The Angry Christian

By Bert Ghezzi

Are you a Christian who finds themselves losing their temper and feel like you need to do something about that? This little book is intended to give some guidance for Christians in dealing with anger.
Basically, the author has a three step method for bringing anger under control:
1. Do not supress anger.
2. Express it righteously.
3. Settle things quickly.

The author uses the Bible to back up his thinking on anger with appropriate references. He points out that anger is inevitable and not a sin. He says anger can be channeled  in positive ways. However, he does caution that those with extreme anger and emotional problems should seek professional help.

His suggestions can be applied to nonbelievers too, except for the parts where he recommends turning it over to the Holy Spirit. Anyone who feels their anger is getting in the way of their happiness can use his advice to improve their peace of mind, believer or nonbeliever, in my opinion.

Our Love of Bees

By Jaret C. Daniels

This little picture book give the reader the basics about bees, mostly honey bees.

I picked the book thinking it would be about lots of different kinds of bees. But it is mostly just concerned with honey bees. Lots of information about honey bees but the other bees not so much.
My fault, I should have looked at it a little closer before taking it home.

Elvis Is Dead And I Don't Feel So Good Myself

By Lewis Grizzard

Lewis Grizzard was a fan of Elvis Presley. When Elvis died in 1977, it caused him to think back on his life. He remembers his childhood, his young adulthood and he complains about the changes modern life has brought and yearns for the good old days when his life was simple and he was content.

Not a particularly funny book, but it does have its moments. Too much sports stuff, though. Which is okay if you like sports. I don't.

Nightmares

By Stase Michaels

Why nightmares? What is the purpose of these terrifying, upsetting dream dramas? The author tries to answer the questions of the why and what of nightmares.
The author suggests analyzing nightmares in a five step process:

1. Emotions -- notice what you feel in the dream and also when you wake up.
2. Create a very simple, brief story line describing the dream.
3. What does the story line say about you and your life?
4. See how the symbols in the dream relate to your waking life.
5. Use the message the dream is conveying to address problem areas in your life.

The author then applies this method to sample nightmares supposedly taken from real life and explains how understanding the root cause of the bad dream helped the dreamers cope with life's difficulties.

I don't know anything about the author. Supposedly the author is an expert at  dream interpretation. But the author also claims to believe that dead loved ones visit people in their dreams. And that dreamers can receive warnings about future events in their dreams. And that ghosts are real. The author also quotes Marianne Williamson, "A miracle is a shift in perception from fear, to love..." which gives you an idea of where the author's head is.

The book was interesting, mainly I enjoyed reading about the nightmares. As for all the mumbo jumbo, meh.
To quote a quote by Noel Coward from the book, "It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and disbelieve it, and how few respond in the same way to deceit."

Pearls Before Swine : Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic

By Stephan Pastis

Daily and Sunday comic strips which appeared in newspapers from December 2001 to July 2003.
For readers of the strip, the main thing you will notice is the lack of crocodiles. They only make a few appearances in this collection. In the early years, the lions were the main antagonists of the zebras.
But reading these beginning efforts, it is easy to see why this comic strip took off like it did. It's funny. Just plain funny. It can proudly take its place among the great strips like The Far Side, Dilbert and Calvin & Hobbes.

Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station

By Dorothy Gilman

Mrs. Pollifax is off on a trip to China for the CIA. Her job is to locate a prison camp and assist another agent as he or she attempts to smuggle a prisoner out of China. She will be traveling in a tour group consisting of six people besides herself, one of which is the agent whose identity has not been revealed to Mrs. Pollifax. This person will make him or herself known to her when necessary. So Mrs. Pollifax makes a little game of trying to guess who her fellow agent may be.
The tourists are Peter, a young, sullen man of 22 who was given a trip to China as a graduation present; Malcolm, an elegant successful artist and writer; Jenny, who teaches grade school and is almost as young as Peter; George, a dour, older rancher who falls hard for one of the women in the group; Iris, a thrice-divorced dancer in her early thirties and who is amazingly clumsy; and lastly is Joseph, a bearded college professor in his forties. They are all there to see the wonders of a newly-opened China. Or are they? Mrs. Pollifax has her doubts after she discovers her luggage has been expertly searched. Because the Americans are not the only ones interested in extracting the Chinese prisoner. The Russians are very keen to get their hands on him too.

