Author: ekkarn

The Hunt for DNA Connections Goes On!

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Through DNA the Hunt for Genealogical Connections Goes On!!

So over the last several weeks I have spent more time at Ancestry.com, trying to unravel the tangled roots of my various family lines, than either reading or listening to music. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t been reading or listening at all, just that my focus has been on searching for dead people. One of the most interesting finds was a great-aunt Alice Matilda Ashton.

My great-grandfather John Sherrington Ashton III was born in 1858. The son of John Sherrington Ashton and Mary Parezo. John married Mary E Warwick in 1881. As far as I knew they had five children: Mary Catherine, Edward, William L., Horace, and Blanche. Of those children, my mother only knew one, William, who was to her Uncle Bill, who lived in Pennsylvania. From my genealogical searching I knew of Horace,Edward and Blanche. Edward and Blanche both died as teenagers. Horace was only one when he died. Recently, I discovered through DNA and Ancestry that Mary Catherine married an Emil Gottlieb and lived in Philadelphia. She even had a child named John Sherrington Gottlieb!!

Discovering the DNA Connection

Anyway, several weeks ago a high DNA match came up with a Jim Smith from New York. He was listed as a 3rd cousin and is one of my highest matches. When we (my wife and I) looked at his tree, we saw an Alice Ashton. After seeing that Alice was born in 1890 our thoughts immediately turned to Alice being a child of John and Mary.My wife quickly went to Family Search there she discovered a birth record for a female Ashton child of John and Mary born in March of 1890. No name was listed, but when we went back to the census we saw that the month and year of birth of the unnamed girl matched Alice’s.  (Alice’s mother Mary died in 1892 and John remarried.Margaret McCloskey, who was a grandfather’s mother.)

In the 1900 census,  Alice was living with a Danse family in Monroe Township in Middlesex County, NJ and her relationship to the head of the house was a servant!. Monroe Township is about 40 miles northeast of Beverly where Alice was born. A servant at nine years old! How sad!  Alice eventually married Sidney A Smith in New York in 1913. He was the grandfather of the Jim Smith who is my DNA match.

After we unraveled the mystery of the DNA connection I emailed Jim and welcomed him as a new cousin. Jim was thrilled to discover his Ashton roots since Alice was one of his brick walls. So through DNA Jim discovered more about a grandmother he didn’t know anything about and I discovered a great-aunt that I didn’t know anything about!!

Since then we have spent many hours trying to find connections to high DNA matches in my McCloskey line and also a connection to the Lehman family. So far we have had no luck in establishing either of those connections.I fear that both connections are back in Ireland!!

What Else has been Happening!

Over these last few weeks, I have also been reading. Today I finished Red Cell by Mark Henshaw. Yeah Me!. I will try to write about it tomorrow! I am also about halfway through 2 or 3 other books, that I can hopefully finish over the next week or so!!

The Silent Hour – Michael Koryta

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The Silent Hour – Michael Koryta – Lincoln Perry #4

My first introduction to the books of Michael Koryta was via his Lincoln Perry detective series.I read books two and three in the series.Why I never read book one, I don’t know. Most recently I’ve read a couple of his stand-alone thrillers (A couple of the others are on my “to be read” shelves).

Frankly, I haven’t thought about Lincoln Perry for several years. That was until I spotted The Silent Hour book four in the series at my library a few weeks ago.When I saw it, I remembered how much I liked the books. I was not thrilled when he ended the series. Anyway, I checked it out and now it’s book 31 for 2016.

The Plot…..

The Silent Hour could be subtitled “the case Lincoln Perry didn’t want.” That’s because from the moment ex-con and self-confessed  Parker Harrison asks Lincoln to find the missing Alexandra Cantrell, Lincoln is not thrilled. Alexandra and her husband Joshua had provided a semi halfway house for ex-cons called Whisper Ridge. Alexandra and Joshua gave the ex-cons employment around their majestic  home and a chance to get back their dreams. Parker had been one of those ex-cons the Cantrells helped.

Then the Cantrells suddenly disappeared abandoning the multi-million dollar mountainside home. Two aspects of the case made it less than attractive for Lincoln. First the Cantrells had been missing for twelve years and secondly Alexandra was the daughter of a mob boss! Ex-cons and  mob bosses – what could go wrong?

