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.