I really enjoyed this book a lot. There is a lot less spy stuff than in some of the Pollifax stories. Much of the story centers on the group of tourists and their interactions, which I found interesting. The spy stuff only ramps up in the latter part of the story when the secret agent finally reveals his or her identity.

Timeline

By Michael Crichton

On an archaeological dig in France, a cryptic message is uncovered on a piece of ancient parchment. It says, "Help me 4/7/1357." Impossible though it may seem, the archaeologists come to the conclusion that the team leader, Professor Johnston, has some how ended up back in 1357's France and needs to be rescued.
So three of the most qualified archaeological workers are talked into traveling back in time  to rescue their professor. There's Andre Marek, who eats, breathes and lives the 1300s; Kate Erickson, grad student, mountain climber and architecture expert; and Chris Hughes, also a grad student and an expert on the ancient buildings of the dig site. Accompanied by two hired mercenaries to keep the three archaeologists safe, things go bad from the very start upon arrival in 1357 when both the mercenaries are killed by a small troop of mounted men. One has her head loped off and the other takes an arrow in the chest. In the confusion, the three archaeologists split up and escape, running from danger and facing a reality that is a lot more brutal than what they have ever known.

This story is chock full of action, as the time travelers tumble from one disastrous encounter to another. They are caught in the middle of a war zone, as two groups of vie for control of the area.They are constantly on the run, barely escaping with their lives multiple times.  A little too much action, for my taste.

See also the review by Publishers Weekly.

Cathy Twentieth Anniversary Collection

By Cathy Guisewite

This fun collection, celebrating twenty years of Cathy comic strips, starts out with some of the earliest Cathy strips from 1976 and continues on through 1996, with commentary from the real Cathy.

Pearls Blows Up

By Stephan Pastis

A Pearls Before Swine Treasury, copyright 2011. Pearls Before Swine is a very successful newspaper comic strip. Probably the last one, as people switch from reading newspapers to reading news on the internet.
I have enjoyed reading these comic strips. Pastis' Pearls Before Swine is right up there with the greats of daily strips: Charles Schulz's Peanuts, Gary Larson's Far Side, Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes, Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County, Cathy Guisewite's Cathy and Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury.

Pardon My Planet : Omigawd! I've Become My Mother

By Vic Lee

Cartoon collection copyrighted 2005.

I don't really know much about this cartoonist, Vic Lee. I just happened upon this collection and it looked funny, so, yeah. I don't know where his work usually appears or how long he has been doing cartoons. He seems to have a cast of somewhat recurring characters, but I could be wrong about that. Some of them look similar, but are they the same person? I don't know.
Anyway, these cartoons are funny and twisted and very enjoyable.

I'd Scream Except I Look So Fabulous

By Cathy Guisewite

Daily Cathy comic strips copyrighted 1999.
Cathy loses her regular job when Irving comes back into her life. He arrives at her job hired to "restructure, reoganize ... you know ... redirect the personnel..."
Despite her long past relationship with Irving, he doesn't save her job. Instead she is told will be working from home on a part-time basis and she will be able to freelance. Good bye steady income and benefits!

I really felt for Cathy as she struggled to deal with her new, scary reality. This collection is funny but it also is truth.

