The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom My rating: 5 of 5 stars It has been some time since I’ve been so deeply and profoundly moved by a novel, indeed moved to a shattered state and uncontrolled weeping. The Five People You Meet in Heaven is not only a subtle, deftly crafted novel that deals with the ambiguities and silent secrets ordinary people carry with them, like burdens or crutches, but a…
Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes My rating: 4 of 5 stars While reading this minutely researched, well-presented scientific look at the entire debate regarding calories, health and obesity, I found myself consistently angered by a medical establishment interested more in accolades and advancement of careers than in solid research and the health of people. If Taubes’ research is accurate, and it certainly seems well-documented, there are hundreds of thousands of people struggling with…
ashokan farewell (civil)Powered by mp3skull.com For relatives in the Stephens family: For Duncan Albert Long, June 24, 1915 – March 24, 1944. Served in WWII. RAF pilot shot down over Germany, recipient of Distinguished Flying Medal. Distinguished Flying Medal For Duncan’s brothers, John and Jim who served in the British army and navy during WWII. For Thomas Cecil Phillips, August 14, 1922 – December, 2008. Served in WWII. Served with the Gloucester Regiment, British Army…
And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyne Saucier My rating: 4 of 5 stars And the Birds Rained Down is a delicate, introspective fiction of a photographer’s journey to chronicle the great bush-fires that consumed so much of Ontario’s north during the early part of the 20th century. In doing so, she (the photographer) uncovers the story of a boy who walked through six days of inferno to find the twin girls he loved. The…
Juno Beach: Canada’s D-Day Victory, June 6, 1944 by Mark Zuehlke My rating: 3 of 5 stars NB: I read the eBook version, which may be different from the hardcover. A quick, informative, journalistic view of Canada’s involvement in the D-Day operation, Juno Beach. Zuehlke’s style makes for a well-documented overview of this complex operation, and would do well as a text for schools. View all my reviews
Ortona Street Fight by Mark Zuehlke My rating: 4 of 5 stars Mark Zuehlke, with his clipped, factual, journalistic style presents the facts of one of Canada’s little known, bloody struggles and triumphs of WWII, the Italian campaign. Without fanfare or blatant patriotism, he illustrates the tenacity, one might even say insanity, of Canadian troops who, once again, seized and held a strategic objective. If I were teaching WWII history in Canada, this is certainly…