Book Reviews
Book Reviews
The Greatest Story Never Told, Until Now by Albert Lynn Barcroft
Ralph Moody
Ralph Owen Moody
December 16, 1898 – June 28, 1982
Ralph Moody was an American author who wrote 17 novels and autobiographies largely about the American West (though a few are set in New England). He was born in East Rochester, New Hampshire in 1898 but moved to Colorado with his family when he was eight in the hopes that a dry climate would improve his father Charles's tuberculosis. Moody detailed his experiences in Colorado in the first book of the Little Britches series, Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers. After his father died, eleven-year-old Moody assumed the duties of the "man of the house". He and his sister Grace combined ingenuity with hard work in a variety of odd jobs to help their mother provide for their large family. more on Moody
We used these 7 books as part of the "raising boys" training along with a couple of other publications.
Herold Bell Wright
During the first quarter of the twentieth century the novels of Harold Bell Wright (1872-1944) outsold every other American writer. Wright's pivotal issues were always moral, and he spent much time delving into the emotional and spiritual struggles of the heroes. The hero was never the person with the fastest gun, but the one with the strongest character. For many modern readers those issues are still relevant.
Herold's books are free on line is someone knows the link and wants to put in a review please do.
Jane Austen
Born in 1775, Jane Austen published four of her six novels anonymously. Her work was not widely read until the late nineteenth century, and her fame grew from then on. Known for her wit and sharp insight into social conventions, her novels about love, relationships, and society are more popular year after year. She has earned a place in history as one of the most cherished writers of English literature.
Jane Austen's books are excellent and I would highly recommend them in training young people the importance of morality in life choices. There also numerous films available.
The Uncle Eric Series
The Uncle Eric series of books is written by Richard Maybury for young and old alike. Mr. Maybury plays the part of an economist writing a series of letters to his niece or nephew.
Using stories and examples, he gives clear, simple explanations of topics that are generally thought to be too difficult for anyone but experts.
The Uncle Eric books are fantastic! We've used them in our homeschool curriculum. I'd recommend them for anyone...not just children. If you're going to use them for homeschool curriculum, Bluestocking Press (publisher) also publishes workbooks for some of the books.
- Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? - Easy to understand economics and explains the differenc between money with real value and funny money. Also, examines the history of money. This is one of our favorites!
- Whatever Happened to Justice? - Same principle applied to the judicial system. Again, very easy to understand. He examines the differences between natures law and the laws (rules) of men. He examines the 2 basic laws: 1) Do all you have agreed to do, and 2) Do not encroach on other persons or their property. Also one of our favorites!
Other Uncle Eric titles:
- Uncle Eric Talks About Personal, Career and Financial Security
- Ancient Rome: How it affects you today
- The Money Mystery
- World War I
- The Clipper Ship Strategy
- World War II
- Are You A Liberal, Conservative, or Confused?
Outliers: The Story of Success
by: Malcolm Gladwell
This is a book about successful people and why they're successful. Success is often attributed to environmental factors and/or individual effort. Outliers looks at these factors by exploring the biographies of well known success cases. Some of the cases studied are: Bill Gates, The Beatles, Hockey Players, Mathemeticians. The main thing I took away from the book is that successful people often spend at least 10,000 hours "practicing" to become really good at what they do. Apply this formula to anyone who is really good at something. Painters, Musicians, Artists, Salespeople, Computer Programmers, Pilots, and on and on. Add to recognized talent a lot of practice honing that talent into a skill, then add in a bit of environmental right timing and you've got a formula for success.
The Family
by: Jeff Sharlet
Many will read this book from a liberal slant and take it as ammunition to support their particular "us vs. them" philosophy. In my estimation, it exposes the fact that republican v. democrat, conservative v. liberal, or any other label you want to use, only masks the fact that they are all on the same team. At the highest levels of power; corporate and political, people who are enemies in public, are working together to promote the same agenda...keeping their religion on top. That religion is the religion of the state.
The Maker's Diet
by: Jordan Rubin
Garbage in...garbage out! That's the basic premise of this book. Jordan Rubin tells the story of his personal, near death struggle with diet and sickness. It's a mix of autobiography and cookbook. As a young man, he went from healthy youth to near death in a very short time, due to a over prescription of antibiotics and poor diet. He tells of his recovery from Crohns disease and a host of others simply by taking a more holistic approach to his diet and lifestyle. He makes a good case for paying more attention to our gut as an important part of our health. This is a very encouraging book for anyone struggling with health issues.
Crunchy Cons
Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right wing nature lovers, and their diverse tribe of countercultural conservatives plan to save America. By: Rod Dreher
The author travels around the country talking to people who are living alternative lifestyles. They are involved in homesteading, organic gardening/husbandry, homeschooling, etc. Things which a lot of us are interested in. The author has found more of us I think. He mentions these people by name and place. I think he's done some of our work for us.
As evidence of this I include the following quotes from the book:
1)"Connie said most folks have blind confidence that what they purchase in the supermarket is going to be safe and good for them. Mike agreed." "I think it's because government has become our god, " he said. "We trust it to inspect our food, we trust it to educate our children. I'm not saying that government doesn't have a place in that, but beyond that, we need to take responsibility individually for our lives."
2)"Robert said living the life of homeschooling agrarians has not always been easy or remunerative, but the rewards are priceless.
What do I gain? The hearts of my children, for one. I gain the ability to be the dominant influence in their life, because I'm home, working with them. I gain the satisfaction of doing something I know is good for people. I gain opportunities to minister to people. I have a number of customers that are recovering from cancer or other illnesses who are into nutritional therapy because they have seen the effect that good nutrition has had on their health. There's a great deal of satisfaction in that. You know, the satisfaction of feeling like I'm walking in God's will for our lives. I never felt like that when I was in the corporate rat race. It's like a guy once told me, the only things running in a rat race are rats."
"Being with his children, working their farm, and having home-church on Sunday mornings fulfills this man, who saw his father break himself working a job he hated so he could retire early and enjoy the good life - only to have his heart give out on him just eight years after he retired."
The solutions they promote may not be the right ones, but the people seem to be very similar in their thinking and attitudes. Many of them seem to be searching for alternative solutions to the ones the governments of man propose.
HHC Book Specs
In finding a printer
We are always looking for better ways to produce the books produced by HHC.
The key number is the "price each" for pages printed.
A typical amount for printing is 5 cents per page with a bulk price at 4.5 cents. Some printers will go as low as 3.5 cents.
Question is:
If a short run price is 5 cents what is the page count that drops it to 4.5 or 4 cents or even 3.5 cents???
A $1 charge for coil binding is pretty standard.
HHC Book specs
We have three books which are 8½X11 And two 2 books which are 5½X8½.
The three 8½X11 are about 150 to 155 pages equaling about 75 to 80 full sheets of paper printed two sides.
Card stock covers front and back printing two sides [white]. No color printing. Coil binding
The two 5½X8½ are about 150 to 155 pages equaling about 75 to 80 half sheets of paper printed two sides. Card stock covers [5½X8½].front and back printing two sides [white].
No color printing.
Coil binding
Pamphlet specs There also a number of pamphlets that are 5½X8½ but stapled. These range from 12 to 24 numbered pages 5½X8½ plus a card stock cover.
A twelve page pamphlet is 3 sheets [8½X11] printed two sides, folded and stapled. Cover is cream colored card stock. It is one sheet[8½X11] also printed two sides and folded to make the cover.
Example: 24 page pamphlet is 6 sheets printed two sides with an additional cover folded and stapled.
Question: Where is the price break in sheet count to obtain a bulk price discount?