Lincoln was ready to walk away from the case when he discovered that the bones of Joshua Cantrell were found in Pennsylvania. They had been found at about the time Lincoln was first contacted by Parker. Why hadn’t Parker mentioned the bones being found?  Hmm, the case was getting more and more intriguing.When a PI shows up from Pa. asking Lincoln’s help in finding out what happened to Joshua. Lincoln is sucked into the mystery! But will the case be the last case for Lincoln?

Bottom-line

The Silent Hour is certainly a four-star book for me. The plot twists and turns and just when you think you’ve figured it out- you haven’t! I have enjoyed the interplay between all of the main characters in the series, Lincoln and his girlfriend Amy Ambrose and his partner Joe Pritchard. This book is no exception, even though Joe is in Florida miles from Cleveland. From The St. Petersberg Times….

The inventive plot of The Silent Hour surprises right up to the end, and in Perry, Koryta has created a classic tough detective—a man with enough dark passages in his own past to recognize them in others, a bulldog who just can’t let go until the ending of the story is told, no matter how close to hell it takes him.”

Final Thought

I  wrote earlier that I have enjoyed this series and was sad to see it end. however having checked back in with the books of Michael Koryta I discovered that he has a new PI series featuring. Mark Novak book one Last Words  was released in  August of 2015 and book two Rise of the Dark will be released on August 16th of this year. I just went to Amazon and bought the Kindle Edition for $2.99  Check that out here. I look forward to checking them out! Once again though, those two standalones are waiting to be read! Too many books too little time!

The Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in the US in 1915!

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Dark Invasion:1915: Germany’s Secret War & the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America – Howard Blum
The Beginning of World War I

The hunt for the first terrorist cell in the United States had its beginnings on June 28, 1914 when…..

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife, visit Sarajevo in Bosnia. A bomb is thrown at their auto but misses. Undaunted, they continue their visit only to be shot and killed a short time later by a lone assassin. Believing the assassin to be a Serbian nationalist, the Austrians target their anger toward Serbia

That began the march towards World War I. In the subsequent month Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia,on July 28th. That was followed by Germany declaring war on Russia on August 1st. On August 3rd Germany declared war on France and invaded neutral Belgium. After Germany ignored Great Britain’s ultimatum to withdraw from Belgium. Great Britain declared war on Germany on August 4th and the United States declared its neutrality.

Dark Invasion:1915: Germany’s Secret War & the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America

As the war progressed the United States maintained its neutrality, but was selling supplies and ammunition to the Allies. In 1915 the German ambassador to the US is instructed to find and finance a team of undercover saboteurs who can disrupt this flow of supplies to the Allies and potentially keep America out of the war. The results of those orders were terrorist attacks on Allied ships and various sites around New York.

The job to catch the German saboteurs fell on the shoulders of New York police Captain Tom Tunney. The story of that hunt is vividly told in Howard Blum’s book Dark Invasion:1915: Germany’s Secret War & the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America

From Goodreads:

As Germany teeters on the brink of war, its ambassador to the United States is given instructions to find and finance a team of undercover saboteurs who can bring America to its knees before it has a chance to enter the conflict on the side of the Allies.

At the page-turning pace of a spy thriller, Dark Invasion tells the remarkable true story of Tunney and his pivotal role in discovering, and delivering to justice, a ruthless ring of German terrorists determined to annihilate the United States. Overwhelmed and undermatched, Tunney’s small squad of cops was the David to Germany’s Goliath, the operatives of which included military officers, a germ warfare expert, a gifted Harvard professor, a bomb technician, and a document forger. As explosions leveled munitions plants and destroyed cargo ships, particularly in and around New York City, pan- icked officials talked about rogue activists and anarchists—but it was Tunney who suspected that these incidents were part of something bigger and became determined to bring down the culprits. Read More

Dark Invasion was a great read. The book was the result of years of research by Blum. Blum used many first had accounts of the events to tell the tale. I must say that prior to reading this book I knew nothing about these terrorist attacks. The attacks included: explosions of many ships at sea, the bombing of the US Capital building, an attempt to launch a germ warfare campaign against horses being sold to the Allies and an attempt on the life of J.P Morgan!!

Bottom-Line:

Dark invasion is a 4.5 fo 5 star book for me. It gave me what I love about history a story about the people who make history. That’s what history is all about for me – the people who make it. The story in Dark invasion was eye-opening from the design of the cigar-bombs that were smuggled on ships bound for Europe to a  germ-warfare attack on horses similarly headed to the Allies.I had never heard about he bombing of the Capital Building, In the book, there is even a picture of the building post explosion!!

If you are a lover of history check this one out!! It doesn’t need to be said that the subject of Dark Invasion the hunt to stop potential terrorist attacks, is as relevant today, as it was more than a 100 years ago!!

 Personal Side Notes….

. My father’s maternal grandparents came to the US in 1912 from Dresden, Germany. His grandfather Herman Meyer was at one time a member of the King of Saxony’s royal guard. Herman lived on Walter Avenue in Delanco until 1954. He and his second wife sold the house to Ray and Joy Vanamin Ray’s wife was Joy Lippincott my old boss’s sister.

Many years ago Ray gave me many of my great-grandfather’s old German Military Yearbooks that he found in his attic and kept. The dates on the yearbooks ranged  from the 1910s through the 1930s.

As I was reading Dark Invasion, I constantly wondered, since I know he kept these yearbooks what were his thoughts during this time period. I know that his wife’s brother Moritz Wendel lost his life fighting on the Russia front

My wife has no doubts that Herman’s sentiment would have been with his homeland. But if presented with  the opportunity, would he have participated in any of these attacks on his new homeland. I don’t think he would have done it. The fact he became a citizen during this times is an indication to me, that he wouldn’t have done it.  Of course today, some would say that was just a cover……

another side note

In the book Blum writes about Captain Frederick Hinsch, a German operative and commander of the ship the Neckar. I father’s paternal grandfather Henry Karn traveled from Hesse, Germany to the US alone in 1882 at the age of 17 on the Neckar

2016 Reading Challenge Update: July 2016

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2016 Reading Challenge Update: July 2016

 

So I haven’t written much about my reading this month. The main reason is that while I have been reading it seems that I have only finished one book, John Verdon’s Think of a Number, this month. Hopefully, I will finish at least one more book before the end of the month.Right now I have finished 29 books this year. My goal for the year is 60 books, so I’m about half the way there.

Currently Reading

Currently, I am reading The Silent Hour by Michael Koryta. the fourth book in his Lincoln Perry series. Over the last few years Michael Koryta has written many stand alone thrillers and while I have enjoyed these books. I have always liked the Lincoln Perry series, too.So far I am enjoying this book.

I am also reading Howard Blum‘s Dark Invasion:1915 Germany’s Secret War and The First Terrorist Cell in America. This is a fascinating book about the chase to catch the German terrorist who were attacking US ships during the year leading up to America’s entry into World War I. I was totally unfamiliar with almost all of the things presented in the book, including bombing of the US Congress.

Hopefully, I will be able to finish this book and the Koryta book before the end of the month. Finishing these books would at least make my monthly total of books read respectable.

2016 Reading Challenge Update

 

The 2016 Socialstudious Reading Challenges TBR Library Total Goal % of Goal
         
2016 Literature Reading Challenge
General Fiction 0 3 3 6 50.00%
Classics 0 0 0 6 0.00%
NY Times Bestseller List 0 0 0 6 0.00%
Award-Winners 0 1 1 6 16.67%
2015 Mystery/Thriller Reading Challenge
Mystery (Series) and Thrillers 1 18 19 10 190.00%
Women Mystery Book Authors 0 0 3 10 30.00%
2016 Science Fiction /Fantasy Challenge 0 0 0 6 0.00%
2016 Nonfiction Reading Challenge 1 2 3 10 30.00%
Totals 0 0 0
29 60 48.33%
2016 TBR Pile Challenge 2 25

 

Projected August Reads

 

As you can see, while I have read enough books to have reached  48% of my goal, over half of the books read are Mystery Series or Thrillers!! If I take the nine books I am over in that challenge away from the totals I have only read completed 33% of the challenge total (20 of 60 books). So I have some work to do regarding the various challenges!! So here is a potential reading list for August.

