Archive for the ‘Lovely Reviews’ Category

Ninety-year old Jacob lives in a nursing home where he spends most days parked in the hallway, waiting for Sundays when a visitor comes. He’s excited because a traveling circus has set up next door and he can’t wait to go. He flashes back to his youth during the Depression, when he was penniless and joined a third-rate circus as an almost-qualified vet. There, he fell in love with Marlena, the beautiful star horsewoman. Unfortunately, his boss was her brutish husband.

I absolutely loved this book. It contrasts the misery of being old and helpless with the non-stop action of life “on the show,” though that certainly had its share of misery, too. The pathetic circus Jacob joined was full of lively characters, some kindly, others cruel, and Jacob was forced to grow from naive youth to courageous man. There were many pages that reduced me to sobs, especially those detailing the agonizing despair of some nursing home residents and some instances of animal cruelty at the circus.

I would have given this book five stars, but I didn’t like that it was written in the first person (which immediately takes away some suspense as to the future of the narrator), and it was written entirely in the present tense which struck me as awkward. The story itself is engaging, exciting, touching, and rewarding. Highly recommended.
Reflections of a Queen

A book titled “Conversations with God” can be read from three basic perspectives: 1) the reader can accept this as the absolute word or holy bible of an objective God (i.e. God stands apart from us as an Almighty Creator who sits in judgment of His creation); 2) the reader reads it as a dialogue with a subjective God (God does not stand apart and sit in judgment of us); and 3) the reader treats it as an interesting work of creative fiction.

A careful reading of this book should preclude the first perspective. The philosophy contained in these pages maintains that God is subjective. In other words, we are part and parcel of God and therefore we can know God experientially. If God is an ocean, then we are each a drop from that ocean. Therefore a conversation with God is the same as a conversation with our own divine nature–our higher (or highest) inner self. I read the book from this perspective, which enabled me to respect the thoughts therein as being perhaps divinely inspired, while still taking it all with a grain of salt.

I found the book to be interesting, inspiring, and perhaps even enlightening. I have read quite a bit of spiritual philosophy, ranging from “new age” to traditional religions and many paths in between. While many of the traditional established religions contain a lot of negativity in the way of threats of horrific consequences for displeasing God, I found it refreshing that there is none of that here. Walsch’s God doesn’t care what you do, but created life with immutable laws such as karma (cause and effect). You are free to do as you please and God will not get angry at you or condemn you to hell. Walsch’s God maintains that we were all created to be Gods unto ourselves, and that whether we realize it or not, we are creating every aspect of our own reality both consciously and unconsciously every moment.

I often read an interesting spiritual, inspirational or self-help book with a highlighter nearby. I don’t think I’ve ever hig
Leviton White DHC 4

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is just about the best book I have ever read. From the very begginning of the book until the very last words, I could connect with this mysterious character Salinger created. Although Holden was quite hard to figure out, he stil had a very strong sense of humor. With a smart-alec tone to his thoughts you gradually find out his past and his present. In the entire book you embark on a journey to uncover Holden’s true self. In Holden’s mind you go through the same typical midlife crisis a teen would. This was a very good book and deserves a spot on the bookshelf next to the Harry Potter series. I advise anyone of any age to read this book and think whats beyond the words. People have interpreted this in so many ways and theres no entirely correct way. Great Job, Salinger.
Tweedyyy )
Casio General Men s

I bought this book based on the reccomendation that this book is similar to the Harry Potter series. I believe that this is a terrible comparison. That being said I did enjoy the book, but this is unfortunately nothing close to the Potter series.
Casio #AQ230A 1D Men

I’ve used this vacuum for more than six months now, and I can tell you that this is a terrific overall vacuum and a great value for the price. Suction pressure is excellent, design is very simple and easy to use, and the light weight makes it easy to push around the floor and transport up and down stairs. However, when you get a machine like this that is generally so well designed and built, it does make you shake your head in perplexed amazement over how the product engineers would allow a major and obvious performance flaw, namely the vacuum’s performance on bare floor. As has been mentioned, the carpet brush on the head of the vacuum runs continuously, there’s no way to turn it off, and its rotational speed is so high and brushing action so strong that most anything on the floor, even just dust, gets pushed away from the vacuum before the suction has a chance to pull it up. The obvious solution is to pull the suction hose out of its normal socket connected to the head (which is elegantly simple to do), connect it to the extension wand, and use one of the attachments on the bare floor. If there were only a bare-floor nozzle attachment at least nine inches wide, this would be a more than adequate solution to the problem and I would have rated the product with the full five stars. However, such an attachment is not included (which I find inexplicable given the product decision not to provide a means of stopping the floor brush), so you have to use the furniture nozzle that’s only 3 inches or so wide. In smaller rooms, this is an adequate solution, but with larger areas of bare floor I find it more efficient to use a broom to sweep the dust into one corner where it’s quick and easy to pick up with the furniture and crevice nozzles.

Aside from this most unfortunate combination of poor product decisions, I don’t find any other real flaws (including the motor noise, which I find quite tolerable), so I still recommend it.
Private Lesson Jazz Guitar

I have read a bunch of novels recently that kept me engrossed for the first 70-80% and then faded badly. Water for Elephants is worth reading right to the satisfying ending. It is very well paced and has interesting twists and all the characters seemed real to me.

I had never considered the 1930’s touring circus as a basis for righting a novel. Now I want to learn more about it. That’s because Gruen does such a nice job describing it. The characters (and the animals!) are very human and I think she captures the time they lived in quite well. I am impressed that there are over 1000 reviews and still more coming for a book that’s been out now for over 4 years. It speaks to some of the universal qualities that appealed to me and perhaps other readers. The lead character is interesting, he’s human and he has reflected on a life well lead while yearning for more. I see a little bit of my father in there!

One thing I am always looking for is how well a writer can give voice to a character that is so different from him or herself. Ms Gruen as a modern woman writing in the first person a man in the 1930’s does very well in making Jacob a believable character. The writing is tight, swift and it was a pleasure to read.
TUNING IN WITHOUT TEARS

Classic Inspirations

I’ve had the steam cleaner for 6 months and have used it several times. We have 2 puppies so I am cleaning carpets quite often. I’ve had no problems with it leaking. In my opinion, I feel I get more dirt of the carpet if I boil the water on the stove and then pour into the water tank.

My husband told me to get a steam cleaner years ago but instead I would rent the rug doctor and/or have my carpets professionally cleaned. My husband was right (I have told him this several times and he just smiles). I’ve saved a ton of money and have found I actually like cleaning the carpets. It does a great job and I like clean carpets.
KMC S10 Bicycle Chain

Looks good and bottom line, appears to be fairly accurate. I’ve yet to take it in with me and compare measured bodyweight between it and a professional scale but it can’t be far off. I really like the simplicity as well as the construction; looks like it’s built to last.
EMERGENCE OF LIBERAL HUMANISM

Best mount I ever had for any product. Wish I could get it to work with my radar dectector.
Night Listener 1ST Edition