Author: ekkarn

AM Workout: Tabata with Meditation Music From Nathan Speir

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Originally posted at The Amelioration Project

A Tabata Workout Followed by the peaceful music of Nathan Speir

This morning I really did not feel like doing a full 60 minute workout. I seriously considered only doing a light yoga workout. But the. I thought maybe a short 20 minute Tabata workout. So I created one on the workout app that I use. It consisted of 8 – 20 second intervals followed by 10 second rest of the following

  • Jumping jacks
  • Squat thrusts
  • Sit ups
  • Mountain climbers
  • Push-ups/ squats 5 push outs 3 squats

Of course I counted how many of the exercises I did in each interval. If you had told me T the beginning of the exercise I would be doing

  • 200 jumping jacks
  • 64 sit-ups
  • 64 squat thrusts
  • 240 mountain climbers and
  • 40 push ups

I would have said you were nuts! But that’s what I did. And although the workout only burnt. Calories according to my Fitbit I think it was pretty damn good workout!

I followed it with a 10 minute meditation  and 5 minute savasana
( had to sneak in a little yoga!)

Today’s Meditation Soundtrack: Part of a Kindly Plan – Nathan Speir

 

The soundtrack for the meditation was a New Age album that’s been in my music rotation for a while now but I haven’t written about it yet. Big surprise I haven’t been doing a lot of writing about anything recently. So in an effort to break out of that rut,let me tell you about Nathan Speir and his album Part of a Kindly Plan.

Nathan Speir is a pianist, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was born in southern California but was raised in Florida and Connecticut. Currently he calls Winston-Salem North Carolina home. Part of a Kindly Plan is Speir’s eight studio release. His music style is eclectic and varied. He cites among his influences the music of George Winston, Keith Jarrret, Pat Metheny, Steve Roach, Harold Budd, R Carlos Nakai, Chopin and Erik Satie. His is inspired by his family, poetry, fine art, space and astronomy, the study of religion and nature.

From his Website Biography…

“I have a perpetual need to create,” explains Speir, “and making music teaches me many lessons in life. I hope that my creations enhance the ambience in the listener’s life, and in doing so, the listener holistically benefits. This kind of music lends itself to solace, relaxing, thinking and reflecting on life. Studying your inner life and identifying your personal beliefs is serious business, but I believe that serious things can bring great joy. I want the music to feel like taking a pastoral retreat, or going to space and then returning to earth, but afterwards feeling more at one with things. I feel strongly that each person needs to contribute in some way to our world. With my music I try to do my small part.” Read More

About Part of a Kindly Plan

Part of a Kindly Plan contains mostly acoustic instruments – acoustic piano, steel and nylon string acoustic guitars, wooden flute, cello, harmonica, rain-stick and singing bowls. A couple of the tunes also include a little synthesizer (primarily replicating a string section.)

In addition Speir states: “…. silence has a big part in my music and I pay a lot of attention to the space between the notes”

Some of the inspiration for Part of a Kindly Plan comes from the Thomas Hardy poem. “On a Fine Spring Morning” . The poem was written in the early 1900s and Speir has included it on the back of the album cover. Speir explains…

“At the beginning the poem asks a question: What is solace? Hardy says it is not this or exactly that, but at the end he is happy and content because he says everything is part of a benign or kindly plan that is proof that earth was made for man. I liked the sentiments expressed so I paraphrased the various lines for the name of the album and several tune titles”

You can read more about the various tunes also in his biography at his website. Here is the  link.

 Thoughts About Part of a Kindly Plan…...

I find Part of a Kindly Plan to be a nice quiet and relaxing album. It is a nice album to use for meditation, not a perfect meditation album but damn close. One of the tracks that I’ve heard the most and have really enjoyed is track two “As We Turn” The track features an acoustic-steel string guitar blended with piano, rainstick shaker some sampled tympani and synth strings. Speir says the following about the track:

“There are lots of turns in life, and as we grow older our perspective of life changes.”

As I was driving to Walmart this morning listening to the album, I thought about what Speir had written about the use of space between the notes in his compositions. I really noticed that in practice on the tune ‘Praxis”  The song mixes nylon-string guitar and Native American flute with a rhythmic drum-sound created by Speir hitting the cello fretbound with his open hand. “The idea behind this piece”, relates Speir is that everyone should choose a discipline of some sort, seriously practice it, persevere, improve and also enjoy the journey.”

