"Maine" Beach House Family Saga

"Maine" by J. Courtney Sullivan is the absorbing story of a dysfunctional Boston family who spend their summers at a beach house estate in Maine. Told from four points of view, the story develops like a well-cooked stew from chapters hosted by elderly matriarch Annie, who is trying unsuccessfully to atone for a tragic secret; her daughter Kathleen, who has been estranged from the family for years and is trying to make a go of a worm farm in California;  Maggie, Annie's granddaughter and Kathleen's daughter, an aspiring writer who discovers she's pregnant just when her boyfriend chooses to dump her, and Anna Marie, Annie's daughter-in-law, the seemingly perfect wife who tries to make up in a miniature dollhouse her failings as a mother and wife. All of the women come together at the beach house for one summer of bared grievances, acknowledgements, and realizations of the dream lives they each lost. Written in a style highly reminiscent of the great Pat Conroy, "Maine" is the ultimate end of summer beach read: we've all known characters like this family portrays.

Coming attractions in the book reviews are: "Maine," a novel by J. Courtney Sullivan about four women in a family at a seaside summer home; "Meditation," an in depth guide by Ian Gawler and Paul Bedson; "ProBlogger, Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income," by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett, and "Win,' the Key Principles to Take Your Business from Ordinary to Extraordinary" by Dr. Frank I. Luntz.

Wild Times During the Yukon Gold Rush

Unquestionably, the best book I've read all summer has to be "The Floor of Heaven: a True Tale of the Last Frontier and the Yukon Gold Rush" by Howard Blum. Although clearly a Wild West-type story, most of the action occurs along the border of Canada and during the Yukon Gold Rush in Alaska. This vibrant non-fiction narrative tells the tale of George Carmack, a Marine Corps deserter whose gold discovery sets off a swarm of prospectors to the Yukon wilds; flamboyant snake-oil salesman "Soapy" Smith and his nefarious gang soon follow where fortunes are to be made. Cowboy turned Pinkerton detective Charlie Stringo goes after the bad guys in a tour de force of investigation that will keep you on the edge of your seat. This superb real-life adventure story begs to be made into a major motion picture, and I very much hope that happens. Blum is an incredibly gifted writer and researcher. This book should be a best-seller.

High Adventure on "Turn Right at Machu Picchu"

Author Mark Adams delivers a rollicking tale of romantic, high-spirited adventure as he retraces the steps of Hiram Bingham's Peruvian trail to discovering the lost Incan city of Machu Picchu near that discovery's centennial. Led by an Australian guide named John Leivers who acts more like Crocodile Dundee than the original, Adams and their team of coca-chewing muleteers and cook painstakingly follow the tracks laid down by Bingham, whose discovery of the ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu in 1911 was a dream come true for archaeologists. Indeed, the legendary Bingham was likely the role model for Indiana Jones of Raiders of the Lost Ark fame, according to Adams: both were teachers and archaeologist/adventurers, and both wore fedora hats out in the jungle.
Now a mecca for new agers, psychics, and other tourists who sometimes spend $800 or more to spend the night in a fancy hotel at the base of the mountain, Machu Picchu is the end of the Incan Trail, a roadway made by the ancients on the perilously steep slopes. Adams and his team chose to follow the trail laid by Bingham 100 years ago to experience what he did on his tour from Cusco, rather than take the easy way out and ride the bus in to the cloud-covered city. This is a vastly entertaining story well worth the read.

The Pleasures of Reading Participation Blog

As I am currently reading "The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction," by Alan Jacobs, I thought it might be fun to ask for comments and brief descriptions of my friends' favorite books. Feel free to post below, and if you can't limit yourself to one book, that's OK, too.

Guru Guy Kawasaki Teaches How to Enchant Customers

Business guru Guy Kawasaki teaches how to transform situations and relationships to make skeptics into believers and the undecided into loyal customers in his latest, and perhaps best, business book, "Enchantment, the Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions." A former Apple spokesman, Kawasaki is well known for his motivational books and speeches. In his latest book, he argues that enchantment is not about manipulating people, but in adjusting attitudes. He says your goal both in business and personal relationships is not just about what you want to accomplish, but to bring about a voluntary, enduring and positive change in other people through enlisting their desires, by being trustworthy, and by framing a cause that others can embrace. Easy and entertaining to read, "Enchantment" well merits a spot on business entrepreneur's bookshelves.

