Chain Reading

Each year, my husband gets a cost of living increase. It’s always eaten up by rising cost of living. That’s expected. What isn’t expected is the economy’s increase has also eating up his other raises over the past couple of years. Our biggest expense is food and household products. Please know, we are fairly frugal and I really thought this is just how life is going to be. I didn’t think we had any control. That’s how I felt before reading Nelson’s book.

Before I go further, I want to say that we’ve tried this coupon thing before. In fact, if you read the back of GREATEST SECRETS OF THE COUPON MOM, she describes us perfectly. Here’s what it says.

“You tried clipping coupons once. You even made a grocery shopping list to go with them. And how did that work out for you? If you’re like most consumers, you ended up with an industrial-strength headache and vow never to try that again!”

“It’s no wonder that in spite of massive promotion by the grocery and coupon industries, fewer than 2 percent of the $300 billion of grocery coupons printed are ever used. Clipping coupons can be a pain!”

“Here’s the dilemma: You really need to cut your food costs. And the billions of dollars of coupons that could help you are at the bottom of a landfill. This is serious. You need help! You need a Mom to do all the hard work for you!”

That fit me perfectly!

In her book, Nelson teaches you how to become a coupon expert. The steps seem easy enough. She also says to go to her free interactive website and print out a shopping list for your supermarket.

The book committed me to the idea, but the website got me excited. It will take time to reap a serious reward, but I feel that it’s like starting a new business. We’ll have to invest first and later see the “serious” payoff. I’m not doing this to save a few bucks though. I am doing this to save some serious money. We have a family of five. Our monthly cost of household products extends over $1,000 each month. If I could cut this in half or at the very least, by 25%, I’d be thrilled. Nelson says I can do it. Steve, the accountant, says it’s possible with what he’s read, both in her book and on-line. It will be a lot of work and a major change, but I’m willing.

BLUE-EYED DEVIL picks up almost exactly where SUGAR DADDY left off, which I’d read last year. I fell in love with the author, the writing style, and the love story of Gage and Liberty who in BLUE-EYED DEVIL have a son. All is well in their world and now it’s time for Hardy. This is a character I loved and was tickled pink he’d fine love at last. I would have enjoyed it too, but the book totally fell apart.

Kleypas’s slant on abuse added realism, while educating the public. Some readers might find this fascinating. Since I read almost as much nonfiction as fiction, I don’t feel a need for a lesson with my fiction.

Prior to BLUE-EYED DEVIL, I’d formed an emotional attachment to Hardy. It was the book’s lack of realism in other areas that caused me to lose that connection. Things like Vanessa, Hardy, and Haven at The Harrisburg. The dialog for the whole scene was off. Haven accepting to help Hardy by giving her opinion about his new apartment design wasn’t believable. Then there was the elevator scene. I didn’t believe the wall could collapse or the dialog. Bottom line, the dialog was too off for me to enjoy.

Although the characters were well defined, the dialog was lacking. Another negative was the first part of the book. It was a wasteland, totally barren. On the plus side, the plot was interesting. If more realism had been added along with good dialog, the book would have been rock-on solid.

Please know that I am a minority in my views of this book. Everyone else I have spoken to didn’t feel as cheated. In fact, some have voted it the best book of the year. So take my opinion as just that, an opinion and by some, a bad one.

If you love thrillers and are on the lookout for new authors, get a copy of ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS. It was hard for me to believe this was her first novel. J. T. Ellison got so into the characters that I thought for certain she was retired police or work in the field. Also there is a fine line of too many details, at least for an ADD reader like me, but she never once crossed over to the dull side.

It gets five stars, because I can’t recommend a better thriller. In fact, I want to read her next one, 14. It's to be on sale in September. I plan on getting it. Got to find out more about Dr. John Baldwin. Is he really going to quit? How does their (Taylor & John) relationship progress? I was given enough in the first book to want to know more.

A copy of this book as well as others will be raffled off each Saturday at http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/

‘We Are All One’ was written in six days following a near death experience of Jonathon Harrison. This book is written in the ‘we’. As Harrison writes in his preface, “We is a collective expression that applies to us all, for without each other, we would not exist. The ‘All’ is a term for God…and the God we are referring to is the One who exists in all forms, to all men, according to their understanding…‘We Are All One’ is not a religion, or the result of a singular mind, but the result of all minds and the fruit of all religions, a compendium of past, present and future.”

Simply put, there is both individual spiritual evolvement and human evolutionary change. Spiritual evolvement is the understanding that we are in a fractionate state: that is, we are in denial or unconscious of being whole, and by contemplating the fractionate state; we can realize the many possibilities in which humanity may consciously evolve at this time.

The year 2012 has significance for millions of people. Google 2012 and you will see what people are saying and believing. Harrison writes “we are arriving at a gate of time that provides us with an opportunity for change. It is our choice, evolution or extinction.”

Harrison explains why we are here, and what we can do to evolve ourselves and humanity. He leads us from the basic to the infinite in an easy and understandable manner. After reading it, you ‘get it’.

I’ll close with two quotes from the last chapter, Summation - Conclusions gained from the application of the spiritual principle, “We Are All One”.

“Everything is conscious to a degree. The wonderful opportunity we have as human beings is the expansion of our consciousness. We are the most evolved being on planet earth, and we all must take responsibility as such, making conscious efforts to seek unity using all the means we have available.”

“Reprogramming our atomic structure and altering our DNA is a reality because of consciousness. When we understand the full consequences of that, we may comprehend our direct, active role in the evolution of the human race.”

A copy of this book as well as others will be raffled off each Saturday at http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/

If I could only recommend one self-help book designed just for women, Judi Moreo’s YOU ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH: EVERY WOMAN’S GUIDE TO PURPOSE, PASSION & POWER would be it. This book is a powerful guide to discovering your purpose, unleashing your passion, and shaping your habits to realize the success you want in all areas of your life. This book targets personal and professional relationships, career, finances, and security.

