Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com
Lyons Press, 2009
ISBN: 9781599219097
Available: New
A disturbing trend in zombie fiction is the role of the military in the zombie uprising. It seems to play one of two roles, either the perpetration of the disaster, or bungling idiot failure. Rare is the book that shows the military in a vital role. With this book, which should be a shelf resource for any writer wanting to do more than fiddle about with zombie tales, perhaps that will change.
U.S. Army Zombie Combat Skills gives zombie fans an explicit, precise look at how the military is prepared to handle all threats, even the forces of the undead. The detail is elaborate, including the best defense strategies based on the number of of men, first aid, equipment specifics and detail on effective communication. This book is both a parody (complete with figures and tables featuring the moaning hungry dead) and completely serious. A valuable addition to zombie based libraries, especially for writers, one has to wonder why the military has this particular kind of foresight.
Review by Jason Lush
This book was received through the LibraryThing Early Reader’s Program.
ISBN: 9781932603774
First off, the subject matter narrows the reader pool down to those living with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) and the people who care for them. But that is where the problems end. The Mayo Clinic Guide to Living with a Spinal Cord Injury is written by leaders in medical research and successfully avoids, or explains where needed, medical jargon. But the writing also isn’t dumbed down to the point of being patronizing either.
At first, I was skeptical about how useful this 200 page tome would be, but with the clear, helpful illustrations and truly useful tips about life style changes that will be beneficial no matter the degree of damage sustained by the patient, my mind has been changed. The unique thing about this title is that the authors did not focus solely on the effects SCI has on the patient’s spine, the book also thoroughly explores the effects SCI has on the patient’s other systems, such as cardiac, nervous and digestive. It also sheds light on the psychological effects on patients and caretakers. The Mayo Clinic Guide to Living with a Spinal Cord Injury is a pleasant, easy read, suitable for anyone affected by an SCI.
This book was donated to the Primal Faith Foundation by author Michele Lee.
ISBN: 1905704607
120 Diseases is a crash course on 120 diseases, conditions and syndromes, from common colds to STIs. It offers everything clinical (pictures, symptom descriptions, prevention tips and stats) in bite-sized digestible pieces that are a perfect starting place or resource for the writer or the casual reader.
There are explicit, and sometimes difficult to view pictures, as well as nudity that parents might want to keep away from a child’s reach and each disease is given a mere two pages, so this is not a book for in depth research. Also, it’s written from a British slant, which means some of the statistics and such wouldn’t be as useful to an American audience.
But each article is thorough, professional but understandable and the 120 diseases covered are the ones people are most likely to encounter. It’s a valuable addition to the writer’s research shelf.
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Review by Jason Lush
- Read it for the information about archeology and the people who study coptic writings, but not to learn any thing of Judas or the document “The Gospel of Judas”.
- Simply put, this is an informative and interesting book, but it has nothing to do with its sensational title. The man Judas is mentioned briefly, but the remainder is about the documents’ procurement and the people involved with its translation and preservation.
- Nothing…nothing of the document itself or any of its content. The spiritual content of this book is no more than any thinking reader of the New Testament could surmise on their own.
- Good book, over blown title.
- Review by Jason Lush
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- Really should have been called “When Humans with College Educations Do Really Stupid Things”, but I guess that wouldn’t be sensational enough.
- When Science Goes Wrong is informative and engaging, but I believe it may have been rushed to press to capitalize on some event. The book covers twelve events in recent history in which seemingly smart people committed decidedly careless or outright stupid deeds, always at the cost of others.
- Each of the twelve stories are factual and informative, but every one of them is jam-packed with worthless fluff and personal anecdotes that distract from the point. My advice is read the first three and last three pages of each chapter and you’ll get all the relevant information you need.
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*I received this book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reader Program.
If you love real life ghost stories and tales of haunted houses, hospitals and highways this is an excellent book for you. A compendium of tales of apparitions and mysterious happenings the book is cut into small, easy to digest pieces and often includes contact information for the restaurants, hotels and stores that claim to have ghostly residents.
Rule does offer some research into the possible identities of the ghosts, as well as token information on area ghost hunters and enough contact information to plan a ghost theme vacation.
She doesn’t offer a skeptic’s point of view or attempt to make the otherworldly scientific (aside from mentioning EVPs and batteries draining on investigations). She does include many interesting pictures that while not supernatural are mood setting.
If you don’t like tales of hauntings then you won’t find anything new here. But ghost fans can be insatiable and this is a fine starting place or addition to a fan’s library.
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Review by Michele Lee and Michael Lush
Asatru is the pagan path that follows Norse tradition. For laypersons, this means Odin, Thor, Loki, their stories and their kin. Ask any pagan their views on Asatru and you’ll get mixed responses. While many people, especially men, find their spiritual home as followers of the Asgardians, it’s also been adopted by hateful, racist sects. Asatru, however, is not a racist belief system, in fact it’s one of the few ancient paths that holds men and women equal. Goddesses and gods are equal, Odin accepts men and women into his ranks of warriors and in the Norse lifestyle men and women could both own land and hold respected social positions.
Because of Asatru’s adoption by small groups of racists, and the reputation even centuries later of the Viking invaders, books on the subject often hint at the faith only being applicable to those of Northern European decent. However, Essential Asatru is different.
To begin with it points out that the Vikings traveled so far, to the Americas, even into Africa, that it’s possible that many people who don’t look Nordic might still have Norse blood.
Essential Asatru also focuses on the other thing that makes Asatru different from other pagan paths. Asatru is a functional religion, it’s designed to blend into a life, not rule it. In Asatru the gods are allies in every day life, not overlords who must be appeased for humans to survive. Interacting with the religion is, and was, a low priority (which is not surprising when considering that the original Vikings lived with 9 months of winter a year, implying that they often had little time for anything other than survival.)
Essential Asatru is the first fully satisfying non-myth book we’ve added to our collection on Asatru. It’s a choice pick for those interested in the faith, readers interested in religious studies in general and writers looking for research books on the Norse faiths.
This book reads easy and fast and it should be handed out to every parent whose child is diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum. It can change the perceptions of anyone–family, friend, educator or counselor–who is face with the baffling behavior of an autistic child. I cannot impress just how much this slim volume can help.
The core beliefs in 10 Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew are:
-All behaviors happen for a reason.
And
-All behavior is communication.
The focus is on presenting (not really exploring or solving problems) the possible causes of “bad” behavior and realigning the thought patterns neurotypical people have when dealing with those on the spectrum. It can also help parents get behind the possible causes of misbehavior on the part of “normal” children.
Some principals in this book are–or should be–universal. Don’t let one term (Autism, ADHD, or even “trouble child”) define all your child is. Focus on what your child can do instead of getting lost in what he or she can’t do. All behavior has a cause, ferreting out the cause can go very far in helping to resolve negative behavior. And most importantly of all, love should not be dependent on good grades, good behavior or “being normal”. Love should be unconditional.
If there was ever an Idiot’s Guide to Raising a Child this might be it. An essential book for understanding the social, language and sensory challenges experienced by many types of special needs children. This book should be mandatory reading for anyone whose life is touched by Autism Spectrum Disorders.