A Street Dog’s Story

A Street Dog’s Story is a children’s book about Labi (short for la biche which is French for deer) the dog rescued by U.S. diplomats  Tracy and Eric Whittington while they were working in Africa.

It starts off heart breaking but ends on a very positive note. It is a delightful story with fun drawings of Labi and her adventures.

There are books that are cute and fun to read, and there are books that bring awareness about things that shouldn’t be. A Street Dog’s Story combines both functions. It is written to bring awareness of the plight of animals that don’t have the security and love of having a family but it is done in a way that shows with love and care things can be better.

I enjoyed reading A Street Dog’s Story and believe animal lovers all around the world will find a special place for Labi and her mission in their hearts.

It is a short story only thirty-seven pages long, written for children, that adults will enjoy reading too.

A Street Dog’s Story

Mother’s Day

Just a quick, ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ to all the mothers. Hope you have a thoroughly blessed day.

Fearless by Mike Dellosso

Thrillers are not my favorite genre. This isn’t to say I don’t read them on occasion and even find them worth recommending from time to time. I recommend this one to people who do read this genre because there is plenty of excitement to keep the story moving and interesting, but more importantly there is an underlying message that isn’t preached, but can be discerned if one listens for it.

Cute blue-eyed little girl, mysteriously appears to a dying man. No explanation as to where she came from or how she got there, but there she is and that is just the beginning of mysteries. Things happen when she is around, unexplained things.

Fearless is what I’d call a supernatural thriller. It has two characters that the book’s storyline rest upon. The cute blue-eyed little girl (Louisa) and the serial killer (Mitch). Since no one can explain how the girl came to be where she was, she is placed in the care of Jim and Amy to foster until her family can be found. They call her Louisa because that is the name she remembers. Just Louisa. Mitch is befriended by a Christian couple who try to heal the wounds he has carried for too long. Mitch has other ideas and looks for healing in his own way.

If you enjoy the thriller genre, then I believe you will want to read this book. If you are unwilling to read books that have multiple murders described with some detail, then you would be better reading something else like Mike’s book, ‘A Thousand Sleepless Nights‘ which he wrote under the pen name Michael King.

I was given access to an electronic arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

In Golden Splendor

‘In Golden Splendor‘ is the second book in Michael K. Reynolds’ fantastic Heirs of Ireland Series. Historical novels used to be one of my favorite genres and I was an avid reader so I read a lot of them.  ‘In Golden Splendor’ is the best I’ve read. A distinction it took away from ‘Flight of the Earls‘.
Seamus Hanley is the main character among a host of characters that range from the surprising, and entertaining to villainous, and inspiring. Brother Chuck is someone you wish you had as your own friend and mentor. If you are an animal lover Clarisse and Trip are great. I wasn’t particularly drawn to the character of Seamus in the first book and to have him be the main character of the second wasn’t as an appealing idea to me as maybe continuing to follow Clare, but within a short space Michael was able to turn my initial reserve around.
Once again Michael throws in twists that one would be hard pressed to see ahead of time, yet the story is believable. One almost wonders if these tales might be loosely based on family ancestors because only reality could have stranger twists than some of the surprises Michael weaves into these stories.

‘Flight of the Earls‘ starts the reader on a trip back into time so vivid you almost feel like you are there. ‘In Golden Splendor’ pulls the reader into the San Francisco ‘gold fever‘ time frame. If you are looking for stories that draw you into the time period, show the realities of what it was like, and yet doesn’t cross the line into glorifying sin or worse fill your imagination with graphic images of sin, you will definitely want to read this series. I’d suggest starting with ‘Flight of the Earls’ and then ‘In Golden Splendor’ as the second book builds a bit on the first. Even though the story doesn’t rely on the reader knowing the details of the first book, I think having read ‘Flight of the Earls’ first makes some of the comments in ‘In Golden Splendor’ more meaningful.

In my opinion, ‘In Golden Splendor’ lives up to its title.

The publisher allowed me temporary access to an electronic arc of this story in exchange for my honest review.

Ever wanted to write and publish a short story?

What if you could work with a well-known author in the process? Mike Dellosso is offering to one person the opportunity to co-write and publish a short story with him.

Send Mike Dellosso a one sentence storyline and he might pick you. If this sounds interesting to you the link below goes into the details, but hurry you only have until Friday, April 12, 2013 to get your storyline in.

“Who Wants to Write a Story With Me?” CONTEST!.

HE IS Risen!

Blessed Resurrection Day to each of you.

I pray that if you don’t know Jesus as your own personal Lord and Savior today, that you will come to know the joy, peace, and assurance that come with a personal relationship with Jesus.