In this book, Judi Moreo discusses how to:

--Recognize and release the fears that are keeping you from finding your purpose. --Turn your thoughts, hopes and ideas into positive action. --Ignite the spark of your creativity to find ways of overcoming obstacles. --Motivate yourself to set powerful goals and passionately achieve them. --Use your imagination to visualize and fashion the future you desire. --Associate for success, increasing your influence and power. --Build on faith in yourself, your life, and your source.

This isn’t one of those feel-good reads. It’s a serious book for women who are tired of sitting on the sidelines watching their dreams pass them by. It’s for women who are ready to take action.

A copy of this book as well as others will be raffled off each Saturday at http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/

Is your life in a rut? Same bad stuff keeps happening over and over again in your life? Then this book is for you.

D. K. Boisse's FREE MIND FREE BODY is a mixture of Anthony "Tony" Robbins, Dr. Phil, and THE SECRET rolled into one. It's more than a motivational book, more than a self-help book, it's both. FREE MIND FREE BODY helps create a proactive plan in the pursuit of healthy lifestyles. The book encourages readers to focus on the positive aspects of life, while learning from and growing on possible weaknesses. Boisse explains the process of connecting with one's unconscious mind through open communication and analysis. Understanding these core qualities will empower readers to reach deeper and learn more about themselves.

A copy of this book and others will be raffled off at http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/

This book is part of a group read. If I'd read about this book prior to agreeing to join in, I probably would have passed. It has two things I dislike. One is it's written like a diary. Next, it's an apocalyptic story. Cormac McCarthy's THE ROAD and Stephen King's CELL cured me of ever wanting to read another gloom and doom book.

It took a couple or so chapters to set the characters up and then BAM! I couldn't stop reading. I'd plan to pace myself, following the schedule like a good reader. The minute the moon thing happened, there was no way! I didn't read this one fast, but stayed up late reading it all this weekend. I had to know how it'd end.

To show you how good it was, there were a couple, maybe more things in the book that were totally unbelievable. I didn't care. I was emotionally vested in the characters and I needed them to be alright in the end. A couple of times Pfeffer had me wondering if it would be alright. I held my breath wondering which other person was going to die next. I held on to them as the mother did, refusing to let go, never giving up hope.

If you aren't a YA reader, don't be quick to turn your back on this one. Every now and then, an author comes along who can entertain the old as well as the young. Pfeffer accomplished just that with LIFE AS WE KNEW IT.

THE MAGIC IN YOU! is written for ages 4-8. It’s about a little flower that is pushed from her comfort zone. She’ll need to find the magic in forgiveness and self-love.

No matter what age, readers will delight in the book’s masterful illustrations. The story also has a beautiful meaning, but I question the some of the phrases such as majestic kaleidoscope, crevice, simply ingenious, and grew in stature. Is this the appropriate terminology used for this age level?

Another concern is the amount of words on some of the pages. This is but one example and not all pages were as packed with italicized words. Before deciding to home school my children, I was director of a day care. I also taught Pre-K. If memory serves, these points are frowned upon. This was well over a decade ago, moving closer to two, and things might have changed.

A raffle of this book and others are being held at http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/

This isn't the first how-to write a novel book I've purchased. My first how-to was THE MARSHALL PLAN FOR NOVEL WRITING: A 16-STEP PROGRAM GUARANTEED TO TAKE YOU FROM IDEA TO COMPLETE MANUSCRIPT. I made it all the way to the section sheets and stopped. I had no clue how to do those. At the time, I was really big into Yahoo Groups and had signed up for a mess load of writer's groups. I talked someone into starting a writing group for writers using this method. To my amazement, he did. They all got to the section sheets and guess what? You got it, I wasn't the only person totally confused. Like the insane person I am, I purchased the workbook hoping to get clarity. It never came.

Was it a waste of money? No, because I walked a way with more knowledge than before and to be fair, I understand more about the section sheets now.

There's more…

About the same time, I'd purchased FIRST DRAFT IN 30 DAYS: A NOVEL WRITER'S SYSTEM FOR BUILDING A COMPLETE AND COHESIVE MANUSCRIPT by Karen Wiesner. A novel in 30 days, a 1st draft in 30 days, and a 16 step program to a complete novel - great book.

So when I talk about BOOK IN A MONTH, I have the two others to compare it to. My only complaint is it's small. For those of you who carry such things around with you, this might be just the ticket. I don't and I don't write small either. The pages are 5-1/2 inches wide, making this very compact for travel. I don't travel. So if I had one wish, it would be a super-size model.

The book combines psychology with the mechanics of how to organize a novel from start to finish. This is by far the best on the market I've seen.

Thru the Devil’s Door is an insider’s look at a bio-weapons facility. Timothy Clifford writes “This is a story about my life, from being born to working at one of the government’s biohazard facilities. There is a lot of information that I was not able to divulge in the book. All names and locations have been changed, but this book is based on a true story, my story, and I tried to keep as close to real events as possible.”

His life is a case of the truth is stranger than fiction. The 89 page book is two parts. The first part is his birth and parentage to his mother’s death and funeral. The second part is his interview and being hired to work as a computer technician at the governmental bio-hazard research facility. Clifford’s writes descriptive observations in his own voice which highlight the dangers and potential deadly threats that he saw.

This book is a diamond in the rough. His expose of the research facility is a scary, compelling story that needs to be told and great credit should go to Mr. Clifford for writing about it. Anthrax, plague, monkey eyes, rabbit testing, yellow fever are some of what you will find behind the Devil’s Door.

A raffle for this book as well as others can be found at http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/