Anyway the album is, like Speir says a beautiful and varied collection of acoustic music and is well worth checking out. I think that it will be in my New Age rotation for quiet a while!! And it’s not just me who likes this album. The album was number 8 on the MusicZoneReporter.com Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart for April

Links for the Further Explorations of the Music of Nathan Speir

Artist Website
Facebook
YouTube
CDBaby

Here’s is a video for “A Taste of Solace” from the album Part of a Kindly Plan by Nathan Speir

Vicious Circle – Joe Pickett vs. the Cates Family Part 2 – C.J.Box (Joe Pickett # 17)

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Vicious Circle - C J Box

 

Earlier in the week, I finished Vicious Circle the latest book In the Joe Pickett series from C.J.Box. It’s the seventeenth book chronicling the adventures of Joe and his family. Like all of the books in the series. It’s a great read.

If you are unfamiliar with the series, Joe Pickett is a game warden living in Saddlestring Wyoming. Joe has a way of being in the wrong place at the wrong time which makes for many exciting adventures and the loss of a lot of government trucks.

Typically, somewhere along the way Joe is assisted by his friend the shadowy Nate Romanowski. Nate operates on the edges of the law and serves to offset Joe’ Dudley Do-Rightish nature.

Joe is also a family man with a wonderful wife, Marybeth and three daughters. Natural daughters Sheridan and Lucy and adopted daughter April, He even has the mother in law from hell – Missy(surname whichever man she is married to now) Missy believes that her daughter unlike herself has married down.

The Beginnings of the Vicious Circle

 

Two books ago in Endangered Joe’s adopted daughter April ran away with Rodeo Champion Dallas Cates. The Cates family is bad news. If something bad happens in the county the first people the police look for are members of the Cates family

So when Joe’s daughter April ran away with Dallas Joe was rightly upset. And when Dallas she is found beaten on by the side of the road and she ends up in the hospital. Dallas becomes the focus of Joe’s wrath. Needless to say things didn’t end well, with Dallas ending up in jail!

Now Dallas has been released from prison and he is back in Saddlestring. And He’s coming for Joe and his family!

Bottom Line

lVicious Circle like most of its predecessors, is  a four star book for me. One of the best aspects of the Joe Pickett series has been the development of the characters over the  course of the series. Joe has been Joe with a few changes through the years.

But all three of his girls have grown from little girls to young women. In addition, wife Marybeth has gone from library volunteer to the library’s head administrator.

Other characters have also changed. Nate Romanowski has gone from an ex-Seal on the run from the law to a free citizen, who may still be willing to operate outside the law. While Joe’s mother in law is now on her sixth?? husband as she continues to marry up and up. So if your willing start at the beginning and enjoy the ride.

At a minimum readmEndangered first. Now you still may be able to read and enjoy Vicious Circle without reading Endangered, but I still think it’s better if you know what happened in the first half of the vicious circle!!

iAuthor’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Goodreads:Joe Pickett Series

C J Box author of Storm Watch

About C J Box

Charles James Box Jr. is an American author of more than thirty novels. Box is the author of the Joe Pickett series, as well as several standalone novels, and a collection of short stories.

Visit the Author Page

If you like the family and character connections in this series…

You might also enjoy:

William Kent Kreuger
Michael Robotham
Michael Robotham
Peter May
  • William Kent Krueger — the Cork O’Connor series blends crime with family, history, and a strong sense of place
  • Michael Robotham — especially the Joe O’Loughlin books, where personal lives are always part of the story
  • Peter May — the Lewis Trilogy, where past, family, and landscape are tightly woven together

Book Reviews for the Last Two Books I’ve Read in May 2017.

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Book Reviews -Books 22 and 23 for 2017 – At Rope’s End and The Collapsing Empire

 

So my last two reads were just slightly different. The first At Rooe’s End was a typical mystery with a police detective and a forensic psychologist chasing a serial killer. The second The Collapsing Empire was a great science fiction book about the plight of the Interdependency. The one thing that they do have in common is that they are both the first book in a new series.

At Rope’s End. – (James Verraday #1) -Edward Kay  Rating: ***

 

James Verraday is a forensic psychologist who’ is not a friend of the Seattle Police Department. He currently has a lawsuit pending against the Department. But years earlier his life was turned upside down when a drunken police officer crashed into his family car. The accident left his mother dead and his sister paralyzed. After the accident the officer walked away from the accident while Verraday cried for help.

But when SPD police detective Constance MacLean comes to Verraday and asks him to help her catch a sadistic. Verraday must put his personal animosities aside for the good if the people. What follows is a typical police investigation to track down the killer.

