Audience: Adult

Format: Kindle/Owned

 

 

This book has some great material. I love the restorative practices for classroom management approach. The basic idea is to create a respectful classroom environment and teach students how to work through issues and resolve conflicts. Classrooms should be welcoming, constructive environments built on mutual respect and focused on encouraging student achievement.

 

The authors provide practical suggestions for how to implement the suggested practices and strategies. There is a lot of focus on building relationships: students to students & student to teacher.

 

This book is a must-read for any teacher - we must focus on developing compassion, relationship skills, and empathy in our students. We want them to learn more than just reading, writing & arithmetic (and tech skills). We want to help develop thoughtful, respectful, and intuitive adults.

A compilation of short stories all pertaining to...you guessed it. Aahhrrrooooo! There were some absolute gems and a few clunkers. My absolute favorites were Maberry, Meikle, Newman, and Smith. Here's the breakdown of each story:

Like Part of the Family - Jonathan Maberry

Mr. Hunter is a private detective that moved to Philadelphia. He can be very persuasive to get what he wants. Even if he's up against something not quite human. Great story.

5 out of 5 stars

Baby - James Roy Daley

It's good to know who the man really is that you're marrying, especially if you ever plan to have a family with him.

4 out of 5 stars

Anniversary - John Everson

Every month Margaret prepares for her date with Charles when the moon is full. When the sex is that good, you'll do anything for your partner no matter how unorthodox their relationship is.

4 out of 5 stars

The Virgin O' Full Moon Falls - James Newman

Quick little tale of revenge when a pack of rednecks attack the high school virgin queen.

5 out of 5 stars

The Trojan Plushy - David Bernstein

Another revenge tale that combines the werewolf with witchcraft and the Trojan Horse. Has a Twilight Zone-kind of feel.

4 out of 5 stars

Jesus When The Sun Goes Down - Simon McCaffery

The church camp counsellors are hell-bent to save the souls of their campers. But, who is going to save the counsellors?

5 out of 5 stars

Three Dog Night - John F.D. Taff

An animal control officer brings in a strange stray dog.

4 out of 5 stars

Grandma, What Big Teeth You Have - Rob Rosen

Grammy has a secret. Sammy thinks he know what is. He's right...and he's wrong.

4 out of 5 stars

Scarred For Life - Michael Laimo

Fairly predictable yarn about the birth of a father's child.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

 

Hairs and Graces - William Meikle

Set in a fairy tale, magical and medieval Britain which makes for the perfect setting for a werewolf story. A female investigator is hired by a Lord to find the original owner of a belt he recently purchased. Ah, but this is no ordinary belt. Love, love this story. The only downside is that it ended when I wanted it to keep going. But, isn't that the sign of a good story - you don't want it to end?

5 out of 5 stars

Out of the Light - Douglas Smith

Jan is a hunter of shape-shifters from the old country. After a tragic mistake takes the life of the girl he loved, Jan moves to Toronto into the big city and away from their habitat. But as time passes, all things evolve. Great story.

5 out of 5 stars

Hungry Like The Moon - Rob E. Boley

A tale about what happens if you're a werewolf and are caught in the zombie apocalypse. Nice merge of genres.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Unlucky Moon - T.J. May

Be careful when you answer those ads on Craigslist.

3.5 out of 5 stars

A Taste of Blood and Roses - David Niall Wilson

A woman's disabled veteran husband is a werewolf. While the writing was decent, the story had no substance and went nowhere.

2.5 out of 5 stars

Under A Civil Moon - John Grover

Werewolves Union soldiers racing through the south. This southern belle knows what to do. Not a lot of meat in this story to gnaw on.

2.5 out of 5 stars

Unleashed - Nina Kiriki Hoffman

What to do about childcare when you're a new mom AND a werewolf. Could've been so much more entertaining than this mess.

2 out of 5 stars

 

Steak - Randall Lahrman

Turning into a werewolf is like discovering the Fountain of Youth. Simple and fun story.

3.5 stars out of 5

Silver Anniversary - Stephen M. Wilson

Wedding gifts can come in handy. Another simple, fun one.

3.5 stars out of 5

 

Buy A Goat For Christmas - Anna Taborska

A werewolf attacks an African village, but the blacksmith has a secret weapon. Great storytelling with a nicely fleshed out setting

4.5 stars out of 5

Sq389 - David Wesley Hill

A werewolf attack in virtual reality, blah, blah, blah. Don't even waste your time.

1/2 star out of 5

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I found this the most accessible of Nietzsche's books because it comes closest - especially in the second essay - to a straight exposition of his theories. The trouble is I liked it too much to paraphrase anything. I will only give one quote, which you will notice is excessively lengthy:

Section 13: To give at least an idea of how uncertain, how supplemental, how accidental the “meaning” of punishment is, and how one and the same procedure can be employed, interpreted, adapted to ends that differ fundamentally, I set down here the pattern that has emerged from consideration of relatively few chance instances I have noted. Punishment as a means of rendering harmless, of preventing further harm. Punishment as recompense to the injured party for the harm done, rendered in any form (even in that of a compensating affect). Punishment as the isolation of a disturbance of equilibrium, so as to guard against any further spread of the disturbance. Punishment as a means of inspiring fear of those who determine and execute the punishment. Punishment as a kind of repayment for the advantages the criminal has enjoyed hitherto (for example when he is employed as a slave in the mines). Punishment as the expulsion of a degenerate element (in some cases of an entire branch, as in Chinese law: thus as a means of preserving the purity of a race or maintaining a social type.) Punishment as a festival, namely as the rape and mockery of a finally defeated enemy. Punishment as the making of a memory, whether for him who suffers the punishment = so called “improvement” - or for those who witness its execution. Punishment as payment of a fee stipulated by the power that protects the wrongdoer from the excesses of revenge. Punishment as a compromise with revenge in its natural state when the latter is still maintained and claimed as a privilege by powerful clans. Punishment as a declaration of war and a war measure against an enemy of peace, of the law, of order, of the authorities, whom, as a danger to the community, as one who has broken the contract that defines the conditions under which it exists, as a rebel, a traitor, and breaker of the peace, one opposes with the means of war.

They had intended to name the baby Lucy, if it were a girl; but they hadn't expected her on Christmas morning, and a real Christmas baby was not to be lightly named -- the whole family agreed in that.

They were consulting about it in the nursery. Mr. Bird said that he had assisted in naming the three boys, and that he should leave this matter entirely to Mrs. Bird. ...Uncle Jack said that the first girl should always be named for her mother, no matter how hideous the name happened to be.

Surprisingly adorable, considering its subtitle ought to be "A Tale From Preachytown, by Sermon McGodsalot." I had to ding it a star for having a very long section in the middle consisting of nothing but dialogue supposedly representing how thems thar pore peeple tocks in 19th-century New England. (Think Little Women, only scarier. And don't look at me like that -- I love Little Women. But Hannah's dialogue makes me bleed from both eyeballs.)

Spoiler-laden summary: Angelic white girl is born on Christmas day, sustains a nonspecific crippling illness in her early childhood, is nice to poor people for a day, and dies just in time to ruin the New Year for her family.

I thought it was an interesting concept to do the backstory of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and if executed properly this could have been a good book. The framework of the story is good as exhibited by the musical that was adapted from this novel. Unfortunately the story telling and writing in this novel was subpar. The story winds from Elphaba’s birth through her schooling, meeting the Wizard, all the way through to the time that she is killed by Dorothy. The story moved at a glacial pace. I think it could have been better if the author condensed the timeline of the story and gave it more of a focus. As it stands, it’s very easy to lose interest in the book. I thought the author did a fair job with the characters in the story. Mostly it was the plot and the general writing style that came up short. I would recommend skipping this novel. Watch the musical instead for a better experience.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street