The book I am reviewing in this post is Further by Chris Robertson which is an excellent novel which I bought from Kindle. This book is science fiction & seems quite realistic about what the world will be like in 12,000 years in the future. The 20th Century is seen as a golden age when classic films like Planet of the Apes were made which are now played back holographically. Market forces have limited what space exploration has taken place. A huge spaceship which was begun in the 22th Century has been abandoned due to lack of money. Nations like India are wealthy & the USA has seen better days. Florida is a part of Cuba & some of the other states have joined Canada. The plot is a man is found who has been in a spaceship for thousands of years by astronauts who are dogmen. He has aged slowly due to the high velocity of the ship which has slowed time & his body is in its 70′s. He is brought to Earth amid much celebration. His arrival encourages them to finish construction on the Further which he in his rejuvenated body captains. A twist in the story is he doesn’t come from the 22th Century but has been genetically engineered much more recently so that they would finish building the Further. He has fake memories & in the end settles on a distant planet.

The book I read to research this post was Goodbye Vietnam by Robert W Wood which is an excellent book which I bought from Kindle. It’s about his experiences as a marine in vietnam. He thought it was impossible for his drill sergaent to be angry with all of them at once but was wrong. The biggest recruit inadvertantly looked at him rather look straight ahead. He hit him over the head with his stick & told him if he wants him to look at him he’ll poke his eyes out & stick them on his sleeve lapels. They did have people who checked if they were abused in any way but everyone was terrified of reporting him. On another occasion when they were in vietnam they had found a mine & just to be awkward the commanding officer made them spend 2 hours digging up the surrounding plants prior to detonating it. Apparently most of the battles the South Vietnamese & the Americans had with the Cong they won. It was the propaganda battle the Americans lost. Also the Americans despite what they said didn’t continue supplying the South Vietnamese after they pulled out. The communists in contrast stepped up supplies. In the 2 weeks war was waged after the Americans pulled out the South Vietnamese lost almost as many men as the Americans in the whole conflict. We will never if the South Vietnamese could have fended off the NVA if they had adequate supplies. Also the NVA broke almost every agreement they made with the Americans over how they were going to treat the South Vietnamese after all there was not much chance of the allies restarting the war.

The book I read to research this post was Coaching Lacrosse for Dummies by various authors which is an excellent book which I bought from Kindle. There are 2 major types of Lacrosse, mens & womens. Womens Lacrosse has 12 in a team & mens has 10. In addition womens bars any kind of body contact but mens where they wear padding allows it between the shoulders & waist. If you are coaching youngsters in a practise often they don’t have a goalie because it’s rare if anyone gets a shot on goal. In junior Lacrosse often they follow slightly different rules like having a smaller pitch than the adult game. At the beginning of a season you should have a meeting with all the mums & dads if it’s youngsters you are coaching & you should give them all a copy of the rules & make it clear what their responsibilities are ie giving their child a drinks bottle with his name on it. If they are going to be helping out with getting their child fit or helping him with his game you need to advise them. Probably prior to 15 they won’t do anything like weights or running. Most clubs give each child an equal amount of time on the pitch in a match. Winning isn’t a top priority, developing their abilities are.

The book I read to research this post was Green Gadgets for Dummies by Joe Hutsko which is an excellent book which I bought from Kindle. This is about consumer electronics like televisions as well as gadgets because they have a lot in common with each other such as integrated circuit boards & LCD screens. If you have a high end television consider having it professionally calibrated, it will save energy use & you will have a better picture. There is no such thing as a green gadgets because every gadget has a carbon footprint also when they are disposed of most electronic items contain corrosive & poisonous chemicals like cadmium & lead. Many electronic goods which are thrown out are illegally shipped to less developed countries where they end up on rubbish tips & workers are exposed to the harmful chemicals. The Playstation 3 tops the list of energy guzzling consoles at 150 Watts, the Xbox 360 is 112 Watts & the Wii is just 16 Watts. The 1st two have a time limit shutdown which the Wii lacks but it’s not enabled by default on either system. A laptop generally uses much less power than a desktop. A game called Bioshock lets the user save the game at any time & when they return they can just carry on where they left off.

The book I am reviewing in this post is The World of Poo by Sir Terry Pratchett which is an excellent book which I bought from Kindle. This book is currently doing well on the UK book chart & it’s quite a charming story which although I think it’s written for children is something adults can enjoy. It’s a discworld novel hence some of the animals like the reticulated cocelot might seem a bit strange. The plot concerns a young boy who stops at an old ladies house & when he’s in the garden a bird craps on his head. An old man tells him it brings luck when that happens. The boy then basically tries to collect poo from as many animals as possible. He collects some mouse poo in the kitchen which it does warn never eat black rice. He collects some dog poo. He has a chat with a gargoyle which is made of stone & guards the entrance. Apparently earthworms excrete the same weight as their bodymass in any 24 hours period & there are 500 earthworms to every square metre of land. Anyway he tries to find some earthworm dung. He collects some fish poo & then he visits the circus where the old lady who is quite influential tells them to help him any way they can. At the end of the book his mum fetches him & he has had a wonderful day. This book is a companion piece to Snuff which is another discworld novel & the head of the nightwatch was supposed to read it to his son. I know some people will say they don’t want their children reading this book but it’s quite a charming story albeit a bit short.

The book I am reviewing in this post is Roadside Crosses by Jeffrey Deaver which is a very good book which I bought from a carboot sale. This book was the second in the series of Kathryn Dance thrillers. She was a special agent with psychic powers. Jeffrey has worked as an attorney & a folk singer in addition to being a best selling author. The plot to this book is someone is reading peoples blogs on a certain site to find out their hidden fears then when he kills them he uses that information. Also he erects a cross on a quiet stretch of highway with their name on it & the near future date when they will be murdered. A lot of this book is about the ins & outs of the internet, & is well researched & quite interesting. You have probably heard of dooced which means to lose ones job due to blogging inappropriate information. I bet you haven’t heard of predooced which means you have applied for a new job & they have found out you have blogged inappropriately about a former boss. They would probably ask you about this to see if you are honest but either way you aren’t considered for the new job. Another tidbit is MMORPG or multi member online role player game promounced MMORPeG. The killer in the book uses a MMORPG game called Dimension Quest which he uses to befriend his victims. Eventually they track his vehicle which they can prove has been involved in crime by taking soil samples from its tires & also it has the word devastate on a bumper sticker & one witness reported seeing the word state on a sticker.

The book I read to research this post was Behind the Veils in Yemen by Audra Grace Shelby which is an excellent ebook which I downloaded from Kindle for free. The names have been changed to protect missionaries currently in the Yemen but this is the story of a family of missionaries who went to the Yemen to spread christianity. It was at the time of the bombings of the USS Cole & the US embassy in that country. Particularly for Audra it was a very dangerous thing to do. Even now the situation in the Yemen is very unstable. She did wear similiar attire to the muslim women which she resented because she was very proud of her figure. This book is written from a womans point of view & many of the people featured in the book are obviously muslim women. One thing she was angry about was muslims believe a funeral is a happy occasion & one lady who was the wife of the deceased was sobbing & was rebuked when obviously she missed her husband & it may be a long time before she sees him again which of course would be in the afterlife. Audra’s husband went down with a very serious infection which was a form of septisemia. He very nearly died & it turned out a syringe used to vaccinate him had become contaminated by an airborne germ, which the odds of that happening were 10 million to 1. Even after he partially recovered he had a massive lump which was infected tissue which they had to do an operation to remove. Later on their daughter had a lession on the brain which they had to travel to Cyprus to get treated & have diagnosed. Yemen is essentially a third world country & Audra’s mother who was also a missionary died giving childbirth also in that country when she was 5. When she was going about her business many men would eye her up lustfully because women are always escorted by men in their country.

The book I am reviewing in this post is The Jester by James Patterson et al which is a very good book which I bought from a carboot sale. This book has the tension of his thrillers but is a very different book. It’s historical fiction set in 11th Century France which is at the time of the crusades & was a very turbulent time. Most of the story takes place in the Duchy of Blois where its ruler has taken part in the crusades & when he returns a pretender called Stephen has taken his wife & thrown & killed his son. The central character is called Hugh & he can’t fight Stephen openly because he has a massive army. He tries to learn the trade of Court Jester in the hope that he will be able to see his wife again. When he does see his wife he assumes because she tells him to get away that she is delirious with fever but she is trying to protect him. He has to kill a man but gets away. He then whilst a wanted man tries to raise an army of peasants to fight Stephens army. This doesn’t work out & his wife is due to be hanged for his alleged crimes. I will tell you there is a happy ending in which he gets back with his wife & of course Stephen is killed.

The book I am reviewing in this post is Postcard Killers by James Patterson et al which is an excellent novel which I bought from a carboot sale. Patterson generally does a standalone thriller once a year & this came out a couple of years ago. Liza Markland his co author is the top selling thriller writer in Scandinavia. Apparently she was going to take the year off & learn spanish but this offer was too good to turn down. The plot is two serial killers who are a brother & sister who may have killed their parents are travelling around the capital cities of Europe killing couples. Prior to each murder they send a postcard to a local newspaper. Jacob is a New York who is travelling around Europe learning their police methods. He just happened to be in Berlin when they murdered a couple & now he is in Stockholm where they have sent a postcard to the local newspaper. As a result he is helping the police with their investigation. In Stockholm they murder 2 couples & allow themselves to be caught. However the police have very little to connect them to any of the crimes & it becomes obvious they are after compensation. I think they are also trying to show the police up as incompitent. There is a love interest for Jacob in the form of a reporter called Dessie. There is a happy ending & yes Jacob & Dessie do form a relationship.

The book I am reviewing in this post is I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson which is a very good book which I bought from Kindle. This book isn’t quite as good as some of the other books in the Michael Bennett series but is good all the same. Apparently it’s no.3 on this weeks UK Book Chart so a lot of people are buying it. The plot concerns Michael Bennett apprehends a mexican crimelord in New York but loses a friend who is shot. The crimelord wants revenge so he puts a contract out on Bennett & his family. For safety Bennett & Co. go to a family cabin in a provincial town called Newburgh but it’s changed a lot since he used to live there. The street gangs the crips & the bloods practically rule the place & drug related crime is rife. Many shops are boarded up. Meanwhile Mike is getting rather friendly with a sexy young criminal investigator called Tara which doesn’t go down to well with Mary Catherine his childrens nanny. The shit hits the fan when he doesn’t come home for dinner because he has gone out for a meal with Tara. I think Mary Catherine is probably a bit jealous but anyway she quits her job & Mike breaks off his relationship with Tara. He has to grovel a bit to his children’s nanny but she does return. The crimelord escapes from prison & comes after Mike’s family but there is a happy ending. For those of you unacquainted with the Mike Bennett series he has 10 adopted children because his wife couldn’t have children. However his wife died of cancer so their nanny looks after them while Mike works as a policeman in New York City.