Thursday, May 15, 2014

Life In The Palace

Life in the PalaceLife in the Palace by Catherine   Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was given a copy of this book to review.  All thoughts and opinions and writings are my own.
"All paths lead to the Palace"

Chloe Diaz, from El Paso Texas, starts summer classes for college in Montreal, Canada in the aftermath of her sister, Stacy's disappearance.   Mr. and Mrs. Diaz disapproved of Stacy's boyfriend Rob (a tattooed, Harley riding, high school dropout), so Stacy went on the lam with Rob to be together without the Diaz's disturbance. Chloe unable to handle her parents scrutiny randomly chose Canada, the farthest from home she could get, and left behind her best friend Spike aka Lauralee.

Chloe goes to College early in Canada and on advice from Spike meets some new friends. The only friend she has now is Tal who she met in her early summer classes.   Josh asks her to come out to the legendary Chubby's to meet some people.  One of those people winds up being Josh's brother Seth.  Chloe falls instantly for Seth:

When the bar door opened and the most attractive man I'd ever seen in the flesh entered.  His jaw could have been chiseled out of marble by Michelangelo.  His dark, tousled hair brushed his sun kissed forehead, skirting the edge of deep green eyes.  His skin was tanned to perfection, but not so much you'd suspect he'd put any effort into acquiring it.  Slight stubble washed his cheeks, too long to be just the product of laziness, but not enough to be a full grown beard.  A black t-shirt stretched over a well-defined body.  His dark jeans had no belt.



This is for all the Twilight References... When Chloe Meets Seth <3 br="" nbsp="">

Tal is called one of "The People".  Chloe thought she was weird and a bit religious..
The People are:
*Avdiim were traditionally thought to live in the Palace, a higher spiritual plane linked to the physical world.  Acts of service in the physical world are used to fuel a cosmic battle with in the Palace realm.  A complex mythology maps the intricacies of the Palace.  Adherents are understood to be combatants in the battle between connection and oblivion with in the Palace, as well as fighting their Interloper, a quasi-demonic force that resides in each of the Avdiim attempting to dominate.  The calendar year is divided into different spheres of influence, the Days of Esau and the Days of Jacob; together with specific times of governance, a constant cycle of introspection and spiritual renewal defines this practice.-Wikipedia

This is just a general description, I found it took me awhile to actually understand The People, but they seem to be able to spiritually travel from Earth to Heaven. The chosen Avdiim go out to fight evil along with their Interlopers, which try and distract them from their goals while inside the body.  Their are different types of the Adviim and they perform nice gestures to regular people to gain weapons and ammo. For Example: If some girl drops her books at school and the Avdiim picks them up, it would be considered a service and they could be rewarded with a knife.  When they go to the Palace, they look different.  God and Angels also reside in the Palace.  An Adviim not practicing is called a Serf.

Chloe finds out that Seth along with Tal and her family are Avdiim.  Chloe is very curious about the Adviim.  She finds out something awful about Seth and has to make an important choice and figure out what real love is.  She has to figure out what she wants and not mope around about her sister taking off on her.

It took me a long time to figure out what to write for this review because I made so many notes trying to understand the meaning or concept of the novel.  Now after a long reflection I believe the Author Catherine Green, was sending out a message about True Love, in all the ways it can be expressed in a divine and moral way.  What would we do when faced with pure love? Walk away or make the hard/right decisions? Would you give up your life for God and his purpose? These are the same questions we struggle with everyday.

Get your FREE copy on AMAZON :Life In The Palace
Also Look forward to the 2nd book: To Call Your Name

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The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance: And Other Real Laws.....

The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance: And Other Real Laws That Human Beings Actually Dreamed Up, Enacted, and Sometimes Even EnforcedThe Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance: And Other Real Laws That Human Beings Actually Dreamed Up, Enacted, and Sometimes Even Enforced by Kevin Underhill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 I received a copy of this book from Goodreads First Reads and all opinions are my own.

Kevin is a real lawyer in San Francisco in the office of Shook, Hardy & Bacon.  He has been with them for 20 years, and is a defense of products-liability and consumer-protection lawyer.  He also writes his Legal-Humor blog:
Check out Kevin Underhill's website Lowering The Bar
This is his first book but he has written along with an essay, and his blog.  He would also like to have a giant Burmese Python in the year 2020.

The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance:... is a hilarious romp through history's silly laws/bills that have been made official, or almost passed.  There is a lot of research behind the scenes *(check out the bibliography at the back).

Some of my Favorites:

-In Florida, it's illegal to molest a manatee. pg 136

-It's a felony to possess more than 37 lizards for commercial purposes. pg 170



-No Children on the fenders. pg 209




A couple extras:
You can't say no to a posse. pg 216
It's illegal to shoot fish in Wyoming. pg 237
Happy Reading! I promise this book will make you laugh!!
Get your own copy The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance:.. On Amazon!!!


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Tuesday, May 13, 2014

India Was One by An Indian

India Was OneIndia Was One by An Indian
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this on Scribed, which is a pay per month book service online.
I am really moved by India Was One, I learned so much about India and it's indigenous people.  I never knew that India was so diverse with different cultures, religions, and languages!!  The Author was really humble and a great example of the people of India by simply stating.. An Indian in replace of his name.
Melting Pot of Characters :
*Manjeet Signh (Lion) Sodhi aka Bunty = A Sikh
Sikhs are from the Northern State of Punjab (bordering Pakistan) Recognized by turbans, uncut hair, and a metal bracelet (kara).

*Subramaniam Iyengar aka Subra = A Tamil
Tamils are called Tamilians which are a lingustic and ethnic group native to the Southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu.  They speak Tamil which is the first Indian language given "Classical" status.

*Pankaj Bose aka Punk = Kolkata
A state of West Bengal.  They speak Bengali and are native to the historic region of Bengal. Bengal is now divided between Bangladesh and India.  Although named West Bengal, it is actually located in the Eastern part of India.

Jai and Kahani are also from different places.  Mumbai is a melting pot of all kinds of people and they all consider themselves Mumbai regardless of where they've come from.  That is what's really special about the group of Characters in India Was One,
"You can take an Indian out of India but you can't take the India out of an Indian".
So true in this book!

The story India was One, is about an Indian (Jai) and how he grew up, got married, traveled to the US to help out his father in his software business, went traveling around the world, and experience romance, war, hope and love.  Not just love for one person but a love for all!
Not only was I introduced to India, Jai and Kahani took adventures to the US and other countries as well. The author described these countries as beautiful as he did for India. It was refreshing to see how a native Indian reacts to their first trip to the US.  I don't think that we American's really understand how other people from other parts of the world feel when they come to America.  I think sometimes even though the US may be called a melting pot, we don't really recognize what it's like "to be a stranger in a strange land" and what a culture shock it can be.  In the story, it was mainly a conglomerate of different Indians, that took the couple under their wings and taught them our customs.  Suddenly while the couple is in America, CNN announces that India has cut all communication off to them.  The crisis behind the information blackout, which forces the couple to flee home, is a battle over differences, customs, and beliefs.   All it took was one Brave Indian to set India back together as one, as it was.

This book hit me in the heart and I wish that I had a community as great as the one in Mumbai, and India itself.  I was very emotionally involved in the story, and I could imagine exactly what the author was describing.  I am so glad I took the time to read this book, as it really changed my worldview,
India Was One on Amazon
By the Illustrator of India Is One:



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