While this was a fairly satisfying book it lacks something to make it special. There were really not a lot of twist and turns in the story  itching to keep guessing or rapidly turning the pages. Likewise, I found the lead characters ok but again they didn’t appear to be overly special.

Bottom Line

Overall I give this book three stars. Basically, At Rope’s End was just okay. But after I finishing the book, I wasn’t left yearning for the next installment in the series. Will I read book 2 of the series?The answer is probably yes. With the hope that maybe the next story will be more complex and the characters will develop a little more to my liking.

Book 22 of 2017

The Collapsing Empire one of the two reviews in this postThe Collapsing Empire – (Interdependency #1) John Scalzi  Rating: ****

 

In his new science fiction series John Scalzi has created a new empire, the Interdependency, located in a place in space-time where faster than light travel is possible. The Flow is what makes it possible. By riding the Flow, humanity has spread to innumerable other worlds. Earth has been forgotten. A new empire has risen, the Interdependency.  The Interdependency is based on the doctrine that no human colony can survive without the others. It’s a hedge against interstellar war and for the empire’s rulers it is a system of control.

While the Flow is eternal it is not static. In the past flow streams to various worlds have collapsed. Their collapse has left colonies like Earth stranded. Cardenia is crowned as the new emporex of the interdependency after the death of her father who was the current emporex. Subsequently, a discovery is made that the Flow is shifting. Various streams may collapse leaving many human outposts stranded. Joining together a scientist, a starship captain and the new emperox of the Interdependency must join together in a race against time to salvage what they can from an interstellar empire on the brink of collapse.

Bottom Line

I really enjoy the books of John Scalzi and The Collapsing Empire is no exception. John Scalzi’s book are usually steeped in hard science but his characters are, typically, very human. They are ones that you can root for. like the new emporex Cardenia aka Greyland II. Unlike At Rope’s End, The Collapsing Empire left me wanting more. So I can’t wait for book two of the Interdependency series.

I give The Collapsing Empire four stars.I liked everything about this book. The story is good, the character are engaging, and the Interdependency and the Flow are intriguing creations. So Check it Out as for me I need to go back and catch up on Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series!

 Book 23 of 2017

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Edward Kay and John Scalzi

John Scalzi’s Website, Goodreads

Edward Kay – Crooked Lane Books, Goodreads

A Monday Morning Status Report

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Status Report – Monday May 22, 2017

We have been lost in space and stranded on this planet for many years now… tired of that weasel Dr Smith and danger Wiill Robinson…. oops wrong status report.

Star Date 2017…..nope that doesn’t work either….

Donald Trump is still President! Arghhh! Danger USA!

My Morning Workout

Yesterday’a morning workout was a full 60 minute workout that burned 517 calories. Today’s workout was an abbreviated version of the same workout. It lasted 41 minutes, during which time I burned 309 calories . My average heart rate was 103 beats per minute and 69% of the time my heart rate was in the fat burn zone. All in all it was a good workout.

Today’s Adventures in Babysitting

When I arrived at my son’s house this morning, my daughter in law told me that my granddaughter was sick. She said she had a fever and to give her 5 ml of Tylenol after she finished her breakfast. She also said to tell her is was candy.

Usually my granddaughter is pretty good about taking medicine, but this morning she wanted no parts of it. The second time I offered her “the candy” she ran away to her playroom. When I came into the room she told me to leave so she could poop. (Yes someone is ready to be potty trained but wants no part of it.)

After watching TV for a while I tried to give her the candy again, which resulted in crying . My wife told me to ask her daddy what to do. I texted my son and he replied to tell her it’s candy juice. THis is how she responded when I tried that trick.

I don’t think she bought it. Do you?

What’s up for this afternoon?

Hopefully my granddaughter will nap this afternoon so I can get a little farther in my current read C J Box’s latest Joe Pickett adventure Vicious Circle. It is the 17th book in this excellent series.

The storyline features the return of Dallas Cates to Saddlestring and he is out to make Joe pay for what happened to Cates and his family. That story can be found in Endangered book 15 in the series. My suggestion is that you read it before reading Vicious Circle. I actually wish that It hasn’t been two years since I read Endangered.

Vicious Circle is book number 24 for 2017. I need to finish it quickly because I need to read another book before the end of the month to stay on pace to reach my goal of reading 60 books this year!

Just checked the Nest cam and my granddaughter appears to be sleeping. So it’s time to make some lunch and make my way back into the world of Joe Pickett!

Mid-May 2017 Reading Challenges Update

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Mid-May Reading Challenge Update…

Ok so I really must apologize for not posting here for a fairly long time. But just because I haven’t posted doesn’t mean that I haven’t been reading or listening. So in the next few posts I will try to catch up and then maybe get back on a more regular schedule for posting.

