Four Short Reviews...

This specialty book would normally have only a selected audience, those who like to know or play games on trivia, so I was surprised at the cost...

In any event, the book has little to offer to be considered what it says it is...a big book...

Actually, it isn't... It's a list...

A list that starts out and goes from one to one to one...with no rhyme nor reason, unless you assume the author typed in trivia and started typing them into his...list...

At a minimum I expected to have the book categorized into a topical breakdown for the cost... Not only would it be helpful to then use it as a book, it would allow individuals to actually find that trivia after the book is placed on the shelf...It would have also prevented the duplications and errors, hopefully.

Here's the first two..."After four nominations, Morgan Freeman won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for 2004's Million Dollar Baby." "Jockeys carrying their saddle are weighed at the beginning and end of every horse race." You can quickly see that each item of trivia is unique and it would be impossible to actually "use" the book for any real future purpose. No way you should buy this book at the asking or at any price...

~~~

If you are actually traveling to visit castles, this book might be of use to you. As an e-book it can be taken with you... For those who want to visit by reading about the castles, I found it lacking.

To me a travel book means pictures. Although there were some in this book, many were taken from the Internet Wikimedia...meaning you can get them, as well as information, there at no cost.

If you don't have the capability to do your own research on the Internet, you might want to ask for a sample of the book before you buy. The book is well written; however, I didn't take the time to see whether the material was also merely captured from the Internet.

For the price, I expected many more descriptive pictures of the interior as well as exterior shots.  Sorry, check out other reviews on this one...

~~~

You know the old joke about being invited to homes of friends so that you can view hours and hours of pictures they took while on vacation?

Well, I had some similar thoughts about this book...and the fact that over and over the author talks about taking pictures...but rarely included any?!!! Many places visited are mentioned with no accompanying picture...

This book is interesting to read, since it is more or less a diary (travel memoir) of one of the travelers so that it presents a more personal perspective of the trip. On the other hand, if I'm going to read a travel book and a sentence like, "We spent quite some time photographing the elegantly beautiful Bridge of Sighs. We shot our digital pictures from the Bridge of Straw..." Over and over, knowing they took digital pictures that do not appear in the book...well I felt cheated, especially at the price being charged... As you know, many authors are providing complete novels for less than a dollar!

