A Letter From Ireland by Mike Collins

A Letter From Ireland

by

Mike Collins

This little book I got off the free list for kindle from Amazon in July and I savored it by reading only one chapter a day and then forgot to blog about it because I am still getting the weekly letter in my email from Mike and enjoying each and every one.  It is a delightful idea to tie my  family tree interest like this into the culture and history of one of the European countries that some of them immigrated from.   My Sullivan line is the only line in my genealogy that I can think of that is truly Irish.  I have other lines that immigrated from Ireland but I am pretty sure they were only in Ireland for about a hundred years having immigrated from Scotland prior to that.  So my "Irish"  lines are "Scots Irish"  sometimes called "Scotch Irish".   But even with just the Sullivan line being Irish I still enjoyed reading about the areas the clans evolved from and the way various surnames came up from the professions such as medicine and law.  I also enjoy the descriptions of the environment and culture of Ireland in the book and letters.  Please click on the title and the author's name above to learn more and enjoy the video that follows.  

The Crowning Of The Can King by J.E. Rohrer

The Crowning of The Can King

by

J.E. Rohrer

My brother has written a new book.  I enjoyed his last series and just finished up this first book of his new series tonight.   It is a short read at 54 pages and took me about an hour to zip through.   I could have read it quicker but had to keep stopping to laugh.  My brother's books always make me laugh.  This one,  like his others,  is about a mystery solving retired absent minded professor who lives in Fort Atkinson Wisconsin.  The Crowning of The Can King is about what would happen if the world lost electric power.   In the story the absent minded professor,  his wife,  and neighbors fend off foes who are out to steal their limited resources and at the same time find the axe murderer who killed the grocery store manager who was price gouging those in need.   I could just get a visual of them digging a hole in the field to dump their toilet bucket on a daily basis and could see the older professor always falling over the cat at least once.  Definitely a much needed fluff book after my last couple of reads and  I highly recommend it.  I understand my nephew illustrated the cover too!.  Please click on my brother's name above and the book title to learn more and enjoy the video that follows about the town the story takes place in.

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

The Glass Castle

by

Jeanette Walls

This novel is the September book for the Columbia City Library Book Club that I used to attend before I moved from NE Indiana to SW Ohio.  I will miss being with the group when they discuss it later this month.  I chose to listen to this book on audio and I finished it up on the way to work yesterday afternoon.  It is a well written book that held my attention.  It is also very sad at times.  There are parts of the book that made me angry also.  It is autobiographical of Jeanette Wall's childhood growing up with an alcoholic and drunken father and what seemed to me like a schizophrenic mother in the 1960s and 1970s.  They live in Arizona,  California, West Virginia, and New York during the book.  The most upsetting time was while they lived in West Virginia.   In spite of the very poor elementary formal schooling they had their parents were able to school them on the road and the children were all very bright.  Their education in junior high and high school was more formal but marginal due to social ostracizing brought on by poor clothing and being cold and hungry at home.  What I kept searching for throughout the book was how the kids all turned out so successful.   What was the key that they were able to pull themselves out of the poverty, neglectful and abusive background and live as productive citizens?  I think the fact that Jeanette was badly burned as a three year old and spent a long time in the  hospital helped her lay a foundation of knowing what it was like to be warm, clean and well fed.  There was also a high school teacher in West Virginia who had tried to help her father when he was young and had made enough of an impression that Jeanette was named after her.  When the family moved back to her father's old home town the teacher was still there and encouraged Jeanette.  This teacher was in charge of the school newspaper and Jeanette spent a lot of time during her high school years working on the school paper under this teachers guidance.  Also all the Walls kids were big readers.  One book that Jeanette loved was A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith.    I think this story inspired her and gave her direction.   This book is hard to take in during parts of it due to the extremely poor conditions the children had to live under.  But at other parts any one who grew up during the 1960s and 1970s could relate to.  Much of the toys and games were the same as the ones I was acquainted with.  And the anti-authority opinions of Mr and Mrs Walls were familiar lines.  Please click on the title and the authors names above for more information and enjoy the video that follows.  

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman.

The Light Between Oceans

by

M.L. Stedman

I read this book on my Kindle Fire and finished it up last night.  It is the September selection for the Wilmington Library Reading group.  My work schedule has changed so I can't attend their meetings any more but will try to read along with them when I can.  They are a good group and I enjoyed them.  This novel The Light Between Oceans is one that is very thought provoking and I am sure brought out a lively discussion in the group night before last.  The novel held my attention and I finished it fairly quickly.  I won't go into too much detail on the story line because the video I am posting will do that.  But I do want to warn possible readers that this is a very sad book.  The ending made me tearful.  Please click on the title and the author's name above to follow the links to more information.  And enjoy the video that follows.  

Movie Night

 A couple of weeks ago Bruce and I watched a movie we had been meaning to watch for awhile.   I found "The Butler"  to be very well done and an important work about important events in our history.  But I also found it to be depressing.  It is a good movie but I can't say that I liked it.  I would encourage all to watch it and decide for themselves.

Dinner And A Movie With Company

Early last month my father and stepmother visited us in our home.  My dad had not seen where I live since my move last December.  We had scheduled two separate times for them to come visit last winter but we all know what the weather and road conditions kept doing to every one's plans last winter.  So it was a long awaited visit.  We went out to eat at Montgomery Inn which is always yummy and a great place to bring company.  Then we came back to the house and watched an old movie.  I thought a comedy romance would be a fun choice and I had seen this movie but the others hadn't.  I liked it so thought they would too.