My April – May Reads

in my last post about reading I presented the four books that I planned to read in the remaining days of April and on into May. The four books were: Exit West by Moshin Hamid, The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu, The Nowhere Man from Gregg Hurwitz and The Fifth Element by Jorgon Brekke

I read three out of the four planned reads. The only book that I didn’t read among those books was The Fifth Element.which will go on my list of books that I want to read.

So here are the books I read in April…..

[powr-image-slider id=d9c4c713_1494950631]

The books shown above are books number 18 through 21, on my list of books read in 2017.

Early May Reads

In May so far I have read two more books.The first one was Ast Rope’s End by Edward Kay, which is a murder mystery. It is the first books in a series that features forensic psychologist James Verraday. The second one was The Collapsing Empire by one of my favorite Sci-Fi authors John Scalzi. It is also the first book in a series title The Interdependency.

My 2017 Reading Challenges Totals to Date….

 

The total number of books I have read in 2017 now stands at 23. The following table breaks down the books according to my various 2017 Reading Challenges.

2017 Reading Challenge Kindle Bookshelves Library Total Goal % of Goal
2017 Literature Reading Challenge
General Fiction 0 1 2 3 2 150%
Classics (Books I should have read but didn’t) 0 0 0 0 2 0%
Award-Winners 0 0 1 1 2 50%
Sub-total 6
2017 Mystery/Thriller Reading Challenge
Mystery – New Series 1 0 8 9 6 150%
Series that I am behind on (i.e. Gabriel Allon) 1 1 0 2 6 33%
Current Mystery Authors (series or non-series) 1 1 1 3 12 25%
New Mystery Authors 0 0 1 1 12 8%
Sub-total
2017 Science Fiction /Fantasy Challenge 0 1 1 3 6 50%
2017 Nonfiction Reading Challenge 0 1 0 1 12
Totals 3 5 14 23 60 38%
2016 Kindle/Bookshelf Challenge 20 20 20 60

 

Proposed Reads for the Remainder of May

 

Here are four of the books that I have out of the library. They are my proposed reads for the rest of the month.

Fiction Reads

Marked for Life - Emelie ScheppMarked for Life – Emelie Schepp – I currently have Emelie Schepp’s Marked for Revenge checked out of the library. I checked it out mainly because on the cover it says that she is the 2016 Swedish Crime Novelist of the Year. That is good enough for me! Anyway when I picked it up today while writing this post I discovered that it is the second book in a trilogy. As a result I went to my library’s card catalog found Marked for Life and it will soon be winging its way to me!

Vicious Circle - C J BoxVicious Circle – C.J. Box – Vicious Circle is book 17 in the Joe Pickett series from C.J.Box. This is one of my favorite series going today. On its cover Lee Child writes “One of today’s solid-gold, A-list, must-read writers“. And I certainly agree with that statement. I love each story but most of all I love the characters. Joe and his family along with Nate Romanowski make for a good time!

The other two books are both non- fiction. I am way behind in my non-fiction reading. So I hope that I can at least finish one or both of them this month.

Non-Fiction Reads

 

The Telomere EffectThe first is The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Long by Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD and Elissa Epel, PhD  Dr. Blackwell discovered telomerase and telomere’s role in the aging process. Dr Epel is a health psychologist. She has done original research into how specific lifestyle and psychological habits can protect telomeres. This in turn slows disease and improves life! I started this book a while back and it is very interesting. Maybe it will help me in my quest to slow down my biologic clock!

Aging Backwards - Miranda Esmonde-WhiteThe second book is Aging Backwards: Reverse the Aging Process and Look 10 Years Younger in 30 minutes a day! It looks like this book will be a pretty quick read. Mainly, because a lot of the book is composed of photos illustrating the exercises that make up the eight Age-Reversing Workouts presented in the book. The author of the book is Miranda Esmonde-White. Esmonde-White is best known for her PBS fitness show Classic Stretch which has been on the air since 1999.Ms. Esmonde-White created the Essentrics technique. Essentrics uses low-intensity strength and stretch exercises to relieve pain, prevent pain and slenderize the body. Sound like a winning combination to me. I can’t wait to get started!!

The Ever-evolving Morning Workout

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The Morning Workout Evolution Begins!

One thing that has evolved over the last two weeks is my morning workout. When I decided to get in shape back in January my morning routine consisted of six minutes of Kundalini yoga, followed by six minutes of light weights and six minutes of resistance bands.