Book Author Reading Challenge
Life of Pi Yann Martel Award-Winners
The Everything Box Richard Kadrey General Fiction
The Night Season Chelsea Cain Women’s Mystery
Orbus Neil Asher Science Fiction
Connectograohy Parag Khanna Non-fiction

 

About The Projected Reads

 

Life of Pi won the Man Booker Prize and is on many must read lists. It is a book that I have always wanted to read, but somehow have never read.

I picked up The Everything  Book at the library early this week. After reading the following on the jacket of the book and seeing a quote from Christopher Moore on the back of the book, I figured this would be a book I will really like1

2000 B.C.
A beautiful, ambitious angel stands on a mountaintop, surveying the world and its little inhabitants below. He smiles because soon, the last of humanity who survived the great flood will meet its end, too. And he should know. He’s going to play a big part in it. Our angel usually doesn’t get to do field work, and if he does well, he’s certain he’ll be get a big promotion.
And now it’s time . . .
The angel reaches into his pocket for the instrument of humanity’s doom. Must be in the other pocket. Then he frantically begins to pat himself down. Dejected, he realizes he has lost the object. Looking over the Earth at all that could have been, the majestic angel utters a single word.
“Crap.”

I have seen Chelsea Cain name for a while now and The Night Season has been on my TBR pile for far to long. It’s time it was read and I enter the world of Archie Sheridan & Gretchen Lowell. Hopefully, it won’t matter that I am jumping into the series at book #4!

Last year I entered the Polity universe of Neal Asher reading Dark Intelligence book one in the transformation series.Orbus is also set in the Polity Universe but is the third book in Asher’s Spatterjay series. Once again I hope I can enjoy a book in the middle of a series.

My final read for August will be Connectography:Mapping the Future of Global Civilization by Parag Khanna. I have already started this book and it is a fascinating analysis of the global connection of communities. It discuss the ways modern technology is connecting areas beyond the made up borders of countries!!

If finish all of these books I may be back on track to come close to my goal of 60 books and take a little bite out of my Reading Challenges – Wish Me Luck!!0

Vinnie Ream and the Lincoln Statue

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July 28, 1866 – Vinnie Ream receives a commission from the United States government for a statue of Lincoln

 

Ok so think back on what you were during in the summer when you were eighteen. Let’s see, ok well some of us may take a little while to answer because we have to think back a little farther!! Hmm, I was eighteen in 1969. Oh, yeah I was probably waiting to see if my draft number was high enough that I wouldn’t have to move to Canada. I was also going into my senior year of high school. So I was probably working with my dad picking up produce from around the county and trucking it to the New York market.

Now imagine you are an 18 year-old female in 1866. What I don’t think you would imagine, is that you would be receiving a commission from the United States government for a statue of Abraham Lincoln that was going to stand in the U.S, Capital Rotunda! But that is just what happened to Vinnie Reams and on July 28, 1866 she became the youngest artist and the first women to receive a commission from the United States government!!

About Vinnie Ream and the Lincoln Statue

At seventeen in 1863, Reams became an apprentice to scupltor Clark Mills,, after she was introduced to Mills by James S,. Rollins.A year later in 1864, President Lincoln agreed to model for her. Lincoln modeled in the morning for five months,and she created a bust of his figure. In 1866 she used that bust as her entry into the selection contest for the full-size Lincoln sculpture. On July 28th of 1866, Vinnie was awarded the commission by a vote of Congress. Of course the commission was not awarded without controversy. According to her biography at Wikipedia…..

There was significant debate over her selection as the sculptor, however, because of concern over her inexperience and the slanderous accusations that she was a “lobbyist”, or a public woman of questionable reputation. She was notorious for her beauty and her conversational skills, which likely contributed to these accusations.

She worked in a studio in Room A of the basement of the Capitol to produce a plaster model of the statue. During that time Senator Edmund G. Ross boarded with Ream’s family. The impeachment of Andrew Johnson was also in progress at this time. The impeachment trial ended with Ross casting the decisive vote against the removal of President Johnson from office. Of course, since bad things are always the fault of a woman, Ream was accused of influencing his vote. She was almost dismissed from the Capitol with her unfinished Lincoln statue.  It took the intervention of powerful New York sculptors to prevented that from happening!!

Soon the U.S. government approved Ream’s plaster model, Ream traveled to Paris, Munich, Florence, then Rome, to produce the finished marble figure. While she was in Rome she was the subject of more controversial rumors.The rumors claimed that Italian workmen and not Ream were responsible of the sculpture of Lincoln.

Ream returned to Washington in 1871, and on January 25, 1871, her white marble statue of President Abraham Lincoln was unveiled in the United States Capitol rotunda, Ream was only 23 years old!!.[

Other Sculptures by Vinnie Ream

During her career Vinnie Ream created many more statues. Here is a list of her statues taken from Wikipedia…

You can see pictures of these statues and read more about her here at Wikipedia. So what were you doing at 18? Whose bust were you creating? I know I wasn’t doing anything as prestigious as Vinnie Ream was doing!!

 

 

Featured Image: By Mathew Brady – This image is available from the United States Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID , Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1553426

 

Think of a Number – John Verdon – (Dave Gurney # 1) – A Great Series Starter!

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Think of a Number - John Verdon - Dave Gurney Number 1
Think of a Number – Dave Gurney #1

Originally posted on July 20, 2015. Updated October 2025 with new links, images, and reflections after reading additional books in the Dave Gurney series.

John Verdon’s  debut novel Think of a Number has  been on my To Be Read bookshelves for a very long time. Each time I pass the book, I say to myself “you know you should read that book”. Until last week, my answer was “I’ll get to it one of these days!”. Well, one of these days came last week and now I can kick myself for not reading it earlier!! Maybe I should have just taken the time to read the David Baldacci quote on the cover:

“Remarkable…The writing is haunting and quotable. the twists expertly placed and infinitely plausible… You can read the book as a game of cat and mouse, a ride of chilling suspense or a literary repast, since it provides all in abundance.”

All of the above is true.. the line he left out is you’ll feel like kicking yourself if you don’t read it!!

The cat and mouse in the story are retired, NYPD Detective Dave Gurney and the mouse a meticulous and diabolical serial killer.

The Plot

The story begins when Dave receives a call  form an old classmate who is panicked. He has received a letter that asks him to ‘think of a number any number up to a thousand – the first number that comes to your mind. Picture it. Now see how well I know your secrets. Open the envelope”.  When the envelope is opened and the number 658 is revealed the classmate is panicked. He can not believe that the letter writer guessed correctly. What else may he know! What did he do to anger this man!

Soon additional poetic letters arrive one requesting money. The classmate of course pays. Soon the letters become more threatening, culminating in the ritualistic murder of the classmate. He is stabbed multiple times in the neck with a broken bottle of Four Roses whiskey. The minimal evidence left at the scene, a folding lawn chair, cigarette butts and tracks in the snow, all lead nowhere and Dave and the police are left baffled!

When another victim turns up in Brooklyn murder in a similar fashion, Dave knows that its the work of a serial killer. But with no evidence of significance found at either crime scene how will they catch this killer!  But catch him they must or more will die!!

What I Thought –  Rating 4.5 out of 5.

Think of the Number is  a well-crafted debut novel. I thought the storyline was original and intricate. I enjoyed the characters, particularly Dave Gurney. During the time that Gurney served in the New York Police Department, he caught more serial killers than anyone else in the history of the NYPD.

Now even though he is retired from the force, he can’t stop doing what he does best – Catching Bad Guys!! Of course Dave is caught between a rock and a hard place though.

His wife Madeline wants Dave to stay retired and out of harms way. She knows though, that Dave’s not going to let this one go, especially since the victim was a friend. Of course there is the other reason, too. Dave is a cop who loves to solve cases, and this one is one intriguing cases to crack!! So Check it Out!

As for me, I am now set to move on to book two in the series Shut Your Eyes Tight. The good part is that the book is already on my Kindle!! I bought it a while back, when Amazon had it on sale for $1.99!

I also have book four Peter Pan Must Die on the Kindle, bought in a similar fashion!!

Now all I need is for book 3 Let The Devil Sleep to go on sale before I finish book 2! My guess is that will not happen. But there’s always hope – and the library!! Oh no Book 5 Wolf Lake was release on July 16th!!

Update (October 2025): Since first posting this review, I’ve continued with John Verdon’s Dave Gurney series — reading Book 2, Shut Your Eyes Tight and Book 3, Let the Devil Sleep. Both build on Gurney’s analytical mind and Verdon’s knack for psychological tension. I’m looking forward to diving into Book 4, Peter Pan Must Die next.

