Thought about Trials

Last night a jury of 6 women found George Zimmerman not guilty of murder or manslaughter in the death of 17 year old Treyvon Martin. This was an explosive case only because it was made to be by politicians/???.

The shooter is Hispanic and the deceased is black. The media kept referring to Zimmerman as "self-styled" Hispanic. My gosh, look at the man. He is clearly Hispanic. Okay. Past that point. I saw twitter and fb explode with outrage. I really wanted to respond but who follows a 57 year old white mom. However, people do follow and listen to "celebrities and people they admire. Those people that I also admire let me down.

Yes, it is a tragedy that a 17 year old young man is dead. Yes, Zimmerman should have done things differently. Now, look at the bigger picture. Both prosecution and the defense has their say. 6 women, 5 of them Moms, based their decision on what was presented and THE LAW. They were not allowed to be inflamed by the press and anyone else with an opinion. They were sequestered. We, the viewing public were not. We had more information but a lot of it was not relevant in a court of law.

By writing this, you think you know my opinion on this case? You're wrong. I don't have an opinion because, it's slanted by everyone else's opinion. Am I outraged by the death of a 17 year old young man? YES. I'm also outraged that Mr. Zimmerman had his day in court, was found not guilty, and now has to stay in hiding with his family. We're better than that.

The only ones that have handled themselves with grace and dignity are the Martin family, the Zimmerman family and the 6 women on the jury. Even the lawyers had to get in front of the cameras and retry their cases.

I guess what I'm saying is we are a country of laws. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Outrage is allowed. Think about what you say and do before you say or do it. You could be the next Treyvon Martin or George Zimmerman.

ThInking of My Mom

Today is bittersweet. My Mom and Dad would have been married 61 years. Even though my Dad remarried 3 1/2 years after my Mom passed, he loves and misses my Mom to this day. It's a sad situation. Well, that's all I can say about that.

Book Blog - Just Talking Books

I've separated this blog from my book blogging. My new book blogging site is called Just Talking Books and here is the address: http://www.justtalkingbooks.com/index.html

I hope you will take the time to check it out. I wanted a stress free site that is just about books. No blog tours and specialty things,just book talk and recommendations. I'll have links up for some of the book sites I enjoy.

My youngest son was nice enough to help me set it up. I'm still learning and the site is still being refined so have patience with me.

Have a great weekend!

Family

We've had had our oldest son home for the last 7 weeks and it's been a mixed bag. I've enjoyed having him here but he was also studying for his Doctoral Candidate qualifying exam in Math. So we had to make sure he got the study time he needed. I really don't know who is more nervous. Well, yes, I do. He is. It will be over tomorrow around noon. My stomach is so very upset. I know he is prepared, so it's up to The Lord and Bryan at this point.

Our youngest son and his fiancée got here Saturday for a one week visit. We only get to see them twice a year and occasionally a spare three day weekend if hubs and I can manage our time right. Our daughter-to-be is in the last year of veterinarian school. Also one of the most stressful. She's doing her rotations through all the specialties. Long hours. Our son, who is a high school art teacher, has a little more time during the summer. He is the assistant coach for the girls soccer team and at least stays busy.

We also have a new family member. A two year old black lab, KatieBug. She is a rescue dog. Such a sweet loving girl. We're still learning each other. We've had her about three weeks. She is has some training and we're just supplementing that.

My nephew is home on R & R from Afghanistan. So proud of this young man.

And that's my family thoughts for the summer. We missed a trip to see my 93 year old Aunt Dolly. There was some family health matters at her end and we didn't want to impose ourselves and add any stress to anyone. I was so looking forward to the time with her and my cousin and also, the time with my hubs away from all his work stressors.

Hope you all are doing well and having a great summer!

Careless Words

I've noticed since I started blogging and following both authors and bloggers what a few careless words can do. Who ever thought there could be so much "drama" in books. I mean, a differing opinion can always cause heated exchanges, but in the book world, anything can set off word battles galore.