Evolution Number One – Dance

Then I added some movement. A few minutes of dance cardio. My weight started to drop and I started to loose inches. Soon my routine consisted of 12-14 minutes of dance cardio, followed by six minutes of light weights and kettle bell, six minutes of two types of resistance bands and four minutes using resistance boxing  bands. The entire workout took about thirty minutes. I was.burning close to three hundred calories doing this routine.

Evolution Number 2 – Stabilty Ball and More Dance

Over the last few week I added more to the routine. First came a series of exercises using the stability  ball. Then I added more dance-cardio. This increased the overall time of the workout to 40 minutes  burning around 400 calories.

Calisthenics are added

Finally over the last few days I added more to the last portion of the workout. During the dance cardio I have been doing jumping jacks, squats, burpees, and other other day I added push ups and sit-ups. Considering anytime I used to do squats of any kind I hurt for days after, the fact that I can do a couple reps of 12 and feel no pain is an improvement!

My last workout on Saturday morning was 54 minutes and resulted in burning 462 calories.  Ok 60 minutes and 500 calories here I come.

Now over these last two weeks my weight has dropped to 170 and held steady there without running. My last run was two Sundays ago. I have had some pain in my right foot which seems to be better. I think I will give it this week to see if it goes away completely.

So while I stilll have a long way to go to be in the shape I want to be in I have made remarkable progress, in my humble opinion, since the start of the year! But I better watch out because it seems that I am moving towards an exercise addiction. But I guess there are worse things to be addicted to, eh?

More Changes to Come?

The one thing that has suffered is my meditation and yoga. Back in January Kundalini yoga was part of the routine. Prior to that my morning workout was mostly yoga. Plus whatever routine I did was followed by a 10 to 15 minute meditation.

What I may do is do yoga in the morning on the two  days I work and on the other days try to do an evening yoga routine. I will follow each with a short meditation. That seems like a plan!  So wish me luck!

 

 

 

Four Reading Challenge Reads for the Rest of April

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Four Reads for the Remainder of April……

 

In my post for The Blood Strand, I indicated that I have currently read 18 books on a goal of 60 books. So to stay on pace I only need to read two more books before the end of the month. That should be doable! Here are four books that I am currently reading or plan to read over the next few weeks

 

Exit West - Mohsin Hamid

 

Exit West – Mohsin Hamid

One of my individual Reading Challenges is to read the Literature Reading Challenge. This challenge is to move me a little out of my comfort zone and challenges me to read books that I just don’t read. Knowing that I am not going to read a lot of general fiction the goal is to only read six books of this type. I have already read one All That Man Is by David Szalay.

One of the things that I always do when I do read literature is that I go and look at the Book Club questions regarding the book. I find that I seldom think about the book enough to answer the questions. I tend to read for the story itself and not the meaning behind the words. Maybe this time I will look at the book club questions before and while I am reading. Maybe that will work out a little better. Ya think!

Anyway, here is some info about the book, even though I believe it needs no introduction to most readers….

In a country teetering on the brink of civil war, two young people meet—sensual, fiercely independent Nadia and gentle, restrained Saeed. They embark on a furtive love affair and are soon cloistered in a premature intimacy by the unrest roiling their city. When it explodes, turning familiar streets into a patchwork of checkpoints and bomb blasts, they begin to hear whispers about doors—doors that can whisk people far away, if perilously and for a price. As the violence escalates, Nadia and Saeed decide that they no longer have a choice. Leaving their homeland and their old lives behind, they find a door and step through. Read More

The Lives of Tao - Wesley ChuThe Lives of Tao – Wesley Chu

Another of my Reading Challenges  is my Science Fiction Challenge. The goal of that challenge is also six books. I created this challenge a few years ago because I enjoy SciFi and often don’t read books from that genre.So the challenge is a way to encourage me to read more of science fiction books…

I have looked at this series for a while now and never started it. But I used some Christmas money to buy the Kindle version and have been enjoying it!

From Goodreads….

When out-of-shape IT technician Roen woke up and started hearing voices in his head, he naturally assumed he was losing it. He wasn’t. He now has a passenger in his brain – an ancient alien life-form called Tao, whose race crash-landed on Earth before the first fish crawled out of the oceans. Now split into two opposing factions – the peace-loving, but under-represented Prophus, and the savage, powerful Genjix – the aliens have been in a state of civil war for centuries. Both sides are searching for a way off-planet, and the Genjix will sacrifice the entire human race, if that’s what it takes. Meanwhile, Roen is having to train to be the ultimate secret agent. Like that’s going to end up well…More 

 

The Nowhere Man - Gregg HurwitzThe Nowhere Man – Gregg Hurwitz

This is book two in the Orphan X series from Gregg Hurwitz. In Orphan X Hurwitz introduced Evan Smoak aka Orphan X. Taken from a group home at twelve Evan was trained to be a highly skilled off the books operative i.e. and assassin. But he left the program, disappeared and reinvented himself as the Nowhere Man. As the Nowhere Man he helps save the truly desperate. His only charge is that they pass his name onto someone who is also truly desperate!

