Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas!
Peace on Earth! Have a wonderful day with your friends and family. Praise God our Heavenly King.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Read In Order to Make Room for Other Books
To a Very-Special Friend (Exley Gifts Books, 1997). Short, sweet.
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success... (New World Library, 1994). People rave about Depak Chopra, but I just don't see it. This one did not speak to me. If it works for him, then great.
JonBenet: Inside the Murder Investigation (St. Martin's Press, 2000). Not sure what to say about this one. The failures of this particular investigation are good examples of a)why inexperienced officers should not be allowed at murder scenes; b) why written policy of how to investigate doesn't matter if it isn't followed; c) ineffective communication between officers and a DA office; d) how important intuition is to investigation, but that it doesn't mean anything if there isn't evidence to make the case; and e) politics can overcome investigations.
The Little Ice Age by Brian Fagan was really interesting. One of the many things he discusses is the influence of weather on art. It's almost a footnote to the book as a whole, but I found it very interesting to posit that you can measure climate changes by changes in art content, such as the number of winter scenes in certain centuries or the types of clouds that are being painted. We're keeping this one because Bill wants to read it too. It's very well written and though I didn't always agree with all of Fagan's conclusions, I did find it difficult to put this one down.
I also finished Jan Dargatz, 52 Simple Ways.... Of all the Christmas books of this ilk, it's the most helpful one I've read; though, it was repetitive in instances. Every Chapter was supposed to have a different Christmas related suggestion, but, at times, it seemed like suggestions would come in one chapter and then have their own heading later on, having already been mentioned under a different chapter heading. I enjoyed it though and actually took down some notes in my journal on suggestions for Christmas questions to contemplate in Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. I also took down some of the craft/packaging suggestions. For example, Dargatz recommended taking the fronts of of last year's Christmas cards and sending them as postcards in order to save money and paper. That seems pretty cute and clever. I'd recommend borrowing it from the local library, as I am glad I read it, but we don't need to own a copy.
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success... (New World Library, 1994). People rave about Depak Chopra, but I just don't see it. This one did not speak to me. If it works for him, then great.
JonBenet: Inside the Murder Investigation (St. Martin's Press, 2000). Not sure what to say about this one. The failures of this particular investigation are good examples of a)why inexperienced officers should not be allowed at murder scenes; b) why written policy of how to investigate doesn't matter if it isn't followed; c) ineffective communication between officers and a DA office; d) how important intuition is to investigation, but that it doesn't mean anything if there isn't evidence to make the case; and e) politics can overcome investigations.
The Little Ice Age by Brian Fagan was really interesting. One of the many things he discusses is the influence of weather on art. It's almost a footnote to the book as a whole, but I found it very interesting to posit that you can measure climate changes by changes in art content, such as the number of winter scenes in certain centuries or the types of clouds that are being painted. We're keeping this one because Bill wants to read it too. It's very well written and though I didn't always agree with all of Fagan's conclusions, I did find it difficult to put this one down.
I also finished Jan Dargatz, 52 Simple Ways.... Of all the Christmas books of this ilk, it's the most helpful one I've read; though, it was repetitive in instances. Every Chapter was supposed to have a different Christmas related suggestion, but, at times, it seemed like suggestions would come in one chapter and then have their own heading later on, having already been mentioned under a different chapter heading. I enjoyed it though and actually took down some notes in my journal on suggestions for Christmas questions to contemplate in Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. I also took down some of the craft/packaging suggestions. For example, Dargatz recommended taking the fronts of of last year's Christmas cards and sending them as postcards in order to save money and paper. That seems pretty cute and clever. I'd recommend borrowing it from the local library, as I am glad I read it, but we don't need to own a copy.
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