The Truth Behind the Roswell N.M. UFO Crash

Just what really did crash in Roswell, N.M., in 1947? The truth behind the UFO crash is more shocking than aliens from outer space, according to Anne Jacobsen's new book, "Area 51, An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base." Jacobsen uses interviews with former military personnel and declassified information to construct this often scary history of the Nevada top secret base. She outlines how the Atomic Energy Commission has conducted numerous nuclear tests in the Nevada desert, including one in the 1950s which nearly blew a hole in Earth's ozone layer. She also outlines how former Nazi German scientists were included in Area 51's Paperclip corps working on secret experiments for the US, including work on a saucer shaped flying craft which many have mistakenly believed was a UFO.

This is a disturbing book, raising questions about how far the government is willing to go in its work to combat enemies both here and abroad, from the creation of dirty bombs to even eugenics. What goes on at Area 51 now will be classified for decades, and some will never be revealed, due to the fact the powers that be have determined some facts are only on a "need to know" basis. As one former employee at area 51 put it, what has been revealed so far is only the tip of the iceberg compared to what really has happened and is happening today at the site. This is truly the stuff of nightmares, but fascinating in the same way a train wreck attracts a crowd.

A Second Look at The Pirates Laffite

One of my favorite biographies is "The Pirates Laffite, the Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf,' By William C. (Jack) Davis. Published in May of 2005, this book met with good reviews, including a prominent one by the New York Times, but the horror of Hurricane Katrina killed interest in New Orleans related history by the end of the summer, and the book subsequently had mediocre sales. It merits so much better.

As a fan of Jean Laffite since the time I saw the 1958 "Buccaneer" movie when I was 9 years old in 1965, I fervently had wished for a book that would tell the true history of the privateer, minus the folklore that seemed to have a stranglehold on every biography, from Lyle Saxon's "Lafitte the Pirate" to Jack Ramsay's "Jean Laffite, Prince of Pirates." I wanted a prominent historian and skilled researcher to become as interested in the Laffites as myself, someone who could write a book on a par with Marquis James Pulitzer Prize winning biography of Andrew Jackson. Finally, in 1999, I got my wish. Davis, who is best known for his Civil War histories, just had published his "Three Roads to the Alamo" history of Bowie, Crockett and Travis, and in the process had become intrigued by Jean Laffite. He got a contract in place and began researching, contacting me for some leads. I found a new friend plus the realization of my quest.

Most of the Laffite enthusiasts at the time such as fellow members of the Laffite Society of Galveston thought there was little new to be learned about the Laffite brothers other than what had already been printed, but Davis proved them happily wrong, and boy did he, perusing thoroughly the vast holdings of original documents at the Notarial Archives of New Orleans, and visiting library locations across the United States for on-site research. He tracked down obscure and previously unknown Laffite materials including a letter written by Jean Laffite in 1814 to Edward Livingston which is at Princeton University in Livingston's papers. In Davis' travels, he gathered a formidable assortment of Laffite documents and related miscellany, all of which he evaluated with his experienced historian's eyes to sift the truth from the tall tale.

"The Pirates Laffite" is a hefty book at 706 pages, with many explanatory footnotes. The footnotes tend to scare off some readers who seem to want the "Laffite Lite" experience of Winston Groom's "Patriotic Fire: Andrew Jackson and Jean Laffite at the Battle of New Orleans," but the notes are invaluable for the added depth they give to an understanding of the Laffites' world.

Perhaps most importantly, "The Pirates Laffite" finally gives elder brother Pierre his just due. The Jean Lafitte National Historic Park is named after the more famous brother, but it was actually Pierre who was present there at Chalmette battlefield on Jan. 8, 1815.

