The Bone House

A little while ago I had the pleasure of reading The Skin Map, which is the first book in the Bright Empire series by Stephen Lawhead. You can read my review here.
 
The Bone House is the second in the three part series. The book opens with an introduction to Douglas Flinders-Petrie and his sidekick, Snipe, who are trying to retrieve an ancient book from the British Museum. Douglas hopes the book will help him decipher some of the hieroglyphics on the skin map.

We follow Kit's entrance into a completely new world (to him) as he follows Mina's instructions and treks through the sweltering desert. In a different time, Alexander Flinders-Petrie returns and we learn about the naming of his son. The naming appears to have some subsequent significance but we are not told what that is yet.

We are given an insight into the character of Archelaeus Burleigh as we learn of his parentage and early hardships in life and how he rose to his current position. There is an exciting description of a particularly desperate chase as Kit and Giles try to elude him. And then, finally, we come to the chapters concerning the title of the book.

I enjoyed this book as it filled in a lot of the missing pieces from the previous book. The picture is becoming more complete. I was also prepared for the movement from one time to another and even almost regretted how the last chapters seemed to stay in the same time 'zone'!

I am very much looking forward to the final instalment. Having read these two books in quick succession I was rather keen to read the third, but found out I will have to wait nearly a year! It comes out in September 2012!

Oh well, all good things come to those who wait. :)

This ebook was obtained free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program.

Breathtaking lanscape photography: Terje Sørgjerd

Someone recently sent me a link to an amazing video by Norwegian landscape photographer, Terje Sørgjerd. He describes himself on his YouTube page as "Passionate Landscape Photographer". The passion shows. It's simply beautiful.

It reminds me of the words of Psalm 19:1

 "The heavens declare the glory of God,

The skies proclaim the work of His hands"

Unfortunately you can't watch this full screen here, but if you click on the YouTube icon it will take you to YouTube where you can do just that. It's well worth it. Breathtaking!

    

The following is taken from Terje Sørgjerd's Facebook video page, describing his ordeal in obtaining these stunning landscapes. Thank you, Terje Sørgjerd, for providing such a stunning movie for us to watch.

"This was filmed between 29th April and 10th May 2011 in the Arctic, on
the archipelago Lofoten in Norway.

My favorite natural phenomenon is one I do not even know the name of, even after talking to meteorologists and astrophysicists I am none the wiser.What I am talking about I have decided to call The Arctic Light and it is a natural phenomenon occurring 2-4 weeks before you can see the Midnight Sun.

The Sunset and Sunrise are connected in one magnificent show of color and light lasting from 8 to 12 hours. The sun is barely going below the horizon before coming up again. This is the most colorful light that I know, and the main reason I have been going up there for the last 4 years, at the exact
same time of year, to photograph. Based on previous experience, I knew this was going to be a very
difficult trip. Having lost a couple of cameras and some other equipment up there before, it was crucial to bring an extra set of everything. I also
made sure I had plenty of time in case something went wrong.
If you can imagine roping down mountain cliffs, or jumping around on slippery rocks covered in seaweed with 2 tripods, a rail, a controller,
camera, lenses, filters and rigging for 4-5 hour long sequences at a time, and then
having to calculate the rise and fall of the tides in order to capture the essence - it all proved bit of a challenge.

And almost as if planned, the trip would turn out to become very
difficult indeed. I had numerous setbacks including: airline lost my
luggage, struggling to swim ashore after falling into the Arctic sea: twice, breaking lenses, filters, tripod, computer, losing the whole dolly rig and controller into the sea, and even falling off a rather tall rock and ending
up in the hospital. As much as I wanted to give up, the best way Out is
always “Through”. I am glad I stuck it through though because there were some amazing sunrises waiting. At 1:06 you see a single scene from day to night to day which is from 9pm to 7am. Think about that for a minute.. 10 hours with light like that.

I asked the very talented Marika Takeuchi to specifically compose and
perform a song for this movie, and what she came up with is absolutely remarkable. Thank you very much Marika!"

Jesus, My Father, the CIA and Me

Ian Morgan Cron has written an intriguing account of his life, chronicling events from early childhood through to a happy family life of his own. He shows how his father's alcoholism affected every aspect of his life, filling him with insecurities which were well hidden beneath a public bravado.

Ian honestly relates his childish fears, concerns and pranks, his teen years, his discovery of his father's CIA involvement and his gross disappointment over his father's inability to come to support him in events such as concert and failure to maintain the lavish lifestyle he'd been accustomed to. He tells of his friend Tyler, who never gave up on him and eventually helped him come to faith and of his struggles with his insecurities as an adult. He also recounts some rather humorous events associated with his church rituals. I found the story of the host in the pocket particularly amusing.

Ian has a great way with words. His descriptions and relating of his life were credible and interesting to read. His love for his mother and father is obvious. I loved the final story of his own children conquering their fears and the great effect it had on Ian himself.

