Book Review- Drawing out the Dragons

A fascinating read. I really enjoyed James A. Owen's insights on the creative process and how it applies to life. I have had similar experiences in many regards to the stories he tells about his own life, and I was blown away by how he responded to them. I can only imagine where I would be now if I had known the insights he shares in this book just a few years sooner.

I have a background in the arts and greatly appreciated his analogy for life, that the choices we make build on one another just like the lines in a drawing.

I would recommend this book for anyone who has had a dream and been told by everyone around them that it can't happen.

I have been toying with several ideas lately that I will not hesitate to put into action after having read this book. It will be hard, but it will also be worth it!

Book Review- The Work and the Glory: Pilliar of Light

The Work and The Glory was an excellent read. I found the characters interesting and the tension apt. Gerald N. Lund does an excellent job of introducing not only the beginnings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but also the lifestyle of the early 1800s. The discussions of the family on building a farm out of virgin forrest, what constitutes an honorable profession, and what niceties the characters desire provide a great insight to the demeanor of those who lived during that era.

I enjoyed the detail the author included about building the Steed farms (both Benjamin's and Nathan's). How the homes were built, the daily tasks each family member had, and what causes friction between the different family members.

I also appreciated how Lund handled sacred experiences, especially Joseph's reluctance to answer questions. This showed maturity in Joseph after the initial reactions he received when sharing his experience in the Sacred Grove. He held true to his calling to translate, but held his spiritual experiences in reserve for those who were ready to accept them.

There is a delicate balance of being too preachy and not covering the material about the church enough, and Lund does an excellent job of striking that balance. He still covers the history, but maintains his story line as spectators to those events. Information is dispensed in a conversational manner, rather than a "my way or the highway" attitude. Readers are also set at ease by characters not accepting everything at first encounter. Some characters are skeptical, while others are more accepting. I think this helps the reader to understand the turmoil surrounding the events he covers.

Overall I would recommend the first volume in the serries to anyone interested in early American lifestyles, love stories, or who have an interest in learing about the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints without getting preached at.

Book Review- The Freshman Detective Blues

The Freshman Detective Blues by P.J. Petersen

I was quite surprised at this one, I read it many years ago and I forgot a lot of the story. There is enough about relationships in the plot to keep girls interested. As the title implies it is written for high school age children, though I really enjoyed it as a twenty-something year old. Eddie and Jack discover a skeleton in the bottom of Muir Lake which opens up a boatload of questions about what happened at the marina nine years before. At the same time Eddie attempts to woo Wendy Westfall on a scrounger's budget.The character dynamics I found quite entertaining, and the descriptions of boating, scrounging, and tinkering accurate.

I read this for a better idea of how to write scenes that involve boating and docking in different environments.

Book Review- The Fireball Mystery

The Fireball Mystery by Mary Adrian

A good book for young readers. The main topic of the book is astronomy, although the plot does take place in a boathouse community, so boating is also a major theme. The two children (Tim and Vicki) who are the main characters have a canoe and their father purchased a nearby island which they visit regularly with their new friend Joey whose dad owns a rowboat which is terribly slow. The children are stargazing on the island when a small meteor strikes nearby. They return to the island to find that Tim's new telescope is missing, and so they embark on a number of investigations to find both the meteor and the thief, not to mention the source of the mysterious lights seen at night out on the island.

My main purpose in reading this book was to get a taste of how authors portray boating for a book that I am working on about a mouse who learns to sail (Voyages of the MS Rodent).