The Life of Johnny Reb and The Life of Billy Yank, Bell Irvin Wiley

The Life of Johnny Reb and The Life of Billy Yank by Bell Irvin Wiley is a collection of short descriptions drawn from soldier's letters during the Civil War.

Started:  6/20/2011
Completed:
Recommendation:
Recommended By:  I saw this at a yard sale and thought that it would make for good bathroom reading since the sections were short.
Words I looked up:

embrute -- To degrade or sink to the levels of a brute.
fillip -- Something that acts as a stimulus or boost to an activity.
purlieu -- The area near or surrounding a place
tippling -- Drinking alcohol, especially habitually
vitiating -- Spoil or impair the efficiency of

Review:


I will write one when I'm done.

Moonwalking with Einstein, Joshua Foer

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer is a book about a journalist's adventure into becoming a world-class mnemonist.  I picked this up as an audio book.  I've listened to other audio books before, but this is the first I've added to this blog.  I decided that audio books should be recorded here as well.  Oddly, I started this blog to help me remember which books I'd read and when I'd read them...

Started:  5/23/2011
Completed: 7/24/2011
Recommendation: Strong recommendation to everyone.
Recommended by:  I saw this as an audio book in the library and I thought it would be a good thing to hear as I commuted to and from work.
Review:


This book reminds us why memory is valuable.  Not so much that memory is necessary in today's world, but that it has value.  The experiences of the author and his examination of memory are mildly inspiring, but his recounting of why memory has been important throughout history is without parallel in value.  I'd also throw out that learning how to memorize certainly has its place in our society and I like very much that I've learned some of the techniques just from reading this book.

The Adept, Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris

The Adept by Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris is a book that I picked up at a library book sale (I picked up several in the series).  I know Kurtz from the Deryni series which I enjoyed during my high school years.  The fact that several books in the series were published suggested to me that the books were well received.

Started: 6/5/2011
Completed: 7/1/2011
Recommendation: Probably not worth the read
Recommended By:  Nobody, just saw this series at a library book sale.
Words I looked up:


aspergillum -- a brush or instrument for sprinkling holy water
fortalice -- a small fort
garret -- a small, wretched attic
nacreous -- lustrous, pearly
Sephiroth -- a manifestation of God.
shrift -- an act of confession.  In this case, I think the word was misused as it related to removing or putting on clothing.
temenos -- a piece of land cut off and assigned as an official domain.
widdershins -- in a direction opposite the movement of the sun; counter-clockwise.


Review:


I'd like to point out that this book ends at Loch Ness.  That should be enough.  I'm likely to read the remainder of the series and it isn't that this book is without value, but, geez.  The list of cliches is long and annoying.