Authors taking exception with reviews/reviewers, reviewers taking exception with reviews/authors, authors taking exception with other author's articles, bloggers plagiarizing another blog, bloggers retaliating by posting bad reviews. It's a screaming mess.

When I originally started this blog and then started doing reviews for Pure Textuality, I just wanted to share with others my love of books. Maybe share my recommendations for books they might like. Of course my opinion is just that; my thoughts. While some people love books/reading, not all readers like the same type of books or even the same books in a genre. I love Urban Fantasy as a whole but I don't necessarily like each book I read in that category. Everyone has their favorite authors and again not everyone likes the same ones. The best you can do is explain why you liked/disliked a book; hopefully without being needlessly cruel. Or you don't have to explain, you can just read and enjoy your reading in solitude.

See, humans aren't really solitary creatures. We like being around other people, mostly, and a part of being in close proximity is interactions. So, we "talk" to each other. We share are thoughts and our feelings. What the weather is doing, what's going one in the news and the books we're reading. In the course of the talking, debate might break out. Here's the thing, when you're debating in person, there is usually a basic civility, the Internet, smart phones and computers as a whole have changed that. It is so much easier to share your thoughts and the anonymity allows you to share more than maybe you should. Your social filters are disabled.

Yes, I'm taking the long way round to say something. Two things happened recently that has me rethinking a big Internet presence or actually sharing my "opinion" as much as I do. Ms Charlaine Harris wrote the final novel in her Southern Vampire Series starring Sookie Stackhouse. The Internet was extremely busy logging everyone's differing opinions. And that's what they are, opinions. You may or may not like the book or you may be indifferent. In the rush of sharing their thoughts on the novel, there were some outrageous reviews calling Ms Harris' writing ability into question and other not so nice things. Of course, she has her champions. The champions in some instances attacked the wicked reviewers or the wicked reviewers called out the champions. It was and is a mess. The other thing that happened was an author, Kendall Grey, posted an article supposedly about "selling" out. I started reading her article but never finished. Then the next day or so, another author took exception to Ms Grey's comments in the article. Another broo-haha ensued with much name calling, individuals riding their high horses, others throwing obstacles in the horses path. Champions and "the Wicked". There was not much middle ground in either case. I read the other author's blog concerning Ms Grey's article and thought she made some good points. (I'm curious and will try to follow situations to their conclusion if there is one. I checked a tweet that indicated a response from Ms Kendall to being taken to task for her article. She wrote a blog post and one of the commenters called her out on her previous article. Needless to say, the comment was off topic but Ms Grey responded and quite graciously in my opinion. She shed light on her article and made me ask this question. What would have happened if the author who took exception had contacted Ms Grey with her concerns instead of doing a rant on the article?

I am in no way taking sides in either case, as I have no horse in the races. I was just thinking how words spoken cannot be taken back. Words hurt. Words make you think. Words soothe and words give entertainment. Maybe we need to remember the last two. Do we take offense too easily? Do we judge too harshly? We shouldn't keep our opinions to ourselves, it's not our nature. Can we share them without ripping each other apart?

Just my thoughts

Family Visits

The time has passed so quickly. I'm looking forward to my next visit to Totz, Kentucky to visit my Aunt Dolly and her daughter, Teresa. We talk family, cooking and just enjoy each others company. Aunt Dolly and Teresa are the closest I can get to my Mom since she's passed. It also gives me a different perspective of my Mom. She shared things with them that she and I didn't always talk about; especially when her cancer came back. I'm sure she was trying to spare her immediate family and we were sometimes in denial about her condition.
My husband is an angel for taking me last year and this year. You have to realize there is absolutely nothing to do in Totz. It was a coal mining town and most of the homes are former coal company homes or trailers. A very simple life. I loved living there for the 18 months my Dad was in Turkey when I was 7. Anyway, Hubs sits on the porch and counts coal trucks or takes naps. Thankfully for him, we only stay 3 days. This year he is taking a portable DVD player and his backlist of movies. My Aunt Dolly is 93 years old. Since I've been grown, I've not had the time to visit. Hubs and my leave time were spent with my parents or his. Now that I can no longer work and Hubs has vacation time, we try to visit those we couldn't previously.
Well, off make my list of "must bring things".