Written superbly in a flowing narrative style, "The Pirates Laffite" has a place of honor on my bookshelves. It continues to be a valued resource into the history of the early national period in the south and the smugglers, privateers and pirates who populated the Gulf of Mexico at the time.
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Saving the World from Nature Deficit Disorder

Richard Louv, author of "The Nature Principle, Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder," is on a mission to bring people back to nature. In scientific studies he cites, Louv shows that people given a "nature prescription" actually can regain their health much quicker than those on regular pills. He likens it to zoo animals, says if we shut up zoo animals inside boxes with just windows, it would be called inhumane, but we do it all the time to office workers and other human employees. As a consequence, people become depressed and ill with a host of diseases which feed on lowered immune systems. The answer according to the author may be as simple as a walk outdoors once a day, stopping to listen to the birds and breath in the fresh air, or gardening in one's own backyard.

It seems incredible that something so simple as taking a walk outdoors can be so beneficial, but Louv claims it can, and the studies seem to back him up. Could playing video games indoors for hours be the cause of some children's attention deficit disorder and need for medication such as Ritalin? Could the answer just be to play outdoors once a day? Parents might want to study this book well.

I enjoyed "The Nature Principle" very much and heartily recommend it for its fresh look at what could help cure some diseases without medication.

Mini-Review Get Rich Click

"Get Rich Click the Ultimate Guide to Making Money on the Internet" by Marc Ostrofsky is a wonderful resource for the stay at home small business to add functionality to blogs and websites through affiliate and associate programs. This is easily one of the best and most useful books in my library, and I keep it by my computer for quick referral.

The Top Secret Seal Team Six Story

Okay, so what am I doing reading "Seal Team Six,Memoirs of an Elite Navy Seal Sniper," by Howard E. Wasdin and Stephen Templin? Normally I do not read current military books, but after Seal Team Six successfully tracked down and killed Osama bin Laden, I was curious about what sort of training these highly skilled Navy Seals have. Turns out to qualify for the Navy's best of the best, you have to be something just shy of Superman, able to hold and control your breath under water, run obstacle courses that even Iron Man competitors fail, and have a developed sixth sense about the enemy targets that borders on the paranormal. Former Seal Team Six member Wasdin relates how he managed to do all this, and utilize them on acquiring and eliminating targets pre-picked by the CIA under the White House leaders' direction.
Wasdin says the easiest part of the training for him was the obstacle course and the hardest part was the shooting range practicing close-quarters combat. He said during these training exercises, "Seal Team Six alone spent more money just on 9mm ammunition than the entire Marine Corps spent on all its ammunition."
Seal Team Six members aren't all about killing enemies: Wasdin said in Somalia he and others helped a young Somali boy get medical treatment for infections which set in after a Somali bomb took off his feet and part of one leg. To accomplish this, they had to set up a "hard entry" into the boy's home the first few times, but when the family saw they were caring for their son, they lost their fear and gratefully accepted the help.
In short, though trained to be killing machines, Seal Team Six members are in the end human just like you and me. But when they have a job to do, they do it exceedingly well.

Wild and Weird Oklahoma

Considering my area of northeast Oklahoma has the Spooklight, one of the weirdest tourist sights in the entire US, I naturally fell in love with the new book "Weird Oklahoma" by Wesley Treat and edited by Mark Sceurman and Mark Moran. Tagged the "Tri-State Spook Light,' the natural phenomenon of a ball of light gets four pages in the book along with a couple of photos! I've only seen it once, one night when I was driving in its area to visit some friends; the swaying light followed my van, stopped when I stopped, and continued when I drove on, but left me as I reached the end of its road.

I thought the Spooklight was the weirdest thing in Oklahoma, but there are plenty of other contenders for that title. For example, the Shaman's Portal in the Oklahoma Panhandle which is said to have swallowed unsuspecting travelers over the last few centuries; a beast with the head of an alligator and a humanoid body which lurked around Tahlequah in the 1840s; the Hex House of Tulsa, known as the most haunted location in that area for years; the Heavener Runestone, thought to have been created by Vikings; Gravity Hills of Bartlesville, where cars roll uphill, and loads of ghosts, murderers, eerie places, and unbelievably strange sights. Weird Oklahoma is a very entertaining book, full of color photos and fun tales of the odd to be found throughout the state, well worth perusing on a summer afternoon.

