• About Me

truebooktalks

~ The greatest WordPress.com site in all the land!

truebooktalks

Monthly Archives: September 2014

The Good Fight by Les & Leslie Parrott

23 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by truebooktalks in Non-Fiction, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Conflict management, Marriage

good fight

The subtitle for this book is “How Conflict Can Bring You Closer.”  The authors are Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott founders of the Center for Relationship Development at Seattle Pacific University. Every married couple should read this book!  I can’t say enough good things about it. I’ve been married for 53 years, and I still learned some things about me and my husband.

It is straightforward, clear, and very easy to understand.  The reader will not consider that he or she is being lectured, rather take the authors have taken great pains to make the writing very conversational. For instance, they say, “Marriage, over time, is made up of more hard days than most of us can count. After all, we fall in love with a dream and marry a fantasy.  We can’t help it…But eventually… the illusion begins to fade, and we start seeing less-than-appealing qualities in our mate we hadn’t seen before… Of course, our partner is doing the same with us. The power struggle starts, and the bickering begins.”

They have filled the text with anecdotes which clarify the topics being discussed. Once, Leslie had dressed to go out with some friends for a bite to eat. She came down the stairs and asked Les, “How do I look?”  To which he responded, “Fine with me.” She took what he said as a comment that he didn’t really like what she was wearing, so she went upstairs and changed clothes. In reality, he was distracted by an email and had really not paid good attention to what she asked. They did manage not to have a fight about it, but it might have escalated into one had they not discussed the issue calmly.

Quotes from famous authors and other personages round out the content. I especially liked the one from Daniel Webster: “Keep cool; anger is not an argument.” And, “The goal in marriage is not to think alike, but to think together.” Robert C. Dodds.

The reader will discover the type of fighter that they are: Competitive, Collaborative, Cautious, and Conciliatory.  Make no mistake about it, we are all fighters of one type or another (sometimes with bits of one overlapping another).

Included with the purchase of the book is a free app that will help the reader understand his/herself.

There is an appendix at the end, entitled, “Controlling Anger Before it Controls You” that is worth the purchase price alone.  Each chapter is also well documented, and the reader will be able to see the sources they used in writing the book.

The authors have also produced materials for marriage enrichment classes that can be purchased.

A great anniversary gift!!!  It may well save a marriage.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

The Castle Behind the Thorns by Merrie Haskell

12 Friday Sep 2014

Posted by truebooktalks in Children's Books, Fantasy

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Children's books, Fantasy

The Castle Behind the Thorns

Although it is written for elementary to middle school readers, The Castle Behind the Thorns is a fantasy that will intrigue any reader right from the start. Sand, the young hero in the story, finds himself magically transported to the inside of a castle that he has known about all his life, but that no one could visit.

It had been impossible to get inside the castle from the outside world for twenty five years because it is covered by an impenetrable wall of thorns, yet Sand is definitely inside the castle.  He had always been told that an earthquake destroyed the castle and the inhabitants fled – never to return. Sand soon discovers that there has to be more to the story than an earthquake because EVERYTHING inside the castle is broken or ripped apart, and nothing is growing inside the walls.

As he tries to resolve his dilemma, he begins to repair things that he finds might be useful to him. After finding the dried body of a young girl that was thrown about in a crypt under the church, he straightens her body out and covers her with her clothing as best he can.  He tries to repair  the relics of two saints that were housed inside the church.  Later, Perrotte, the girl whom he had found in the crypt  comes to life and the two of them work to understand the mystery of the castle and why Sand was brought there.

Both begin to realize that whatever Sand tries to fix is repaired. The soil begins to grow things and birds begin to fly about, but Perrotte wants to get out of the castle to get revenge on the person who killed her.  Sand begins to worry that if he and Perrotte ever get out of the castle, a war would be started because Perrotte is set on revenge-  not on rebuilding.

I loved the story.  I think it has a definite message that we should always try to make things better than we found them and that family and loving relationship are what really matter.  I recommend its purchase for upper elementary and middle school libraries.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Evil Twins by J. Scott Savage

11 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by truebooktalks in Children's Books, Fantasy

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Children's books, Fantasy, Mythology

evil twins Getting boys to read is sometimes tricky.  They want to feel that they can identify with the main characters, and many books, let’s face it, are written with female protagonists.  I think they will become intrigued by the action of these middle school boys.  While I would have to characterize this as a fantasy, it is not set in a fantastical world, but in every-day U.S.A. It does have elements of German mythology in it also.

Evil Twins is the third book of the Case File 13 Series by J. Scott Savage.  Nick and his buddies Carter and Angelo go on an ill-fated camping trip with Nick’s parents.  Nick’s father is always messing up their plans.  This time he forgets to check his reservation for the campground before leaving home.  This results in their being turned away and having to find another campsite.  The one they choose just happens to be home to a homunculus and  doppelgänger. The campers end up taking the homunculus home with them and in doing so, release the evil doppelgängers into the world.  How they resolve this is the main plot of the story.

This book is an exciting read for younger boys ages 9-12.  The boys do get into trouble, but they find out that doing wrong things brings dire consequences. I recommend it as an optional purchase for the upper elementary or middle school library.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Thomas, the Toadilly Terrible Bully by Janice Levy

05 Friday Sep 2014

Posted by truebooktalks in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bullying, Children's books, Picture Book

Thomas the Toadilly Terrible Bully

We hear much about bullying now, and sometimes it is difficult to find interesting material on the subject.Levy presents a cute story to encourage discussion about the subject.   When I first read this book, I thought she was telling kids HOW to be a bully, but I soon learned differently.

Thomas the Toad sets out to impress others in his new town.  He finds out that he is not impressing anyone with his new clothes or his pushy attitude, so he tries to become the worst bully in town. Nobody buys into that either because he just doesn’t look mean enough. When he sees Gomer he tries to pick on him because he looks little and weak.  Thomas soon finds out that there’s always a bigger bully around, and that being a good friend is a better way to impress others. This is a simple little story, but it has great artwork and a good moral for younger readers.  I recommend it for early readers or for a read-aloud.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...
September 2014
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930  
« Aug   Oct »

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    %d bloggers like this: