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

Stella Comes to Tell Children and Adults About Her Trip To Spain!

"My name is Stella. I’m a Cocker Spaniel and I love to play. I wagged my tail and looked at her with sad eyes hoping that she would take me out. “Do you want to go out, Stella?” asked my master. “Bark, bark, bark,” yes please. I responded wagging my tail frantically. “Ok then, let’s go! I was finally outside running after Vilma. She didn’t notice me so I decided to call out to her. “Bark, bark, bark!” Vilma wait for me, I said to her. She turned around and wagged her tail as she saw me running towards her. “Hi Vilma,” I said. Vilma was female like me. She had white fur with a few tan coloured spots on her chest. She had lovely brown eyes. “Hi Stella,” she said. “Hey, do you like my new collar?” Vilma asked me. It was a pink collar with sparkly white stones. “It’s beautiful!” I said. “Oh, I hear my master calling me. I have to go but let’s try to meet again later.” “Ok, I’ll see you later,” said Vilma. My master took me for a walk in the park near our house. The park was full of birds and it was a good place to meet friends..."
~~~

¡Hola! ¡Stella!

 (Stella - Lovable 

Cocker Spaniel Travels)

By G. R. Calcagni

Is your dog an important part of your family? Do your children love having him or her around--perhaps even to travel with you? Then you just might want them to meet Stella!

When Stella was old enough to start traveling with the family, she decided to write books to share with other children and, hopefully, their own friends! Stella lives in Italy, but their first trip will take them to Spain! She's so excited to be able to tell you about her trip! Oh yes, first... Hola, Stella!

Hi! I'm so happy to visit! I travel with my Master, the pack leader and two pups! These animals walk on just two legs so they are much taller than me, but they always want me close! Especially when we travel... Please be sure you always stay close to your family when you are outside too!

And would you believe we go in a moving house! Yes, the pack leader does what is called driving and my master sits in the navigator seat(? - I'm not sure what that means 'cause most of the time she just sits there and sometimes lets me sit on her lap!)

Once we got there, the pups pulled out a lot of cloth and strings and stuff and I was amazed to see what happened to it! Pretty Soon, there was a little house, called a tent, and we went in to take a nap!

The older puppy was telling the younger one what to do. “Ali, pull the sheet so that we open it up and lay it flat on the ground,” she said. “Ok, now extend one of the sticks so that we can slide it through one of the slits in the sheet,” she continued. 

I watched as they extended all three sticks and then slid them through the first sheet. “Ok, now we need to each take one end of each stick and place it in the ring at the edge of the sheet,” she explained. Soon they had the ends of each of the three sticks inserted into the rings. The tent was up. I went closer to get a better look. 

“Stella, watch out. We’re not finished yet,” said the older puppy. I sat and continued to watch them. They took some of the metal pegs and with another tool they called hammer, they hit the metals peg into the ground. Then they opened the second sheet and placed it on top of the tent. This sheet had strings attached which they pulled and fastened to the ground with more metal pegs. They stood back and looked. “That wasn’t too bad,” said Megan. 

The tent was long and tall. Meg grabbed an end of the tent and opened the mouth. She stepped inside. Ali then stepped inside and I followed. Wow! It was big inside. Meg, who was a tall puppy, could stand inside. She went to one side and opened the mouth which lead to another room. “Ali, now we need to get the mattresses and inflate them,” Meg said. Ali went outside and I followed her to see what this mattress was. Ali walked back to the big white box and pulled out two boxes and another strange looking stick. She took these back to the tent and they pulled out from each box other sheets. They then connected the stick to a little hole on each sheet. Then as they held the stick upright, they kept it from moving with their feet and pulled the stick up. Then they pushed it down. 

Then they pushed it up again and then down. They did this several times and all of a sudden the sheet was taking another form. It was growing. I couldn’t explain what was happening but the sheet became bigger and bigger. It was almost as tall as me! 

When they finished with the first sheet they did the same with the second sheet. Then they each took one of these mattresses and brought them into the tent. “Ah, now we can relax,” Meg said laughing as she and Ali threw themselves down on these sheets. I moved closer and as I was within reach of Ali, she grabbed me and said, “Amore, come and try Ali’s bed.” Soon they were fast asleep. I closed my eyes and listened to the noises outside.