Wise Words for Potential Entrepreneurs

Got to admit I'm somewhat ambivalent in my take on Carol Roth's new business book, "The Entrepreneur Equation." If I had had this book back in 1992 when I started my professional photography business, it probably never would have gotten off the ground because Carol's business checkpoint questions would have convinced me I was doomed to failure at the get-go. But my business was a success for eight years, and I only closed it due to the accelerating technology of digital photography which made every Tom, Dick and Harry a photographer.

So should potential entrepreneurs heed Roth's warnings to take hard looks at your business prospects before opening shop? Yes, I think for the majority of people this is true, unless you want a business of what Ms. Roth calls a "jobbie," a sole proprietorship with no employees.

I had a "jobbie" at my studio; no one but me did all the work, and if I got sick, I still had to follow through with appointments, especially weddings. When I got put in the hospital briefly, the business had to be closed, and there was no one to call back the messages on the phone.

Roth wisely outlines the realities, risks and rewards of having one's own business in her book. She brings ample experience to the table, having helped clients raise more than $1 billion in capital, complete multi-million dollar mergers and acquisition deals, secure high-profile licensing and partnership deals, and create brand enthusiast programs among others.

My only beef with the book is that it seems to be more focused on the medium-sized business with employees, as she says that is the type of business which can build equity, something which is difficult if not impossible to do as a sole proprietor with no employees. So with the caveat that this book is really not for the "jobbie" intent on making crafts for Etsy or eBay, I do recommend it for posing the difficult questions which one should answer for oneself before taking out a second mortgage to start a small business.

A Golden Oldie: "She" by H. Rider Haggard

One of my favorite books is still one I first read in junior high school, H. Rider Haggard's "She," a romantic adventure tale set in the lost kingdom of Kor in Africa, where the immortal and beautiful sorceress-priestess Ayesha patiently waits thousands of years for the rebirth of her lost lover, Kallikrates.

After a perilous journey, the lover returns, reincarnated as a Britisher named Leo, along with his companion and narrator of the story, Holly. But another woman captures Leo's attention first, and "She-who-must-be-obeyed" takes a terrible vengeance.

Full of steamy romance and mystery, "She" was one of Rider Haggard's most popular books when it first came out in the late 1880s, and the power of its love story made it the subject of movies in the 20th Century, in addition to sequels. It tops "King Solomon's Mines" for the lushness of its attention to detail and writing.

Good Titles to Read During a Heat Wave

With temperatures keeping a near-constant 100 degrees or better most of this summer, I have been largely staying indoors, reading some of the latest books the local library has received.

I just finished "The Last Werewolf" by Glen Duncan, a horror-thriller about the last of the werewolves and his attempts to thwart the hunter who wishes to kill him for two reasons: he's the last of his kind, and he slew and ate hunter Grainer's father years before. Complicating things are a cartel of vampires, who want the last of the werewolves for their own nefarious reasons.

Very fast-paced and well-written, this is one of those books you'll want to read all the way through in one day and night (and then make sure the doors are locked and the windows aren't open). This is a book not for the squeamish. Duncan does for werewolves what Anne Rice did for vampires. I understand this is the first in a planned trilogy.

Earlier I roller-coastered through Steve Berry's latest thriller, "The Jefferson Key," a tale revolving around modern-day pirates keeping up the code of the sea as they seek to find some missing pages from the Congressional Record that would give them carte blanche to continue their corsairing ways unimpeded by presidential interference such as that proferred by Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and John Kennedy among others. These pirates hold true to their old ways, including various tortures designed to torment traitors and prisoners alike. Berry's hero Cotton Malone must find a way to foil their plan and stop them before it's too late for their prisoners. I admire Berry's way of making each chapter succinct and taut, as surprise after surprise happens in the story and danger looms ever more menacingly.