Down in the Black Gang

By Philip Jose Farmer

A collection of science fiction stories.
1. Down in the Black Gang: ETs use human emotion to power the universe but one of their fixers gets fed up with manipulating humans and flees.
2. The Shadow of Space: An experimental space ship finds itself in unspace due to sabotage and can't figure out how to get back home or if home even exists anymore.
3. A Bowl Bigger than Earth: Morfiks finds himself sliding into a new world in a new body. But the new body is sexless and hairless and the new world is filled with people who look and sound exactly like him. Individuality is forbidden and any infractions result in everyone being punished.
4. Riverworld: Tom Mix, old timey cowboy movie star, finds himself reincarnated on Riverworld along with the rest of humanity. Riverworld is a massive, possibly artificial world featuring a single central river valley surrounded by impassible mountains. Tom falls in with a woman who knew Moses and with a man who doesn't want to admit that he is Jesus Christ and just as human as everyone else.
5. A Few Miles:  A novice monk is ordered by the head of his order to take passage on a space ship to another planet, Wildenwooly. But he has to figure how to get out of the city where the monastery is located and out to the city limits where the spaceport is all on his own with any help or money. He has many adventures, including helping a man with a broken oven, fighting off a gang of union thugs, falling in with a couple of dangerous teens, getting attacked by an alien animal and having his clothing stolen.
I think this was the author's attempt at a humorous story.
6. Prometheus: The monk from the story, A Few Miles, goes to the planet of the alien animal that attacked him in that story. At first dismissed as merely talented mimics, rather like parrots, it soon becomes apparent that these beings, called horowitzes (named for the man who discovered their planet), are capable of learning what the monk teaches them. Soon, they are speaking and understanding the monk's language, learning to make fire and cook their food. Learning agriculture and making tools of flint and weapons for hunting and defense. But questions arise about what happens after death and the monk must decide if he will give them religion or let them develop their own philosophy.
7. The Blasphemers: The sphinx people have developed quickly and have even made a faster-than-light drive for their space ships. They explore the galaxy, looking for planets to colonize. They ruthlessly suppress the beings of any planet who they deem to be vulnerable. But then they discover our planet and the big sphinx statue in Egypt and it blows their minds.
8. How Deep the Groove: A scientist invents a mind-reading machine and discovers a disturbing truth about humankind that drives him insane.

This was an OK read. I'm not really a fan of short stories and I wasn't particularly impressed or entertained by this collection.

$14 In The Bank And A $200 Face In My Purse

By Cathy Guisewite

This collection of Cathy comic strips was published in 1990. In this collection Cathy has her little dog Electra and hasn't been dating her long time boyfriend, Irving for quite awhile. She briefly dates another fellow, Simon, but soon finds him boring. But still gets upset when a friend from work starts seeing Simon after Cathy is no longer interested.
Electra, Cathy's dog, seems sad and Cathy thinks the dog may be missing Irving. So Cathy invites him over and is surprised to find that he has quit his job and gained thirty pounds. Which he proceeds to lose in one day by merely skipping lunch.

Typical Cathy comic, with all the usual struggles with diet, exercise, overeating, overspending and over-dramatizing everything. Familiar territory but still a lot of fun to read.

The Last Continent

By Terry Pratchett

Rincewind is off on another of his involuntary adventures, this time on XXXX aka Fourecks, the Discworld equivalent of Australia. Or not, as the author explains in the front of the book, "This is not a book about Australia. No, it's about somewhere entirely different which just happens to be, here and there, a bit . . . australian. Still . . . no worries, right?"
Rincewind's arrival was predicted and he is expected to save Fourecks, helped out by his usual weird lucky bad luck. And by a disappearing kangaroo who calls himself Scrappy.
Meanwhile, back in Ankh-Morpork, the Librarian is quite ill. He keeps changing shape, involuntarily. The wizards want to work a spell on him but in order to do so, they need to know his true name. But the Librarian refuses to reveal his name because he likes being an orangutan and he is afraid the wizards will make him human again. But none of the wizards know the Librarian's name. In fact, the only one, other than the actual Librarian, who might know his name is Rincewind, who used to be the Librarian's assistant.
The wizards are not sure how to get Rincewind back to the Unseen University. Before they figure it out, they discover a passageway in a bathroom that leads to a tropical island. Of course, they all have to go there. And of course, they all get stuck there when the housekeeper shuts the passageway unknowingly and trapping them all, including herself, on a tiny island in the distant past, inhabited by a strange little god who is trying to invent evolution and failing massively.
So what does it all have to do with Rincewind? Quite a lot. But first Rincewind has to survive living in XXXX.

This was a good story. There is a dwarf who is based on the Mad Max movie character. There is a bartender who a crocodile, called Crocodile Crocodile and the scene from the Crocodile Dundee movie, "you call that a knife" appears in the story. There is a nod to the movie, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and the song Waltzing Matilda. And that Australian criminal that faced down the police in a suit of homemade armor, Ned Kelly, gets in the story, sort of. I suppose there are even more references that I didn't catch.
I think Mr. Pratchett had a lot of fun writing this story.

Breed To Come

By Andre Norton

Humankind long ago abandoned their home planet after they managed to imperial their very existence on it. Left behind were the animals who were subject to their cruel experiments, dogs, cats, rats and swine.
Left to their own devices, the animal clans increased in intelligence, creating their own societies and gleaning knowledge from the empty cities left behind by humankind.
Furtig, a young catman, has left his home and gone off to the human city in search of knowledge and in search of his relative, the wise cat Gammage. Gammage has spent much time in the city trying to understand the human technology and use it to better the lives of his fellow cat people. But, as a result of his studies, he has come to fear that the humans will soon be returning to their world. And he fears they will once again cruelly rule those they left behind, the dogs, the cats, the rats and the pigs. Who are no longer mere animals. And who just may have a plan to fight back.

This was an OK read. Just how Gammage is so certain the humans are due to shortly return is never clearly explained. And when they humans do return, it is only four people who are searching for a cure to another human-created blight that is once again threatening human existence. They just can't manage to do anything right, the poor stupid unworthy humans.

Review by Kirkus Reviews.

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

By Dorothy Gilman

The first Mrs. Pollifax novel.

Mrs. Pollifax is depressed, so much so that she briefly contemplated jumping off the roof of the apartment building where she lives. But a visit to her doctor recalls to mind that when she was a youngster, she wanted to be a spy.
Having nothing to lose, she pays a visit to CIA headquarters and, in a case of mistaken identity, finds herself assigned to be a courier in Mexico City.
Naturally, Mrs P. disobeys her instructions and visits her contact at a bookstore before the appointed time, just to take a look around, don't you know. She has a pleasant visit with the bookstore clerk. She returns to the store on the assigned day, only to find someone else manning the store. This man kindly invites her to join him in a cup of tea and she ends up drugged and tied up and hauled off along with another person to Albania.
The other person, Farrell, is one of the CIA's agents in Central America. But Mrs. P maintains her cover as an innocent tourist who is being mistaken for someone she is not. Farrell is cruelly interrogated by their communist captors and manages to briefly escape, only to be recaptured, having been shot and with a broken leg from a fall down a cliff. Mrs. P and Farrell know that their days are numbered. Their only hope is to escape. But Farrell is too injured to travel and Mrs Pollifax refuses to even think of going without him.

I read this book decades ago and I didn't really remember anything about it. So rereading it was like reading it for the first time. It's an improbable story and everyone's failure to realize that Mrs. Pollifax unknowingly had the sought-after  documents was more than a little unbelievable. But it was an interesting read and I understand how it lead me to read more of the Mrs. Pollifax books at the time. Although I don't think it would have had the same effect on me now, being a lot older and lot less easily impressed.

Review by Kirkus Reviews.

Interesting Times

By Terry Pratchett

Rincewind is off on another adventure when he finds himself magically transported to the land of Twoflower, the innocent tourist from The Color of Magic.
When Twoflower arrived back home, he wrote a travel book describing the wonders of Ankh-Morpork and incidentally creating much dissatisfaction in the denizens of the Agatean Empire. A revolution is in the making, helped along surreptitiously by Lord Hong, the Grand Vizier to the elderly emperor. Lord Hong has grand ambitions and envious eyes on Ankh-Morpork.
The wizards of the Unseen University have been instructed to send the "great wizzard" to the Agatean Empire. The only wizard who spells it "wizzard" is Rincewind and so Rincewind is summarily snatched and instantaneously sent thence, only to end up in prison next to his old traveling companion, Twoflower. Together the two of them and a few young, idealistic followers will overthrow an empire and reanimate an ancient, long buried army.

This is one of the better Rincewind stories. The plot is more solid and a less chaotic than most Rincewind stories. The social commentary manages to stay amusing while being quite pointed. It has a very intriguing ending, with Rincewind finding himself transported to the continent of XXXX, the Discworld equivalent to Australia where he has an immediate encounter with a boomerang.

Review by Publishers Weekly.

MAD'S Maddest Artist Don Martin Steps Out!

By Don Martin

I think this was the first collection of Don Martin cartoons. It was certainly the first collection of his that I read as a kid. I remember so many of the cartoons in that book. Coming back to it decades later, I still enjoyed Martin's silly sense of humor. And I think these early cartoons among his best.

This collection includes:
1. Fester and Karbunkle Out West
2. Fester Goes Ski Jumping
3. Fester and Karbunkle The Motor Trip
4. Fester and Karbunkle The Safe Movers
5. Fester and Karbunkle The Roller Coaster Ride
6. Sylvan Interlude in a Petunia Patch
7. Karbunkle in The Penny Arcade
8. Fester and Karbunkle in A Department Store

When I was a kid and trying to go to sleep, I would imagine the various stages of Fester's experience in A Department Store.

The Crystal Gryphon

By Andre Norton

A Witch World story.

The Dales are in danger as invaders from outside move against the lords of the Dales. The invaders have advanced technology, while the Dalesmen are still riding horses and using bows and arrows and swords and armor.
But before the time of the invasion, two children of Dales lords are promised to each other for political reasons. Kerovan's father is worried his people will reject his son as leader because Kerovan is deformed. His eyes have slit pupils instead of round and his feet are hoofed. So allying his son with the daughter of the lord of Ithdale, Joisan, will consolidate his son's position, he hopes.
Joisan and Kerovan are officially wedded, even though they never actually meet and even though they are little kids. Kerovan lives in isolation, away from prying eyes. Joisan lives at Ithkrypt and finds herself pursued by Toross, a cousin, who urges her to repudiate Kerovan and ally with him. At one point Kerovan sends Joisan a crystal gryphon as a gift and she wears it on a chain around her neck.
Joisan and Kerovan never meet before the invaders arrive. Ithkrypt is destroyed and Joisan and company are forced to flee.
Kerovan is ambushed but escapes only to discover that his mother, his sister and his half-brother are the ones who arranged for the ambush. He also finds out that they have turned the locals against him too. He decides he has no future there and travels to Ithdale, only to discover that Ithkrypt is a ruin and Ithdale is overrun by the enemy. He then sets out to find the wife he has never met, Joisan.

This book is told from the two perspectives of Joisan and Kerovan. Much of the story centers on the two as youngsters. It doesn't really start moving until the invasion, when Joisan and Kerovan are just entering adulthood. And when the best made plans go up in smoke as war swallows both their keeps.

Eric

By Terry Pratchett

Rincewind gets mistaken for a demon when young demonologist Eric summons him to do his bidding. All Eric wants is three wishes: to rule the world, have the most beautiful woman in the world and live forever.
Rincewind tries to explain that he is not a demon but Eric refuses to believe it since Rincewind is constrained by the spells he uses to control a demon. And he demands his wishes be fulfilled. Of course, this wish thing never works out the way the wisher intended and Eric and Rincewind find themselves in nearly constant danger. They finally end up in hell where they encounter some of the folks they meet during their travels and where the king of hell is being subtly undermined by his reactionary subordinates.

A typical Rincewind story, with the failed wizard stumbling from one misadventure to another, helped out by the relentless luggage. I have to admit that the Rincewind character is not my favorite of the Discworld series.