Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Satisfying novel I expected to dislike!

Eye for an EyeEye for an Eye by Erika Holzer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


About half way through her Kindle book, Ayn Rand, My Fiction-Writing Teacher: A Novelist's Mentor-Protégé Relationship with the Author of Atlas Shrugged, I stopped to read Holzer’s novel, to see if she knew what she was talking about. I placed an interlibrary loan request, prepared to dislike her writing.
It arrived with wonderful blurbs from awesome authors: Nelson DeMille and Dorothy Uhnak on the front cover, Ed McBain and Sandra Scoppetone on the back. Inside were more from Dorothy Salisbury-Davis, Barbara D’Amato, Warren Murphy (one of my favorites), Thomas Chastain, Donald Hamilton and others, including major newspapers. Her portrait, inside the back cover, made me think, “She looks like someone who idolizes Ayn Rand – no happy idiot here, but one who is uncompromising in her views and values.”
I was not prepared for the experience of reading Eye for an Eye and enjoying it so much. It kept me turning pages, rooting for heroes and heroines, hoping that justice would be meted out to evildoers. It also kept me guessing. Wait, that’s not exactly it. It surprised me with unexpected plot and character twists that made sense once revealed, and never felt contrived. This was a very satisfying novel. Bravo, Erika Holzer!




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Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Same Recording with smaller image

I believe I previously posted this, but with a larger image. I'm checking the option for a smaller one. Meanwhile, I'm quite pleased with the quality of this recording.

Sunday, July 12, 2015

A Temporary Library with Fantastic Views

I just posted the following note on Facebook, with a link to the article quoted below.

Moving, sometimes storing, collections; off-site (that is, off the temp site) programs; using network resources to serve your patrons - This article really takes me back! Congratulations to Jessi Renfroe Finnie (aka Jessi L. Finnie, at least in the Globe) and the Staff and Trustees in Scituate. Applause for the townspeople who agreed that spending on updated and expanded libraries is exactly how tax dollars should be spent. Your friend, Harry The (Retired) Librarian.

The Boston Globe | South
Scituate Library in temporary quarters during rebuilding project

By Johanna Seltz | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT | JUNE 17, 2015

The Scituate Town Library reopened last week in temporary quarters at the town-owned Scituate Harbor Community Building overlooking the water at 44 Jericho Road. The library was closed for 10 days while it moved. It is scheduled to move back to its old location – but into an expanded and renovated facility – in the fall of 2016. The new space will be about 33,000 square feet, an increase of about 7,000 square feet, according to library Director Jessi L. Finnie. The temporary space is smaller than the old library – about two-thirds of the collection went into storage in the Town Hall basement – but has “fantastic” views, Finnie said. She said that the newest and most used library materials are available, and that residents can order from the other 31 facilities in the regional Old Colony Library Network. The town also is leasing space at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church to make more room for library programs. Scituate voted in 2013 to spend $12 million to expand and renovate the library on Branch Street, which was built in 1978. The town received a $5 million state grant for the project.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Procrastination is death, sedentariness is death, homeostasis is death

Action!: Nothing Happens Until Something MovesAction!: Nothing Happens Until Something Moves by Robert Ringer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have enjoyed Robert Ringer since shortly after his first book, Winning Through Intimidation, was published in 1973. I regretted his decision to change the title to To Be or Not to Be Intimidated?: That is the Question. I only recently read that he revised and updated it before changing the title. That attenuates my disappointment a bit. This more recent work has a lot to offer. Rather than summarize, I will share a few quotes that I found (literally) noteworthy.
p. 158. "DON’T TRY TO CHANGE PEOPLE. Feeling compelled to change others is the height of arrogance. At least one of the reasons why there is so much hate and war in the world is that so many people feel morally obliged to remake people in their own image. Even if such a lofty objective were moral (which it isn’t), it would be impossible, which is why force is always used in the pursuit of such an objective. This ugly reality has been a fact of life since the beginning of recorded history, and, if anything, is worse today than ever before… people rarely change their basic personalities or moral structures… In those rare instances where significant change does occur, it almost always comes from personal revelation rather than through the efforts of someone else."
p. 244. "…there are few obstacles in life that can prevent you from transforming your dreams into reality through the genius, magic, and power of action… You don’t succeed by focusing on your handicaps; you succeed by focusing on your strengths. Concentrate on the abundance in your life rather than the problems, and take action to exploit that abundance. Discover your best assets, nurture them, and use them as they were meant to be used."
p. 261. "Theory is good for the intellect, but action is good for the soul. It’s also good for your mental health, your physical health, and your pocketbook."
p. 262. “Procrastination is death, sedentariness is death, homeostasis is death… Action is life – and life is meant to be lived.”

Wow! I’m especially delighted with this last as I have been re-listening to George J. Kappas on the newer online streaming (as opposed to the old audiotape) version of The Mental Bank Seminar, where he describes homeostasis as the most powerful force in human behavior, the one we must overcome if we wish to change and improve our lives. Thank you guys!



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