Book Review: Leave Only Footprints by Conor Knighton

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Excellent written, especially when talking about the parks

Cons: Agenda derails the book a little too often

The Bottom Line:

Journey through the parks

Agenda takes over some

Wish more on the parks

Left Me with Mixed Reactions

The instant I heard about Leave Only Footprints, I was hooked.  While I haven’t acted on it, I have thought about trying to visit all of the National Parks, so reading a book by someone to did just that, and did it in a year, was intriguing.  I was hoping the book would stick to stories about the parks without using them to preach at us.  Sadly, it did have some of that in it as well.

Conor Knighton’s life took a turn on him when his fiancée left him without any warning.  As he struggled to figure out what was next for him, he saw an advertisement for the 100^th anniversary of America’s National Parks.  And so an idea was born – what if he visited all of the official National Parks in one year.  Soon he was asking CBS Sunday Morning, who he was a freelance correspondent for, if they would be interested in having him do reports from his journey.  Thus a year – and the adventure of a lifetime – was born.

Conor started 2016 in Acadia National Park.  This park in Maine is the spot where sunlight first hits the continental United States in January.  From there, he crisscrossed the country, going to parks in the order where he could get interviews.  There was no set pattern, although for the book, he organizes them by themes.  Some are obvious, like the chapters on Caves or Canyons.  Others might not make sense until you read them, but the connections are there.

The writing in this book is excellent.  It is easy to get lost in the stories he tells, and when he is describing what he is seeing or giving some interesting history, you feel like you are there experiencing it with him.  Unfortunately, I felt the book could have used more of this travelogue.  Some parks he fails to describe at all, in fact, instead focusing on some of the people he met along the way.

Unfortunately, as I feared, Conor has some chapters that are very little about any of the parks but are more about pushing an agenda.  Some of those parks get shafted as a result.  For example, we learn that Shenandoah National Park used to have segregated facilities, including a segregated campground.  That is wrong.  However, that is in the past.  It could have been an interesting couple of paragraphs, but that is pretty much all he talks about when it comes to this park, and we learn nothing about what the park looks like or what it is famous for.  Likewise, the time spent in Great Smokey Mountains mostly talks about an area added to the park after a dam and lake were built to power factories during World War II, forcing a community to move and cutting them off from their graveyard.  Our time in American Samoa mostly talks about how the people who live in this territory are treated by the United States government.  The chapter on People spends more time complaining about how crowded the most popular parks are than it does talking about any of the parks it is supposed to be highlighting.  Even when I agreed with him, and I often did, I still found this frustrating.  This isn’t why I picked up the book.

But when he is talking about the parks themselves, this book shines.  I’ve decided there are a few parks I don’t need to visit personally – some of the ones in Alaska are too remote for me, for example.  But I really want to visit Isle Royal during the summer, and I need to take a trip to Great Basin at night for some star gazing soon.

Along the way, we also get to know Conor better as he shares some stories from his own life.  Most of the stories from people he met along the way are just as interesting.

There are inserts with pictures a couple of times in the book.  I wish there were more, but I will take what I can get.

Most of all, this book left me jealous.  I haven’t really been able to travel for a couple of years now, and I’m ready to get out there and travel.  I’ve got to start planning some of my own trips to these parks.  I wish I could do what he did and just take off for a year, but I don’t have the funds to go that, so I will have to do them a bit more piecemeal.  Still, this book has reawakened my desire to see more of America’s parks and America itself.

On that level, Leave Only Footprints succeeded spectacularly.  If you are interested in America’s National Parks, I definitely do recommend the book.  I just wish it had focused on them more.

Ornament Review: Lego Santa - 2019 Hallmark Release

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Captures Santa as a Lego perfectly

Cons: Tips when you try to display him off your tree

The Bottom Line:

Santa as Lego

Becomes a fun ornament

For display on tree

Lego Santa Makes His Debut as an Ornament

I’ve bought a few Lego ornaments over the years, mainly pop culture characters, so I was super excited to see Santa Claus pop up as a Lego ornament from Hallmark in 2019.

This ornament looks pretty much exactly as you’d expect it to.  This is Santa as he looks when made out of those famous plastic bricks.  He’s mostly red with his coat painted on the block for his upper body.  His legs are spread apart and one arm is raised as if he’s walking.  His right arm is behind him, and in it is his bag of toys.  We’ve caught him in the act of coming to bring joy to kids.

