New Year's Resolutions:

As I stated yesterday, I will not be making resolutions that could not be done by the Amish, because then the machines won't win.  At least not this time.

1.- Required weight lost goal-  Less cheat days/foods.
2 - The spiritual goal - To read 12 books/essays/pieces by saints, religious leaders, and/or others on the subject.   Note to my kindle: Just because I loaded you up with things that fit this, doesn't mean that I don't have a supply of paperbacks that could work just as well, so don't get any ideas.
3- The writing goal- To work on at least 3 pieces this year. Note to the computer: I can write this with paper and a pen, given the attitude that the printer has, I might just start out this way with them.

So for my IRL friends, there is the list of things that you can bug me about this year.  Now I just need to eat all this junk food before midnight.

Last Year's Resolutions:

As you might remember from my earlier post, computers have decided to turn on me this year.  So almost everything that I had planned to do, I gave up on after having to deal with crashes, breaking and disappearing data.  So I  did manage to read the 12 books that I wanted too, and I think they all ended up on the FB list with rating, but besides that, I think this next year none of my resolutions should be dependent on electronics.

A Night of Horrors:

A Night of Horrors:A Historical Thriller about the 24 Hours of Lincoln's Assassination by: John C. Berry
Fiction: History, E-book

Yes, this another book that deals with an historic event by writing a novel style story based on the facts and information written by people that were there.  In this case it is the story of the events surrounding the assassination of Lincoln, and the plot to kill other members of the government at the same time.  This story is told from many different point of view, including that of Booth.  It also deals with what is happening in multiple places at the same time, so that you can read about what the president and other government and military members were doing at the same time as what Booth and the others working with him were doing.

The Lost Tribe of Coney Island:

The Lost Tribe of Coney Island: Headhunters, Luna Park, and the Man Who Pulled Off the Spectacle of the Century By: Claire Prentice
Non-Fiction: History, E-book

1st- We are back from our month(ish) of writing, and then gift buying. (We did finish a non-Nanowrimo piece today.)
2nd- This title was so long that I had to look up the book on-line to read it all.
3rd- All computers hate me, it is the only reasonable answer for this year, I do not know what I did to anger them, but they are mad.
4th- A review of the book. . .

This book is about the true story of when America first gained control of the Philippines and became enamored with the native peoples, especially the Igorrote tribe that were headhunters from the interior of the country.  They were first shown in the World's Fair in America and then Truman Hunt, got the idea to make money by showing them around the USA.  This started with a place on Coney Island, and ended up with them touring any county fair or amusement park that he could find, as he mismanaged funds, lied to governments, and kidnapped the tribes people after the one year term of their contract with him ended.  It is written in a novel format, but is based on all of the records that the author could find.  It also ends with more info on what happened to all the people, or at least all of the info they could find on them, as many of the records were lost, or there were not necessary much records to begin with. (For example, the records of people that went back to tribal life are almost nonexistent.)  It also deals some with other people that showed tribes people around America and Europe and the degrees in which the either also mistreated them, or treated them well, as well as the issues that this brought up

Rags & Bones

Rags & Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales ed By: Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt
Fiction: Short Stories, Classics, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Paranormal 350 pages
Book Count: 48

This collection of short stories are all based on other works: classics, fairy tales, etc.  Each one retells the story in some way; changing the time and place, point of view, or even taking the ideas in a whole new direction.

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Strange Histories:

Strange Histories: The trail of the pig, the walking dead, and other matters of fact from the medieval and Renaissance worlds By: Darren Oldridge
Non-fiction: History, Paranormal, Religion 175 pages
Book Count: 47

This book is about many unusual beliefs that people had in the Middle ages and during the Renaissance, and how given their world view and what the knew to be true, all of these things were logical.  It also talks about how this relates to things that we now think are logical or facts my be based more on world view and not scientific facts.  It deals with the arguments that people had over details for these things and how they were thought out and logical given what they knew.  For example, devils flying witches to locations was seen as more likely then them traveling there in spirit. Because, in the Bible it says the Devil transported Jesus to the top of the Temple, so demons must be able to move  matter.  And as only God has the power of life and death, removing a soul from a body was argued to also be something that only God can do.  So while a modern person might see the inverse as more logical, because it doesn't go against the rules for flight and many people have heard of out-of-body experiences, medieval people had logical reasons for coming to a conclusion that people today see as strange and unbelievable.

How To Write A Novel The Easy Way:

How To Write A Novel The Easy Way Using the Pulp Fiction Method to Write Better Novels. By: Jim Driver
Non-fiction: Writing, E-book

A quick read on how the quickly write novels using the methods that pulp fiction writers used.  Like the other book I have read from this author he used books and movies as examples, but in this one he explained them more, so you didn't have to already be familiar with the work.

Victorian San Francisco Stories

Victorian San Francisco Stories By: M. Louisa Locke
Fiction: Mystery, Short Story, History, E-book


This book is a collection of short stories all based of characters in the author's novels.  They all take place around a boarding house in Victorian San Francisco who's owner is a widowed young woman that pretends to be a physic as that is the only way that she can get paid for giving out financial tips at that time.  One story is like a prequel  to the books and explains how she started faking being physic, because she couldn't be a financial adviser otherwise.  The other storied mostly revolve around her boarders.  There are historic notes at the end for each story.

Star Trek The Starfleet Survival Guide

Star Trek The Starfleet Survival Guide By: David Mack
Non-fiction: Sci-fi, Pop Culture, 177 pages
Book Count: 46

This book is the companion to the "Starfleet Basic Survival Manual" that everyone gets at the academy.  It includes what to do in the various situations that the Enterprise always gets into.

Witches: A Horror Short Story Collection

Witches: A Horror Short Story Collection By: Mav Skye
Fiction: Short story, Paranormal, E-book

A collection of short stories having to do with witches, Halloween, and other horror things.  It also has a poem in it.

Jane the Hippie Vampire: Love Beads

Jane the Hippie Vampire: Love Beads By: Lisa Lane
Fiction: Paranormal, E-book

Jane was turned during the 60's and hasn't stopped being a hippie in the decades that followed.  She likes a smoke and some good tunes and is a vegetarian (in that she doesn't eat animal meat, but does drink human blood as she must to survive.)  Also, she is a religious vampire who thinks that she might be able to reverse her curse by doing enough good and avoiding evil. She ends up meeting someone that oddly can tell that she is a vampire and crashes at their place. Then things get weird.

A Passive Aggressive Letter to the Baker Park Library:

Dear Library,

  Hello, I would like to tell you about an amazing invention.  It is called the Dewey Decimal System.  It was invented in 1876 and is a way for people to know what the subject mater is of a book.  It is as easy to use as counting, as you just arrange all the books by the number that is located on the spine of all your non-fiction books.  If that is hard for you to understand you can ask for help from any other branches of the library, or from most every other library in the country.  I know that you have attempted your own version of this by putting all of the books in sections that you personally labeled, but each time I run to your location in a hurry this has caused issues.  One time I used the website for the library to find a book and wrote down what its number was so that I could find it.  But things were not arranged by the Dewey Decimal Classification so I had to look all around the section labeled with it's subject matter, and then when it wasn't under that I had to look around for where else it might be.  The last two times I have picked up books labeled as "Humor" gave them a quick look and only when I started to read them did I find out that one was a book on Astrology (and not on making fun of astrology as a quick look of the cover would imply) the other was a fiction book on global warming (and not just some dark humor on pop culture as it looked like.) I know that there are cost connected with this system, but as every other branch of the county library that I have been in uses the system I have to imagine that you are paid up for using it. (Even the branch in the mall uses it, and if any branch should be using an idiots method of arranging books, it should be the one next to the arcade.)  So please, start using the same method of shelving books as every other library that I have ever been in and not just sticking books where you think that they might go.