If you enjoy biographies and reading about about people who overcome life's obstacles this is the book for you.

Read the first pages here.

This book was obtained free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program.

Help return Domenic Johannson to his parents

Domenic Johansson has been unjustly separated from his parents for TWO years. You can imagine the trauma this young child has been through and it's all over a political dispute about home schooling.

From July 3rd to 10th, Swedish elected officials, journalists, and political activists will gather in Visby, Domenic Johansson's home town, for a major “Festival of Politics.”  Politicians will be making important speeches, and hundreds of official and unofficial meetings will be taking place. this is a great opportunity to make sure the tragedy of Domenic’s separation from his parents is brought to light at this major event. 

Please sign this petition to Sweden's elected officials and top politicians, to bring these important questions to the forefront during this major political conference.

Failure is not the end

A little while ago one of my students sat his driving test. He logged the required number of kilometres, practised his three-point turns and parking and rolled up ready to pass. He failed.

Being able to drive the car and park it are not the only considerations when it comes to a test. Points are taking off for things like failing to check the mirrors often enough, forgetting to put on your indicator when turning left at the traffic lights, failing to use the handbrake on a hill start, speeding or mounting the kerb (eg on a roundabout).

The learner's handbook (which all learners need!) states that:

The Driving Assessor will explain to you which areas of your driving did not meet the standard.  The assessment form will clearly show you and your supervisory driver where your performance needs to improve.

The Driving Assessor will give you some specific information on how you can improve your driving before you take the assessment again.

The Driving Assessors don't want people to fail the test but neither do they want incompetent drivers on the road. They are experienced in the requirements for passing the assessment and want to ensure that all who pass are both confident and proficient.  Failure is not the end, but a springboard to better performance.

My student went for his test again yesterday. He passed with flying colours, scoring 100%.  :)

Stephen Lawhead: The Skin Map

After a very frustrating morning, culminating in his getting lost, Kit meets Cosimo Livingstone, his great-grandfather. Cosimo tells Kit of a great quest that he wants him to be involved in. Kit is sceptical, but willing to learn more. Cosimo proceeds to tell Kit more about the quest which involves travel between different worlds and dimensions using ley lines. The quest is to find the Skin Map – a map of these ley lines and portals, preserved by tattoos onto the skin of a man who has long since died. The map is essential to safe travel in time and dimensions. Unfortunately they are not the only ones seeking it. The Burley men seem even more experienced in this method of travel and yet it is paramount that they do not lay hands on the map.

This is the first book I’ve read by Stephen Lawhead, and was an intriguing read. The idea of a skin map was quite unusual and appealing. The different eras were described in much detail and the suspense was enough to keep my interest. I felt the twists and turns of the plot went in unexpected ways. This is always a sign of a good book for me. Who wants to read something that is entirely predictable?

I found the chapters a little disjointed and even unrelated in some instances. At first I was quite disappointed by this. It seemed to ruin the storyline by switching to what appeared to be unrelated eras and characters, as well as leaving me without any sense of completion. Wanting to find out more about the book, I went to Stephen Lawhead’s website and there discovered that the book is the first in a five part series called Bright Empires. The disjointed aspect of the book began to make sense in the light of this. The loose ends, the parts which didn’t seem to fit will all make more sense as they are joined together in the progression of the series. I must say I was rather relieved!
 
Not sure you want to read it? The first three chapters are available free here.

This book was obtained free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program.

Anh Do: The Happiest Refugee

Some people really have a hard start to life. Anh Do was one such person. At the age of two, along with forty members of his family, he left Vietnam in a small , nine by two and a half metre fishing boat. After surviving two pirate attacks, enduring the hot sun and storms, and nearly dying of thirst, he and his family were rescued by a German ship and taken to Malaysia. They waited at a refugee camp for three months and were then offered sanctuary in Australia.

Though they had very little, Anh's family were used to hard work and did all they could to provide the best for their three children. Anh's father was game to try anything to provide an income and sometimes this ended up in rather hilarious ways, such as the time he brought home a pheasant after bidding unsuccessfully for a pair of alpacas. The happiest time in the family's life was when they had they were living on the farm. Sadly this ended in a rather devastating way with all the ducks being poisoned through bad feed. This was the beginning of Anh's father's descent into drink; a descent which eventually lead to him leaving the family when Anh was 13.

Ahn shares both funny and tear-jerking episodes from his life as a teenager, his early experiences with standup comedy, his reconciliation with his father, his courtship and marriage, and his more recent forays into television with programs such as Deal or No Deal and Dancing with the Stars.

Ahn's mother was his constant inspiration in the way she worked and sacrificed much so that her children could succeed. It was a joy for him to see her blossom later into a confident speaker in her own right.

This is an extraordinary, uplifting and inspiring story of a wonderful Aussie personality.