Category Archives: Books

Tuesdays – Review Day – YIKES!

June 18, 2013 by tchistorygal

Today is Review Tuesday. According to my poll TV and movie reviews were much more popular with my voters than books. Since , today is the first day of my Tuesday schedule I thought I ‘d start out by showing you my page on Book Reviews because many people don’t click on pages, but some of you have commented on my organization. I’m an organized mess – not a Hot Mess, Ralph! Though not a professional reviewer, I was an […]

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Categories: About, Blogging, Books, Experience, Writing • Tags: book review, Common Core, Education, Marsha Lee, movie review, tv review

Blogging Schedule

June 14, 2013 by tchistorygal

I want to thank you for responding to my last poll. Y’all blew me away with an astounding 98 responses. That’s up from ZERO on my first poll. Your opinons about the schedule of topics on my blog are as follows: Topics % of Responses Preparing for retirement & living the life 11% Blogging advice and bloopers 10% Book reviews 10% Local adventures and photographic sprees 10% My travels with various folks 9% Photography advice – what I’m learning from my […]

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Categories: About, Blogging, Books, California, Challenges, Experience • Tags: blogging, Marsha Lee, scheduling blog posts

Book Review: The Worst Hard Time…

June 12, 2013 by tchistorygal

Before I start my book review, which I promised you last week, I want to thank you for responding to my poll yesterday. I will be establishing a posting schedule in a few days based on your advice. Attention English teachers!!! The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan reads almost like fiction. History and science teachers join forces by using this book as primary source background information to introduce or […]

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Categories: Books, Common Core, Education, history-social science, people, Real Estate • Tags: book review, cedar posts, Dust Bowl, Environment, history and science, Marsha Lee, shocking facts, The Worst Time, timothy egan, wooden shacks, worst natural disaster

Book Review: Soul’s Child

May 17, 2013 by tchistorygal

Soul’s Child, the 2012 award-winning spell binder by Dianne Gray, unearthed and explored a love/hate relationship between co-dependent father and daughter after the accident in which Aurora Jones’ mother and younger sister died, and left Aurora in a coma for three weeks. The accident also gave Aurora an insatiable and uncontrollable urge to draw unnaturally realistic scenes she had never experienced. Although she hid her drawings, her father, originally Mervin Oswald Jones, discovered their secret meanings, and began to […]

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Categories: Books, Common Core, Education, Fiction • Tags: Amazon, Dianne Gray, Marsha Lee, Souls Child

A Book Review: Wolf Pear

May 2, 2013 by tchistorygal

You all know that I’m a Dianne Gray fan, and I just finished reading her 2010 novel Wolf Pear. The reader has no idea whether or not the two main protagonists, JD Cusack and Esther Crooke will ever meet. Both characters mistreated as children, you hope that the something in the story will turn out well for them. Poor Esther, fat, lonely, and constantly tormented, has worked her way into a very successful business with her best friend, Sandy in spite […]

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Categories: Books • Tags: book review, Dianne Gray, Marsha Lee, Wolf Pear

Book Review: The Secret Child by Marti Healy

April 29, 2013 by tchistorygal

Even in 1855 few humans had choose between living in an enchanted forest with fairies or living with humans, between dwelling in a forested utopia or in a nation about to be torn by the most devastating war in the history of the United States, or between becoming immortal or remaining mortal. Cian, a fairy whose Gaelic name meant ancient, dreamed about the coming of a secret child to the hidden community of fairies who inhabited the forest known as […]

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Categories: Books, Experience • Tags: Book Hub, celtic mythology, Christine Louise McNamera, Marsha Lee, Marti Healy, sci-fi, Secret Child

Step one cut the list from the WP reader.

What Are You Reading?

April 11, 2013 by tchistorygal

“What did you read today?” asks my book-reviewing blogging friend, Marcia. That question made me examine my reading habits. What I really love is drivel. Shock! I thought I was an intellectual! Drivel is different from trivia, the plural of trivium. Drivel is “silly nonsense”, while trivia (pl) are a step above that, “inconsequential or insignificant matters.” Actually I love both. And I can spend enormous amounts of time organizing myself so that I can enjoy my drivel to the […]

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Categories: Blogging, Books, Writing • Tags: blogging, reading, trivia

Book Review: The Eleventh Question by Dianne Gray

February 8, 2013 by tchistorygal

In her riveting book, The Eleventh Question Dianne Gray takes a visionary slant to take care of an invasive social problem that has received much publicity in the last 10 years. The problem of bullying is one of the chief causes of teen suicide as well as incidents of school violence that shock entire communities to their core. Wikipedia tells casual researchers like me that “Bullying consists of three basic types of abuse – emotional, verbal, and physical. …Social aggression or indirect […]

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Categories: Books, Common Core, Education, Experience, history-social science • Tags: bullying, Common Core Standards for English Language Arts, cyber bullying, Dianne Gray, foster care, Marsha Lee, spirituality, The Eleventh Hour

Valley Oak stands guard over grassy field where happy cows live.

Ubiquitous Valley Oak

February 7, 2013 by tchistorygal

Every valley should have a stately valley oak watching over its fields by day – and night. In 1852 when Tulare County became a county of California, this oak tree might have been just a sprout. More likely, though, is that it is no more than 80-100 years old. Valley Oaks are common in our area. We have schools with that name, baseball teams have carried the name proudly, as have these lovely trees. My iphotos ticker thingy at […]

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Categories: Books, California, Photography, Tulare County • Tags: Central California, Marsha Lee, Southern San Joaquin Valley, Valley Oak

Book Review: The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony

January 16, 2013 by tchistorygal

This book, The Elephant Whisperer, kept me on the edge of my seat the entire two days it took me to finish it. