This blog feature amusing and heartwarming stories about our late Leonberger dog Bronco, as well as other Leonbergers. It also has a lot of information about the Leonberger breed, the history, care, training, Leonberger organizations, etc. I also wrote a Leonberger book, which I am featuring in the sidebar.
Reviews of books that are not about Leonbergers. They are books I want to promote.
The most gripping and well written survival story I have ever read, The Winding Road by Miriam Hurdle is free on Amazon today. That is to commemorate the release of the book and the day she discovered she had a very dangerous form of cancer. This is your opportunity to get the Kindle version for free. Click here for the free book on Amazon. Check her post in the reblog below for additonal places.
Below I am reblogging her announcement.
This is a Leonberger blog but sometimes I post about books that I want to promote. This post is a review and a promotion of a very good children’s book called Belle and Chloe Reflections in the Mirror by Isabela Sardas. I should mention that she is my sister-in-law. The book comes in three formats.
This book is about two young twin sisters, Belle and Chloe, who love each other and do everything together. Then one day a bad accident happens in the kitchen. A pot of boiling soup falls over Belle and she is badly burned. What follows are months in the hospital, surgery, scars that will remain as well as challenges to relationships but above all the story demonstrate the endurance of love and the importance of support.
My Review of Belle and Chloe Reflections in the Mirror
Accidents happen sometimes, there’s hurt, physical and emotional, shadows descend over dreams, life becomes more difficult. A lot of children have these traumatizing experiences. How can they be helped?
This is a very touching story, beautifully told, and it also contains important messages, especially for children who are suffering similar circumstances. The story is based on the author’s own experiences from when she was burned by a boiling soup that fell over her. In other words, this story was lived, it’s real. You get a glimpse into how you go on after an accident like this. Isabela is also a psychologist focusing on treating children with trauma. She knows exactly what she is talking about.
I can add that I think this book is not only for children suffering from traumatic experiences but also for other children and adults. The book offers comfort and much needed knowledge to those who need it, and for the rest of us it is an eye-opening page turner. The book also features 25 full page illustrations that are detailed and colorful. See the included example below. I highly recommend this children’s book.
About the Author
Dr. Isabela Sardas is a licensed clinical psychologist with more than twenty five years of experience in the treatment of childhood and adolescent psychiatric disorders using cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic perspective. She obtained her training in psychology from the Cambridge Hospital-Harvard Medical School, UNT, and the University of Pennsylvania.
The focus of my blog is Leonbergers, especially our late Leonberger Bronco, but sometimes I present a good book which I want to promote. Today I would like to present and review Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World–and Why Things Are Better Than You Think Paperback – April 7, 2020 by Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund, and Ola Rosling, ISBN: 978-1250123824, 352 pages, item weight 14.4 ounces, dimensions 5.3 x 1 x 8.2 inches.
Misconceptions Are Everywhere
Yesterday as we were on our way back from our son’s wedding, I accidentally overheard a conversation among fellow Texans that went something like this “…the wind turbines effect how the wind blows and therefore they have a very bad effect on the environment”. I turned around to see if it was a shrunken head speaking, but the speaker looked like a normal human being. It was a man my age. His friend then stated, “also the wind turbines kill a lot of birds.” That’s also a misconception but perhaps not one as silly. Wind turbines do kill birds, and it is a real problem, but the birds killed by wind turbines correspond to a very tiny fraction compared to the number of birds killed by fossil fuels, cats and even windows. Then I remembered that I once harbored some pretty silly misconceptions myself, so maybe I shouldn’t be so judgmental. We all have misconceptions, but naturally we don’t know what they are. Misconceptions is what other people have.
The world is full of misconceptions and not just about wind turbines, but nuclear power, all energy sources, animals, dogs, leonbergers, history, science, cosmology, space, evolution, particle physics, trees, Sweden, and all other countries, the state of the world, how the economy works, governments, vaccines, microbes, time, space, mathematics, quantum physics, plastic pollution, climate change, chaos, crime, etc. I have a bit of an interest in the topic, and I’ve made a list of more than 100 very important basic facts that we know to be true with certainty, or with a very high degree of certainty, and yet a large segment of people who are not experts in the relevant fields denies those facts or grossly misunderstand them. Having a belief that is contrary to the relevant expertise and/or widely accepted data is a red flag, yet so common. In addition, biases, a weak understanding of science, arrogance, and strong religious and political beliefs make it difficult to correct misconceptions. We are drowning in misconceptions, they are everywhere.
Overview of Factfulness by Hans Rosling
Factfulness by Hans Rosling, focuses on misconceptions about global trends and the state of the world. It therefore has narrower scope than my general concern about misconceptions, but it adds a lot to my special hobby. It focuses on the good news, of which there is plenty. It is clear that things like our health, wealth, peace and human rights have made a lot of improvements over the last 100 years. But somehow our biases tend to make us think that things are getting worse.
Hans Rosling, the author, was a Swedish physician, academic and public speaker, professor of international health, and he was the co-founder and chairman of the Gapminder Foundation, which developed the Trendalyzer software system. He passed away in 2017. To visit Gapminder and explore world statistics and facts click here.
My Amazon Review
Understand the World Better
In the book’s introduction there’s a test you can take to see how well you understand the world. According to the author, most people do worse than monkeys randomly selecting answers. Even well-educated people do worse than monkeys. That’s because we have biases or instincts that distort our view of the world. I should say I did well on the test, not because I am a monkey, but because I had knowledge of most of the statistics in the book before I read it.
Rosling discusses ten instincts: the gap instinct, the negativity instinct, the straight-line instinct, the fear instinct, the size instinct, the generalization instinct, the destiny instinct, the single perspective instinct, the blame instinct, and the urgency instinct. Once we have been made aware of these instincts and how they mislead us we are much better equipped to understand the world. The gap instinct makes us divide the world into developed and developing countries whilst in reality nations are on a sliding scale from poor to rich and in general moving towards rich. Also differences within countries are typically more important. The negativity instinct, our tendency to notice the bad more than the good, causes us to ignore the silent miracle of human progress, etc.
Rosling said something that resonated with me “the world cannot be understood without numbers. And it cannot be understood with numbers alone”. The book contains a lot of interesting statistics that may seem counterintuitive to many people. Surveys show most people believe things have gotten worse for us humans. However, people are better off. In the chapter on the negativity instinct there are 36 graphs showing how things have gotten better (32 graphs on just four pages). Violence is decreasing, poverty is decreasing, infectious disease is decreasing, people are living longer. Here are a few things that a few of the graphs show:
* The average length of life in the world has gone from 31 years in 1800 to 72 years in 2017
* Children dying before their fifth birthday has gone from 44% in 1800 to 4% in 2016
* The rate of undernourished people in the world has gone from 28% in 1970 to 11% in 2015, despite the world population doubling
* Cereal yield per acre in the world has gone from 1.4 ton per acre in 1961 to 4 ton in 2014
* Literacy has gone from 10% in 1800 to 86% in 2016
Despite all the good news in this book he says we should still worry. The five things that concern the author the most are the risk of global pandemic, financial collapse, world war, climate change and extreme poverty. He dedicates the next five sections to discussing those five concerns. However, another issue that he does not discuss is that as the human condition has gotten better that of animals has largely gotten worse. Not only are there fewer wild animals and less habitat for wild animals but with factory farming and other modern practices the quality of life for domesticated animals has gotten much worse. I know that may be outside of the scope of this book, but it was something that occurred to me.
One statement in the book that may seem confusing but certainly is interesting is this: “There has been progress in human rights, animal protection, women’s education, climate awareness, catastrophe relief, and many other areas where activists raise awareness by saying that things are getting worse. That progress is often largely thanks to these activists. Maybe they could achieve more though, if they didn’t have such a singular perspective.”
Overall, I loved this book because it is filled with clever analysis and interesting statistics. It is a book that will help you understand the world better. Unless you already know the facts and statistics presented in this book, this book will revolutionize how you view the world. It is also well written and well organized. I highly recommend this book.
This is a Leonberger blog but sometimes I post about books that I want to promote. This post is a review and a promotion of a very good wildlife and poetry book called Lion Scream: Syllabic Poetry About Southern African Wildlife Paperback – February 8, 2023 by Robbie Cheadle.
The paperback version of the Lion Scream, which is what I bought, is 163 pages, ISBN 979-8376647318, item weight 10.7 ounces, dimensions 6 x 0.39 x 9 inches. You can buy Lion Scream from Amazon, as a paperback or e-Book. The paperback version is currently $20.50 on Amazon. The Kindle version is $4.59 or free if you are part of Kindle Unlimited.
Below is my Amazon review of Lion Scream. Click here to visit the Amazon review.
Wildlife, Poetry, Truth, and Art all Wrapped into a Powerful and Beautiful Book
The book opens up to colorful cake art depicting nature’s response to the sixth mass extinction and global warming. The cake art was created by the author. FYI the previous five mass extinctions happened 440 million years ago, 365 million years ago, 250 million years ago, 210 million years ago and 65 million years ago. This book is a celebration of wildlife and a plea to save it. It contains 99 color photos of wildlife from south Africa, rhinos, elephants, lions, zebras, buffaloes, leopards, cheetahs, warthogs, wildebeests, hippos, crocodiles, hyenas, jackals, marabou storks, gemsbok, antelopes, insects, birds and monkeys of various kinds and many other animals. It also features 31 YouTube videos featuring wildlife. I bought the paperback, so I had to type in the links. That wasn’t bad but the kindle version has the advantage of clickable links.
However, the main feature of the book is the double ennead syllabic poetry about wildlife and the beauty of the natural world. This poetry is passionate and beautiful as well as fun and engaging. There is also information about wildlife and the threats posed to wildlife as well as a poignant story about a girl, Irene, who internalizes the mass extinction, global warming crisis, and the catastrophe this is to wildlife and her generation. Her angst and pleads for action and her anger towards her parents is heart-rending, and originally being Swedish my thoughts went to Greta.
I felt that this book has so much to offer in terms of beauty and wisdom, the poetry, the photos, the videos, the information, that reading it was a real pleasure. It is a book that will stay with me. I highly recommend this book.
If you would like to watch some of the other wildlife videos click on the links below
Rhinos video1, video2, video3, video4
About the Author
Award-winning, bestselling author, Robbie Cheadle, has published thirteen children’s book and two poetry books. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.
Robbie also has two novels published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.
The ten Sir Chocolate children’s picture books, co-authored by Robbie and Michael Cheadle, are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions which children can make under adult supervision.
Robbie’s blog includes recipes, fondant and cake artwork, poetry, and book reviews.
This is the story of the ban of my five-star review for the book “The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet” and the warning I received from Amazon. I certainly ruffled some feathers just by paraphrasing some content from the book. I highly recommend the book by the way.
At the end of March, I received this email from Amazon:
Hello,
One or more of your posts were found to be outside our guidelines. In order to help our customers make informed choices, we encourage them to review the product and contribute information about it. However, Community content that violate our guidelines or Conditions of Use will be removed.
Please consider this a first warning.
Before submitting your next post, please refer to our Customer Guidelines:
At first, I had no clue what post they were talking about. Then I realized that they had removed one of my reviews, for the book “The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet”, after they had initially approved it and let it be displayed for a month. There are many ways to violate guidelines, and I did not understand what they were referring to. I got a warning, so this was fairly serious. So, I asked community help which guidelines were violated but I received no reply. After three attempts to no avail, I asked Amazon customer service the same question, explaining that I understood it is not their area of concern, but I wanted them to help me with getting an answer. They knew I was a very good long-time customer. They promised me that community help would return an answer within 24-48 hours as they are supposed to, but they didn’t.
After engaging Amazon customer service three more times community help finally got back to me telling me that I had violated community guidelines, which I already knew. After engaging Amazon customer service one more time and receiving an assurance of a reply they finally admitted/told me what the problem was. They considered my review to be very offensive and also warned me about posting something like it again. I did not understand why it was so offensive but at least I had received an answer, so I replied with a thank you and I gave them a good rating on the survey.
Me and my friends whom I shared the review with, could not see why the review was so offensive so it is still a bit of mystery. I am certainly not going to try to repost the review on Amazon, that’s like asking to be banned. However, no one can stop me from posting it here, or on Barnes & Noble.
I liked the book in question, that was not the problem. I think that the problem was that the book discussed the campaigns launched against Dr. Michael Mann and other scientists perpetrated by certain rightwing thinktanks and populist politicians, and I paraphrased some of this information in my review. These campaigns were multi-billion-dollar sized aggressive campaigns that aimed to misinform the public about the climate science, defame, lie about and harass climate scientists, and even make people hate them and threaten them and to prevent research from being done on the topic. You can’t mention the basic facts about these climate wars, as Dr. Michael Mann calls them, without upsetting some people, and I included some of that in my review of the book. I often include some of the content from non-fiction books in my reviews of them to help me remember the content. I did not think much about it. However, I guess, if the book is inflammatory in some people’s eyes, then a review paraphrasing the book will be too.
Before I present my review, I should mention that why some “climate-denier” forces attacked Dr. Michael Mann was because of his hockey-stick curve created in the mid 1990’s. It was already known that the recent sharp global warming not only was real but was caused mostly by greenhouse gases emitted by us. We knew that from the way the warming happened, how it was distributed, how it affected the atmosphere, etc. However, that’s a complicated thing to explain to the public. Dr. Michael Mann was the first scientist to create the hockey stick curve using proxy temperature data from the pre-industrial times (not direct temperature measurements), and this curve made it obvious even to the uninformed layman that the current warming was not natural. You could see that just by looking at the curve. This is why he was so intensely targeted. For your information I have included two examples of hockey stick curves below, and for more information, click here.
Some basic information about “The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet ” – May 10, 2022 by Dr. Michael Mann. The paperback dimensions are 5.5 x 1.4 x 8.25 inches, and the weight is 11.2 ounces, ISBN 978-1541758216, 400 pages, and it currently costs $15.99 on Amazon in the US. The kindle version is $12.99 and the hardcover $14.29.
Below is my banned review, exactly as posted:
The Climate Deniers Lost but the same People Are Back with New Tricks
First off, this is not a book about climate science despite the fact that the author is a climate scientist. This is a book about the new form that the climate wars have taken. It is yet another topic on which the author is an expert because of his grueling personal experiences.
For decades climate scientists were attacked, defamed, misrepresented, lied about, and threatened. There was climate science denial, misdirection, distortions, lies, and mockery. It was a well-funded war launched by political groups such as the Heartland Institute, right wing politicians, corrupt industry funded scientists, extremist rightwing media and fossil fuel industry front groups such as the competitive enterprise institute, and the Koch brothers, and many other rightwing billionaires, etc. It was a war against scientists who were trying to find the truth, and a war against those telling us what was already known about the science, and a war against those who dared to speak up for the environment and future generations. Dishonest denialist bloggers, such as Anthony Watts, rose to fame as a result of the war. It was ugly and Dr. Michael Mann was in the middle of it. In the first chapter of this book, he describes what happened in the past and he describes his experiences. He was called a fraud and he was viciously attacked for his research that led to the Hockey Stick curve, a curve which is now established fact.
About a decade ago I believed myself that Dr. Michael Mann was a fraud and that his Hockey Stick curve was bogus. I had my doubts about the climate science. That’s because at the time I read and listened mostly to rightwing media. Then I took the time to understand as much as I could about the science, and I came to realize that I had been hoodwinked. Dr. Michael Mann and the other climate scientists were undoubtedly right. Well, that climate war is mostly over. Climate change deniers, or global warming deniers, whatever you call them (they were never skeptics), aren’t taken seriously anymore. However, the dark forces who launched the climate wars against the science didn’t disappear, they changed tactics. Instead of outright denial, the new tactic is downplaying, deflection, dividing, delaying and lastr but not least doomism. He refers to these bad actors as inactivists. Remarkably, many climate activists and environmentalists are naively doing the bidding of the inactivists and in this book Dr. Mann explains how.
Placing the responsibility of climate change on consumers and climate activists is an example of deflection. We need systemic change. Individual behavior needs to change as well but without systemic change, adjusting individual behavior is not only difficult but not very impactful and also associated with unnecessary guilt, which is exactly what the deflectors want. In addition, a solitary focus on voluntary action may undermine support for governmental policies to hold carbon polluters accountable.
The division tactics seek to polarize and divide the environmental movement and those who care about climate by using misinformation. One example is the misleading Cowspiracy so-called documentary. The dividers made sure Donald Trump won the 2016 election with the help of armies of Russian bots and Trolls poisoning on-line discussions. Among the division tactics he mentions making progressive/leftist climate advocates reject the most effective climate solutions such as a carbon price. Dividers have also succeeded in convincing the leftwing of the climate movement that deconstructing capitalism is necessary to solve the climate crisis, which is false and will scare away the moderates and conservatives needed onboard for achieving climate solutions.
Inactivists have many other cards under their sleeve, such as trying to discredit renewables, presenting non solutions as the best solutions, presenting insufficient solutions as all we need (planting trees, adaptation), misinforming the public in all sorts of ways, etc. However, the one very effective tool to prevent climate action is doomism, presenting the entire cause as hopeless, thus making action on climate seem pointless. People across the political spectrum, perhaps especially the left, have fallen victim to doomism. Dr. Mann is stressing that the situation is bad but that there is nothing hopeless about it. We will not fall off a cliff, but the size of the future damage depends on our actions. Doomism is not coming from the climate scientists and it is not coming from the IPCC. Doomism is a false belief that has spread like a wildfire with the help of bots and trolls. It also creates an opportunity for inactivists to attack climate scientists by falsely claiming that they are the ones spreading the despair and fear.
Dr. Mann brings speaks very warmly about carbon fee and dividend, my favorite climate policy and he mentions Citizens Climate Lobby three times and speaks favorably about them, which also warms my heart since I am a CCL volunteer. I think he was a bit harsh on Bill Gates and Ken Caldeira and I think he underestimated nuclear power a bit. I’ve read some of Ken Caldeira’s papers and we were Facebook friends for a while. His geoengineering research is done so that we would know something about the topic if we are forced to use it. It is absolutely not as a substitute for climate action, something Bill Gates makes very clear in his book.
Above all, this is a very important book that everyone interested in the climate crisis should read. We have powerful enemies who are trying to confuse us, disengage us and divide us and turn people against us. It is important to understand how climate action is being prevented and discouraged now a day. The war has changed, and the lies are now different and less obvious. It is also an important book for those who do not care about the climate crisis. Why don’t you care? Could it be that you have been misled/bamboozled? Why don’t you find out? I can add that it is a very well written and well-organized book that is very engaging no matter what you believe.
This is a Leonberger blog but sometimes I post about books that I want to promote. This post is a review and a promotion of a very good children’s book called Tina Lost in a Crowd Paperback – April 15, 2021 by Miriam Hurdle and illustrated by Victoria Skakandi.
I bought this book for friends of ours who have young children, but I read it first. I found it to be a very good and useful book, which is why I mailed it to them. Your child getting lost is one of the many nightmares’ parents must suffer. Yet it is such a common occurrence that your nightmare is bound to come true at some point. Would your children know what to do?
The paperback version of the Tina Lost in a Crowd, which is what I bought, is 46 pages, ISBN 978-1974340019, item weight 5.4 ounces, dimensions 8 x 0.11 x 10 inches. You can buy Tina Lost in a Crowd from Amazon, as a paperback or e-Book. The paperback version is currently $8.99 on Amazon. The Kindle version is $2.99 or free if you are part of Kindle Unlimited.
My Review of Tina Lost in a Crowd Click here to see it on Amazon
Entertaining Preparation for Events Featuring Crowds
I bought this book for friends of ours who have young children. Before I mailed it, I checked out the book to make sure it was good, and I ended up reading the whole book. It is a good story! Fun for children and entertaining for adults too. Tina’s parents are taking Tina and her friend Erica to a concert. Unfortunately, the parents make a quite common mistake, a classic as far as losing your children goes, and the girls end up finding themselves lost. Luckily the girls do what Tina’s mom told them to do in case they get lost and all ends well.
I think most of us parents at some point make a mistake that will render our children lost. No matter how much precaution you take, at some point someone will make a mistake. However, it is good to know about a few typical ways this happens, and more importantly it is great if the children know what to do when it happens. Therefore, this book is quite helpful to both adults and children. The author is a brilliant writer who was able to tell the story in an entertaining way that is easy to understand. I believe the story is based on a real-life event, at least it seemed so. The illustrations were very colorful and very well done. They covered the entire page throughout the book with the text inside white blurbs. I highly recommend this children’s book.
About the Author
Miriam Hurdle is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She published four children’s books at twenty-six years old. Her poetry collection received the Solo “Medalist Winner” for the New Apple Summer eBook Award and achieved bestseller status on Amazon. She has a Doctorate of Education from the University of La Verne in California.
Click here to visit is her website
Click here to visit is her Goodreads
Sometimes I make posts not directly related to Leonberger dogs, especially if I want to promote a good book. Today I am announcing that a book written by my on-line friend Alex Diaz-Granados has been improved in various ways. The story is the same, but it has been edited a second time with input from Alex’ journalism professor. It has a new cover, there’s a title page, a copywrite page, a list of content, an improved page layout in the paperback version, and page numbering. If you have not bought the book before, now is the time to do so. I bought it a second time myself.
First some basic facts about the book. The title is Reunion: A Story Paperback – July 2, 2018 by Alex J Diaz-Granados (recently revised). The paperback version is 51 pages. The dimensions are 6 x 0.13 x 9 inches, and the weight is 3.21 ounces, ISBN: 978-1722120474, and it currently costs $7.99 on Amazon in the US, but it can be bought elsewhere, for example, Barnes & Noble (same price). The kindle version (ASIN: B07F4SL6NQ) is $3.99 or free if you have Kindle unlimited.
About the Author
Alex Diaz-Granados (1963-) began writing movie reviews as a staff writer and Entertainment Editor for his high school newspaper in the early 1980s and was the Diversions editor for Catalyst, Miami-Dade Community College, South Campus’ student newspaper for one semester.
Using his experiences in those publications, Alex has been raving and ranting about the movies online since 2003 at various websites, including Amazon, ciao and Epinions. In 2012, Alex published his first book, Save Me the Aisle Seat: The Good, the Bad and the Really Bad Movies: Selected by an Online Film Reviewer through CreateSpace.
Reunion: A Story, is Alex’s first work of fiction. In addition to writing reviews, Alex has collaborated with actor-director Juan Carlos Hernandez on several short films, including A Simple Ad (2019), Clown 345 (2019), and Ronnie and the Pursuit of the Elusive Bliss. You can find his reviews and essays on his blog, A Certain Point of View, Too.
About the Book
It is June 1983. Jim Garraty is a senior at South Miami Senior High. He’s a staff writer for the school paper, a college-bound scholar who plans to become a historian and author of books on military history. He’s well-liked by his peers and teachers, and his future looks bright. But as commencement draws near for the Class of 1983, Jim must deal with unfinished business. The girl he loves from afar is also graduating, and rumor has it that she is going away for the summer before starting college in the fall. Worse still, Marty doesn’t know how deeply Jim’s feelings for her are – unless he tells her. But when an opportunity arises on the last day of classes at South Miami High, Jim hesitates…and the window of opportunity closes. Now, 15 years later, James Garraty is an up-and-coming history professor whose literary career is on the rise. Respected by his fellow faculty professors and recipient of popular and critical acclaim, Jim seems to have it all. Except for one thing. True love.
In the photo below I laid out the two books, old version and new version side by side, the front cover up. The old version is to the left and the new version to the right. The two books are laying on top of our kitchen counter.
I also thought I include the first page of the old book (left) and the new book (right) to demonstrate the improved page layout / book design (see photo below).
Finally, a brief review
This book is about a “what if” scenario, about regret, and what could have been. Once you start reading the book you simply must find out what will happen, which is why I could not put it down and therefore I read it in one sitting. It is a sad but timeless love story that is very engaging. It is about life, friendship, and love. I think the story highlights how differently a teenager and an adult view life and what the consequences can be. The author describes the feelings and the thoughts of the characters in a manner that is realistic and easy to relate to. It was emotional but not too sentimental. The book has a message, especially for young people. The book is easy and quick to read, and it is one of the best short stories I’ve ever read. I highly recommend it.
Sometimes I make posts not directly related to Leonberger dogs, especially if I want to promote a good book. Today I am making a cover reveal post for one of the books written by a talented author and an on-line friend by the name Alex Diaz-Granados.
About the Author
Alex Diaz-Granados (1963-) began writing movie reviews as a staff writer and Entertainment Editor for his high school newspaper in the early 1980s and was the Diversions editor for Catalyst, Miami-Dade Community College, South Campus’ student newspaper for one semester.
Using his experiences in those publications, Alex has been raving and ranting about the movies online since 2003 at various websites, including Amazon, ciao and Epinions. In 2012, Alex published his first book, Save Me the Aisle Seat: The Good, the Bad and the Really Bad Movies: Selected by an Online Film Reviewer through CreateSpace.
Reunion: A Story, is Alex’s first work of fiction. In addition to writing reviews, Alex has collaborated with actor-director Juan Carlos Hernandez on several short films, including A Simple Ad (2019), Clown 345 (2019), and Ronnie and the Pursuit of the Elusive Bliss. You can find his reviews and essays on his blog, A Certain Point of View, Too.
About the Book
It is June 1983. Jim Garraty is a senior at South Miami Senior High. He’s a staff writer for the school paper, a college-bound scholar who plans to become a historian and author of books on military history. He’s well-liked by his peers and teachers, and his future looks bright. But as commencement draws near for the Class of 1983, Jim must deal with unfinished business. The girl he loves from afar is also graduating, and rumor has it that she is going away for the summer before starting college in the fall. Worse still, Marty doesn’t know how deeply Jim’s feelings for her are – unless he tells her. But when an opportunity arises on the last day of classes at South Miami High, Jim hesitates…and the window of opportunity closes. Now, 15 years later, James Garraty is an up-and-coming history professor whose literary career is on the rise. Respected by his fellow faculty professors and recipient of popular and critical acclaim, Jim seems to have it all. Except for one thing. True love.
Reunion: A Story Paperback – July 2, 2018, by Alex Diaz-Granados can be purchased from Amazon or Barnes & Noble. The paperback version is currently $6.99 on both Amazon or Barnes & Noble. It is 51 pages, ISBN 978-1722120474, item weight 3.2 ounces, dimensions 6 x 0.13 x 9 inches. The e-Book version, ASIN B07F4SL6NQ, is $3.99 on Amazon, or free if you have Kindle unlimited.
A brief review
This book is about a “what if” scenario, about regret, and what could have been. Once you start reading the book you simply must find out what will happen, which is why I could not put it down and therefore I read it in one sitting. It is a sad but timeless love story that is very engaging. It is about life, friendship, and love. I think the story highlights how differently a teenager and an adult view life and what the consequences can be. The author describes the feelings and the thoughts of the characters in a manner that is realistic and easy to relate to. It was emotional but not too sentimental. The book has a message, especially for young people. It is an easy and quick reading, and it is one of the best short stories I’ve ever read. I highly recommend it.
This blog is primarily about Leonbergers. I review Leonberger books, but I also review books that are not about Leonbergers but that I love, and I want to promote. This post is one of those. I am reviewing Secrets in the Blood Kindle Edition, August 1, 2013 – by Unity Hayes. The book is 225 pages, ASIN : B00E50JO3A, it currently cost $2.99.
Unity is the author of Secrets in the Blood (mystery/romance – August 1, 2013). She has been writing since the age of 15 and has always dreamed of telling stories through the craft of writing. Unity is a Registered Nurse that enjoys small town living, antiquing, and spending time with her family.
Secrets have been buried in a steel town for many years, but someone is about to blow the lid off them and rock this little town. Cassidy loves her life just the way it is. But when mysterious and good looking West arrives, her world is turned upside-down. West carries the secrets of the steel town. Cassidy is attracted to the stranger but a relationship seems impossible as West’s accusations make him appear crazy and bodies start to pile up. No one wants to believe West; can Cassidy let her feelings go and trust him? Who is the killer? How many bodies will pile up before the biggest secret of all is revealed?