If you do know Him as Lord and Savior, I pray that you have a thoroughly blessed day celebrating His resurrection and sharing the good news with others.

Blessings

Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath

Decisive: How To Make Better Choices In Life and Work by brothers Chip Heath and Dan Heath is an interesting book.

It breaks down the decision process into four areas where it can be less than ideal. Chip and Dan first introduce the reader to ‘the four villains of decision making’ in the introduction. Then in take two or three chapters to elaborate on each villain and how to overcome each one.

The villains are ‘narrow framing’, ‘self-serving information’ or ‘confirmation bias’, ‘short-term emotion’, and ‘overconfident’.

With each ‘villain’ they give examples of people/companies that have dealt with that particular one and they give ways to overcome it. Some of the information was familiar to me already, but much of it was presented in a way that even if I already knew the concept it seemed fresh and unique.

At the end of each chapter they made sure the main points were highlighted so that the reader would not miss any of them.

I enjoyed reading the book, found myself looking at decision-making with fresh insights and even found myself wanting to help others see how they could enjoy making better decisions too.

If you find yourself having to make numerous decisions for yourself, your family, or professionally this might be just the book to help you find the right ones. Even if you only have to make the occasional decision, this book is still very interesting and I recommend reading it.

Purposes of Disclosure of Material Connection: I received an a copy of this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion of it in a review on my blog. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Will ‘Marriage Equality’ Redefine Marriage?

According to Doug Mainwaring, in his article “I’m gay, and I oppose gay marriage” he states,“Same-sex marriage will not expand rights and freedoms in our nation. It will not redefine marriage. It will undefine it.”

To read the full article and see his surprising commentary on the subject… http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/im-gay-and-i-oppose-gay-marriage

Do you agree? Or disagree?
Regardless of your point of view, please keep your comments civil, no name calling, and ‘G’ rated. There are children who see this blog from time to time. Let’s set an adult example for them on how to agree or disagree civilly. If you use words in your comments that are not ‘G’ rated, I will NOT publish the comment. I will also NOT publish vicious and/or hateful comments. PLUS I’m only providing a link to an article that surprised me by its unique perspective on the subject.

Facebook Hoax…Again

Just about every time facebook changes the format on facebook this particular hoax goes around.

Please read the following article. They tell you what this will do and what it won’t. They also go into how to accomplish what you are wanting to do that actually will work.

http://facecrooks.com/Internet-Safety-Privacy/hoax-alert-to-all-my-fb-friends-i-want-to-stay-privately-connected-mouse-over-my-name.html

Should Dairy Have Unlabeled Artificial Sweeteners?

The FDA was petitioned by the U.S. dairy industry to redefine milk. It is looking to have the freedom to add ‘non-nutritive sweeteners‘ and who knows what else, to our dairy products without telling us. According to the dairy industry this would be for our own good.

Maybe I’m wrong but wasn’t putting labels on our foods so that we could make informed decisions and know if there were any ingredients in the foods we were eating that we might be allergic to? At least isn’t that what we were told?

Why bother putting ANYTHING on the labels or putting labels on at all if certain items are going to be hidden anyway?

Mike Adams, the author of the article I’m linking to below makes some very strong and harsh claims against the dairy industry’s current practices and I really don’t know how many of those claims are valid. I do know that the link he provides to make comments about ‘non-nutritive sweeteners‘ being added to dairy products without being on the label goes to the FDA’s website. Until May 21, 2013 the FDA is requesting comments and data on the subject. If you would rather go directly to the FDA site and wade through all the legalese that link is: Flavored Milk; Petition to Amend the Standard of Identity for Milk and 17 Additional Dairy Products If you want to see what Mr. Adams says: U.S. dairy industry petitions FDA to approve aspartame as hidden, unlabeled additive in milk, yogurt, eggnog and cream.

If you just want to know what the 17 other dairy items are:
“Acidified milk (§ 131.111),
cultured milk (§ 131.112),
sweetened condensed milk (§ 131.120),
nonfat dry milk (§ 131.125),
nonfat dry milk fortified with vitamins A and D (§ 131.127),
evaporated milk (§ 131.130),
dry cream (§ 131.149),
heavy cream (§ 131.150),
light cream (§ 131.155),
light whipping cream (§ 131.157),
sour cream (§ 131.160),
acidified sour cream (§ 131.162),
eggnog (§ 131.170),
half-and-half (§ 131.180),
yogurt (§ 131.200),
lowfat yogurt (§ 131.203), and
nonfat yogurt (§ 131.206).”