The New Our New Friends, The New Basic Reader by William S. Gray, A. Sterl Artley, May Hill Arbuthnot

The New Our New Friends

This is a Dick and Jane book. I still have the one I learned to read on when I was about 2 1/2, and I think this might be the next level up. The words are more complex, even though the sentences are still small and simple. Dick and Jane have new friends in this book, so it isn't just all about Dick and Jane. It has some lovely illustrations in it by Keith Ward and Evelyn Copelman. This one will be going into my collection of reading primers.

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101 Workouts for Women, by the Editors of Muscle and Fitness

101 Workouts for Women

Fitness has been a big passion of mine, especially weightlifting, for the last 10 years. I picked this up from a thrift store, as I am always looking for ways not just to improve myself but to help others as well, considering I have been in the fitness industry for the last 5 years. I was pleased with what I found in this book.

It is what it says, a book of workouts. There are multiple workouts for each muscle group with photos and instructions on how to do each exercise. I would say this is an invaluable reference for all levels, and not just for women, but for men as well. 

I will be purchasing a few used copies to give away to people needing a little extra direction.

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Imperial Woman, The Story of the Last Empress of China, by Pearl S. Buck

Imperial Woman, by Pearl S. Buck

I have read some of Pearl Buck's work previously. I was delighted to come across this one. It is the story of Cixi, the Dowager Empress of China, based on true events. She, in a way similar to Esther, was plucked form her home and paraded in front of the Emperor, and chosen to be a concubine. Not #1 but just a concubine. She was intelligent and clever, however, and she learned that in order to get in good with the Emperor she needed to befriend his mother. From there, she got his attention and soon became pregnant and gave birth to the firstborn boy. This gave her a place as Empress Mother and changed her life. She asked for education on history and current events, and soon learned how to advise the Emperor in matters of state, something that was mostly unheard of back then in the 1800s. She gained more power and eventually ruled after the death of the Emperor. 

I did enjoy this read. The one part I didn't like was the chapters are so long, sometimes over 100 pages.

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Everyday Millionaires, Chris Hogan

Everyday Millionaires, Chris Hogan

A couple months ago I read the book by Charles Stanley, The Millionaire Next Door. I feel this book is the follow-up to that one. It's a study of 10,000 millionaires and what they have in common, including what they did to gain their millions. This book, I feel, is less about the statistical data, and more about how you can apply it to your life and finances. 

Most millionaires studied in this book did not inherit their wealth. They worked, saved their money, stayed out of or paid off their debt, curbed their spending, and took advantage of their retirement accounts. No flashy ideas here, just good common sense.

It might be too late in life for me and my husband to gain millionaire status, but it's encouraging to know we can do better if we just try, and who knows, maybe we can get there. Already, we have paid off the majority of our "stupid tax" debt. We just have two bills to go, a credit card and my student loan, and we are debt free. That's the starting spot for building wealth. I am definitely going to try to do my best.

Would you like to buy me a book, or help keep my little free library stocked and maintained? You can donate here: paypal.me/AmyVanGaasbeck 

 

Floor Sample, by Julia Cameron

 

Floor Sample, Julia Cameron

This is the autobiography of Julia Cameron, author of the popular book, The Artist's Way. As an artist, I have read her book, and thought it would do me some good to read about the author. First of all, I had no idea she had been married to the famous director Martin Scorcese. I also learned a lot of other stuff reading this---she was a journalist, a screenwriter, she has written plays and musicals, and other books. She was an alcoholic and drug addict and struggled a long time with it, and she talks about how even when she became, and stayed sober, how there was that desire for just one drink. 

She also suffered from mental illness. She would be fine for a while and then go off the deep end into crazy behavior and need to be put on medication and be watched closely until she regained her sanity. This happened multiple times.

She talks about how she came about creating The Artist's Way with her second husband, as well as other books.

I also learned that she also messes with the occult--seances, automatic writing, praying to the deceased, and more. 

This is the thing that has always bothered me about The Artist's Way. There's nothing wrong with doing a brain dump on three pages of paper each morning. But I always felt that to her, it could have involved automatic writing, which is allowing spirits or some paranormal being to speak through you and control your writing.

When I started listening to the Artist's Way Podcast, I became alarmed, when it got to her other books, she encouraged artists to create little gods or idols to symbolize something important to them, and to pray to them....as well as praying to the dead and waiting for them to guide them. To talk to your dead relatives. It was at that point I stopped listening to the podcast. As a believer in Christ, that goes way over the line of what is acceptable. 

I am glad I read this book, it answered a lot of questions as to what the author believes and accepts. It was interesting to read about the struggles she went through in her life with addiction and mental illness, and was amazing how many different achievements she had, simply because when she wanted to do something, she went for it. It was a very interesting book, and if you have ever read The Artist's Way, you might be interested in this. 

Would you like to buy me a book, or help keep my little free library stocked and maintained? You can donate here: paypal.me/AmyVanGaasbeck 

 

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

Legendborn, Tracy Deonn

My eldest daughter has recently taken up reading as a hobby, and she asked me to read this. She really enjoyed it, even though it isn't the genre she likes. Did I like it? Yes! I felt it was well written and I didn't have it all figured out, unlike many books I have read over the years.

This is the story of a southern black girl who recently lost her mother in a tragic accident. She has started college at a  mostly white southern college. She's trying to reinvent herself and just try to survive, all the while grieving the loss of her mother. From the first day she is at college, though, very weird things happen, things she can't dismiss or forget, and somehow she feels looking into these events might give her a key to understanding what happened the night her mother died.

This is the first book in a series, and she finds out things about herself she had no idea about, shocking things in her past and in her family's past that are brought to light and end up empowering her far beyond anything she could have imagined. 

Oh and did I forget to mention that Arthurian Legend is mixed into this thrilling and fun read?

Yes, there is magic, a fight against evil, and some witchcraft thrown in. 

There is also a look at racism, from a black girl's point of view, and this is written by a young black woman. 

I can't wait to read the second book in the series!!

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Painting Horses in Oil, by Cindy Larimore

Painting Horses in Oil, by Cindy Larimore

I picked this up at a yard sale, as I can rarely pass up any Walter Foster books when I see them. I was pleased at how practical and useful this book is. There are a lot of beautiful paintings by the author of different breeds of horses and different poses, but even more than that, this book goes into a horse's anatomy, names the body parts, and shows muscular and skeletal views as well as differences in breeds, and particular things to look for in your subject. Horses were the first thing I learned to draw realistically in third grade, and I have painted horses a few times as an adult, but this book will definitely help me to understand the horse in order to paint it better.

Would you like to buy me a book, or help keep my little free library stocked and maintained? You can donate here: paypal.me/AmyVanGaasbeck