~~~

We were now in Barcellona at a

 place called La Rambla and

 there were so many strange 

and wonderful smells! And I even

got to eat some of them!

Anyway, off we went! I have a lot of friends who I talk about in my book; but this time I have too much to tell you about where we went and, oh, my, was I scared one time when I heard barking but all I could see was a great big box! It was spooky! A lot of animals around me were laughing like they do, but, I did not feel like laughing, I can tell you!

That was probably one of the highlights of my trip, 'cause you know it's fun to be scared, especially when you're with your family!

There are so many other things I was setting along with my family that I had never seen before. Some were so big that I couldn't even see the whole thing...like La Sagrada Familia. My master and her pups would go inside some of these places while the pack leader stay outside with me. I guess he wanted them to see the most stuff and wanted them to enjoy what they called a vacation...

And it was really great fun...but, honestly, I was quite glad to be home again... 

But don't forget that I've told you alllllllll about our trip--practically every little thing we did, including how the pups washed dishes after we ate!

So, I'm so happy to have the opportunity to visit here at Book Reader's Heaven. I hope you liked my stories enough to want to know more, 'cause we'll be traveling again soon!

Oh, yes, I'm supposed to tell you that my book is BRH recommended for children and their families too!

Stella!

My Master is C. R. Calcagni
I brought these pictures over from my Facebook site! Find Me There!
Also on Book Blogs

Check out the Sealion & Excerpt from Waltzing Australia!

Sealion, Kangaroo Island, SA:

We walked out onto the hills of drifted sand and clambered down their steep, shifting sides, descending to the beach, where we were surrounded by Australian sea lions. The colony here is made up of nearly 500 sea lions, and they were ranged all along the bay, as far as the rock-sheltered white sand stretched in either direction.

Photo and Excerpt

Copyright Cynthia Clampitt

Used with Permission

Excerpt from Waltzing Australia by Cynthia Clampitt; Photo by Clampitt

Three Sisters rock formation,

Blue Mountains, NSW:

We stopped at Echo Point, a jutting ledge that affords an excellent view of the rock formation, the Three Sisters and a major portion of the Jamison Valley. The view was amazing: the forests more than 2,000 feet below, lapping at the mountains’ feet, mottled by shadows of passing clouds; sudden, vertical up-thrusts of stone, tall, pale rock walls emerging from and topped with dark, green foliage. The wind coming through the valley below sounded lonely and haunting. It was glorious.



copyright: Cynthia Clampitt

Review: See Australia Through Eyes of Cynthia Clampitt!

Waltzing Australia
By Cynthia Clampitt
BookSurge
ISBN: 1419663062
497 Pages

“As I sped over the soft earth, the wind in my face, the colors crowding in around me, I felt fleeter and freer than I can ever remember. Such is the liberating quality of joy.”

You could read Waltzing Australia by Cynthia Clampitt and thoroughly enjoy a great travel book. This highly recommended journal is full of the history, the beauty and the mystery of Australia. In fact, if you suffer from occasional wanderlust, you should keep this book on your permanent library shelf so that you can escape into the various parts of Australia whenever you wish! I personally would visit Tasmania more often since Cynthia immediately captured me through the stories of her travels there.

But if I told you only about traveling through Australia, you would not be prepared and perhaps not realize until it is later in the book, that there is a very personal story being told. It’s about one of our present-day female role models we should share with our children. It’s about a gutsy woman who, while being in a successful corporate career realized that it was not what she wanted for her life. She wanted a writing career. Leaving the security of her corporate role, she first chose to fulfill a lifetime dream. She spent six months touring Australia!

There is little that Cynthia writes about herself, but when she does add those personal comments, such as the one quoted above, I urge you to stop and consider those words about your own life—Can we say that we experience “the liberating quality of joy”? Let your heart decide whether Cynthia has a special message for you that will run throughout this book... If so, then sit back and enjoy waltzing along with Cynthia as she tests her limits, especially physically, and in many other ways!

“My spirit seemed to vibrate...in sympathetic response to...innocence, the fierceness, the solitude...I studied them a while longer, smiled...”