If you don't mind being told, rather than shown what was visited...check it out but I can't recommend...

~~~

This is an emotional story written into a self-help book meant to share one person's experience with depression. I believe it could be inspiring to many...

However, I must add a caveat that I do not feel was adequately explained... Specifically, clinical depression is a "blanket definition" for what has become a problem for many, many people in the United States. What that means is, that what has or could help somebody, as described in this book, may be possible. For many it will not meet their needs. I found nothing new or different in this book...

Without going into a lot of detail, I was diagnosed as clinically depressed nearly 20 years ago. My reason for getting that diagnosis was job burnout. My mental ability to function at the level that was being required of my body was so changed that my mind was permanently altered. I am no longer able to react to strong emotions of any kind without some type of altered state of depression. I recognize this and have quite successfully adjusted to it. But, if something distresses me, I lose the ability to respond...neutrally...

I believe that a book such as this should include some type of recognition that what has happened to one person who is "depressed" does not mean that what they experienced is the same as others who have also experienced depression, for any of the multiple reasons that can lead to this disease.

This book may be of value to you...but do spend time looking through the potential books that are available. For me, the damage had already been done on the job...what I had to do was adjust to a totally different set of parameters than are covered in this book...

I therefore cannot recommend it without suggesting that you get a sample and see if it relates to your own issues that led to your specific reason for being diagnosed as depressed... If not, hone in on what specifically are issues for you and then look for books that speak directly to your illness. This is not intended to be critical of this particular book...rather to clarify that a book like this, even well written, will not necessarily help all individuals seeking self-help...


GABixlerReviews

Novel Merges Today's Waste Dumping Issue with Classical Art--Result: A Fantastic Mystery!

Image via Wikipedia

...a message posted earlier that day from Julia. I had not
seen it until now. I clicked to open the message. Her
last message: help me
There was an attachment. I clicked on its icon...the
screen filled up as the download was completed. It was
just a single picture...It showed a naked woman cradling
between her legs the head of a large swan. The woman
was corpulent, as beautiful women were supposed to be
in classical times. The swan's long neck was supremely
phallic. It was very sensual, very erotic...
That's Leda and the Swan...
So why send you an almost blank message and just
that picture?

Take No More
  (Kindle edition)




By Seb Kirby


This murder mystery turned into much more--a daring kidnapping, a husband's search, and a step into the world of art, and, specifically, lost art and the efforts used to try to find those treasures...I was hooked from the very beginning to a quite satisfactory ending!








It was August in London when he found her. Julia was away in Florence working on a project for her conservation studio, restoring paintings. He had not seen her for over a month. But there she was, right inside the door to the apartment. It appeared she had tried to get away from her attacker; blood was everywhere...

Of course, the police immediately thought of him as a suspect and set out to investigate from that perspective. James Blake had only justice on his mind and he immediately starting investigating his wife's murder on his own. But the clues that began to be found were disturbing, most importantly, an email from her that merely said, "help me".


First the police found evidence that suggested she was involved in an affair, but he refused to believe it..
.
Then James discovered that there was another reason she had taken her latest project. She planned to use new technology to search for lost art through a process by which layers painted under the present picture were examined to determine if something else had been painted on the canvas... He later learned that she and her boss had argued over what she was doing.


But the family who owned the large collection she was inspecting were well-known criminals, involved in all sorts of deadly activities, including illegal waste disposal...


And, worst of all, his brother, as a journalist, was following this story and had actually suggested the contact with the family to his wife!


Following the trail his wife had taken led him into more discovery, but soon he realized that there was somebody that wanted him to stop--and killing him to stop him was just as easy as any other method...

Because a mad man headed this criminal family...

...Raised with the potential to be special; as special as he
himself had become. Matteo had been prepared for a great
destiny just as his own father had prepared him.
And here it was - Leda and the Swan. It spoke to him, told
him how special he was.
If he looked long enough the figures would come to life.
The god was half man, half bird - that of course was the
appearance that he'd chosen...Could a man become a god?
As he sat in the chair, smoking the cigar, looking at the
painting, he was a god...
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
Paul_Cezanne_Leda_au_cygne.jpg*

Twists in the story began to occur...one great surprise, as well as unexpected tension in families as the puzzle is solved... During my reading, I found myself searching for the lost art and found a copy (top) and then realized that the story had inspired many other artists, including Cezanne (immediately above). So, for me, I not only thoroughly enjoyed a great novel, but learned more about lost art and the technologies now available to possibly find it...and also got to explore great classical art (and some modern ones) as a response to reading the book.

I found the mixture presented in Take No More an enthralling story that was compelling and dramatic in telling and a thrilling ride while solving the case. I loved the surprise ending, the inclusion of a more modern evil, the illegal dumping of waste, along with the search for lost classic art...and the romantic tale of James Blake, who loved his wife very much... Highly recommended!


GABixlerReviews

U.S. History Changed by Antonio? Review Coming Soon!

Antonio Meucci represents an unlikely story in American history. Having come of age in Florence, Italy, he immigrated to America by way of Cuba, where he lived for many years and where he worked with the Italian Opera Company. Familiar with telegraphy, wherein intelligence (information) was being transmitted through a wire, he proposed to transmit human voice through the same type of wire. Having come to New York, and having established several kinds of business, he experimented with his telettrofono (electric phone). Satisfied with the results of having transmitted voice intelligence from one end to the other end of copper wire, Meucci applied for a patent and received a caveat instead. A. Graham Bell, however, received a patent for a similar invention. Now, finally, after more than 160 years, Meucci is being vindicated: 1) A Silver and Bronze Medal were struck by The Italian American Bicentennial Society. 2. The Meucci-Garibaldi Museum has been established in New York. 3. The US Postal Services has published a commemorative stamp, and, 4. The 107th Congress of the United States resolved to recognize Meucci as the inventor of the telephone.


About the Author

Sandra Meucci, Ph.D. lives in the Pacific Northwest where she works as a researcher and writer. On hearing that Antonio Meucci was the inventor of the telephone, at first she rejected that claim. In view of newly discovered inforamtion, she has now changed her mind.


The Electric Scream--The Man Who Invented the Telephone