~Me

P.S. I know moving all the books will not be that hard as my main branch likes to switch up the sections for fiction and non-fiction, teen and audio books at least once a year.

Grimm End

Grimm End By: S T Cameron
Fiction: Paranormal, Mystery, E-book

This book has the full range of paranormal things: Shape shifters, reanimated corpses, magic, Greek mythology, genies, and  mysterious things of unknown origin. It centers around a small town in modern times that seams like it is a different time.  At the start of the book I thought it might have been from the 1900's until the car drove by.  In the main part of the story they even point out how old fashion the town seams (c. 1950's) as there is no cell reception, a old style dinner, and the town shuts down for the night.
The main story is about three siblings that find out that their family was from the town from above and their great grandfather use to collect mysterious things of great power.  Three other "sisters" which might be connected with the Fates are trying to get "Pandora's Box" and are using the kids to get to it.

Just A Little Terrible

Just A Little Terrible By: Vincent V. Cava
Fiction: Short Story, Paranormal, E-book

This e-book is a collection of flash fiction horror stories.  Which means that each story can be read in a minute or two as none of them are longer then 1,000 words.  Because of this there are a lot of stories where the horror comes from a twist ending or finding out that what you were assuming was going on is not what is happening.  But not all of them rely on the surprise ending.

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites By: Heather Brewer
Fiction: YA, Paranormal, Mystery 182 pages
Book Count: 45

Vlad has to deal with all the normal problems of junior high school: bullies, girls, grades, overprotective adults, etc. However, he also is half vampire, and living with his "aunt" (really his mother's best friend) after both his parents died years ago leaving him the only vampire that he knows of.   His aunt and his best friend are the only two people that know his secret. And as his aunt is a nurse he doesn't have to hunt, as she sneaks almost expired blood out of the blood bank for him.  But then his teacher disappears and the sub is a mysterious man that makes English class all about mythic creatures (including vampires) and Vlad's quiet life of blood slushies and cheesy horror film watching is in danger.

And the Sea Called Her Name:

And the Sea Called Her Name By: Joe Hart
Fiction: Short Story, Paranormal, E-Book

A man marries a woman whose mother went missing twice in a coastal fishing town.  Things were good between them, until she got pregnant and started acting weird.  With all the connections to the sea and her mother's disappearances being sea related I thought this might be a variation of the myth of the selkie, but it is not.

Sleep Like The Dead: Short Stories- Vol 1:

Sleep Like The Dead: Short Stories- Vol 1 By: Daniel Blackmore
Fiction: Paranormal, Short Story, E-book

This book has 2 short stories and then the first 2 chapters of a longer book by the author.

Rag Doll:

Rag Doll By: Troy McCombs
Fiction: Short Story, Paranormal, E-Book

A young girl finds an old rag doll at a yard sale, and then creepy things start happening.

Waking Up: How I Found My Faith By Losing It:

Waking Up: How I Found My Faith By Losing It By: Ted Dekker
Non-Fiction: Religion, Memoir, E-book

 Unlike many books by this author, this one doesn't fit in our month of Halloween theme.  And you can also see how far ahead my reading is from this list, as I read this book on Sunday, because I didn't feel like reading spooky stories while I worked the computers at church. (listening to the musicians practicing the hymns for the day really ruins the mood.)

This book is a really short book on the author's faith journey, with info on what book he was writing during a key time in his story; because, the book deals with the questions and issues that he was dealing with at that time. (And because as a free book, it is in part an ad for his books/website.)  

Aladdin and the Flying Dutchman:

Aladdin and the Flying Dutchman By: J. R. Rain and Piers Anthony
Fiction: Fantasy, Paranormal, 165 pages
Book Count: 44

This is book 3 in a series based off the question of, what did Aladdin do after the end of his story in Arabian Nights.  As you might have guessed from the title it includes a mixture of different legends, myths and beliefs.  This gets interesting when mixing them all together.  Aladdin is Muslim, but goes to a Hades based off of Greek Mythology (with Greek gods and demi-gods), where they also talk about Purgatory.
At the start of the book, Aladdin is already flying on the Flying Dutchman, with it's ghostly crew.  The story is actually about the key to Hades being taken from the sirens as they were attacked by a kraken.  Aladdin and his friends must stop the key from being used, having many adventures as they try to do so.

Buried Treasures of the Appalachians:

Buried Treasures of the Appalachians: Legends of Homestead Caches, Indian Mines and Loot From Civil War Raids By: W. C. Jameson
Non-fiction: History, 205 pages
Book Count: 43

If I learned anything reading this book, it is that the Appalachians are full of caves, mines, river banks and random buried objects that are full of millions of dollars work of gold, silver, and important historic relics that are impossible to find, even with a map or having been there before.  Also, that it is really annoying when one goes back and forth calling the Civil War: the Civil War or the War Between the States, sometimes in the same entry.

Review of My Cat:

Review of My Cat by: Tanner Ringerun and Jack Shepherd
Non-fiction: Humor
Book Count: 42

Finally, a way the rate ones cat on 4 simple criteria: Appearance, Sociability, Usefulness and Huggability. This book reviews both famous cats as well as not famous cats. (For a few; that blurry picture of what might be a cat with the review, is the only proof for outsiders that the cat in question exists, like Bigfoot, but with more puking in shoes.)  Each cat is graded and placed in the appropriate section: good, bad, really bad, ugly, and useless.

The Very Bad Dream:

The Very Bad Dream By: Anne Schraff
Fiction: YA, Mystery 32 pages
Book Count: 41

I picked this book up from the library, just because I have never seen anything like it.  It looks just like the type of book that a school might have for beginning readers, or slower readers. It is only 32 pages long and has questions in the back like they might use in school. Even the writing style, somehow makes me think of school books. And it is part of a series of short books by a publisher that has educational in their name.  However, it stars college kids who get drunk, go to clubs,  and is about a "dream" the main character has of a murder that actually happened.  So, not the subject matter you would expect for a school read, unless it is decades to centuries old, and therefore a classic.

Good Night Darth Vader:

Good Night Darth Vader By: Jeffrey Brown
Fiction: Children's, Graphic Novel, Humor, Pop Culture
Book Count: 40

Vader is trying to get the twins asleep by telling them the story of how characters all across the galaxy are going to sleep. (Or at least trying to.)

Hell House:

Hell House & Other True Hauntings From Around the World By: Alison Rattle and Allison Vale
Non-fiction: History, Paranormal 207 pages
Book Count: 39

This book is a collection of a couple of page entries on famous haunted houses and other places/people from around the world.  It includes places from all over the world divided by region.  Because it covers all over, it only includes a couple of stories from each place.  Some of the places are well known, some are not. It also has pictures of many of the places.

