Book Review: The Teen Whisperer

This review will be right to the point, friends.

Right to the point because that is the style in which The Teen Whisperer was written.

Mike Linderman has written a book that you should read if you are the parent of a teenager, or have children that will be entering their teens.

There are times when I get sentimental about things, as you know, but not about this subject. I have an eighteen year old daughter, and I thank God for the fact that she seems to be quite healthy and isn't acting out at all. I have an almost-nine-year-old daughter who is also quite healthy and doesn't seem to be exhibiting any unusual behaviors. I'm glad about this book, anyway.

The author discusses the reasons why children, particularly teenagers, act out, and talks about ways of dealing with those issues. I think that he hits the nail on the head, but the most important part of this book is the discussion of communicating with your teen child. I'm a man, and try as I might, communication isn't always easy for me (shocking, right?), well, the author helps with this, which is important, because as the song said: "communication is the problem to the answer"

Linderman writes in a direct manner, without a lot of sugar-coating, and without a lot of clinical psychobabble that leaves you with a headache like the one I had after drinking some questionable booze in Okinawa when I was in the Marines many years ago.

Simply put, this book is something that you should read before your children become teenagers! Read it, and perhaps you can mitigate problems on the rise instead of dealing with full-blown issues later on.

Read it.

Trust me.

This review was brought to you by The Parent Blogger Network

Book Review: Kids Are Americans Too!

When the nice folks at The Parent Blogger Network asked me to review the new book, titled "Kids Are Americans Too", by Bill O'Reilly and Charles Flowers, I thought that perhaps they had fallen down and hit their heads on something really hard. I mean, come on... anyone who reads my blog has to know that I'm not fan of O'Reilly, although I give him made props for diggin' the Isely Brothers. I asked if they we sure, because I would gladly read his book and then give my usual no-soft-soap analysis... I'd be fair, I promised... but not necessarily nice.

They agreed.

I read the book.

Here we go.

This book was published by the fine folks at HarperCollins, the same folks that published the book that I reviewed last week, and retails for $24.95

Let me start by saying that there is no real evil in this book, so, if your teenager reads it, he or she would not likely harmed by it. There is no hateful or vulgar language in this book (although the word "slut" does appear once, but appropriately in context). So if you, like me, think that Bill O'Reilly is, at worst, evil, or at best a smarmy shill of a right-wing pundit, you can at least be assured that he isn't going to be brainwashing your kids with this book.

Let's get down (with our bad selves) to it, shall we?

The aim of this book is to have a dialogue on rights... the rights of teenagers.

So far, so good.

The target audience is supposed to be teenagers but, it seems to me that it was written for 6th grade students. Worse, there is nothing in that book that most kids wouldn't get from American History and/or Civics (American Government) classes at school. While I realize that not everyone gets the same education in this country, I think that for the most part, basic structure government is set up is covered... starting in elementary school.

Moving on.

I found this book to be trite. O'Reilly & Flowers sound very even, and sometimes sensible throughout the book, even though they don't miss two opportunities to Rag on 50 Cent or Ludacris, or to label the American Civil Liberties Union as "extremists"

I have to tell you that I think that anyone who spends $24.95 on a hardback book with 129 pages of poor writing, pictures and lots of visually irritating clutter, is out of their minds. I wouldn't buy this book for anyone, not even some of my right-wing, crackpot, co-workers.

A complete waste of time and money.

This review was sponsored by your friends and mine at the Parent Blogger Network and by HarperCollins Publishing.

No Conservatives were harmed (intentionally) in the production of this review.

Book Review: Deceptively Delicious

Not everyone who reads this blog is a parent, but I am rather certain that everyone that reads this blog eats food, so don't be fooled by the sub-title of this book.

Jessica Seinfeld says that her new cookbook, Deceptively Delicious, is about secret ways to get your kids to eat good food... by which she means getting enough fruits and vegetables. She had parents with finicky children as her target, but I think that there is a much wider audience for this sort of work.

I like to cook. I really like to cook... mainly because I really like to eat (which is why I'm so bloody fat), and I live in a household where vegetables are always welcome... even by Soccergirl, who loves, loves, loves, peas carrots, green beans, and routinely asks for salad for dinner. Because of this, I was able to take a different approach to this book.

In her book, Jessica Seinfeld tells you how to get vegetables into your kid's food without them even realizing it, by using a puree. It really is a great idea. If your child won't abide a pile of peas on her plate, make a puree, or even make it ahead of time and freeze it, and add a dollop to her mashed potatoes... or soup. The puree will add flavor, cool colors, and better still, will give your child a serving of vegetables without her even knowing.

Pretty cool, huh?

As I said earlier, I had a bit of a different approach because, if it were up to Mrs GF and, we'd probably have much less meat in our home (we rarely eat beef, but eat a lot of chicken and fish), so I don't have to hide either fruit or vegetables in the food, but the upside is using the purees in the book as a flavor additive. This can be done with pureed steamed (or roasted, as appropriate) roasted peppers, onions, squash, beets, green beans, or any fruit or vegetable that you might like to use to flavor a dish.

Seinfeld's book may not be the definitive word in this arena, but the collection of recipes is good, and covers a lot of dishes that parents might serve the little ones. There is a good variety of recipes and a section on directions and cooking fruits and vegetables preparatory to making your puree. The directions for making and storing your puree are easy to follow. The photography is good and not so glossy as to make you feel like you are out of your depth, if you aren't really the most able person in the kitchen arts.