This lengthy journey covers approximately 20,000 miles as Cynthia toured Australia. The book has been easily divided into parts of the country so that you can hone in on that section if you are fortunate to have a few weeks to travel to a specific spot. It is written in a travel diary format that provides broad strokes as well as daily activities of events. There will be information about the history of the location being traveled, notes on wildlife as well as the land and water displays. To give you a taste, I’ll share with you just some of the details that show the variety of information and that were especially interesting to me:

· Nearly everybody knows the old song about the Kookaburra. It is the largest member of the kingfisher family and is best known for its rollicking “laughter.”

· Wages were once paid in “rum.”

· “Beyond words” can only be used to describe the beauty of the rainforest.

· Everything, including cars, the weather, life...is referred to as “she.”

· The riverboat postman on Hawkesbury River carries not only mail, but food, medicine and even people!

· Captain Cook traveled along the coast naming bays, islands and landmarks. He “peacefully changed the map of the world more than any other single man....”

· Rub a large stone...in the fertility cave to become pregnant, according to Aboriginal legend!

· The Stirling Bells grow nowhere else in the world other than the Stirling Ranges; each of the seven varieties has its own mountain, growing nowhere else in the ranges!

· Tasmania’s Wallabies are only 2 to 3 feet and they grasp fingers to eat out of your hand.

· Wombats have short necks, making it impossible to look up, so they beg for food by trotting up and staring at your ankles.

· Tasmanian devils owe their names and reputations to the insanely wild screaming/choking/snarling/roaring sounds they make for normal conversation!

· Sydney’s opera house cost $102M, raised mostly through lotteries.

With that last I must stop. There seems to be one overlying theme about Australia that is readily apparent. People are happy, friendly and proud of their country. People open their homes to strangers. When a car or bus is broken down, everybody stops to help. I love the Australia that I read about in Waltzing Australia by Cynthia Clampitt. I was 18 when I, too, thought of traveling to that country. If I never get to, though, Cynthia has given me a taste of that “heaven” that I missed. Perhaps you, too, have a dream...

“I wondered again, as I have wondered before, why this place moves me so. I am drawn to the remoteness, to the vigor, the fierceness...and its spirit whispers to my spirit...”


G. A. Bixler

New Book Out - Waltzing Australia by Cynthia Clampitt!

Book Title: Waltzing Australia
Author: Cynthia Clampitt
ISBN: 978-1-4196-6306-2
508 pages

Available at Amazon.com and through Borders and other booksellers.





Would a sensible, successful woman in her mid-30s walk away from money, security, career just to make a dream come true? Absolutely!

Cynthia Clampitt wanted to write—and she wanted to get as far away as she could from the temptation to rejoin the corporate world. Australia was a lifelong interest, and it seemed to be the best, and farthest, place to start over.

Clampitt circled and crossed the continent, covering nearly 20,000 miles, many of them rugged. The child of that journey is the book Waltzing Australia, a journal that recounts six months of joy and adventure. It is a story about change and finding out who you are. But above all, it is about Australia: the history, legends and art, both European and Aboriginal; the beauty, the challenge, the people, the land.

Best-selling author Richard Lederer wrote of Waltzing Australia, “Cynthia Clampitt’s luminous chronicle of her love affair with Australia resonates to the heart’s deep core.” Others have compared her to Annie Dillard and Bill Bryson.

Aussie expert Barb Mackenzie wrote, “[Cynthia] paints vivid pictures of people, places and adventures. I can feel the sun, hear the crush of the bush beneath my feet and smell the salt of the sea. I know I will go back again to Australia but I can revisit anytime just by picking up Waltzing Australia and reading a few pages.”

Author/reviewer Helen Gallagher wrote, “Cynthia Clampitt surprises us with a writing talent and story-telling technique that is tough to master, yet she is consistently compelling to read.”

Waltzing Australia will encourage those who dream, as well as those who travel. It will delight those who know Australia and enchant those who do not. Readers will come to know Australia intimately, as the author leads them across the often-surprising landscape.

Australia fascinates almost everyone. Starting over and women’s adventures are also perennially hot topics. Waltzing Australia gives you all three. For Clampitt, sharing the adventure with others is part of the dream.

Click the article title to visit the Walzing Australia blog!



If you would like more information about the book or author, or to schedule an interview, slide show, or book signing, please contact Cynthia Clampitt at (847) 537-7915 or caclampitt@att.net.