In Orphan X Evan is marked for elimination hunted by a  follow Orphan. In this installment Evan is captured drugged and held captive in a remote location in Switzerland. Can Evan escape from his virtual cage? or are the opposing numbers and resources too much even for Evan! I’ll put my money on Evan! But maybe he’ll need some help??? I don’t know!

 

The Fifth Element - Jorgen BrekkeThe Fifth Element (Odd Singsaker #3) – Jorgen Brekke

The Fifth Element is the third book in the Odd Singsker series from Jorgen Brekke. It was not on my pile of books to be read this month until I saw it at the library last week! Brekke;’s first two books Where Monsters Dwell and Dreamless were both terrific and I couldn’t pass up this latest when I saw it!

From Goodreads:

Police Inspector Odd Singsaker has been captured, imprisoned on an island off the Northern coast of Norway. He wakes to find himself holding a shotgun. Next to him is a corpse. But what events led him to this point? And how did he get here?

A few weeks earlier, Felicia, his wife, disappeared. Though he didn’t know it, she was trying to find her way back to Odd to reconcile, but then she vanished into a snowstorm. Possibly involved is a corrupt, coldblooded cop from Oslo, a devious college student who’s stolen a great deal of cocaine from drug dealers, and a hit man hired by the drug dealers who have been robbed. All of these lives intersect with Odd’s as he searches for Felicia. More

It’s been almost two years since I read Dreamless book two in this series. I had forgotten that Dreamless left meI wanting to know what was going to happen between Odd and Felicia! Looks like a book or two is going to take a back seat to this one!!

 

 

Four Great 2017 March Reads

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Three Mysteries and a Historical Fiction Highlight My March Reads

 

  In March, I mainly focused on exercise. I worked hard to increase the intensities of my workouts. In addition to adding more movement to my morning exercise routine, I added anywhere from five to fifteen minutes of dance to the beginning of the routine. I also continued to run. However, because of the weather and some other commitments, I ran less days in March than I did in February. The good news is that I lost five pounds!   The bad news is that I didn’t read as many books as the previous two months!

Still, I managed to read four books, which brought the total number of books read to 17. That kept me two books ahead of pace to reach my goal of 60 books for 2017. Below are the four books that I read…..

 Chris Holm and Ward Larsen authors of Red Right Hand and Assassin’s Silence are authors who I discovered this year. While Michael Koryta author of Rise the Dark has been a favorite of mine for several years.

 If we were to play a game of which book is different from the other, The Last Days of Night would win. While I enjoy historical fiction, it is a genre that I only dabble in! But, because Moore did such a great job bringing the feud between Edison and Westinghouse alive, I may need to do more dabbling in the future.

March Reads – Mysteries……

 

Rise the Dark - Michael Koryta

Rise the Dark (Mark Novak #2) – Michael Koryta

Author’s Website

I must admit that I had a little trouble getting into this novel.The story starts with two story lines. First there is a kidnapping of a young wife  in Montana.  Meanwhile in Florida, the main character Mark Novak finds out that the man the he believes murder his wife is being released from prison. The man, Garland Webb, who was never tried for the murder of Novak’s wife had been serving a prison sentence for assault of a different woman. Upon his release he sends Novak a note concerning the murder of Mark’s wife that sets Mark on Webb’s trail with revenge on this mind!

Soon the ransom for the wife is that her husband a high-wire electrical worker must do a task for a Eli Pate, an environmental fanatic that will create havoc in the western states of the US! Soon Webb and an associate are off to Montana to join Pate with Novak on their trial. Can Mark stop them before Pate releases his havoc??

When I started reading Rise the Dark I forgot that it is the second book in the Mark Novak series. I had pre-ordered the Kindle edition of the book several months before its release. I figured I had plenty oof time to read the first book Last Words before Rise the Dark was released. Wrong! But Last Words is now on my to be read bookshelf!!

