(Ratings from Amazon.com, as of this morning.)
At Amazon, B&N, and Walmart (Kobo):
The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear; by Kate Moore, $2.99
(add Audible narration for $7.49*)
295 ratings
5-star: 76%
4-star: 17%
3-star: 5%
From the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Radium Girls comes another dark and dramatic but ultimately uplifting tale of a forgotten woman hero whose inspirational journey sparked lasting change for women's rights and exposed injustices that still resonate today.
1860: As the clash between the states rolls slowly to a boil, Elizabeth Packard, housewife and mother of six, is facing her own battle. The enemy sits across the table and sleeps in the next room. Her husband of twenty-one years is plotting against her because he feels increasingly threatened—by Elizabeth's intellect, independence, and unwillingness to stifle her own thoughts. So he makes a plan to put his wife back in her place. One summer morning, he has her committed to an insane asylum.
The horrific conditions inside the Illinois State Hospital in Jacksonville, Illinois, are overseen by Dr. Andrew McFarland, a man who will prove to be even more dangerous to Elizabeth than her traitorous husband. But most disturbing is that Elizabeth is not the only sane woman confined to the institution. There are many rational women on her ward who tell the same story: they've been committed not because they need medical treatment, but to keep them in line—conveniently labeled "crazy" so their voices are ignored.
No one is willing to fight for their freedom and, disenfranchised both by gender and the stigma of their supposed madness, they cannot possibly fight for themselves. But Elizabeth is about to discover that the merit of losing everything is that you then have nothing to lose...
Bestselling author Kate Moore brings her sparkling narrative voice to The Woman They Could Not Silence, an unputdownable story of the forgotten woman who courageously fought for her own freedom—and in so doing freed millions more. Elizabeth's refusal to be silenced and her ceaseless quest for justice not only challenged the medical science of the day, and led to a giant leap forward in human rights, it also showcased the most salutary lesson: sometimes, the greatest heroes we have are those inside ourselves.
https://www.amazon.com/Woman-They-Could-Not-Silence-ebook/dp/B08LR174TM
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-woman-they-could-not-silence-kate-moore/1138489968?ean=9781492696735
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-woman-they-could-not-silence-1
How to Train Your Dragon: Dragonvine, by Dreamworks, $2.99
144 ratings
5-star: 78%
4-star: 9%
3-star: 5%
This second standalone graphic novel based on the film series is a new adventure that takes place shortly after the events in How to Train Your Dragon 2, during the period in which Hiccup is desperately trying to fill his father's role as the chief of Berk. Created with the help of the film's writer, director, and producer, Dean DeBlois, it bridges the gap between the second and third films.
Plants vs. Zombies Volume 1: Lawnmageddon
Hiccup, Toothless, and the rest of the dragon riders encounter two deadly yet mysteriously linked threats: One is an island consumed by Dragonvine, an uncontrollable force of nature that's poisonous to humans and deadly to dragons. The other is an all-new, all-terrifying dragon species--the web-spitting Silkspanners!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073C7WG3S
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-to-train-your-dragon-dean-deblois/1138863900?ean=9781630086312
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/how-to-train-your-dragon-dragonvine
How to Train Your Dragon: The Serpent's Heir, by Dean Dubois and Doug Wheatley, $2.99
211 ratings
5-star: 83%
4-star: 10%
3-star: 5%
The dragons of Berk are coming to Dark Horse!
Hiccup, Toothless, and all their dragon-riding friends from DreamWorks Animation's acclaimed How to Train Your Dragon films are starting new adventures in comics! Created with the help of the film's writer, director, and producer Dean DeBlois, these graphic novellas will bridge the gap between the second film and the upcoming third film. More adventures, more dragon lore, and more fun! You won't have to wait years for more dragons; they are coming to you--in comics!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MR86UA1
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-to-train-your-dragon-dean-deblois/1124071824?ean=9781630086305
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/how-to-train-your-dragon-the-serpent-s-heir
Plants vs. Zombies Volume 1: Lawnmageddon, by Paul Tobin, $2.99
1,617 ratings
5-star: 87%
4-star: 7%
3-star: 3%
The confusing-yet-brilliant inventor known only as Crazy Dave helps his niece, Patrice, and young adventurer Nate Timely fend off a "fun-dead" neighborhood invasion in Plants vs. Zombies: Lawnmageddon! Winner of over thirty "Game of the Year" awards, Plants vs. Zombies is now determined to shuffle onto all-ages bookshelves to tickle funny bones and thrill... brains.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EZYG4IE
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/plants-vs-zombies-volume-1-paul-tobin/1130513697?ean=9781621158462
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/plants-vs-zombies-volume-1-lawnmageddon
[There are 20 volumes in the Plants vs. Zombies series available as ebooks, and they are all on sale today at Amazon for $2.99. B&N and Kobo might not have all of the titles.]
*Audible narration only available for purchases at Amazon.com.
At Amazon:
A Case of Need: A Novel, by Michael Crichton, $1.99
(add Audible narration for $7.49)
3,363 ratings
5-star: 49%
4-star: 27%
3-star: 14%
The death of a doctor’s daughter may be malpractice—or murder—in this novel by a #1 New York Times–bestselling author: “I loved it” (Stephen King).
In the tightly knit world of Boston medicine, the Randall family reigns supreme. When heart surgeon J. D. Randall’s teenage daughter dies during a botched abortion, the medical community threatens to explode. Was it malpractice? A violation of the Hippocratic Oath? Or was Karen Randall murdered in cold blood?
The natural suspect is Arthur Lee, a brilliant surgeon and known abortionist, who has been carrying out the illegal procedure with the help of pathologist John Berry. After Karen dies, Lee is thrown in jail on a murder charge, and only Berry can prove his friend wasn’t the one who wielded the scalpel. Behind this gruesome death, Berry will uncover a secret that would shock even the most hardened pathologist.
An Edgar Award–winning novel by the author of such blockbusters as The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park—and creator of the long-running NBC drama ER—A Case of Need is a “superb” medical-thriller mystery (Los Angeles Times).
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Michael Crichton including rare images from the author’s estate.
https://www.amazon.com/Case-Need-Novel-Michael-Crichton-ebook/dp/B00DEU9H3Y
The Last Sister (Columbia River Book 1), by Kendra Elliot, $1.99
(add Audible narration for $1.99)
9,189 ratings
5-star: 57%
4-star: 29%
3-star: 11%
Three sisters’ secrets collide...
Twenty years ago Emily Mills’s father was murdered, and she found his body hanging in the backyard. Her younger sister, Madison, claims she was asleep in her room. Her older sister, Tara, claims she was out with friends. The tragedy drove their mother to suicide and Tara to leave town forever. The killer was caught. The case closed.
Ever since, Emily and Madison have tried to forget what happened that night—until an eerily similar murder brings it all back. It also brings FBI special agent Zander Wells to the Oregon logging town. As eager as he is to solve the brutal double slaying, he is just as intrigued with the mystery of Emily’s and her sisters’ past.
When more blood is shed, Zander suspects there’s a secret buried in this town no one wants unearthed. Is it something Emily and Madison don’t know? Or aren’t telling? And Tara? Maybe Emily can’t bear to find her. Because when Tara disappeared, she took a secret of her own with her.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SLZ9LMN
Jimmy the Kid (The Dortmunder Novels Book 3), by Donald Westlake, $1.99
(add Audible narration for $7.49)
280 ratings
5-star: 53%
4-star: 27%
3-star: 14%
When his “friend” Andy Kelp has a plan, career criminal John Dortmunder knows that means trouble. Kelp’s schemes, no matter how well intentioned, tend to spiral quickly out of control. But this one, Kelp swears, is airtight. He read it in a book!
The novel featured a kidnapping so brilliant there’s no way it wouldn’t work in real life. Though offended that his usual role as heist planner has been usurped, Dortmunder reluctantly agrees to the scheme.
Unfortunately, they kidnap a kid smarter than all of them put together. What’s simple on the page turns complex and chaotic—and there’s no reference guide to help Dortmunder through the madness he’s signed on for.
https://www.amazon.com/Jimmy-Kid-Dortmunder-Novels-Book-ebook/dp/B005UK7U5I
Lady Ruthless (Notorious Ladies of London Book 1), by Scarlett Scott, $0.99
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1,292 ratings
5-star: 53%
4-star: 29%
3-star: 13%
Lady Calliope Manning is determined to punish the man she holds responsible for her beloved brother's death. She will do anything in her power to destroy him. When rumors swirl that the Earl of Sinclair requires a wealthy bride to rescue himself from dire financial straits, she seizes the opportunity to ruin him at last.
Justin "Sin" Vaughn, Earl of Sinclair, needs to marry an heiress, and he needs to marry one now. But the sudden, anonymous publication of salacious memoirs rumored to be his obliterates his chances. With polite society convinced he is a murderer, he has only one choice: find the person behind his supposed memoirs and get his revenge.
Callie never expected Lord Sinclair to discover she wrote Confessions of a Sinful Earl. Or to abduct her and demand restitution in the form of her own hand in marriage. She definitely did not expect to find him so difficult to resist...
Sin is about to teach the beautiful, perfidious Lady Callie a lesson in ruthlessness. One scorching-hot kiss at a time.
https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Ruthless-Notorious-Ladies-London-ebook/dp/B086XMHH97
The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy; by Kliph Nesteroff, $1.99
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648 ratings
5-star: 63%
4-star: 20%
3-star: 12%
Based on over two hundred original interviews and extensive archival research, this groundbreaking work is a narrative exploration of the way comedians have reflected, shaped, and changed American culture over the past one hundred years.
Starting with the vaudeville circuit at the turn of the last century, the book introduces the first stand-up comedian—an emcee who abandoned physical shtick for straight jokes. After the repeal of Prohibition, Mafia-run supper clubs replaced speakeasies, and mobsters replaced vaudeville impresarios as the comedian’s primary employer. In the 1950s, the late-night talk show brought stand-up to a wide public, while Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, and Jonathan Winters attacked conformity and staged a comedy rebellion in coffeehouses. From comedy’s part in the civil rights movement and the social upheaval of the late 1960s, to the first comedy clubs of the 1970s and the cocaine-fueled comedy boom of the 1980s, The Comedians culminates with a new era of media-driven celebrity in the twenty-first century.
https://www.amazon.com/Comedians-Thieves-Scoundrels-History-American-ebook/dp/B00XAQ1O7Y
The Grandees: America's Sephardic Elite, by Stephen Birmingham, $1.99
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143 ratings
5-star: 55%
4-star: 24%
3-star: 12%
In 1654, twenty-three Jewish families arrived in New Amsterdam (now New York) aboard a French privateer. They were the Sephardim, members of a proud orthodox sect that had served as royal advisors and honored professionals under Moorish rule in Spain and Portugal but were then exiled from their homeland by intolerant monarchs. A small, closed, and intensely private community, the Sephardim soon established themselves as businessmen and financiers, earning great wealth. They became powerful forces in society, with some, like banker Haym Salomon, even providing financial support to George Washington’s army during the American Revolution.
Yet despite its major role in the birth and growth of America, this extraordinary group has remained virtually impenetrable and unknowable to outsiders. From author of “Our Crowd” Stephen Birmingham, The Grandees delves into the lives of the Sephardim and their historic accomplishments, illuminating the insulated world of these early Americans. Birmingham reveals how these families, with descendants including poet Emma Lazarus, Barnard College founder Annie Nathan Meyer, and Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo, influenced—and continue to influence—American society.
https://www.amazon.com/Grandees-Americas-Sephardic-Elite-ebook/dp/B017APD6WQ
Red Star over China: The Classic Account of the Birth of Chinese Communism, by Edgar Snow, $1.99
126 ratings
5-star: 77%
4-star: 14%
3-star: 6%
Journalist Edgar Snow was the first Westerner to meet Mao Tse-tung and the Chinese Communist leaders in 1936—and out of his up-close experience came this historical account, one of the most important books about the remarkable events that would shape not only the future of Asia, but also the future of the world.
This edition of Red Star Over China includes extensive notes on military and political developments in the country; interviews with Mao himself; a chronology covering 125 years of Chinese history; and nearly a hundred detailed biographies of the men and women who were instrumental in making China what it is today.
https://www.amazon.com/Red-Star-over-China-Communism-ebook/dp/B005012G0G
[to be continued]
Dr. Drew interviewed Scott Adams recently, and Scott Adams mentioned the absurdity that Republicans went to overthrow the government on Jan 6, but they neglected to bring their guns. On the first or second anniversary of the event, that alleged oversight made the narrative appear absurd to me, so I made a "video" that was supposed to be audio from January 6, captured on a video camera from which the lens cap had not been removed. I'm posting it again just because.
While I was waiting on hold to talk with a human at the IRS, I decided to put some food out for the dogs. I set the full bag of dog food on a chair, and walked away to get the bowls. When I turned around I saw the bag slowly tipping over, spilling much of its contents onto the floor. Fortunately I had help cleaning it up.
The main task for today is to begin revising McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader. It may take a couple of weeks, possibly more. I still have to work at Publix, and next week I start a new job in the memory care unit of a rehab/nursing home facility, and I'll also be working at Publix at least one night.
After that I'll take a look at the double-slit experiment, and see if there is an interpretation that is consistent with my theory of wave physics.
Also, I came across the attached meme, which I had created two or three years (or so) ago. I thought I'd include it because I still like it.
I recently proposed a theory of matter and energy called Wave Physics. In this theory, the only things in the universe are energy and the universal membrane, which is the medium through which all energy is transfered and stored.
Tonight I realized that according to this theory, everyone and everything in the universe are connected to each other at all times. Things that would be impossible according to the standard model of particle physics, are very possible in the universe of wave physics. Psychic transmissions and the power of prayer are physically possible and make sense if the universe works in any way like the theory I proposed.
If you've ever heard the phone ring and felt sure who it was before answering it, and were proven correct, this makes sense in wave physics, but not with particle physics. If you've ever looked intently at someone, and had that person quickly turn and look directly at you (I have), that phenomenon makes sense if all of us are parts of the same vast, ...
I was only scheduled to work three days this week, so I decided to work on a theory I'd been playing around with for fun over the last few years. I'd never been a big fan of the standard model of particle physics, so a few years ago, just for fun, I thought about exploring some alternate ideas, with zero training and zero experiments.
This week I wrapped up a few loose ends, and posted it to a community I created called Wave Physics. Originally I had called it Alternative Physics, but I changed my mind, so the link still has alternativephysics in it, but the community name is Wave Physics. I'd love for people to pay $5.00 a month to tell me how wrong I am.
https://alternativephysics.locals.com/
I also posted it on my personal website:
