At Amazon:
Sophie's Choice: A Novel, by William Styron, $1.99
1,114 ratings
5-star: 60%
4-star: 20%
3-star: 10%
Sophie’s Choice centers on three characters: Stingo, a sexually frustrated aspiring novelist; Nathan, his charismatic but violent Jewish neighbor; and Sophie, an Auschwitz survivor who is Nathan’s lover. Their entanglement in one another’s lives will build to a stirring revelation of agonizing secrets that will change them forever.
Sophie’s Choice explores the good and evil of humanity through Stingo’s burgeoning worldliness, Nathan’s volatile personality, and Sophie’s tragic past.
https://www.amazon.com/Sophies-Choice-Novel-Open-Road-ebook/dp/B003JBFCEQ
The Most Important Lesson: What My Mother Taught Me That Will Change Alzheimer's and Dementia Care Forever, by Laura Anthony, $1.99
11 ratings
5-star: 81%
4-star: 19%
3-star: 0%
A healthcare worker recounts her eye-opening experience caring for her mother with Alzheimer’s—and the innovative communication method she discovered.
Our society is buckling under the demands of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia care, but public health professional Laura Anthony discovered an innovative new approach to communicating with dementia sufferers. In The Most Important Lesson, Anthony brings you on her real-life journey as she cares for her mother suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Her caregiving responsibilities left her worn out, confused, and angry—until one day when her mother accidentally provided a revealing insight. That seemingly simple moment opened a world of infinite possibilities, and as Anthony altered her approach to communicating with her mother, peace, love, and respect returned to their relationship.
The Most Important Lesson provides the framework for caregivers and families to communicate more effectively with Alzheimer’s and dementia sufferers, creating a legacy with their loved one and finding comfort and support in the process.
https://www.amazon.com/Most-Important-Lesson-Alzheimers-Dementia-ebook/dp/B00HK4K3E2
Speed the Dawn (A Donovan Nash Thriller Book 8), by Philip Donlay, $1.99
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350 ratings
5-star: 69%
4-star: 20%
3-star: 8%
Hundreds of white-hot meteor fragments plunge toward Earth near Monterey Bay, California. Huge fires ignite the tinder-dry landscape and, as the sun sets, the power grid collapses and the fires grow, illuminating a nightmare created in hell itself. Donovan Nash realizes he is trapped.
Injured and growing desperate, his options dwindling, Donovan fights to keep himself and a small band of survivors alive until dawn, when they can make one last attempt to escape the inferno.
Meanwhile, Donovan's wife, Dr. Lauren McKenna, working with the Pentagon as well as the Forest Service, envisions a bold approach to stop the fire from spreading all the way to the Bay Area and the seven million residents living there. She's terrified that, if not executed perfectly, her plan could cause the death of thousands of people—including Donovan.
https://www.amazon.com/Speed-Dawn-Donovan-Nash-Thriller-ebook/dp/B079P51SX8
How to Drive a Dragon Crazy (Dragon Kin series Book 6), by G.A. Aiken, $1.99
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511 ratings
5-star: 73%
4-star: 17%
3-star: 8%
Some things never go away, like vile enemies, bad ale, and annoying kin. But I thought I was finished with the one dragon I’d have done anything for: Éibhear the Blue, a big, gorgeous, blue-haired beast who thinks the world belongs to him. The world and, apparently, me.
So if Éibhear wants to play the caring hero and travel into the most forsaken of Gods forsaken lands to protect the one woman who doesn’t need it — namely me — I’ll let him. Because while I’m trying to fulfill a ridiculous quest for a pushy god, I’m going to draw this overconfident warlord much too close, rekindle his fires, and enjoy every minute of his delicious defeat . . .
https://www.amazon.com/How-Drive-Dragon-Crazy-Book-ebook/dp/B007V5AW64
To Have and to Hate, by R.S. Grey, $0.99
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1,000 ratings
5-star: 59%
4-star: 28%
3-star: 9%
Marry a man I barely know to save my family from ruin.
It might’ve been simple, if my betrothed were anybody else.
On our wedding day, my husband-to-be arrived at the courthouse like a black cloud rolling over Manhattan. Walt didn’t crack smiles or pepper in pleasantries as we exchanged hollow vows in front of the judge.
His disdain for me was so palpable I assumed we’d walk out of that ceremony and resume our regularly scheduled programming. But then fate was like, Hold my beer. I got this.
In desperate need of help and with nowhere else to turn, I had no choice but to ignore a crucial rule in our contract: I shall only contact Mr. Jennings II in case of emergency. But hey, what’s a little fine print between husband and wife?