Politically Correct

I have friends and family who all have their own views on many different things. From legalizing pot, immigration reform, the President, etc. So many times I don't say anything because it's their right to say whatever they want to say. I have to bite my tongue because I want to say something so badly.

I try not to force my opinion on anyone. People are passionate about their opinions. All that being said, I don't want their views rubbed in my face. I try to stay away from hot button issues on social media but I do get tired off others who don't.

After all this here are my views on some things if you're interested.

Pro-choice (God will make the judgements). When men can actually birth a child, then they will have the right to an opinion on this matter.

Guns don't kill people, people kill people. The past few days bear this out. Do we ban pressure cookers? Or the people that make them into bombs?

Gay marriage. I believe marriage is between a man and a woman BUT, I have nothing against gay marriage. Be with who makes you happy.

Pot. Their are worse things out there than pot.

Immigration. We have laws for immigration. Enforce them! We shouldn't reward law breakers. Why is a person an American citizen just because their mother crossed the border illegally to birth them on American soil. Others follow the rules for immigration, why not everyone?

Universal healthcare. This is a nightmare we've only seen the beginning of. America was not founded on socialism.

You receive benefits for anything, you take drug tests. You receive benefits for your children, you shouldn't be able to use those benefits to buy cigarettes, lottery tickets etc. use them for what they are intended. Mainly, food and clothing. We should take care of the poor and needy, not add to them with handouts that can be manipulated.

That's enough for today. I'm getting all upset just talking about it.

Have a great day every body and be considerate of your fellow Americans.

Bad Blogger

Wow. Where did the time go? I'm going to try to better. No promises though.

Had 4 hubby free days. He went to a family reunion. I've enjoyed the "me" time but I do miss him.

The weather here is driving me nuts. I'd been enjoying my early morning time on the porch but now it's even too hot in the morning and I get up early. 6 am and it's too warm to enjoy my coffee outside.

So now, I'm finding different things to do inside the house. I'm doing a bunch of reorganizing. I find I have books scattered everywhere again. I thought I stopped buying so many books when I got my Kindle. The book must be reproducing or something.

Well, off to read and relax before bed.

I know a lot of people aren't reading this but I thought I would apologize for my lapse in posting. The last 5 weeks have been very hectic and I will get caught up as I really have a lot to say. My hubby is one of the subjects I wanted to talk about. He is awesome!!

Just a Wonderful Day

Today was just a wonderful day with my honey. After 33 years, it's nice to know that the little things matter. We both worked a bit outside. I finished planting some flowers and I believe I'll only have to add some annuals here and there. Dan watered and checked on all the trees he's planted in the last few weeks. Last year we worked on the inside of the house so this year we're concentrating on the outside. It sure looked very sad when we started.

Then I roasted two whole chickens in my tabletop roaster. The ones you buy in the store are just so salty and greasy. I used some different spices but the main flavor was rosemary. Dan loves fried "taters" and corn on the cob, so that is what he got. If I say so myself, it was very good. Dan was kind enough to wash and put away the roaster for me. It's just too heavy for me to deal with.

I finished off the day giving myself a pedicure. Now that was extremely relaxing.

