Book Review: Animal Planet Ocean Animals

oceananimalsAnimal Planet Ocean Animals is a book that is for kids to learn more about the animals in the ocean. There are several sections in the book talking about where the animals live, how they live, some data, facts and figures and some awesome photos throughout.  It’s no secret I love the ocean and its animals, and I was already “ooh”ing and “aaah”ing when I saw the adorable otter on page 4.  All of the pages are so colorful and vibrant and there is a lot of great information throughout the book about all the animals featured.  Of course not all the animals are cute… there are some sharks and other scary creatures of the deep featured as well.

A great book for kids who are into the ocean and want to learn more about the animals there and maybe find out how these animals are similar to them!

I received a free e-copy in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

With more than 200 gorgeous animal photos of sharks, whales, clown fish, jelly fish, dolphins, and others, Animal Planet Ocean Animals is a fun, habitat-by-habitat guide that provides kids in the first years of schooling with the perfect bite-sized view of their favorite ocean-dwelling animals. Arranged thematically with focus on animal behavior and family relationships, young readers will explore sections about animal bodies, baby animals, food, play time, conservation and more. Special book features designed for this age group include Quick Bites sidebars with cool animal facts, simple infographics, and illustrated maps of Earth’s watery environments.

For more Animal Bites books, check out Animal Planet Polar Animals!

A portion of the proceeds will benefit Animal Planet’s R.O.A.R. (Reach Out. Act. Respond.) project which partners with leading animal organization to make the world a better place for domestic and wild animals.

Book Review: Music in the Age of Anxiety

anxietyMusic In The Age of Anxiety is a book with 9 chapters, each focusing on a different musical genre.  The book works as a full book or each chapter can be read as a standalone essay.  It talks about how there is particular music that fits into a particular time and that in the 50s there were a lot of songs about love and sex that were pop songs.  Then that evolved into rock n roll and rock around the clock.  There was also race music.  This was when major labels got artists media attention and the music industry as a whole started taking off.   There is also an essay on jazz music, hollywood having cutbacks and layoffs, the beginning of the sci-fi genre and concerns post war as well as Broadway being more popular with mixed races in some of the shows.  Also featured opera, classical music, modernists and mavericks.

It is always interesting to look back at where things somewhat began and to see what has changed and what has stayed the same over time. I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Derided for its conformity and consumerism, 1950s America paid a price in anxiety. Prosperity existed under the shadow of a mushroom cloud. Optimism wore a Bucky Beaver smile that masked worry over threats at home and abroad. But even dread could not quell the revolutionary changes taking place in virtually every form of mainstream music. Music historian James Wierzbicki sheds light on how the Fifties’ pervasive moods affected its sounds. Moving across genres established–pop, country, opera–and transfigured–experimental, rock, jazz–Wierzbicki delves into the social dynamics that caused forms to emerge or recede, thrive or fade away. Red scares and white flight, sexual politics and racial tensions, technological progress and demographic upheaval–the influence of each rooted the music of this volatile period to its specific place and time. Yet Wierzbicki also reveals the host of underlying connections linking that most apprehensive of times to our own uneasy present.

James Wierzbicki teaches musicology at the University of Sydney. His books include Film Music: A History and Elliott Carter.

Book Review: The Dolphin

dolphinThe Dolphin was a bit different than most of the books I usually read.  I was drawn to it because it is set in New Orleans.  It is not about the animal dolphin, but rather a sex offender that is considered a dolphin:

“When the law goes fishing for sharks, it casts a wide net. Sometimes it catches a dolphin. Not supposed to. Just happens. Unfortunately, after they’re caught, most dolphins die in the net”

The story follows Sean Jordan.  He was out delivering papers as a kid when his house exploded, killing his parents.  Sean somehow feels responsible for what happened.  He finds himself relocated in New Orleans as an adult.  Despite being a registered sex offender he has a pretty nice job, a wife and a daughter. Everything seems to be going pretty well for him.  That is until a new radio station shock jock comes to town.  He decides that he is going to “out” all the local sex offenders.  While this information is public, many don’t bother to look for it.  But LeGrande has decided it his business to tell the names and addresses of local sex offenders and gets the community in a frenzy.

Then there is another explosion. The aquarium.  A young girl is found dead.  Somehow Sean finds himself as a suspect, despite being innocent.  There is a second explosion.  Sean’s best friend is killed.  Again, Sean is the suspect.  With Mardi Gras just around the corner, one of the other radio station’s talk show host’s daughters disappears.  Of course, the police are looking at Sean.  His life is falling apart since being outed – he has lost his job, may be losing his wife and daughter and keeps getting dragged into all the police investigations as a suspect.

When trying to figure out what is going on and who is framing him, he ends up kidnapped as well.  The kidnapper is planning to do something big during Mardi Gras.  Can Sean figure out a plan to stop him before it is too late?

Throughout the book I liked Sean and was really rooting for him.  Sex offender or not, he seemed like a good guy and it seemed he got his status through a series of misunderstandings and misuse of power and justice.  Despite not having solid alibis, I knew he was innocent and was really hoping that he would figure out who did it and bring them down.  It was fun to read about New Orleans and Mardi Gras and recognize the street names from my trip there last year and be able to picture it all a little bit better in my head now that I have been there.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

Former child prodigy and aspiring psychologist, Sean Jordan, moves to New Orleans, putting his past behind him, until a conservative radio station in a bid for higher ratings outs him as a dangerous sex offender. When the thirteen-year-old daughter of the station’s nationally celebrated talk show host disappears, police scramble to take down Jordan, unaware that he too is a victim of the kidnapper, terrorizing the city on the eve of Mardi Gras. Jordan has a chance to save the girl but only if he meets the kidnapper’s demands. Refusing could cost him his life.

Agreeing could cost him his soul.

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