Turns out, Walt’s a stickler for legalese—I think it might be his love language. Oh, and his attitude at the courthouse wasn’t a put-on. My so-called husband is a jerk. He takes what he wants without giving any consideration to other people—specifically ME, his blushing, contractually-obligated bride!
I knew life with Walt would be no honeymoon, but a marriage of any sort should still come with a few standard guarantees:
To have and to hold.
For richer or poorer.
In sickness and in health.
But after experiencing Walt’s version of wedded bliss, I say let’s forget about all that lovey-dovey crap and just take me straight to death do us part.
https://www.amazon.com/Have-Hate-R-S-Grey-ebook/dp/B08YXTZSYC
A Deadly Distance: A Jack Noble Thriller, by L.T. Ryan, $0.99
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3,925 ratings
5-star: 55%
4-star: 27%
3-star: 12%
Washington, D.C. Midday. A man waits at a bus stop, his intentions unknown. Two government operatives have been stalking him for days, waiting for him to make his move. Unexpectedly, the man takes off running and heads for a deserted warehouse.
Jack Noble and his partner, Frank Skinner, believe the man to be part of a terrorist organization that is involved in smuggling drugs and guns and men into the country. But it turns out their plan involves far more export than import, and hits a lot closer to home.
As the case unfolds, the man behind it all reaches out to Jack with a simple message... 37 hours.
https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Distance-Jack-Noble-ebook/dp/B00B8548LS
A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World, by William J. Bernstein, $2.99
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275 ratings
5-star: 67%
4-star: 18%
3-star: 10%
How did trade evolve to the point where we don’t think twice about biting into an apple from the other side of the world?
In A Splendid Exchange, William J. Bernstein, bestselling author of The Birth of Plenty, traces the story of global commerce from its prehistoric origins to the myriad controversies surrounding it today. Journey from ancient sailing ships carrying silk from China to Rome in the second century to the rise and fall of the Portuguese monopoly on spices in the sixteenth; from the American trade battles of the early twentieth century to the modern era of televisions from Taiwan, lettuce from Mexico, and T-shirts from China.
Bernstein conveys trade and globalization not in political terms, but rather as an ever-evolving historical constant, like war or religion, that will continue to foster the growth of intellectual capital, shrink the world, and propel the trajectory of the human species.
https://www.amazon.com/Splendid-Exchange-Trade-Shaped-World-ebook/dp/B006NZ9XTU
Bright Dead Things: Poems, by Ada Limón, $1.99
311 ratings
5-star: 79%
4-star: 10%
3-star: 5%
Bright Dead Things examines the chaos that is life, the dangerous thrill of living in a world you know you have to leave one day, and the search to find something that is ultimately “disorderly, and marvelous, and ours.”
A book of bravado and introspection, of 21st century feminist swagger and harrowing terror and loss, this fourth collection considers how we build our identities out of place and human contact—tracing in intimate detail the various ways the speaker’s sense of self both shifts and perseveres as she moves from New York City to rural Kentucky, loses a dear parent, ages past the capriciousness of youth, and falls in love. Limón has often been a poet who wears her heart on her sleeve, but in these extraordinary poems that heart becomes a “huge beating genius machine” striving to embrace and understand the fullness of the present moment. “I am beautiful. I am full of love. I am dying,” the poet writes. Building on the legacies of forebears such as Frank O’Hara, Sharon Olds, and Mark Doty, Limón’s work is consistently generous and accessible—though every observed moment feels complexly thought, felt, and lived.
https://www.amazon.com/Bright-Dead-Things-Ada-Limón-ebook/dp/B011H52X88/
A Painted Goddess (A Fire Beneath the Skin Book 3), by Victor Gischler, $0.99
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784 ratings
5-star: 61%
4-star: 27%
3-star: 9%
When the gods go to war, who will stand against their divine fury?
In the conclusion to the A Fire Beneath the Skin trilogy, the enchanted kingdom of Helva faces a nightmarish future of endless bloodshed, and Rina Veraiin — a young warrior-duchess armed with mysterious, magical tattoos — must use her fantastic powers to save her home from eternal war.
As her far-flung friends scour Helva for additional tattoos to increase her formidable abilities, Rina reckons with an enigmatic death priest…the one whose contract grants her extraordinary magic but demands an awful price. When her debt comes due, can Rina make the ultimate sacrifice?
Deities clash and allies succumb as Rina strives to fulfill her obligation and confront her strange and shocking destiny. Becoming an ink mage taxed Rina’s resources to their very limits; now she must become something else, something more, something awesome and terrible.
If she fails, her world will fall.
https://www.amazon.com/Painted-Goddess-Fire-Beneath-Skin-ebook/dp/B014XA9K8A
Free book recently released by Project Gutenberg ( gutenberg.org ):
The Lighter Classics in Music, by David Ewen
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:
