Book Review: The Band that Played On by Steve Turner

Katie April 7, 2011 0 Comments

Outside historians, the public is aware of the Titanic musicians thanks to two popular movies, Titanic, and A Night To Remember.  Both of these films make a point to show the musicians performing until the very end as they went down with the great ship.  Little has been knock about these musicians, and although volumes have been written about the Titanic, the band has not been the subject of any one book.
The Band That Played On: The extraordinary Story of the 8 Musicians Who Went Down with the Titanic by Steve Turner, is the first book to focus solely on this little known-aspect of Titanic history.  Turner addresses the many questions left unexplored, including: Who were these men? What were their values and beliefs? What compelled them to come back on deck after retiring for the evening? As bandmaster, did Wallace Hartley play a vital role?

The story tells of the lives of Wallace Hartley, Roger Bricoux, William Theodore Brailey, John Wesley Woodward, John Law Hume, Georges Alexandre Krins, Percy Cornelius Taylor and John Frederick Preston Clark.

The first couple of chapters give a lot of background information and if you are not interested in the historical aspect of the book, it might be hard to get into. However, I urge you to continue because the stories of these 8 men are fascinating.

It also details what songs they played as the boat went down – from jazz to ragtime to hymns (based on the recollection of survivors) and Nearer, My God to Thee as the water was up to the band’s knees.  The final chapters tell a bit about what ended up with the families of the band members, which are also some interesting stories.

Also included in the book are photos mixed in to all the chapters.  There are photos of artifacts, photos of the men in the band and their homes.  I found these photos really helpful in picturing the times in which these men lived and they really added a lot to the reading experience.

The Publication of the book Marks the May 2011 Centenary of the Launch of the RMS Titanic in Belfast, Northern Ireland.


I received an advanced copy of this book from Thomas Nelson to post a review.  All the thoughts of the book are my own and I was not compensated to give the book a favorable review.

Book Review: The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World

Katie April 6, 2011 0 Comments

The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World (by Susan Veness) boasts that it has over 600 Secrets of the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom.  While I did not count all the secrets I learned, this book is jam packed with them!

A few of the secrets in the book I had read online previously. (Though I have not been to the parks in several years, I do often taunt myself and read about the parks)  A few of the secrets debunk other secrets I had read online. And a TON of the secrets I did not know before.  For instance – The Great Movie Ride has 2 scenarios with the live action – gangster and cowboy.  I’ve been on that ride twice and both times it was the gangster! I had no idea there was a second option.

The book also guides you through each of the 4 parks in a way that naturally brings you around to all the different areas.  It would be easy to have this book with you and follow along to find a lot of the hidden items and secrets as you visit the park.  (And I know if I go to any of the parks any time soon I will have my Nook with this e-book close by!)  There is also Bonus Content at the end of the book which contains 10 Secrets form the Resort Hotels!

Whether you have visited Disney World before or just dream of visiting, I recommend this book because it has a lot of history on the parks and why certain items were chosen and it also even has some excerpts of quotes from Disney Imagineers (my dream job!) and other fun facts related to what is being discussed in that section of the book.  But beware – after you read the book you WILL want to plan a trip down to  Florida…

Now that I have finished the book I am trying to plan my next visit to Florida! Hanson will be playing as part of the Food & Wine festival at EPCOT this fall so I might have just found my excuse to get there!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: Johann Sebastian Bach by Rick Marschall

Katie April 6, 2011 0 Comments

Johann Sebastian Bach’s music told about Christ. He began each composure by writing “Jesus Save Me” in the upper left corner. “To God Be The Glory” was written on the bottom right corner of the last page of every completed piece.

Bach came from a family of musicians and was composing at a time where music could be heard nearly all the time!  It is hard to think about music being available to people all the time without them having CD players or iPods, but live music would be played from rooftops, for the wealthy during dinner and sometimes even in parks for the public.

The story of Bach’s life, told from a more Christian perspective, was incredibly interesting and I am looking forward to reading more books in Thomas Nelson’s “Christian Encounters” series.

Johann Sebastian Bach by Rich Marschall is one of the Biographies in the Christian Encounters series published by Thomas Nelson Publishers.  The series highlights important lives from all ages and areas of the Church.  Some are familiar faces. Others are unexpected guests. But all, through their relationships, struggles, prayers and desires, uniquely illuminate our shared experience.

This book will be in-stores and available for e-readers April 12, 2011!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: The Charlatan’s Boy by Jonathan Rogers

Katie April 5, 2011 0 Comments

The Charlatan’s Boy by Jonathan Rogers is a novel in the genre of Fiction / Fantasy / Young Adult.  It tells the tale of a young boy named Grady who travels from town to town with a man named Floyd playing tricks on the villagers to try and make a buck.

Grady doesn’t know how he was born and assumes he is an orphan, though he sometimes questions if Floyd is his father.  Floyd boast that Grady is “The Wild Man of the Feechiefen Swamp!” Feechies are creatures from the swamp, often told about in stories and puppet shows. An Urban Legend of sorts. Floyd preys on the villagers to get their money by putting Grady in a box and having him act like a Feechie.

When the feechie story is no longer popular, Floyd shops Grady to the villagers as “The Ugliest Boy in the World”, betting the villages that they can not find someone who is uglier. They try several other things to make money and end up trying to get the feechie buzz going again by leaving items at different villages and hoping that the villagers will embellish on the stories amongst themselves. At the end of the book, Grady finally finds out some things about himself and where he came from.  Grady’s story will continue in the Fall of 2011.

I really enjoyed this book and the world of Corenwald. (At first I was nervous because there was a map in the beginning of the book and often that means the book will be hard to follow, but I had no problem) The writing style made it easy to quickly read the book without missing out on any of what was going on. I really did not want to put it down once I got going with the story and finished it in about 3 hours, which was shocking considering it is just over 300 pages (and I’m not really a speed reader!)  I would definitely recommend this for males or females who enjoy Young Adult novels. I am looking forward to continuing the journey with Grady in the next book which is set to be released this fall!