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The Possibility of Everything
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I wanted to read this book mainly because I have been to Belize - not the touristy cruise ship parts of Belize, but the tiny towns with 100 foot long air strips and as authentic in culture as it gets. And I love to read about anyone's experiences in this beautiful country with such rich culture. I am also well aware and intrigued by the Mayan healing that goes on deep in some of the rainforests there.

Hope writes a lot of Mommy books.. which I unfortunately do not relate to - so there is push and pull of my interests here.. but I find that it just brings my curiosity out when that happens. She writes in this one, a memoir, about a journey, to take her 3-year-old daughter Maya on a “journey of faith” because she is convinced her daughters imaginary friend “Dodo” is evil. Already I’m wanting to know more.

Her and her husband take her to a shaman in Belize who practices Mayan healing arts. Her journey is rich with Belizean culture and I imagine myself back in the beautiful surroundings with nostalgia. The beautiful people, the rich history - it’s all described so colorfully.
Her book is mostly nostalgia as well, as it’s written about 10 years after the fact. “In Belize, there is a greater sense of connection to other people. It was a tremendous relief to be in a culture where people treat the spiritual dimension quite practically. This gave me the clarity I felt lacking in my life.” I love this quote, and the strength behind it. Belize just has that effect on your soul.

I wonder what I would have done in this situation. I don’t know if I would have ever taken it to this extreme, but again, not a mother. And I imagine the family structure can suffer under such circumstances as hers does with Uzi. She’s doing the best she can, but it’s hard to read the of struggles families got though when a child is “ill.”

I’m glad I read this - it was interesting, and colorful, and I found myself enthralled just waiting to find out what would happen, and if Maya would get “better."
  
Death Stranding
Death Stranding
2019 | Action
I just finished Death Stranding and it was quite the incredible journey for me. I have been a long time fan of Kojima's work so I was intrigued by this game. So many people have made the jokes about Sam being a glorified postman, but the game is so much more than that. Once the game started going, I got hooked into the story and was fascinated by the connections Sam made with each person during his arduous deliveries and how he connected them to each other. Seeing how people connect and witnessing how those bonds drew them together created a powerful and beautiful story.
 One game mechanic I absolutely enjoyed was the fact that there is a multiplayer, but it's not multiplayer in the way you think. You never actually see the other players and they never see you. What you do see is what is left behind to help you on your journey and you can leave behind things to help other players. You can build roads, bridges, ziplines, or leave ladders and climbing ropes on steep cliffs to help others on their journey. There is also a shared locker function which allows you and other players to donate weapons and items for use on your travels. Again, it is a way we as people connect to each other from all over the world. You can also give likes to the helpful things people leave behind.
 Exploring the open world of Death Stranding is an adventure in itself with treacherous terrain, dangerous people trying to attack you,(known as mules) and scary ghost like monsters (known as beached things or BTS) it makes you take your time planning out your routes and how you want to get out of those situations. The performances by everyone in the game is fantastic. There are raw emotional moments in parts of the story that moved me to tears. There are beautiful moments that gave me cause to smile as well and I had such a wonderful time with this game. Death Stranding is more than just a delivery game. It is a story about the strength of our connections, bonds, and a promise of hope.
  
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TR
The Road to Reckoning
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
My rating: 2.5.

<i>I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.</i>

<i>The Road to Reckoning</i> is British author Robert Lautner’s debut western-style novel. Set in the 1830s it follows a young boy’s long journey home through the open lands of America.

Tom Walker, now an elderly (or so it suggests) man, is giving an account of what happened to him during the year 1837 when “my life began” at the age of twelve. Tom’s father was a salesman who often let his son accompany him on his trips to sell spectacles. So when he receives the opportunity to pitch a new type of pistol known as a revolving gun for Samuel Colt at the <i>Patent Arms Manufacturing Company</i>, he brings Tom with him on the road. Originally living in New York they set out on a journey of many miles over several days demonstrating and taking orders for the pistol. However a dangerous encounter with a man, Thomas, Heywood, and his gang leaves Tom alone and orphaned.

There are two main characters to this story with Tom naturally being one of them. The other is an aging ranger named Henry Stands who Tom insists on following as he is travelling in the direction of New York and Tom’s home. To begin with Stands is very reluctant to have Tom tailing him on his journey especially as it becomes evident that he would have to provide for the boy. Stands ends up abandoning him but has a change of heart and returns in time to prevent Tom from being sent to St John’s Orphan Asylum.

And so their journey continues with Stands becoming kinder and even fatherly towards Tom, saving his life on more than one occasion; and Tom becoming all the more bolder. However the entire time is the fear and knowledge that Thomas Heywood is searching for Tom with the intention of leaving him in the same situation as his father – dead.

I have not read many western-style novels, and those that I have read I did not enjoy much, but <i>The Road to Reckoning</i> was better than I was anticipating. The main character being only twelve years old made the storyline more emotional especially when taking into account the death of his father and his growing attachment to Henry Stands.

The novel was well written and, although fictional, had an essence of factual truth about it. Samuel Colt was a real life American inventor who founded the <i>Colt’s Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company</i>, which produced the revolver for commercial use. The blurb claims that fans of <i>Cold Mountain</i> and <i>True Grit</i>, neither of which I have read, would enjoy this story. Obviously I cannot give my opinion on that but I would say that to get the most out of reading <i>The Road to Reckoning</i> having an interest in western-style literature would be beneficial.
  
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Lindsay (1760 KP) rated Ghost Owl in Books

Apr 9, 2019  
Ghost Owl
Ghost Owl
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Ghost Owl is a story of Mariah Easter. Will she find out about her potential and learn about herself? She seems to struggle with her gift. I love the fact that Nacy show us a way into the afterlife and that maybe we are all reincarnate or we move through space and different dimensions of space.

Is everything an illusion or is it something as we see what want to make or see what we want to see? Is life as we see it or is what we think it is. Could it be that there are different parts of world that we can travel to any dimensions we want to and choose to live in the dimension where were born or do want to go higher. Is there nothing in this world, we do not exist. We are in body to experience that lifetime but then shred it and go to another life or travel somewhere else.

As we travel though Mariah Journey, is death even real? Nancy has you guessing and trying to believe that maybe we come back and travel to dimension and live there. It just us making that choice. Are what we pass to the next life and experience higher. Mariah meets someone and what about this new gift and maybe smell she or essence she got. What tribe is part of and why? We learn some of this as we read about Mariah Easter and her journey.
  
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Dan sellwood (1 KP) rated The Name of the Wind in Books

Feb 2, 2018 (Updated Feb 2, 2018)  
The Name of the Wind
The Name of the Wind
Patrick Rothfuss | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
10
9.2 (74 Ratings)
Book Rating
Read. It. Now.
Contains spoilers, click to show
The Name of the Wind begins to tell the story of Kvothe, a fiery-haired arcanist on a lifelong journey to understand a tragedy that befalls his family. Kvothe is a born performer, both on the stage and off. He has a natural charisma and sheer brilliance that seem to be his ticket out of a poor childhood into a wonderful world of adventure.

The story is told from a grown up kvothe's point of view and while when he talks about his childhood and adolescence the story is filled with this lighthearted and magical energy, you soon learn that on his journey something terrible has happened to kvothe to change his adult self into someone much more reserved. It's clear he carries a terrible secret but of course in true Rothfuss style this is yet to be revealed.

This book does what many fail to do. It creates another world that's dazzling and something you want to be part of while also creating characters with such depth and personality that by the end you feel you truly know them.

All I can say is that this book was the first fantasy book I decided to read and now as a result it is all I want to read. Therfore if you haven't read it, read it! - but be warned, it is part of a triology and we are still eagerly awaiting a third book which as of yet has no release date.