So, just a nice quiet Sunday spent with my guy. Priceless

Review: The Witness by Nora Roberts

Wow, just wow!! Her 200th book and a great one it is!!!! Usually I pick and chose my Nora Roberts books depending on the synopsis but the last couple of years I've really enjoyed some of the differences in her writing style. I absolutely adored The Search. I am a die hard fan of her In Death Series and hope and pray it doesn't end for a very long time. Having said all that, The Witness is an outstanding addition to her work. The story of Abigail Lowery just flows. There is no other way to describe it. Poor Abigail does make one small mistake; she decides to hide out in a small Arkansas town in the Ozarks. Her secretiveness keeps attracting more interest than she wants. The town sheriff, Brooks Gleason, is curious and intrigued. I'm talking in circles here, I know it. There are so many things happening all through the novel, I absolutely don't want to give any spoilers. Brooks and his family are are so very well written and Abigail's dog, Bert, is a star attraction. But Abigail, Abigail is just indescribable. As a matter of fact, the only way I could describe her is she reminds me of the character, Temperance Brennan in Bones. Socially awkward and smart. Brooks plays off her character seamlessly. This part just made me think of men and their mothers. It's a conversation Brooks has with his mother after she first goes to see Abigail. (Brooks) ..."You...petted that big-ass monster dog?" (His Mom) " She told it in French it was all right. He was very sweet. He's devoted to her, I could see that. Never strayed more than two feet away. He's a very good dog, and I'm sure a fine companion. But that girl needs a friend. Now, I've got to run by the store and pick up some things. I want to try this recipe she gave me." "Ma, I don't want you going over there until I know more" "Brooks" He was thirty-two years old, and that tone, that look, could still make his balls shrink to marbles".... Anyways, it's a fantastic story with suspense, humor and action, lots of action. This is definitely one I will reread again and again. My rating: 4.5 Stars

Book Blogging/Reviewing

When I volunteered to be a book blogger, I had all these wonderful thoughts and ideas. I’d get to share my love of books with others who loved books at an established, fun website. Naive, right? I mean, I talk books all the time with family and friends, how could writing about them in a forum be any different? I’m more than naive, I’m pretty much delusional.




It sounds like I’m ready to throw in the towel, not by a long shot. I love books too much. I recently had my first case of reviewer’s block and it made me think about what I was actually writing in my reviews. Seriously, I’m a 56 year old, fairly independent woman, pretty well read, articulate and with an opinion (just like everyone else). I served 20 years in the Air Force and wrote reports and projects for generals and stuff. How could writing about books be a big deal. It feels like a big deal for me.



Initially I thought, hey no one’s gonna care about my OPINION but some people actually do. Uh ho. How about if I write a review about a favorite author and it’s not necessarily a great review? How’s that going to make me feel? Like crap, by the way. Or what if, I write a scathing review of an ARC and the publisher reads it and doesn’t send Pure Textuality any more ARCs. Wow, I could shut down the website or something. So not happening!!



Then, I started doing the very worst thing possible. I was reading every book like I was going to write a review. I was highlighting and making notes on my Kindle Fire like crazy. About a week ago, I wasn’t having any fun reading a book (by one of my all time favorite authors), I received a month before release because I was not reading as a reader but as a reviewer. Smack my head!!



I know this all seems pretty silly. To me, it wasn’t. Did I mention delusional already? I had a talk with self. Just read the book, dammit!! Forget about everything else, that’s why you like to read. You’re making this out to be school or something where you had to read Animal Farm (I ended up using Cliff’s Notes). But remember the time you read Seven Days in May and went back and read all the author’s other novels.



Seriously, I’m not on medication, well, not too much. None for delusions though, honest. It’s ALL about the love of books. You’re going to end up reading some stinkers to find the diamonds. I’ve found many more diamonds than stinkers. I’ve reached out to authors and would you believe it, they reach back. Hey, they’re normal, regular people with an amazing talent.



Reading is what you make it. I decided I’m making it FUN again!!



And will still share my opinion with no pressure.



I’m off to read an extraordinary book by an author I love, even if it receives a 3 Star review (or more).

Thinking about Family

On March 26th, my Mom would have been 78 years old. She's been gone almost 12 years and I miss her every day. The hurting is not so bad but the lonely feeling is always there. Yes, I know she's watching but I can't talk to her. I can only hear her laugh in my head.

