

Seven-tenths, the percentage of the earth covers the earth, is also apparently David Fisichella's magic number.  On the verge of divorce, frustrated with his job, and looking for something new, David Fisichella is confused by how to change his life and move forward. He answers an ad for sight guides for blind sailors and  begins the second chapter of his life.


At a reception for the Carroll Center for the Blind and one of its Outward Bound programs, he meets Amy Bowers, an oceanographer. She has macular degeneration - a disease which is gradually taking her eyesight.  They start a relationship and Amy invites him on a voyage.  After their first voyage, the couple gets married.  As Amy's vision worsens, David gains more knowledge and experience and essentially becomes her eyes.

The first voyage was pretty much by the book.  Nothing eventful happened.  During the second voyage, they cross the equator and are "hazed" into club for those who've crossed the equator.  They also endure a pirate attack that gets pretty scary.  Still reeling from the pirate attack, the entire ship is devastated to hear of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Overall, I loved the fact that David  was willing to take his life in his hands. He disliked the way his life was going and took actions to alter all the things he disliked. He was willing to embrace new challenges and roll with the punches. For me, part of the charm of this book is the fact that he's not a professional writer, but rather a man who has had some extraordinary experiences and wants to share them.  

Minor irritations – He expresses disappointment that Durban, South Africa is more like San Francicso, ie a major cosmopolitan city than a jungle or war zone, which fits his idea of Africa. The safari they take feels like the truer Africa to him. On the second ship, he characterizes the Jamaican mate's accent of the Raven as a “ganja-mon accent.” Really!!!! However, after coming ashore on September 12, 2011 and being confronted by a group of Djiboutian men, he seems to realize the amount of privilege he has as an American.

**This review was based on a reader copy provided by the publisher.**