You can find the book on
My review below (to see my Amazon review click here)
An Action-Packed Romantic Thriller with Mystery and Captivating Drama
I normally don’t read books in the romance category. However, this book is so much more than a romance book. It is more than anything a mystery, a thriller, a captivating drama and a fast paced adventure. The romance is an added bonus for those who like that. What I found so intriguing about this book were the thick mysteries as well as the fast-paced action. There were surprises on almost every page. It is one of the best thrillers I’ve ever read.
The setting, a replica of an 1880’s old wild west town called the Watering Hole, appealed to me, perhaps because we’ve stayed in such a place in Arizona. It was a tourist trap of course, but it was fun. The book brought back memories from that trip and the descriptions of the town in the book felt real to me. If the Watering Hole was real, I would take my family there, well assuming that there were no murders or other strange things happening.
There’s danger, death, and a string of violent or strange events. Every page made me wonder what was going on and what was going to happen next. As I was reading my mind went to the girl with dragon tattoo, but that is a different story. This is a very good and unique story, the drama and the dialogue are brilliant, and the character development is good. The author is a registered nurse, which certainly benefitted the descriptions of injuries and the healing processes of the victims. I think realism is an important advantage. I highly recommend this fun and exciting thriller.
This is a Leonberger blog but sometimes I post about books that I want to promote. This post is a review and a promotion of a very good and important book called “The Winding Road: A Journey of Survival” Paperback – July 30, 2022 by Miriam Hurdle.
The paperback version of the Winding Road, which is what I bought, is 148 pages, ISBN 979-8842330812, item weight 9.9 ounces, dimensions 6 x 0.34 x 9 inches. You can buy The Winding Road from Amazon, as a paperback, hardback or e-Book. The paperback version is currently $6.99 on Amazon, and the hardback is $25.28. The Kindle version is $1.99 or free if you are part of Kindle Unlimited.
About the Author
Miriam Hurdle is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She published four children’s books at twenty-six years old. Her poetry collection received the Solo “Medalist Winner” for the New Apple Summer eBook Award and achieved bestseller status on Amazon. She has a Doctorate of Education from the University of La Verne in California.
Click her to visit is her website
Click her to visit is her Goodreads page
Click her to visit her Twitter account
These are her published books on Amazon
Review of The Winding Road
This book is the gripping story of Miriam Hurdle’s fight to survive an aggressive cancer. She is an accomplished author, and therefore she was able to tell her traumatic story with intelligence, clarity and honesty. The organization of the book, the storytelling, book design, editing, it is all very professional at the same as the story is personal and deeply touching.
During a hysterectomy in the summer of 2008 a mass was discovered, and it turned out to be melanoma. Melanoma is an aggressive skin cancer that usually does not appear in internal organs, at least not initially. This made the situation both unusual and quite dangerous. In 2007, melanoma in the female organ had less than 300 cases reported worldwide.
Survival was not the only thing that Miriam had to fight for. There were also insurance issues, her work situation, finances, etc., that weighed heavily on her mind and the minds of her family. Add to that the brutal but necessary treatment. She fought courageously with a lot of resolve, and her family and her community gave her a lot of support. The book makes it clear how important this is in this kind of situation. The people around you can make a big difference making sure you don’t lose hope.
I can add that my mother was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, another aggressive cancer, and it was not discovered early. She died at the age of 56. Miriam’s story resonated with me because I recognized a lot of things from her story even though her and my mother’s cancer were not the same. For example, I’ve seen the brutal effects of chemotherapy. What Miriam went though is extremely difficult. I am originally from Sweden, which has national healthcare, so unlike Miriam we were spared from having to deal with insurance issues.
This book is about the power of resilience, courage, hope, community and faith in the face of a cruel disease, which unfortunately many of us will face during our lifetimes. Miriam is a great writer whose genuine and lucid writing could serve as a guide for all of us as we prepare to face unknown traumatic situations. I highly recommend this book to everyone. We should all learn something about the journey before we face it.
Leonberger Life 