Digging Up Death:

Digging Up Death: (A Mari Duggins Mystery) By: Gina Conroy
Fiction: Mystery, Religion, E-book

This is a quaint Christian novel on: a possible murder, theft, adultery, international crime,  impeding a criminal investigation, domestic abuse,  secrets, lies and other such things.  Also the story resolved around an archaeology department at a  college that is connected with Egyptian digs.  And a teacher in the department that gets physically ill when touching dirt.

The Nightmare Collective: An Anthology of Horror Short Stories:

The Nightmare Collective: An Anthology of Horror Short Stories: By: M.B. Vujacic, et al.
Fiction: Short Stories, Horror, Paranormal, E-book


This collection of horror stories includes a mix of popular horror story lines.  It includes ghosts, unexplained happenings, cursed things, etc.  Each story is stand alone with no connection between stories besides the genre.

Vampire Dreams: Samantha Moon Stories Book 4:

Vampire Dreams: Samantha Moon Stories Book 4: By/Ed By: J.R.Rain
Fiction: Fantasy, Paranormal, Short Stories, Classics, E-Book

The book is a collection of short stories that are supernatural in origin.  Along with the first story with, who I guess, is the title character, there are a few other stories without her, as well as a couple of classic scary stories.  It includes "The Raven" and "The Monkey's Paw."  

Dracula Rising:

Dracula Rising By: Jackson Stein
Fiction: Fantasy, Paranormal, E-book

This is a story in the vein of Vlad Tepes was really a vampire.  It takes place when he was 18 and in this story world completely, stupidly, naive.  So, as any of you that have read his life story know, this book doesn't stick too much to actual historic facts.  There are people and things in the story that actually happened, but not in the way, time, or by the person that they do in the story.  Also there is a vast conspiracy theory, which is offensively unrealistic.

Mary, Mother of the Son:

Mary, Mother of the Son By: Mark P. Shea
Non-fiction: Religion, E-book

First, this book is rather long and deep, and so that is why it took me so long to read that it ended up messing with October's theme of Halloween, Halloween, Other October Holidays, Halloween, and NaNoWriMo prep.  I started it in August.

This book, as you might have guessed by the title, subject, or author is about Mary the mother of Jesus.  It is written by some one that was an evangelical and then converted to Catholicism after having a deep mistrust of the Catholic view of Mary, but an intellectual belief in the Church.  Like many people in his situation even after he converted, he wasn't too sure on all the devotions and visions of Mary that many people follow, but are not required to believe in the Catholic Church.   The book goes through how major Catholic beliefs about Mary, may not be directly in the Bible, but are hinted at as much as many doctrines that all Christians believe, even thought it is not stated in the Bible.  Also, how they all relate back to Jesus and/or the hopes of all Christians and why they were made official in times to counter heresy that evangelicals would also see as being wrong.  It also covers things like the history of the rosary and why, although no Catholic is required to pray it, many people use it to help in their prayer life.  And you learn important and completely useful facts like that the Vatican has no official stance on who was the best Beatle, or how to eat a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.  (To relate to October, it also pointed out that there isn't anything official on ghosts either; however, there have been a lot more of priest and bishops sharing their own personal thoughts on that subject.) With the main point of pointing out those things is to show how there are a number of things that the Catholic Church has a set belief on, but for the vast majority of things there is nothing set in stone on what a Catholic should think.

Cthulhu Tales: Vol 1-3

Cthulhu Tales Vol 1
Fiction: Graphic Novel, Sci-fi, Short Story, 132 pages
Book Count: 38

Cthulhu Tales: The Whisper pf Madness: Vol 2
Fiction: Graphic Novel, Sci-fi, Short Story, 108 pages
Book Count: 39

Cthulhu Tales: Chaos of the Mind: Vol 3
Fiction: Graphic Novel, Sci-fi, Short Story, 112 pages
Book Count: 40

All of these books are collections of short stories that in some way relate to the Cthulhu mythology.  The stories take place in a various times and places and have a wide range of styles of drawings.  The stories also range from being somewhat humorous to classic horror.

The Start of the Month of Halloween!!!!

Star Wars: Jedi Academy:

Star Wars: Jedi Academy by: Jeffrey Brown
Fiction: Graphic Novel, YA, Sci-Fi, 159 pages
Book Count: 37

All young Roan wanted to do was go to Pilot Academy Middle School like his friends and family.  But after being rejected from the school, he gets invites to join Jedi Academy.  As his other option is Tatooine Agriculture Academy he decides to become a Jedi.  Once there he has a hard time as the rest of the students have been studying the Force for years, and all know each other.

Reasons to Believe:

Reasons to Believe: How to Understand, Explain and Defend the Catholic Faith by: Scott Hahn
Non-fiction: Religion 197 pages
Book Count: 36

In this book, we do not get the word covenant a dozen times on each page until about half way through the book.  Also it deals with all the things it says in the subtitle on a basic, starter level.  

Doctor Who and Philosophy:

Doctor Who and Philosophy: Bigger on the Inside Ed. by: Courtland Lewis and Paula Smithka
Non-fiction: Pop Culture, Philosophy 397 pages
Book Count: 35

The "and Philosophy" collection of essays on the show "Doctor Who."  Although it was printed during the time that Matt Smith was 11, most of the essays either deal with only classic Who or sound like the were written during 9 or early 10. It deals with many issues of time travel, regeneration, ethics, art, the villains of the show, and the culture that produced the show.  Also there were a collection of quotes.

The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred The Vampire Accountant:

The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred The Vampire Accountant:by: Drew Hayes
Fiction: Paranormal, E-book

What if your boring average person became a vampire?  And what if instead of changing their personality in any way the only things it changed was what they ate and when they went out? And what if this person was such a wimp to start with that they use their accounting abilities to  do some creative bookkeeping for some one with access to a blood bank, because they can't even hunt for themselves? That would be Fred.  But this book isn't a boring account of cooking the books, because much like how he ended up becoming a vampire, Fred has luck of being at the wrong place at the wrong time quiet often.   And so Fred gets caught up in adventures involving a wide range of the paranormal world, even though all he wants to do is drink a nice glass of wine, and watch some movies at home.

Confessions of a Prayer Slacker:

Confessions of a Prayer Slacker: by: Diane Moody
Non-fiction: religion,  E-book

In true slacker fashion I had picked up this book around March and have just got to reading it now.  This book is about the writer's prayer journey, and how like her you can go from a prayer slacker to someone that makes time every day for prayer.  It includes different things that might help one to be prepared to pray more; list of  things to have at hand (Bible, prayer journal, paper to write down that thing that you just remembered that you needed to do when you sat down, etc. );  Bible quotes, names of God and their meaning for meditating on, and more.

Notes to Self:

Guinea Pigs By: Julie Mancini
Non-Fiction: 100 pages
Book Count: 34


Your Happy Healthy Pet: Guinea Pig By: Audrey Pavia
Non-Fiction: 116 pages
Book Count: 35

Note to Self: The Narrow Road:

The Narrow Road: A Catholic's Path to Spiritual Growth By: Jeffrey Anderson
Non-fiction: Religion, E-book

 I am a bit behind on my books, so I do not remember that many details on this book, besides that it was on discipleship a lot and the writer is part of the Charismatics, so it goes into that more then other groups.  