This cookbook should be a welcome addition to anyone's kitchen, even if you don't have kids.

This product review is sponsored by the Parent Blogger Network, and Harper-Collins publishing. It is also brought to you by the number 9, and the letter F

Book Review: The Religion

A few weeks ago, I finished what is probably the best book that I have read all year... maybe in the last few years. The book was: The Religion, by Tom Willocks.

This book takes place in 1565, when "The Grand Turk" , also known as Suleiman The Magnificent, ruler of the Ottoman Empire, had decided that to ensure the spread of Islam, the Knights of St. John, also known as The Knights Hospitaller, must be dislodged from the Mediterranean Island of Malta.

As this historically true event played out, the fictitious Captain Mattias Tannhauser, a European-born former Janissary soldier in the army of the Sultan, is convinced to bring a high-born Maltese Contessa, Lady Carla, to the island, despite the siege, to find her 12 year old bastard son... a son sired by one Brother Luvodico, a highly-placed Priest of the Inquisition.

What Tannhauser doesn't realize is that his reputation as a military commander have proceeded him, and he has been duped into going to the island so that he can give good military advice to the Grandmaster of the Knights of St. John, Jean De La Valette to help them withstand the siege.

Predictably, Tannhauser is able to spirit Lady Carla, and her son, Orlandu, off of Malta, but not before falling in love with Carla, and killing Luvodico.

The plot of the book isn't exceptionally intricate, which is appropriate, since this book is and adventure, not a mystery. There are several factors here that make this book and exceptionally good one: The first (for me) is that the subject matter, the religious-military orders of the era, between the 12th and 17th centuries, is an area of particular interest to me. The second is that the author has really done his homework here, in that he not only was able to place this important battle in the right time and place, but he was able to describe that motives and actions of the characters in proper cultural terms. The third important thing for me was the description of 16th century combat and siege warfare. Willocks doesn't gloss over the unholy brutality of personal combat, and the gruesome wounds caused by the weapons of the day.

If you have an interest in history, you will enjoy this book. If you have an interest in grand adventure, you will enjoy this book. If you have an interest in some of the skulduggery of the 16th century Church you'll really like this book.

This book has it all: Violence, history, intrigue, and sex... and it's well-written!

What's not to like?

If you read it, please tell me what you think.

GF

Book Review: The Religion

A few weeks ago, I finished what is probably the best book that I have read all year... maybe in the last few years. The book was: The Religion, by Tom Willocks.

This book takes place in 1565, when "The Grand Turk" , also known as Suleiman The Magnificent, ruler of the Ottoman Empire, had decided that to ensure the spread of Islam, the Knights of St. John, also known as The Knights Hospitaller, must be dislodged from the Mediterranean Island of Malta.

As this historically true event played out, the fictitious Captain Mattias Tannhauser, a European-born former Janissary soldier in the army of the Sultan, is convinced to bring a high-born Maltese Contessa, Lady Carla, to the island, despite the siege, to find her 12 year old bastard son... a son sired by one Brother Luvodico, a highly-placed Priest of the Inquisition.

What Tannhauser doesn't realize is that his reputation as a military commander has proceeded him, and he has been duped into going to the island so that he can give good military advice to the Grandmaster of the Knights of St. John, Jean De La Valette, to help them withstand the siege.

Predictably, Tannhauser is able to spirit Lady Carla, and her son, Orlandu, off of Malta, but not before falling in love with Carla, and killing Luvodico.

The plot of the book isn't exceptionally intricate, which is appropriate, since this book is an adventure, not a mystery. There are several factors here that make this book an exceptionally good one: The first (for me) is that the subject matter, the religious-military orders of the era, between the 12th and 17th centuries, is an area of particular interest to me. The second is that the author has really done his homework here, in that he not only was able to place this important battle in the right time and place, but he was able to describe that motives and actions of the characters in proper cultural terms. The third important thing for me was the description of 16th century combat and siege warfare. Willocks doesn't gloss over the unholy brutality of personal combat, and the gruesome wounds caused by the weapons of the day.

If you have an interest in history, you will enjoy this book. If you have an interest in grand adventure, you will enjoy this book. If you have an interest in some of the skulduggery of the 16th century Church you'll really like this book.

This book has it all: Violence, history, intrigue, and sex... and it's well-written, to boot!

What's not to like?

If you read it, please tell me what you think.

GF

CD Review: Sara Bareilles - Little Voice

Have any of you ever heard of this young woman?

I confess that I never had until a few weeks ago, when Mrs Gunfighter brought home this CD that she bought on a whim. Go here to listen to the first track on the CD, "Little Voice" it's called "Love Song" and I guarantee that it will capture you immediately.

Sara Barielles (pronounced Ba-rell-is) is from Humboldt County, Californina and attended UCLA. Her music has been compared to that of Fiona Apple, Nora Jones and other female songstresses. Some of hose may be fair comparisons... but that in no way diminishes the talent of this young singer-songwriter.

I could go on and on about Bareilles' raw talent and driving piano-playing, but I don't have to, you can hear it for yourself.

If you are of a mind to trust me, trust me when I tell you that if you buy this cd you will be really glad you did.

GF