Mom was one of 10 kids. Her Dad worked in the coal mine and it killed him at 48 years old. My grandmother never remarried. Three of the four youngest went to the Masonic Home in Louisville, Kentucky. My Mom was fourteen but went with her two younger brothers to kind of keep an eye on them. Good thing too, because she met my Dad there. He had been there since he was 4 years old.
What brought me to writing this post is the oldest of the 10 kids, my Aunt Dolly is in the hospital right now. You have to know Aunt Dolly. For her to stay in the hospital, that is not a good thing. She has pneumonia. She also had 10 kids. The first 7 were boys. Her oldest daughter is her best friend. Aunt Dolly is Teresa's best friend. I adore them both. So, I'm praying very very hard that He will give them some more time together!!

God Bless

Where Does The Time Go??

I can't believe I keep forgetting to post. Not that a lot was happening. I've enjoyed having this week with my oldest son. Sometimes you take family for granted and I guess we shouldn't.
Last night was a bit of an adventure. I was having some pain going to the bathroom and then ended up with a bit of blood in my urine. That will wake up real quick. Went to the emergency room at midnight and got home about 4 am. Seems I have an urinary tract infection. Never had one before and boy it came on so very fast. I'm fine but I lot tired. The doctor and nurse were steadily busy but they were very good. Can't often say that about an ER.
Hope all is well with everyone.

Review: Job Offer by Edmond Barrett

The synopsis for this novella is low key for a pretty interesting work Some people might pass by Mr. Barrett’s little gem. Thank goodness I’m curious and the book was very reasonable priced.

The Job Offer starts with a scene titled, “The past”. You know it’s gotta be important for it even to be mentioned. Then the book starts right in with the heroine, Jennifer, enduring a dead end job and poor living conditions. Enter the stranger, Douglas (whose real name turns out to be Collin), with a sexy British accent and a mysterious job offer.

Along the way, Jennifer learns there really are monsters living along side the ordinary people and some monsters are hunted but other less troublesome ones are not. Confused? Jennifer sure is and can’t figure out why some International “Organisation” (the author writes with the British spelling and unique verbiage) wants her to work for them policing and controlling paranormals. The sales pitch for the job is a little disturbing…

….” Alright I’ll start with the down side. It is a dangerous job; there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be seriously injured and some chance you’ll be killed before you hit thirty.”

The job has great benefits though, really. Jennifer takes the job for whatever reason. I’m not telling; read the novella. It sounds a bit corny writing this out. Let’s just say the book is much better than trying to describe the premise.

With the exception of getting used to the British writing style, I quite enjoyed the story which I believe is the lead in for a series. I learned a bunch of new British words. The story is not overly complicated and moves along enough to hold your attention. The biggest mystery is trying to figure out when Jennifer is going to show any “talents” that brought her to the attention of the Organisation.

My rating: 3 Stars

Review: WitchLight Trilogy by Debora Geary

I’ve done the review on the first three books in A Modern Witch by Ms Geary and now am reading the the WitchLight Trilogy which (no pun intended) focuses on the journey of two witches and their mentors. I’ve read the first two of the spin off and am actually finding myself a bit more involved in this series. This spin off was very cleverly done. The author took a pretty good character from A Modern Witch Series and made her an outstanding lead with added depth and parts of her story into the trilogy.

The lead characters are developed in depth. You appreciate them and can’t help getting drawn into their stories. The premise of this series is helping witches who are having issues even if they don’t want to admit it. There are 3 mentors and two students. The main mentor, Jenny, is tasked by her mentor to get involved and help two very different witches find their way.

These two witches are extremely different and have individual problems they don’t willingly recognize. The younger witch, Lizzard, is extremely gifted and smart but very insecure. Her hopes and dreams seem out of reach so she hides behind a smart mouth and getting into trouble. She has had a very tough life and when faced with putting up or shutting up, she runs away. The witches pull some strings to keep her out of juvie and try to help her grow and provide some stability in her life. Elsie is a professional and thinks she is just burned out and needs some time away from her practice to focus on charitable work. In other words she needs a new perspective and thinks she can devote some time to helping witches when she is the one who really needs the help. She’s a bit of a know it all and is completely blinded to her needs. She is rigid in control and just won’t let go.