The De-Textbook:

The De-Textbook: The Stuff You Didn't Know About the Stuff You Thought You Knew: By the editors of Cracked
Non-fiction: History, Humor, Science, Pop Culture 207 Pages
Book Count: 33

This book is actually done like it was a text book, only with each chapter being on a different subject.  It covers well and not so well known lies that you were taught in school, and the even weirder, crazier, and/or unbelievable truth that you weren't taught.

How To Write The Million Dollar Story:

How To Write The Million Dollar Story: Successful Plotting & Storytelling Made Super Simple By: Jack Davies and Jim Driver
Non-Fiction: Writing, E-book


This book is all about working on a plot for your story.  It includes a number of examples from popular books and movies, which it would be helpful if you were familiar with them ALL.  I did not read/ watch all of the things so somethings weren't helpful, and some of the things they said about the sited works were wrong (like Fargo wouldn't be the movie it was if it wasn't set in Montana [which it isn't], and I doubt the "compelling plot" made 50 Shades such a popular book that people over looked the HORRIBLE writing.)  But it does have a number of quotes from authors which was nice.  And a couple of writing exercises that might be useful.  And I spent exactly 0 dollars on it, so there's that.

How to Fight Presidents:

How to Fight Presidents: Defending Yourself Against the Badasses Who Ran This Country By: Daniel O'Brien
Non-Fiction: Humor, History, 250 pages
Book Count: 32

This book is also by a writer of Cracked, and includes much information that he has used in articles, videos, etc.  However, this book is divided into chapters for each person that has been the president of the USA, and includes hints on what to do, if they came back to life and wanted to fight you for some reason.  Also, it includes more information on each person then your high school history class ever did, including Millard Fillmore, who was "one of our most Millard Fillmore-esque Presidents," (this is literary the most you can say about our most boring president.) And it includes the important info that if you were creating a presidential A-Team, all parts could be swapped out with Teddy Roosevelt, including The Roosevelt ( in a worst case situation FDR could be swapped out for the Roosevelt.)

You Might Be A Zombie and Other Bad News:

You Might Be A Zombie and Other Bad News: From the Editors of Cracked.com
Non-Fiction: Humor, Science, History, Pop Culture, 287 pages
Book Count: 31


This book reads like a collection of articles from Cracked.  In fact a number of the articles I think were on Cracked.  It also uses the list method of writing each entry. But it also includes cartoons and the title wasn't changed  after writing so it only fits some of the article.

Pocket Guide to Sainthood:

Pocket Guide to Sainthood:  A Field Manual for the Super-Virtuous Life By: Jason Boyett
Non-fiction: Religion, Humor, 215 pages
Book Count: 30

This book is all about saints.  It includes the process that one undergoes in order to become an official saint (don't set up the shrines too soon!).  As well as a glossary of terms, a list of different saints, saints that are patron of different things, ( including Florentine Cheese Workers, ugly people and the internet [it is apparently official now.]) The stories of saint's lives include a number of "Obligatory Weird Miracle Stories", random facts, random quotes, "What Not to Venerate," and reasons to be impressed.  There are also some list of things relating to saints at the end.  (Note: this book is from 2009, so about half the people in the list: "Seven Well-Know "Servants of God" Whose Canonization Are Still in Process" have been canonized already.

Rooted in America:

Rooted in America: Foodlore of Popular Fruits and Vegetables Edited by: David Scofield Wilson and Angus Kress Gillespie
Non-fiction: Essays, History, Food, Pop Culture 223 Pages
Book Count:29

This book is a collection of essays on popular fruits and veggies in America and their meaning in American history/culture/etc.  It goes from apples to watermelons.  As it was written in 1999 there are a number of entries that could use a updating due to the change in the food culture since then.  There were more then one entry that reading about "current" ideas in the way the food is used, portrayed, etc are out of date.  The food where this is the biggest issue is on hot peppers as it was written before the drive for hotter and hotter peppers and when the different types of peppers were just starting to be able to be found around the country.

How to Survive a Horror Movie:

How to Survive a Horror Movie: All the Skills to Dodge the Kills By: Seth Grahame-Smith

Non-fiction: Humor,  Pop Culture, 175 pages

Book Count: 28

This book includes all the things that you have ever yelled at the screen when watching a horror film, put together in an organized, easy to read, format.  It is divided up by what type of horror monster you are dealing with and sub genres. It also has general information, like how to tell if you are in a horror film, stock characters used in horror and an apology from Wes Craven to all of the characters he has killed off in movies.  

Possession, Exorcism, and Haunting:

Possession, Exorcism, and Haunting by: Adam Blai
Non-fiction: Religion, E-book

This book goes over basic information on how to tell if there is a ghost or a demon near you and what to do about it.  It includes the fact that true ghosts tend to be on the boring side with their only moving of objects that were important to them in life and whispers of things like "help me." (Note: this book only covers ghosts as souls in purgatory, as ones from Hell they are assuming are demons, and any possible warp in space-time is science and not supernatural. Also they are assuming that the reader is not a saint who might have a slightly wider range of interactions with souls in purgatory, but still following the rules for not trying to talk with the dead.) It also includes the fact that demons are grammar Nazis, so if someone is correcting your word choice in a language that they don't speak you should call a priest right away.  It also points out the fact that exorcisms are the most extreme method of dealing with demons and it is much more common to have to deal with a demon connected to a thing/place then a person.  And also, like everything else in movies, it is a lot longer and often less exciting then in "The Exorcist", and includes things like therapy and spiritual direction to deal with underlining issues and sins, prayers, Bible reading, doctor's check-ups to make sure the person is healthy enough for an exorcism and of course checking to make sure that they aren't just mentally ill.  (Number one way to know that someone doesn't need an exorcism, is that they say they need one.) 

Hail, Holy Queen:

Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God by: Scott Hahn
Non-fiction: religion 175 pages
Book Count: 27

(Note: do not play the Scott Hahn drinking game with pages 25- 28 there are some senentences that will get you tipsy alone.)

(Also, this doesn't go into the NYR book count as I already put it on the list.)

Robots Feel Nothing When They Hold Hands:

Robots Feel Nothing When They Hold Hands by: Alec Sulkin, Artie Johann and Michael Desilets Illustrated by: Joe Vaux and Dominic Bianchi
Non-fiction: Humor
Book Count: 26

A collection of short, tweet sized humorous thoughts.  There are also a large number of drawings that go with the thoughts and a few short bios of people and characters from pop culture.

Secret's in the Sauce:

Secret's in the Sauce: (The Potluck Catering Club Book #1) by: Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson
Fiction: Chick lit. religion, e-book

Each chapter of this story is told from the point of view of one of the women in the potluck catering club, so sometimes you get the same event from more then one person, sometimes you see things that only one member sees, etc. It also has a bunch of recipes at the end.  And just like the last book reminded you that it was in Australia all the time, this one points out that it is a religious book by having people pray and listen to religious music all the time.

A Cereal Killer: (A Sibyl Potts Cozy Mystery, Book 1)

A Cereal Killer: (A Sibyl Potts Cozy Mystery, Book 1) by: Morgana Best
Fiction: Mystery, E-book

This book takes place in Australia, don't worry if you don't remember that, as the author will remind you many, many times, even in cases where it is not important at all.  Once you get past being told all about how this book is in Australia the story is a fun combination of story elements.  Sibyl is a newly divorced women that is also physic.  She moves to a small town to start a pet washing business and move into a cottage her ex found her.  Her landlady runs a boarding house where a murder takes place the day she arrives.  The detective on the case is good looking and single.  Each chapter starts with a quote about dogs. In short it has all sorts of common mystery and mystery sub-genre things in it and also Australia!

How to: Frugality is Not Being Cheap:

How to: Frugality is Not Being Cheap By: Nikko Villa
Non-fiction: Home Ec., E-book

This book is too short to have that much info in it at all.  I think I read the whole thing in about 10 minutes, while also eating.

Return to the Library of Doom: Dictionary of 1000 Rooms:

Return to the Library of Doom: Dictionary of 1000 Rooms by: Michael Dahl
Fiction: Horror, Children's, Graphic Novel,  63 pages
Book Count: 25

In this book the librarian's assistants are trapped in a giant metal maze that will kill them by noon that day.  Also the maze is a book which you can not lie in.

Return to the Library of Doom:Killer App:

Return to the Library of Doom: Killer App by: Michael Dahl
Fiction: Horror, Children's, Graphic Novel,  63 pages
Book Count: 24

In this book a phone app of horror stories bring the story to life.

Return to the Library of Doom: Ghost Writer:

Return to the Library of Doom: Ghost Writer by: Michael Dahl
Fiction: Horror, Children's, Graphic Novel, 63 pages
Book Count: 23

First, this book is not exactly a graphic novel.  The words them self are at times different fonts, sizes, hand underlined, etc.  There are also a lot of pictures as well.
Next this series is clearly made to get kids into read and write more.  The book series is about the librarian of the Library of Doom, who protects the world from dangerous, magical, books and the people that want to use them for evil.  The books also have discussion questions and writing prompts at the end.
This book was about blank books that when written in, make what they write happen.

The Fullness of Truth:

The Fullness of Truth by: James M. Seghers
Non-fiction: Religion, E-book

This is a book on Catholic apologetics.  It has some unusual formatting: each section starts out, "The Object of the Exercise: The purpose of the lesson is . . . " and at the end it is summarized with, "WOW!" followed by the main points of the essay.  So the intro reads like a text book and the ending is like they are trying to speak to teens in "teen speak".  Also there are multiple essays on many of the subjects that use some of the same wording (and not just that they are quoting the same Bible passage.)  So things get a little redundant at times.  Also, for some reason the e-book says that it was only 88% done, when it was at the end of the book.  But, once you get past that there is some good information in it: with lots of Bible passages, notes on the Greek word used in passages, and answers to common arguments that one would get on an issue.

Live Right and Find Happiness (Although Beer is Much Faster):

Live Right and Find Happiness (Although Beer is Much Faster) By: Dave Barry
Non-fiction: Humor 225 pages
Book Count: 22

This book is made up of essays all with the theme of happiness in some way.  It includes things ranging from old time cocktail parties to why mustard does not need to be put in the fridge.  It also travels from the craziness of Miami traffic, to the craziness of Brazilian soccer fans, to the craziness of Mexican restaurants in Russia.

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: The Underground Abductor:

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: The Underground Abductor By: Nathan Hale
Non-Fiction: History,Biography, Graphic Novel, Humor, Children's 128  pages
Book Count: 21

This book is on the life of Harriet Tubman.  It dealt with her early life, time working on the underground railroad, and her work during the Civil War.  All the people in the novel were drawn as people, but there were some dreams/visions with weird things.  There also was half of a mini comic on Frederick Douglass. (He took the second half of it, so you would read one of the three autobiographies he wrote.)

Note to Self: The Divine Comedy and Vita Nuova:

The Divine Comedy and Vita Nuova By: Dante Alighieri
Classics, Poetry, Literature

This book I also took since last year to read, but because it was part of a series of classes, and not just because it took me that long to get through it.  And that is why it doesn't have a book count connected to it.   But after having to do all the work for the classes I wasn't going to not note that, "Hey, I did actually read the whole thing."

A Body at Book Club:

A Body at Book Club ( Myrtle Clover Mysteries) By: Elizabeth Spann Craig
Fiction: Mystery, E-book

This is another book about the octogenarian detective.  This time the bodies are piling up in the front room of a member of the book and gardening clubs in town.  Once again she hunts for the killer against her son's wishes.  This time she is also looking for her missing cat. (Well the feral cat she feeds.)

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood:

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood By: Nathan Hale
Non-Fiction: History, Graphic Novel, Humor, Children's 128 pages
Book Count: 20

This book goes over the whole of WWI.  Due to the hangman's love of animals, all the countries are represented by different animals (with little hats.)  This makes it actually easier to read the story, as even not in uniforms you can tell where everyone is from. Most places are their national animal, symbol, or other connected creature.  A few are different animals just because their animal was already taken, two are a pun.   Austro-Hungary is a griffin, Serbia a wolf, Russia a bear, Germany an eagle, France the Gallic rooster, Belgium a lion, The UK a bulldog, the USA a bunny (because there was already an eagle,) Australia a kangaroo, Canada a beaver, New Zealand a kiwi, India a tiger, France's African colonies were water buffalo, the Ottoman Empire an otter, Italy a cat (maybe a mountain lion,) Greece is a phoenix, Bulgaria a bull,  and Japan was a tanuki ( the raccoon dog.)  
For being a comic of animals in hats, this book does a better job explaining WWI then any school history book or class that I have ever had. It includes the main causes of the war, details of some of the major battles, as well as more personal stories to give a balanced look at the war. 

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: One Dead Spy:

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: One Dead Spy By: Nathan Hale
Non-Fiction: History, Graphic Novel, Humor, Children's 127 pages
Book Count: 19

This is the first book in the series and we learn in it how Nathan Hale learned all of American History.  He was actually "eaten" by "The Big Huge Book of American History."   After this happens he tells the story of how he ended up a spy in the American Revolution.  It also has a mini-comic on Crispus Attucks, who was one of the first persons to die in the war.  Crispus was an escaped slave who was killed during the Boston Massacre.  Because of this he too is in the history book and can tell his own story. 

Hashtag Faith: A Powerful Gospel in the hands of a Distracted Generation:

Hashtag Faith: A Powerful Gospel in the hands of a Distracted Generation by: Chris Buscher
Non-fiction: Religion, E-book

This book is mostly on how the Prosperity Gospel is not Biblical.

The Grumpy Guide to Life: Observations by Grumpy Cat:

The Grumpy Guide to Life: Observations by Grumpy Cat By: Grumpy Cat
Non-fiction: Humor, 112 pages
Book Count: 18

This book is a collection of demotivational sayings from Grumpy Cat.  Many pictures of Grumpy Cat are included as well as a couple of other animals.

Trusting God with St. Therese:

Trusting God with St. Therese By: Connie Rossini
Non-fiction: Religion, Biography, E-book

Fun fact: today is the 90th anniversary of the canonization of St. Therese of Lisieux.  Not that that had anything to do with this book, besides that it states when she was canonized in the timeline at the end of this book, but still she was canonized 90 years ago today.

This book deals with the life of St. Therese, the author's life, psychology, and St. Therese's Little Way.  It goes in a mostly chronological order for both St. Therese's and the author's life.  It also includes many Bible quotes, parts from the Catechism, other books to read on topics and questions and things to do at the end at each chapter.  It does a good job of showing how the saint's life can be used as a example for someone that on the surface lives a very different life.  It also deals a lot with how to heal from painful pasts and events. 

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Big Bad Ironclad!:

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Big Bad Ironclad! by: Nathan Hale
Non-Fiction: History, Graphic Novel, Humor, Children's 128 pages
Book Count: 16

This book actually comes before the last book we read in the series, but takes place at a later time.  This book deals with the navel fighting of the Civil War dealing mostly with the Ironclad ships and William Cushing.  As the hangman that Hale is telling the story to loved animals, Gustavus Fox is drawn as a actual fox, per the hangman's request. 

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Donner Dinner Party:

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Donner Dinner Party by: Nathan Hale
Non-fiction: History, Graphic Novel, Children's, Humor 126 pages
Book Count: 15

This book series is written by Nathan Hale (not the famous patriot) and is narrated by Nathan Hale (the famous one.)  Of course, the Donner Party takes place long after Hale was killed.  But the story starts out with the idea that because Nathan Hale is in the history books, he can know all the stories from the history books.  So he knows both the past and the future.  And he is telling these stories to his executioners as he waits for them to kill him.

This book goes into great details about how the Donner party ended up in the situation that they did.  It even includes a chart of everyone in the party: if they died, how, and if they were eaten.  It also includes some info on what happened to the survivors after. It tells the story of the group from when the Donner and Reed families started out from Illinois until they end up in California.  It uses the memoir of Virginia Reed as a main source. It also cuts to Hale telling the story and interacting with his executioners for comedic effect.  It includes unusual facts like: that all 9 of the Breen family survived even though they ranged in age from 51 to 1,  and one person died from over eating after being rescued. 

Crap Taxidermy:

Crap Taxidermy by: Kat Su
Non-fiction: Humor, 95 pages
Book Count:14

This book is a collection of pictures of bad taxidermy as well as just odd ones.  It also includes a how-to in case you wish to make your own taxidermy mouse. (As it is easy to get a frozen one from a pet store as they sell them for snake food.)

A New Witch in Town (Maybe Two):

A New Witch in Town (Maybe Two) By Dani Corlee
Fiction: Fantasy, E-Book

Kimberly and her daughter Aurora move to a new town to start life over after she gets a divorce.  Meanwhile the witches in that town find out that there is a comet coming that is part of an ancient prophecy for a Queen of the witches.  And then we learn that Kim is moving into the house that once belonged to a powerful witch and has been empty since she died. . .

A Body in the Backyard:

A Body in the Backyard (A Myrtle Clover Mystery) By: Elizabeth Spann Craig
Fiction: Mystery, E-book

Myrtle Clover is a nearly 90 year old, retired school teacher. Her chief of police son, lives across the road. And she has two problems.  Problem one: she can not find good help for her yard and housework and two: dead bodies keep showing up in her yard.  Like the last mystery I read she uses her part time job at the local paper to help her investigate the crimes.  Unlike the last one she gets the killer to go after her on purpose.  (But don't worry; she has some pepper spray, her cane, and the help of her slightly less elderly neighbor to help her out.)

The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived:

The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: how characters of fiction, myth, legends, television, and movies have shaped our society, changed our behavior, and set the course of history by: Allan Lazar, Dan Karlan & Jeremy Salter
Non-fiction: Humor, History, Lists, Pop Culture 314 pages
Book Count: 13

As the book itself points out there are a number of people in this book who are legendary.  Some of them are known to be real people, but most of what we "know" about them can not be proven and some may or may not have existed.  But in either case not all of the "fictional" characters in this book are fictional.  Also a number of entries include editorializing on what the person represents and how people should feel about this.  Besides that the idea behind the book was intriguing.  The entrees include info on where the character was from, what their story was, and ways that they influenced the world.

New Math is Murder:

New Math is Murder (A Jersey Girl Cozy Mystery) By: Jo-Ann Reccoppa
Fiction: Mystery, E-book

Colleen's life is crashing down around her: Neil, her husband, has left her for a younger woman, her part time job in the local paper doesn't pay enough for all the bills, and when she went out jogging she tripped and fell over the body of her daughter's math teacher (who was failing her after she got great grades in last year's math class.)  As she already worked at the paper, her bosses think that her covering the case would be good for readership numbers.  So, she starts bumbling around trying to find out who the murderer is.  After she is almost killed, she is kicked off the story for her own good, but of course that doesn't stop her from looking for the killer.  And like a number of mysteries where the main character is not a detective she makes a mess of it, so by the end you are wanting to yell at her like the people in a horror film that run into the creepy basement, because you know who did it. 

Sex, Violence and the Popes:

Sex, Violence and the Popes by: Pat Muro
Non-fiction: history, e-book

When the intro started out including the statement that most Bible scholars don't believe in the accuracy of chunks of the Gospels I didn't expect much of this book.  But as I was expecting it to be about all the horrible popes in history I thought that some one that thought that, wasn't going to sugar coat the truly horrible people that on occasion ended up the pope.  But instead the book is largely about the history of popes as political leaders; with a number of ones included just because they were in the tough spot of having two different kings/emperors that were fighting and threatening them to get the upper hand, or just because they might have been murdered. It also included the well disproven theory of "Hitler's Pope."  It has 46 popes in the "not great" section and only 5 in the "great" section. 

I Wish I Knew That: U.S. Presidents:

I Wish I Knew That: U.S. Presidents: By: Eds. of Reader's Digest
Non-fiction: Children's, History, E-book

As it is a children's book the unusual facts about the presidents and first ladies are rather well known and tame, but it did cover every president which is more then most U.S. history books do. 

Unravelling Paleo: Beginners Guide to Paleo & Inerviews with Robb Wolf, Dr. Loren Cordain:

Unravelling Paleo: Beginners Guide to Paleo & Interviews with Robb Wolf, Dr. Loren Cordain by: Ankit Neerav Pandey
Non-fiction: food, e-book


When I first started reading this book I thought that it was just based off the early ideas about the Paleo diet before it studied early man's use of fat.  It did have Dr. Cordain as one of the interviews and he is known for this version of the diet.  But as it went on it complexly went against what it stated earlier; both for things like the amount of fat that one eats in this diet and other things like pointing out that peanuts are a legume in one part and then later calling it a nut. It goes on and on about how all dairy including butter are "not allowed on the Paleo diet" and then references a website that is fine with using butter or gee for people that do not have a problem with eating it.  Also it is written like a poorly thought out school report. Or like it was written in a different language and just sent to google translate for the English version.   After a few pages I continued reading it, just to disagree with it. (The BMI chapter was extra fun to yell at.)  And because I was interested in the interviews. So as you can guess I will not be putting this on my list of books to read for people that are interested in my diet, as this book is not understandable if you don't already know a lot more about the Paleo diet then the author seams to know.

The Life and Prayers of Saint Ignatius of Loyola:

The Life and Prayers of Saint Ignatius of Loyola by: Wyatt North
Non-fiction: Religion, Biography, E-book

This is a short book on the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola with a couple of his prayers in it and a short explanation of the Spiritual Exercises.

Murder On The Ghost Walk:

Murder On The Ghost Walk: (Magnolia Mystery Series) By: Ellen Elizabeth Hunter
Fiction: Mystery, E-book


As you might have guessed from the title, this book takes place in the South (Atlanta)  and has a southern flair to it.  Ashley Wilkes (not the one from Gone with the Wind, she was just named after that one,) had just returned home after going to school at Parsons in New York.  At her first job of restoring an historic mansion for a demeaning, up and coming, style guru, she finds the old owners, in the walls!  From there she works to help the detective on the case solve the case (as she is on a deadline and some bodies in the wall is not stopping the owner from demanding that things get done on time or she will sue.)  As the case unravels, most everyone she knows ends up either a suspect or died.  She finally finds out who did it, as a hurricane floods the town.  

Mommy Had a Little Flask:

Mommy Had a Little Flask (The Tales of Imperfection Series book 2) By: A. K. Turner
Non-fiction: humor, memoir, e-book

This book is a humorous take on the life of a mother of two smallish girls.  It mainly centers around her oldest daughter's first year of school and a 3 month trip to Mexico to visit with her in-laws.  Included are other common mom issues: weight, cloths, when is too early to start drinking (as in hour for her not age for the kids, toddlers just like playing with the pretty bottles) , embarrassing things the kids do and say, and  maintaining the appearance of being a good parent.

The Manna Principle:

The Manna Principle by: Mark Kellner
Non-Fiction: Religion, E-book

This book is about how God provides for His people, with the title based off the story from Exodus, and the story about the real life of the author.   The story itself is interesting and  inspiring, but there are a few points where the author tries to add in theology on other things (like about how Jesus is the bread of life from a Baptist theology, complete with non literal translations of Bible even though everywhere else they are all about the literal translation,) where I just wanted to throw the book across the room, (but as it was an e-book didn't so I didn't break the e-reader.)

Dear Luke, We need to Talk. Darth:

Dear Luke, We need to Talk. Darth: and other Pop Culture Correspondences By: John Moe
Non-fiction: Humor, Pop Culture, 290 pages
Book Count:12
This book is a series of letters, e-mails, texts, web reviews, notes, journals and correspondences on movies, TV, songs and other pop culture references.  It starts with a letter on the dangers of Bon Jovi, who is wanted dead or alive for the crime of rocking every face he has seen and ends with rejected Superbowl Halftime shows (XLVI- XLVIII).  In between is a selection of things ranging from the 99 problems that Jay-Z does have, ( oddly tiny rhinos, toothpaste bling, and Argentina all rate high on the number of problems they cause.) to Captain James T. Kirk's lost log entries where he questions things like: why does ever alien speak perfect English, look humanoid,  and live on a planet with breathable air for humans?

A Friendship Like No Other:

A Friendship Like No Other: Experiencing God's Amazing Embrace By: William A. Barry, SJ
Non-fiction: Religion, 194 pages
Book Count: 11

As you might be able to tell from the first line of this post with the book's title and author's information; this book is about friendship with God and based off of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. (I know the last part is a bit of a stretch as there are some religious books by Jesuits that only mention the Spiritual Exercises, or tell only a few stories on St. Ignatius's life, but still. . . )
The book is divided up into 3 parts.  Part 1 is "Experiencing God's Desire for Friendship," and is about what friendship is, friendship with God as seen in the Bible, and how to grow in friendship with God.  Part 2 is "Understanding Ourselves and God," and deals with questions people have about this friendship.  Questions like: why would God want our friendship,   how it relates to salvation, and the question of why God allows evil in the world.  Part 3 is " Experiencing God," and deals with prayer and the discernment of spirits.  There are notes and a bibliography at the end.

My Wish List:

My Wish List by: Gregoire Delacourt
Fiction: 163 pages
Book Count: 10

This book is an international bestseller from France.  As such, if you like foreign films you might like this book.  It is the story of a working class, average looking, middle-aged women who runs a small shop and wins the lotto.  After that she makes lists of what she wants to do with the money as her life falls apart.

He Chose the Cross:

He Chose the Cross by: Adam Houge
Fiction: religion, short story, e-book

This short story is a fictional account of the Crucifixion from Jesus's point of view with flash backs to related Biblical events and with Bible quotes.  It is a very quick read.  The writer also ends the book with a kind of meditation/alter call/call to action/Bible study on God's love (all in one chapter.)

The Last American Vampire:

The Last American Vampire by: Seth Grahame-Smith
Fiction: History, Paranormal, 398 pages
Book Count: 9

This book is the sequel to "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" link here. This book tells the story of what happened after the end of the first book, but also tells about events that happened before the first book as it tells the story of Henry from when he was a human, up to modern times. It weaves many important historical events and people into the narrative even with footnotes: some that are real little known facts and some that are made up vampire ones.

The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic:

The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic By: Matthew Kelly

Non-Fiction: Religion 217 pages

First, this book does not have a book count as it took me over a year to read it.  (Because just borrowing a copy of the book would have been much more boring then reading a few pages at a time.)  So having looked back to the front of the book the four signs were: Prayer, Study, Generosity, and Evangalization.  Each sign had it's own section with more information on the subject, data from the survey of the top 7% most active parishioners from various parishes where he got the data of what things Dynamic Catholics had in common and things to do to add it into one's life.  

Becoming A Parish of Intentional Disciples:

Becoming A Parish of Intentional Disciples Ed. By: Sherry A. Weddell
Non-Fiction: Religion, Essays 143 pages
Book Count: 8

This book is a follow up to "Forming Intentional Disciples" which we are not linking to because it is about two posts down.  This book is a series of essays about how different people did things to make their parish one of intentional disciples.  They also have a list of questions for each essay at the end of the book.

Hollow City:

Hollow City: The Second novel of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children By: Ransom Riggs
Fiction: Fantasy, History/Past 396 pages
Book Count: 7

The WNBNI review of the first book in the series is here.  This book picks up right where the first book ended, like if I had both books in front of me the book could just be the next sentence.  In this book Jacob and the peculiar children are trying to find a time loop that hasn't been attacked to help Miss Peregrine who is stuck in bird form.  They travel around England on the way to London, using there book of peculiar fairy tales and Jacob's growing powers to find others like them and to fight the hollows.

Forming Intentional Disciples:

Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus By: Sherry A. Weddell
Non-Fiction: Religion 255 pages
Book Count: 6

This book deals a lot with the statistics about religion in America and the author's belief on why they are changing the way that they are.  With the main points being that continuing doing things the way that worked decades ago will not work, and that if we want people to join or stay in the church then they need to become intentional disciples and be in an environment where that is the norm.  It then goes into the levels/thresholds of conversion and how to help bring people/a parish to a life of discipleship.  The five thresholds are: initial trust (a trust or positive connection with something or someone relating to Christianity), spiritual curiosity (wanting to know more), spiritual openness ( being open to the possibility of change), spiritual seeking (an active seeking), and lastly intentional discipleship (an intentional commitment to follow Jesus.)  The book uses a lot of personal stories to highlight how things look in real life as well.

Note to Self - Odd Thomas:

Odd Thomas By: Dean Koontz
Fiction: Mystery, Paranormal, Religion 399 pages
Book Count: 5

As this is a book from a popular book series that has been out for a long time, I am not going to bother summarizing what happened in the book.   I'm just noting that I read it for my own record of the books that I have read.

Daily Wisdom for Women 2015 Devotional Collection:

Daily Wisdom for Women 2015 Devotional Collection - January Compiled by: Barbour Staff
Non-fiction: Religion, E-book

This book is a quick (about 5 minutes a day) devotional.  It starts with a Bible quote, then has a page or two of thoughts relating to the quote in some way, then ends with a line or two long prayer.  It is written by a collection of different women, and so there are 6 different versions of the Bible that are used for quotes in it, but it is noted what version that they are using each time.

Stewarding Life:

Stewarding Life: One Lifetime, Limited Resources, Eternal Priorities By: Paul Chappell
Non-Fiction: Religion, E-book

First, this book was written by a Baptist minister, so all of the normal things you would expect from a book by a Baptist minister are in it.  Even thought it is clearly a religious book (on a subject that you would not expect someone that wasn't religious to read), there is a section for getting Saved including a version of "The Sinner's Prayer".  This is referred/hyper-linked  to in multiple places later in the book as well, just in case.  All bible quotes are also in the King James Version, (as we all know that God only speaks in Elizabethan English.)
Besides those things the main idea of the book is about being a good steward of all the things that God has given you.  With the main emphasizes being on non-money parts of stewardship.    This book was written from notes that the author made when on a forced vacation after almost working himself to death, so includes notes both on the importance of doing things and not over doing things.  And it also uses many examples from the author's personal life, the Bible, and well known historic people.

The Big Fat Surprise:

The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat & Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet By: Nina Teicholz
Non-Fiction: Science,History, Food/Cooking, 337 pages
Book Count: 4

This book, like many food science books on this list over the last year, is about the history of how we got the Standard American Diet, and how the science of nutrition does not back that as a good diet.  As it is newer it includes a lot more information on scientific tests done over the last decade, and the newest info on cholesterol, including the newest particle types  found in it and how each effects or doesn't effect one's risk of heart disease.  It also goes into how the things that people replaced saturated fat with maybe or is worst than what they replaced.  This sections actually deal less with the sugar/starch that most books of this type spend much of their time on, and more on the polyunsaturated fats, trans fats, and the newer fats that are being created to replace trans fats.

Take the Monkeys and Run:

Take the Monkeys and Run: (A Barbara Marr Murder Mystery #1) By: Karen Cantwell
Fiction: Mystery, E-book

Barbara Marr's life has gone down hill fast: her husband has moved out, she is turning 45, and there is a tree full of monkeys in her yard, possibly from the creepy, empty, house near her, dubbed "The House of Bones."  From there things just get weird.  The story has many twists and turns, some that were fairly easy to see coming, but that did not diminish the story too much.  

I Knead My Mommy:

I Knead My Mommy: and Other Poems by Kittens By: Francesco Marciuliano
Non-fiction: Poetry, Humor, 111 pages
Book Count: 3

This is a collection of poems as written by kittens.  Each poem is divided by topic and there are many cute kitten pictures.  Some of the poems include; "Ode to a Lizard I didn't Know Is Also a Pet in This House," "Over Here!," "Your Legs," and "While You're Typing." In it you learn important things about cats like they do not know how to count (numbers included Q and &), and those drapes that they just destroyed were hideous and they were only trying to do you a favor by clawing them to shreds.

50 Easy Everyday Grain-free Recipes Without Almond Flour:

50 Easy Everyday Grain-free Recipes Without Almond Flour: Gluten-free Paleo Friendly By: Lori Morris and Michelle Corso
Non-Fiction: Cooking, E-book

First this book was poorly titled, not only with the long title, but with the fact that there are recipes that may contain grains, there is one with almond flour, and the main theme to all the recipes are that they are made using plantains and are gluten-free.   They may contain grains because a number of the recipes just call for gluten-free flour, which is often just made up of non-gluten grains like rice.  So it really should be called something like "50 gluten-free plantain recipes."  That being said, there are a number of recipes in this book that look good, I just wasn't expecting every single one in the book to be about plantains.

Unmuted:

Unmuted: Restoring Your Church's Voice By: Jim Wall
Non-fiction: Religion, E-book

This is a book on being a better church from one of the leaders of the Acts 2 Network, a group that works to plant new churches and grow people's faith off the ideas from the book of Acts chapter 2 in the Bible.  It uses 6 things that they see as the main points of the Acts 2 church for how to do this.  They are: be unified around a God-given vision, be empowered by the Holy Spirit, preach a relevant, simple truth, be hungry to know God, genuinely care for one another, and unselfishly care for the community around you.  He then uses examples from his life and the lives of people he knows to show how it works in real life.

Evil Librarian:

Evil Librarian By: Michelle Knudsen
Fiction: YA, Paranormal, 343 pages
Book Count: 2

First, I would suggest that everyone check this book out of your local library, just to hear what the person checking you out says about them being or not being an evil librarian.
As far as the book itself goes it is very much a young adult novel and according to the quote on the back a beloved book of Stephenie Meyer, so there's that. . .  But the story itself is interesting enough to make up for the love-sick female lead and the impossibly perfect love interest.  Cynthia's best friend Annie falls in love with the new school librarian, who Cynthia can tell there is something wrong with.  After snooping around the school, she finds out that the new librarian is a demon who is sucking the life out of the student body.  She with the help of Ryan (her crush) then try to stop the demon before opening night of the school play that they are both part of.  (As they are doing "Sweeney Todd" which all demons love, so he isn't going to kill all of the people in the school until after seeing the play.)

Dr. Mutter's Marvels:

Dr. Mutter's Marvels By: Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz
Non-fiction: Biography, History 305 pages
Book Count: 1

This book is both a biography of Dr. Thomas Dent Mutter, a history of medicine in the first half of the 1800's, and the story of how the Mutter Museum came into being.  It is rather interesting and includes the story of early plastic surgery, the start of using ether in surgery, early ideas on germ theory and how the Civil War effected medicine.  It also has small bits of the writings of Dr. Mutter and much on the early history of Jefferson Medical College where he was the head of surgery for over a decade.

My Daily Bread:

My Daily Bread: A Summary of The Spiritual Life Simplified and Arranged for Daily Reading, Reflection and Prayer  By: Anthony J. Paone, S.J.
Non-fiction: Religion, 437 pages

Yes, this book was one of the ones that I was hoping to finish last year.  And no I didn't not finish it in time because I miss counted the 197 chapters in it and started it too late to read a chapter a day like it was designed for.  No, I thought to myself in October, that what I needed to do right before attempting to write a novel and deal with all of the holidays was start reading a 400+ page book.