And that bag turns out to be important.  It allows you to set Santa out to be displayed if you so desire.  He’s not super steady, but the bag makes him steady enough that he’ll be okay as long as he doesn’t get jostled a lot.  On the other hand, he does tip to the left when you do that.  Obviously, his bag is very heavy.

Hanging Santa is obviously an option as well.  (Wait, hanging Santa?)  If you slip a hook through the loop to hang this ornament (much better), you’ll find that the ornament hangs perfectly straight.  It actually looks much better than it does standing and trying to balance with that bag.

I really enjoy this one.  While I never had a Lego Santa growing up (or any of the other characters I’ve bought as ornaments), it’s a fun ornament and captures the Lego look perfectly.

If you enjoy Lego, this is a great Santa Claus to display on your tree.  (Hey, I finally found the right word to use.  You know, instead of hang.)

Book Review: Cozy Up to Death by Colin Conway (Cozy Up #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Enjoyable protagonist and story

Cons: Believably, slow to start

The Bottom Line:

An offbeat cozy

Took some time but grew on me

Glad I gave a chance

Debut that Grew on Me

While Left Coast Crime only lasted one day this year, it still worked to increase my to be read pile.  One of the books that caught my interest was Cozy Up to Death, the first in a new series from Colin Conway that was touted as a twist on the cozy mystery.

Today is Brody Steele’s first day as the owner of The Red Herring, a mystery bookstore located in Pleasant Valley, Maine.  Pleasant Valley is a small town on the coast not far from the boarder with New Hampshire.  It’s a quiet and peaceful town where nothing really happens.

So far, this is sounding like a typical cozy mystery, right?  Here’s the twist, Brody hasn’t read a book in years and knows nothing about mysteries.  So why is he the new owner of The Red Herring?  The business is really a cover business for those in the Witness Protection Program.  Brody isn’t even his real name.  He’s in the program because he recently turned on his old motorcycle gang, ratting them out for some of the crimes they’ve committed in order to avoid jail time himself.

Brody isn’t happy with the idea of living in this quiet a town, but he quickly finds it growing on him.  However, he also finds himself beginning to be filled with questions, chief among them what happened to the previous owner of the bookstore.  Is he truly safe here?

This is one of those books that started out slowly.  There are a few plot threads early on in the book, but it takes a while for Brody to realize anything is wrong.  He’s too busy contemplating his new life.  I did enjoy the character growth we saw in him over the course of the novel.

And once the story gets going, I got hooked.  There’s actually quite a bit bubbling under the surface, and as Brody begins to realize that, things get very interesting.  I couldn’t put the book down.  It helps that Brody begins to meet a few people in town, and they come across just as real as he does, helping draw us into the story.

Even so, I do have a few nits to pick with the book.  The writing could be a bit more polished.  It worked to hook me on the story, but it could have been stronger.  Also, the Witness Protection Program, as described here, wasn’t completely believable for me.  Then again, all I truly know about it I learned from the TV show In Plain Sight, so I’m judging one fictional story based on another.  I was having so much fun reading the book that I decided to just go with the story.  Besides, I haven’t done the research to know where the author took creative liberties.

While the series is called the Cozy Up Series, this book does get more violent than a cozy.  Brody gets involved with several fights.  As far as language and sex go, this book is still clean.

Overall, I was glad I gave Cozy Up to Death a chance, and I’m very curious to see where the series goes from here.

Check out the rest of the Cozy Up series.

Disney Pin Review: Baloo and Mowgli - Windows of Magic - 2019 Release

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Baloo and Mowgli’s friendship captured perfectly

Cons; Not a lot of Easter eggs

The Bottom Line:

A friendship captured

Baloo, Mowgli are the stars

Of magical pin

This Pin is a Bare Necessity

One of my favorite aspects of Disney’s The Jungle Book is the quick and easy friendship that springs up between Mowgli and Baloo.  That friendship is captured perfectly in the Windows of Magic pin that Disney released in 2019.

These pins are designed to look like stained glass windows, and the characters chosen counter act the Window of Evil series that Disney released in 2018.  As I said, this pin features Mowgli and Baloo.  Actually, Baloo takes up most of the pin – he is a bear after all, and bears are big.  But Mowgli is sitting on Baloo’s shoulders, so we can see him up above the bear’s head.  Surrounding them, we get leaves, and leaves are the main feature of the decorations on the frame.  Up at the very top of the frame is a bunch of bananas, and at the bottom, we see Bagheera the panther reclining.

Like the Kaa Windows of Evil pin, this pin doesn’t have a lot of Easter eggs.  However, it’s hard to see how they would have worked anything else into this pin since Baloo is so big.  With the emphasis on the characters, it is easy to tell what everything is, too.  Some of the pins can get a bit busy.  The two things they did work into the frame are fun, and I’m glad we got them.

Just looking at this pin makes me want to start singing “The Bare Necessities.”  I love the song, so that’s not an issue as far as I am concerned.

We don’t get a lot of pins, or merchandise in general, with these characters, so it’s always nice when they pop up.  I’m happy I added Baloo and Mowgli’s Windows of Magic to my pin collection.

You can see pictures of this pin on my Instagram feed.

Disney Pin Review: Kaa - Windows of Evil - 2018 Release

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Great looking Window of Kaa

Cons: No fun Easter eggs

The Bottom Line:

Kaa becomes window

Overall, this pin looks great

But miss Easter eggs

Trust In Me, This is a Good Pin

As I discussed a couple of months ago, there are some characters that are considered Disney villains that I have a hard time viewing as such.  Kaa, the snake from The Jungle Book, is one of those characters.  And he’s the subject of the Windows of Evil pin I’m looking at this month.

It’s obvious by just a glance you we are looking at when you see this pin.  Kaa is front and center.  His face takes up a third of the pin, and he’s surrounded by leaves.  He is in the jungle, after all.  Above his face, you can see the rest of his body coiled up on a branch.  The frames of this pin are stylized to look like leaves.

Like the other pins in this limited edition series, this is all crafted to look like stained glass.  I love the look and this pin captures it well.  You can even see that Kaa is in the middle of trying to hypnotize someone.

This pin doesn’t have the hidden Easter eggs I enjoy so much with other pins in the series.  Then again, Kaa is pretty much a loner character.  Most of his interactions are with characters who show up in the corresponding Windows of Magic pin.  Plus, the fact that they weren’t trying to squeeze in any cameos makes the overall pin easier to see.

Back to whether Kaa is a villain.  Yes, he did try to eat Mowgli.  Twice.  I can see why people label him as such.  I view him more as a hungry opportunist.  I picture a villain as someone who is plotting evil, so I view Shere Khan as the villain of the movie.  But Disney did choose Kaa for the pin, so this is all beside the point, right?

And the main point is, this is a fun addition to the Windows of Evil pin series.  Kaa might not have any Easter eggs, so he is still a nice window.

You can see pictures of this pin on my Instagram feed.

May 9th's Weekly TV Thoughts

Batwoman – A betrayal and a hint of another one to come all in the space of the last few minutes.  I don’t want to be Kate right now.  I did like Mary getting to save the day, and she was excellent at it.

Supergirl – It’s been so long, I must admit I’ve kind of forgotten the plot of the season.  It did come back to me as the episode went along.  I feel like we got an important revelation or two that would have excited me without the huge gap.  Yes, I definitely got the Jeremiah bits, however.  I appreciate the fact that they are going to play his death into something more.  I’m glad they didn’t kill off the character completely in vain.

The Baker and the Beauty – I’ve got to admit, I was dreading this episode a bit.  I thought it might be more awkward than cute, or at least more awkward than normal since some of the scenes with his family made me cringe.  I found it to be about average for the series, and I enjoyed it.  I’m glad that the sister is out, and I’m glad that it looks like they aren’t going to make her parents out to be bigots.  I think that was what I was dreading the most about that particular storyline.  Not that I’m happy with that storyline overall.  I hope the manager figures out he was the one who outed Daniel and Noa as a couple.  But I’m wondering what his health problem is.

The Flash – Suddenly, I am very worried for Iris, especially since I suspect she isn’t going to get out right now.  We’ll see what happens next week.  I’m not surprised people got their hope and fighting spirit back by the end of the episode, but it’s very nice to see that happen.

Legends of Tomorrow – My cable cut out for a few minutes, so I missed the fight and how they recaptured the hound.  Nice way to work in a little history, and I loved that it was a literal hell hound making everyone crazy.  What’s going on with Sara’s sight?  It’s nice to see Mick finally connecting with his daughter.

Survivor – I always forget about the two hour episodes until I’m watching them.  (Not so with the final, I’m used to that.)  I kept expecting a third tribal or something since they were running ahead; instead we got that bit from extension.  I’m a bit surprised with how late they are letting the second player back in the game.  It’s going to be very interesting to see how that plays out during the final next week.

May 8th's Book Beginnings and Friday 56

It's been a couple of weeks, but I'm back with Book Beginnings and Friday 56 this week.

This week's book is Going Nowhere Fast by Gar Anthony Haywood.

                                                 

This is a fun older book.  Here's how it starts:

We thought we had left Bad Dog in Las Vegas.

That certainly made me want to read more.

Jumping ahead to page 56, we find this exchange:

"Okay, okay!  I was hidin' in there, yeah!  I was in the closet hidin'!"
"From Dozer Meadows," I said.
"Yeah, that's right.  From Dozer Meadows."
"Why?  What's he got to do with you?"
"Nothin'.  'Cept that he wants to kill me."

I'm running well ahead of when I am reviewing books, so I've finished this one already.  I'll have my review of the book up next Friday, so I'm going to make you wait a full week to see my thoughts.

Have a safe weekend.

Book Review: With a Vengeance by Annette Dashofy (Zoe Chambers #4)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Page turning thrill ride

Cons: A bit somber, which fits the story

The Bottom Line:

Paramedics shot

Starts this thrilling mystery

I couldn’t put down

Target: First Responders

I immediately spotted the irony when I picked up With a Vengeance.  In a time when we are praising first responders, and rightly so, I start reading a book where someone is targeting them.  But that was soon a side note as I got lost in the story.

Paramedic Zoe Chambers is shocked to hear that two of her co-workers were ambushed when out on a call.  One of them is dead, and the other is in critical condition.  The sniper got away without a trace, leaving Zoe and police chief Pete Adams scrambling to understand what is going on.  Was it a random attack?  Or was someone out to settle a score with these two paramedics?  Will the shooter be caught before Zoe goes back on duty?

If you haven’t picked up these books, I don’t recommend you start here.  There are lots of references to the earlier books in the series, especially the last book, and events from the climax are spoiled.  They’d have to be.  So if you want to read that book unspoiled, you definitely need to read the series in order.

I’ve always placed this series firmly in the traditional mystery sub-genre.  The plots are a bit more serious than a typical cozy, there is a smattering of foul language, and aftermath of violence since Zoe is also the deputy coroner.  However, this book edges into thriller territory.  I was hooked as Zoe and Pete raced to figure things out before the next attack took place.  I had suspicions as to who the villain was, but we didn’t find out for sure until Zoe and Pete figured it out.

There’s a reason I keep mentioning Zoe and Pete.  The book spends near equal time following both of them around as they work to solve the case.  These changes in point of view are always easy to follow, and it allows us to get to know both protagonists well.  I love this technique when it is done well, and it is used perfectly here.  In fact, as we reach the climax, it really ramps up the tension.

Because Zoe and Pete know the victims in this book, it has a somber tone.  This is not light reading, but it is excellent reading.

Part of that are the characters.  We don’t see all of the supporting players this time, but those we do see are excellent at rounding out Zoe and Pete’s world.  I love this cast of characters, which also helped make me care that much more about the outcome.

The pages were flying the further I got into With a Vengeance.  Fans of the series will definitely be glad they picked it up.

Need those earlier books?  Here’s the Zoe Chambers series in order.

Movie Review: Oliver!

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Dancing and acting

Cons: The songs aren’t all the great

The Bottom Line:

Dickens sings, dances

Result a mixed bag for me

Once enough for me

Not Quite as Charming as I Had Hoped

I’ve heard of the musical Oliver! for years, but I’ve never seen either the stage play or the movie version.  Until now.  I happened to catch it on TV recently.  I wasn’t as impressed with it as I expected to be.

The musical is based on Charles Dicken’s book Oliver Twist.  As such, it tells the tale of a young orphan named Oliver (Mark Lester).  When he gets sold from the orphanage where he was living in misery, he runs away to London.  He’s not prepared for the big city, however, and falls in with the Artful Dodger (Jack Wild), one of a gang of pick pockets under the thumb of Fagin (Ron Moody) and Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed).  Has his situation become even worse?

I must admit that my only familiarity with the story comes from the Disney animated Oliver and Company, and even that has been years.  So I went into this movie with no expectations ready to see where the story led me.  I’m also not super familiar with Dickens in general, but as the story unfolded, I could definitely see some of the things I’d heard about his books reflected here, including his writing about how the poor in English society in the 1800’s were treated.  This may be a musical, but there are some dark parts to the story.

The sets are amazing.  I can tell a lot of time and effort were put into them since various parts of London were recreated.

However, I do have issues with the musical itself.  The songs are okay, but they aren’t as memorable as I was hoping they would be.  Ironically, I discovered I already knew part of one of them from a CD of barbershop quartet music I have.  I’ve had that one stuck in my head since I saw the movie, but that’s the only one.  I think part of the problem is that the show stopper numbers go on a bit too long.  Now, I’m not criticizing the choreography, which is fun and elaborate.  But the songs I’m thinking of repeat themselves a bit, and the time could have been better used to flesh out a bit of the story.  I mean, there is a lot of novel to work into this movie and the songs do slow things down.  As a result, some of the twists are a bit abrupt.  Oh, I get that Dickens used coincidence in his novels, but I’m sure the novel makes a few of these plot coincidences at least a bit easier to follow.

Another issue I had was the singing itself.  The adults are all fine, but the boys in the cast are a bit rough.  They aren’t bad, but they aren’t polished singers yet.  And the voice they got to dub the songs that Oliver sings is too high pitched and sweet for my taste and doesn’t seem to fit the character.

On the other hand, the acting is all fantastic.  Some of the actors are reprising roles from the stage production, and they are fabulous.  The rest are just as good.

I can see why people enjoy this musical.  It’s not bad.  But Oliver! was a mixed bag for me.  As a result, I doubt I will be watching it again.

Book Review: The Secrets of Bones by Kylie Logan (Jazz Ramsey #2)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong characters, twisty mystery

Cons: Here’s the secret – there are none

The Bottom Line:

Skeleton at school

Another engrossing book

A pleasure to read

I Can’t Keep Secret How Must I Loved This Book

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the Jazz Ramsey series last year, so I was looking forward to checking in with her again in The Secrets of Bones.  I’m thrilled to say I wasn’t disappointed in the least.

If you missed the first book, Jazz is an administrator at St. Catherine’s, an all-girl’s school in Cleveland.  However, her passion is training cadaver dogs, and when the two worlds collide once again, she is swept up in murder and danger.

It’s Assembly Day, a day set aside near the end of the school year when professional women from Ohio come to talk about their careers.  Jazz winds up as a last-minute replacement, so she sets up in the unused fourth floor, hiding a few bones for Gus, a friend’s cadaver dog, to find during a demonstration.  However, Gus goes to an unused closet.  Sure enough, Jazz opens it to find a skeleton.  Things left with the body make it easy enough to identify the victim as Bernadette Quinn, a teacher who resigned abruptly 3 years ago.  Obviously, she didn’t really resign, but what happened all those years ago?

I was pulled into the book from the very beginning.  The writing is excellent and brings Jazz’s world to life.  This is one of those books where you slip into another world and never truly want to leave.  While I am allergic to dogs, I still appreciate animal cuteness, and we get plenty of that here, which helps.

The mystery is strong.  Bernadette was difficult alive, so there are many good suspects.  However, the clues that Jazz does uncover just give us more questions, something I always love.  Naturally, everything comes together at the end.

The characters are also strong.  It goes back to the world being so vivid.  I love Jazz, and I want her to be happy.  I love the people in her life, and the suspects are strong enough to keep me guessing.

Before this series started, I was mostly familiar with Kylie Logan for some light, fun cozy mysteries.  This series is definitely a few shades grayer than those books, including a few foul words.  It is in the traditional mystery realm instead of being a pure cozy.  But don’t let that stop you from reading the book; it is well worth picking it up.

Just how into this book did I get?  I read almost two-thirds of it in one day instead of saving the final third for the next day like I would normally do.  I just couldn’t put it down until Jazz pieced everything together.

This is quickly becoming a favorite series.  Jazz’s fans will be thrilled to revisit her in The Secrets of Bones.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.