Jenny as the head mentor knows she cannot handle these two on her own. She enlists some additional mentors, Lauren, (the lead in the first A Modern Witch) a new witch and her best friend, Nat, not a witch at all. Nat has other skills and is eerily able to read people. The whole witching community introduced in the Modern Witch Series ends up involved. The author combines the two series effortlessly.

When you begin this trilogy, have a Kleenex handy. You become so invested in the characters, their feelings, and awakening there is no way you CAN’T not feel for them and their mentors. Jenny is constantly questioning herself and how she can help her students. The following is one of my favorite passages in the novel when Jenny turns to her own mentor for advice and help.

Melvin looked off into the distance. “Why don’t you use a tripod when you take portraits?’

Twenty-five years together and he could still confuse the hell out of her. “too rigid. I need the freedom to move the camera to where it needs to be. If I lock it into place, I always miss the best shots.”

“Indeed.” He smiled softly. “Teach your students not to be tripods, then. Show them the difference between truly supporting someone and merely propping them up.”

There is a lesson in there.

While are plenty of things happening in the series, the thing you need to know is this series deals with people. Their hopes, their dreams, learning to trust themselves and others with their feelings, are beautifully portrayed by Ms Geary. I don’t want you to think you are going to cry from sadness and empathy. There is laughter and joy and even some tears to spend on the laughter and joy. I don’t think my feelings have run the gamut in a long long time. It was extremely refreshing to do so.

This is a trilogy and a spin off, so my advice is to read the first books in the Modern Witch Series, Modern Witch and Hidden Witch; then read the first of this trilogy, Witches on Parole: Unlocked, the third in the Modern Witches Series, A Reckless Witch, and THEN read Witches Underway (Book 2 of the WitchLight Series). If that’s not enough, the final WitchLight Series book, Witches in Flight, is planned for release in March 2012 and the fourth in A Modern Witch Series, A Nomadic Witch, in late spring. That’s a coven of Witch books, sorry couldn’t resist!

From visiting Ms Geary’s website and her Facebook page, I gather she doesn’t tweet but does have a lot of interaction with her fans on FB and on her website. You should stop by.

My rating for the first two books in the WitchLight Series:

4 Stars (This is a very solid four, no weaknesses)

Life is Happening

Well, I had planned to post a blog at least every other day but as you can see, that's not been happening. For some reason the past week just flew by. Then on Thursday, I over did it with appointments and running around town taking care of stuff. I had gotten up at 3:45am. After my appointments and some personal stuff, I was exhausted but couldn't get to sleep until midnight. Needless to say I've spent the last couple of days as a zombie. Oooo, I like zombies but don't like feeling like one. So I am taking today off. No chores!!

Lazy Sundays

Well maybe not so lazy. The hubby and I are making our biannual batch of chili. We usually end up using two or three stock pots but a friend of mine made a wonderful suggestion. I have an 18 quart oven I bake turkeys or very large roasts in and that's what we made the chili in. Can you believe it?, 18 quarts of chili. Maybe we won't need to make it again for 3 years. It sure smells good though. The best part, we made it together. I sliced and diced and he did the browning and put it all together.
Hope everyone is doing well.

The Kindlegraphs have arrived!!

Since I found out about this cool feature, I've been dying to try it out.  I sent kindlegraph requests to two authors whose books I have.  The kindlegraphs came back within a couple of days and I'm in awe.
It comes into your kindle as a document so you have to add the kindlegraph address so your Fire will accept the document.
It took me a few minutes to figure out how to actually get them on my Kindle (have I mentioned I'm inept in electronic gadgets).
Once I got them, I was so surprised at the quality of the book cover flat and then each author wrote a personal little note and signed the paper book flat.
So, I guess now we just need to get more and more authors to sign on for this project.