Links

Author’s Website
Goodreads
Amazon

John Verdon

John P. Verdon is an American novelist. In 2010, Crown/Random House published his first mystery thriller, Think of a Number, the debut novel in the Dave Gurney detective series. Wikipedia

Born: 1942 (age 83 years), The Bronx, New York, NY

Education: Fordham University, Regis High School

Here is the trailer for Think of a Number.…..

Visit Shut Your Eyes Tight – Dave Gurney Book #2

First Loaf of Sliced Bread Sells July 7,1928.

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Using a Machine Designed by Otto  Rohwedder Sliced Bread Sells for the First Time – July 7, 1928

Ok so was Otto  Rohwedder, a jeweler by trade, was just sitting around one day and thought ” I think I can design a machine that slices bread!” Must be nice! I sure wish I had those kinds of thoughts!

Anyway that’s what he did and in 192 7, Rohweder not only designed a machine that slice bread, but the machine also wrapped it!! After applying for patents, he sold his first machine to a friend,  Frank Bench, who was a baker. The machine was installed in the Chillicothe Baking Company in Chillicothe, Missouri. Their first loaf of sliced bread was sold on July 7, 1928! Other bakeries soon bought the machine, making sliced bread available across the country, and well ,the rest as they say is history!!

Initially, Rodwedder studied optometry and graduated from the Northern Illinois College of Ophthalmology and Otology in Chicago in 1900 with a degree in optics. He became a jeweler and owned three jewelry stores in St. Joseph, MI. But as he worked on watches and jewelry, he also thought about new machines. When he became convinced that he could develop a bread slicing machine, he sold his jewelry stores to follow that dream. However, the realization of that dream was delayed for several years.In 1917, a fire broke out at the factory where Rohwedder was manufacturing his machine, resulting in the destruction of his prototype and blueprints.

After the success of his first machine one of the first companies to sell sliced bread was the Continental Baking Company. They introduced Wonder Bread in 1930. Sales of sliced bread went up, as did the sale of automatic toasters. Toasters were invented by Charles Strite in 1926  The end result was that in 1933 American bakeries for the first time produced more sliced than unsliced bread loaves!! Thank You, Otto Rohwedder!

Links for Further Exploration of Otto Rohwedder

Wikipedia
The Great Idea Finder: Bread Slicer

Now there are certain words and phrases that cause the Jukebox in my Head to pull up a song and Jeweler is one of those words. Here is one of my all-time favorite songs “The Jeweler” from Pearls Before Swine!

Smorgasblog Episode 1 – Books, Music and More….

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A Tasty Smorgasblog Episode 1

 

So what the hell is a smorgasblog?? According to the Urban Dictionary  defines a smorgasblog as….

A blog entry in which the writer writes about several different, often unrelated topics.

In yesterday’s smorgasblog he wrote about everything from global warming to what he had for breakfast to how he hates golf to his travel plans for next summer.

A blog entry in which the writer writes about several different, often unrelated topics.
In yesterday’s smorgasblog he wrote about everything from global warming to what he had for breakfast to how he hates golf to his travel plans for next summer

It seems that the word is perfect for a blogger whose thoughts and interests are all over the place! Uh, that would be me! So if you are here looking for a little bit of everything – Welcome!!

A Little Family Update

Now what’s been happening! Well, this week is the second week that I have not been babysitting my grandson Oliver at least one or  to days a week. I have been doing that since he was he was four or five months old. (He is now 27 months old and is going to daycare now five days a week, and while it is a good change from the physical side, mentally I miss him! So my wife decided that we should pick him up early on Wednesday and spend the early evening with him, which we did yesterday and it worked out well! And before you think I’ve had a bunch of time on my hands over those two weeks, think again, because our babysitting duties with our granddaughter Zoe have increased now that he mommy’s job went from part to full-time and her great-grandmother’s sitting time has been limited. But babysitting for both of them is a joy!

The Books

Even with the increase in babysitting Zoe,, I have been able to finish three books over the last three weeks bringing the total of books read for the year to 28! So I am on pace to read 56 books in 2016.and while that is two books off of the pace to read 60 books, it is still ahead of last year’s pace. Last year’s total number of books read was 51. The last three books I have read are

Small Move, Big Change - Smorgasblog 1 BookBook 26. Small Move, Big Change: using microresolutions to transform your life permanently by Caroline I. Arnold/ – I thought that this was a really good book and one that I will need to go back and investigate more in-depth and try to implement some of Ms. Arnold’s ideas. I totally agree we her basic theory that small measurable resolutions are much better than big sweeping resolutions. It may be easier to say I will read five books a month than 60 in a year. The goal of reading 60 books seems so unreachable but five per month, well, maybe I can do that. Here is a good summation of the book.

‘I  love this book! From page one, Small Move, Big Change is filled with wisdom. insight, and whip-smart “micro” suggestions that you can I actually implement to change your life” – Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

I am in total agreement with Ms Chua assessment of Small Move, Big Change. By the way all those who are familiar with Amy Chua, raise your hand. I know you can’t see them, but my hands never left the keyboard!! So I went to Amazon and then to the Burlington County Library and here’s what  I found out about Amy ….

An awe-inspiring, often hilarious, and unerringly honest story of one mother’s exercise in extreme parenting, revealing the rewards-and the costs-of raising her children the Chinese way.

All decent parents want to do what’s best for their children. What Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother reveals is that the Chinese just have a totally different idea of how to do that. Western parents try to respect their children’s individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions and providing a nurturing environment. The Chinese believe that the best way to protect your children is by preparing them for the future and arming them with skills, strong work habits, and inner confidence. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother chronicles Chua’s iron-willed decision to raise her daughters, Sophia and Lulu, her way-the Chinese way-and the remarkable results her choice inspires.  Read More

Hmm, to late for thoughts about how to raise my kids…..but there’s always that grandchildren….I may have to check this book out!

Books number 27 and 28 were both thrillers. One from an author that is new to me Chris Carter and the second from one of my favorites James Rollins. I will write more about both books soon, but here are some initial though about each book

An Evil Mind

 

 

Book 27. An Evil Mind – Chris Carter –  (Robert Hunter #6) This may be a 5-star book for me. I thought it was extremely well crafted. I loved it! From Amazon….

.A freak accident in rural Wyoming leads the Sheriff’s Department to arrest a man for a possible double homicide, but further investigations suggest a much more horrifying discovery – a serial killer who has been kidnapping, torturing and mutilating victims all over the United States for at least twenty-five years.

The suspect claims he is a pawn in a huge labyrinth of lies and deception – and he will now only speak to Robert Hunter of the LAPD.

Just a riveting read, that will certainly send me scampering to find other books in the series! Maybe Books 1 and 7 so I can stay current and also find out what has gone on before!

War Hawk

 

Book 28 War Hawk – James Rollins and Grant Blackwood. I am a big fan of James Rollins’ Sigma Force novels and this second installment of the Tucker Wayne series has all the makings of being just as good. Roliins and Blackwood offer the same blend of cutting edge science and technology with great characters (one of them in this series is a K-9) and action!

Former Army Ranger Tucker Wayne and his war dog Kane are thrust into a global conspiracy that threatens to shake the foundations of American democracy in this second exciting Sigma Force spinoff adventure from New York Times bestselling authors James Rollins and Grant Blackwood.

Tucker Wayne’s past and his present collide when a former army colleague comes to him for help. She’s on the run from brutal assassins hunting her and her son. To keep them safe, Tucker must discover who killed a brilliant young idealist—a crime that leads back to the most powerful figures in the U.S. government. Read more

Another winner!!

The Music

So to wrap up this first Smorgasblog how about some of the music I’ve been listening to….(music listing has been somewhat limited I am afraid I  just have too much to do!) Two of the albums that I have really enjoyed over the last couple of days are the latest from Sherry Finzer, Darin Mahoney and Will Clipman Trialogue.  A New Age tour-de force! You’ll be ready more about this album in the future! And the new album from jazz trumpeter Marquis Hill The Way We Play. So check them out!

Here’s the opening track from Trialogue

Jack 1939 – Francine Mathews

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Jack 1939 – Francine Mathews’s story of JFK in Europe in 1939

 

The inspiration for the historical novel Jack 1939 came to author Francine Mathew after seeing a photograph of John Kennedy on a street in Germany in 1937. She writes this about the picture..he was….

….wearing clothes he’d probably slept in for a week, tousled hair, head thrown back , mouth opened in a grin. He was  juggling fruit for the camera. He looked like a wild and free street busker without a care in the world; he was also rail thin, the bones in his face painfully prominent I forgot completely that he had ever been that young. The image haunted me for weeks. I wanted to know more about that boy….

So Francine read several books about Jack Kennedy and the Kennedy family. Based upon the facts, she wrote Jack 1939, a novel of speculative fiction that tells a tale of Jack in Europe in 1939, ostensibly traveling through Europe for the purpose of gathering information for his thesis. While actually gathering information for President Franklin Roosevelt about Hitler’s spy rings and plans as the world braces for the war to come. In the novel Jack is confronted by a sadistic killer, meets a beautiful married woman, encounters the Enigma machine and searches for a ledger stolen for a charity with information that could bring down the House of Kennedy!!

Here’s what some others say about the novel…

“A triumph: an exciting thriller, an intriguing exploration of a troubled time, and an absorbing take on the early history of one of America’s most iconic figures. Highly recommended”. Iain Pears author of An Instance of the Fingerpost

” Like JFK  himself, this book is smart, sexy and unafraid to take risks. With nimble prose and easy charm. Francine Mathews leads us beyond the frontiers of history to make us believe in her version of a young Kennedy at large in a dark-world of prewar spies and secrets”. – Dan Fesperman, author of Lie in the Dark

In the Afterward of Jack 1939 Francine says that she roughly used the actual times and places that Kennedy was as he crossed Europe in 1939, gathering information for his senior thesis. For me that made this novel a whole lot better.

The book did provide a great glimpse into the early life of JFK and for me his medical problems were particularly interesting. I never knew about how fragile his health was. They did a great job of hiding that both during his Presidential campaign and his years as President.

Bottom Line: I thought that the descriptions of Jack and the Kennedy family and even Roosevelt, Hoover and Churchill were better than the storyline. I had so trouble getting through the middle of the book, but the last half of the book was better than the first half. Overall, I liked the Jack 1939 but it was not a page-turner for me. So it is a 3 star out of 5 book for me!! But well worth checking out!

Book 25 for 2016

A Foundation Course in German Starts Me on My Way!

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Don’t Know Much about the German I Took – But I’m trying anew!!

 

So if you have been reading along you are probably thinking this guy doesn’t know much about the German language, Why did He start a webpage? And you know what you’d probably be 100% right. But that’s the point – the purpose of this blog is to chronicle my attempt to learn the German language. Over the years I have noticed that I have a lot more drive and determination to run now than I did back in my youth. If I put the effort into running then that I have over the last 20 years I would have been a hell of a lot better runner!!  It’s the same with German.I didn’t put much effort in learning the language back then, but I do want to put a lot in now!! Now there’s the added benefit that learning a new language provides those who may be a little older!! I am not saying the elderly, because I in no way feel elderly, except at the end of the day after babysitting Oliver all day!!

The book that I started my study of German was a book I bought at a library used book sale titled Foundation Course in German. And while the book is almost as old as me (it has a 1958 copyright) it seems to me to be a pretty interesting and comprehensive book. Each lesson starts with a short passage followed by sections on vocabulary, commentary (rules etc) and exercises. When I started several weeks ago I really couldn’t read the first passage very well, but going back to it and re-reading it today I had no problem understanding everything! So I am learning something, yeah me!!

Lets Learn GermanMany of the vocabulary words have become familiar to me from both this book and the Let’s Learn German Picture Dictionary i checked out of the library. The picture dictionary groups items by locations and type of words. The first location is the classroom hence the familiar words in both books! Yes the dictionary is a child’s book but hey, you can consider children newbies to the language, which is also hat i am!! Anyway, I am going to start both a resource page for the site, listing information about the books and other resources I am using in my studies and a vocabulary page. Creation of the vocabulary pages will give me each practice in writing out the words as I learn new ones as well as providing me a place to review the words!!

So first I hope you will join me in this endeavor and secondly I hope maybe it will either give you so inspiration to try to learn the language, because if this older dog can learn it, I am sure you can. too!