Anyway back to Rise the Dark. I  really did like the book and found it to be a real page  turner right up until the end. I liked the main character Marcus Novak and his dysfunctional family. Once the story got going it was great! I thought the end, which has a sad surprise was done well. I also look forward to reading Last Words, because even though Rise the Dark stood on its own, I am interested in seeing what happened to Mark in his first adventure,

Rating: Four Thumbs Up out of Five!

 

Red Right Hand - Chris Holm one of my March Reads

Red Right Hand (Michael Hendricks #2) – Chris Holm

Author’s Website

Unlike Rise the Dark , Red Right Hand started off with a bang – literally! Moments before a tugboat loaded with explosives crashes into the Golden Gate Bridge a young family set out to make a video as an anniversary present for their parents and grandparents. They asked a disheveled man to take the picture. When he starts the video he has the camera backwards filming himself first. He then turns the camera around and films not only the family but the terrorist attack.

When the video goes viral FBI Agent Charlene Thompson realizes that the man in the video is a major informant against the crime organization the Council who had stumbled into the Phoenix FBI office three years earlier. He claimed was the Red Right Hand and he was set to bring the council down. But prior to his testimony he was thought to have been killed in an explosion at the FBI office! So now Thompson turns to killer for hire Michael Hendricks to find and save the informant before the Council can eliminate him!

Unlike Rise the Dark I have read The Killing Kind book one  of the Michael Hendricks series and I do believe that it really helps to have done so before reading Red Right Hand. The Killing Kind establishes the relationship between both Charlene Thompson and Hendricks and Hendricks and the Council.

The bottom line though is that Red Right Hand is another winner from Chris Holm. The Killing Kind won several awards including an Anthony Award. Red Right Hand should bring him more awards, accolades and fans!

Rating : Four Thumbs up out of Five!

Assassin's Silence - Ward Larsen

Assassin’s Silence (David Slaton #3) – Ward Larsen

Author’s Website

Assassin’s Silence like Rise the Dark took some time to get into.. Similar to Rise the Dark, two story lines open the book. The first story line revolves around the purchase and reconditioning of an abandoned airplane in Brazil. The buyers obviously plan use it in a terrorist attack. While in the second ex-Mossad assassin David Slaton’s is leading a quiet life as a stone mason after the events that transpired in Assassin’s Game. But his quiet life is disrupted, by an elite special forces team that is sent to kill him!

 Soon Slaton is fleeing across Europe with the team hot on his trail! David fears not only for his own life, but for that of his wife and son who for their own protection think that David is dead. So to protect them he asks a follow ex-Mossad agent to stay with them and protect them. But that may not be a good to do!!

Eventually, both stories intertwine and it’s a wild ride to the finish! Assassin’s Silence is book three in the David Slaton series.  I have read and enjoyed both of them. I still need to read book one The Perfect Assassin though because I still think I’ve missed something. Like how did it come about that,  at the start of Assassin’s Game, an Ex-Mossad  assassin was living life as a stonemason in Virginia!

Bottom line is again that Assassin’s Silence was a page-turner for me once the story got crank up. I like the character of David Slaton. Like Michael Hendricks he is a man who does what he does. He may not like what he does but he knows that he has to do it to survive. I also liked that Larsen brought a character Jammer Davis, from another of his series, into the story. As an aircraft crash investigator, he fit right into the story!!

Rating: Four Thumps Up Out of Five

So now it’s on to April’s reads. I just finished my first book in April The Blood Strand -(Faroes #1) by Chris
Ould and like the above it was a good one! I am also about 30% through a science fiction book The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu that I am also enjoying!!

March Reads – Historical Fiction…..

Last Days of Night - Graham Moore

Last Days of Night – Graham Moore

Author’s Website

Since I have rambled on for far too long in this post I will tell you that you can find my full review of Last Days of Night here. Last Days of Night is a novel about the rivalry between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. It brought alive their legal battle over electricity that I knew very little about!

A Tiring Day with Zoe?

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Uh, I Think the Run was a wee more tiring than Zoe!

 

Ok so today was not a work at Target day. It was a babysit Zoe day, which is a little more fun. Watching Zoe is a cake job. I really don’t think you can say that about most 2 1/2 year-olds! When I arrived at 9:30, Zoe had just gotten up. She was watching TV and eating her breakfast. So I look at some stuff on my Kindle for a little while. After finishing her breakfast, she grabbed my hand and said it was time to play doll house. All that really meant was I had to sit by the doll house while she played. She basically played with the doll house for the next hour until it was time to pick up my wife for lunch. We came over to our house. Zoe played nicely with a finger-stamping set. She also had some yogurt.

No Nap for Zoe means No Nap for Granddad!

 

At 12 o’clock we took my wife back to work and headed back to Zoe’s house. She finished her uncrustable while watching Paw Patrol. I kept telling her it was going to be her nap time soon. A little before 1 o’clock she said she was ready for her nap. We went into her room she got her binkie and I put her in her crib and closed the door, Typically, when I watch her I watch her through the nest cam and when I initially turned it on today she seemed to be laying down.

The next time I looked I was looking not at Zoe but the curtains and Zoe was talking wildly! Hmm, wonder how the camera got moved!  Anyway each time I checked for the next twenty minutes or so Zoe was talking a blue streak!! Finally things got really frantic and I went in her room. She popped up took her binkie out and said “I’m done my nap, done sleeping” I responded that she had not in fact – done any sleeping!!  oh well!

Zoe at the Library

Zoe on a prior visit to the library

Off to the Library

Since I had a book to pick up at the library, I decided that we would go to the library to kill some time until my wife was done work at 3:30. We had fun, Zoe played with some of the toys. Back in the summer the library had a ball toss set up in the children’s library. So today after playing on one side of the library, Zoe took off to the other. As I followed I could hear her questioning – where the balls were!!

Zoe at the library

Again , Zoe on a prior visit to the library!

Anyway, we made a quick stop ar Dollar General on the way home to pick up some hot dog rolls and then it was off to pick-up my wife. Because there were now a lot of people around to watch Zoe, i.e my wife, daughter Elizabeth and son Nicholas, I was now free to run. So off I went on a four-mile run……..

Now the reason that I have written all of this is that I always have good intentions to write about my run and the music I listened to after the run. But invariably, by the time I finish showering, taking Zoe home.making and eating dinner, watching Jeopardy, cleaning up from dinner, starting a load of laundry, my brain is fried! And now it;s time to get ready to go to bed. so I can go to Target in the AM!

Anyway, it was a good run and I listened to some really good acoustic blues. I will try to write about that tomorrow!! Static in the Wires from Martin Harley and Daniel Kimbro (Daniel plays bass!) was album that was the soundtrack for the run.Here is a video of them performing together. Enjoy! I know I did!

 

The Last Days of Night – Graham Moore

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The Last Days of Night – Graham Moore

 

The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore is in the words of Gillian Flynn….

“Mesmerizing, clever, and absolutely crackling, The Last Days of Night is a triumph of imagination.  Graham Moore has chosen the Gilded Age of New York as his playground, with outstanding characters – Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse – as hi players. The result is a beautifully researched , endlessly entertaining novel that will leave you buzzing.”

I confess that I have never read much about Thomas Edison. That’s probably not a good thing for a fellow New Jerseyian to say is it? Of course I know all about all the cool things that Edison invented like the light bulb and phonograph, What I didn’t know about are the things that form the basis of this fantastic book. Those things being Edison’s law suits 312 of them against George Westinghouse and the battle wage by those two inventors over Alternating and Direct current.

 

While Edison and Westinghouse are prominent characters in this book, the main character is Paul Cravath… a young lawyer who has been hired by Westinghouse tto defend him in the lawsuits. Young Cravath while a member of a prestigous law firm has little experience and virtually no clients. The precise reason Westinghouse chose him to be his lawyer! As Young tries to find a way to win an unwinnable case against one of the most prominent men in America, he mets some interesting people. He hires the brilliant but eccentric Nikola Tesla away from Edison. Tesla brings his invention of Alternating Current to the Westinghouse Corporation. Paul also gets a second client the beautiful Opera singer Agnes Huntington.Together they try to save the Westinghouse corporation from bankruptcy! And to take down Thomas Edison!

Bottom Line

The Last Days of Night was a well researched and well-written book. Moore made all the characters in this wild time in American history come alive.In his notes at the end of the book Moore:  references Empires of light : Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the race to electrify the world by Jill Jonnes as one of his main sources of information about Edison and Westinghouse and the fight that was the foundation of this book. (Note: After I wrote the above, I checked the availability of the book at my libary. It was available at the branch library I was going to this afternoon. Needless to say the book is now on my TBR pile.)

So Check it Out! I’ll leave you with more words of praise. This time it’s from author Scott Turow…

“The Last Days of Night” is a wonder, a riveting historical novel that is part legal thriller, part techno-suspense. This fast-paced story about the personal and legal clash over the invention of the light bulb is a tale of larger-than-life characters and devious doings, and a significant meditation on the price we as a society pay for new technology…… Thoughful and hugely entertaining”

Book 14 of 2017    Rating **** (4.25 stars)

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Graham Moore

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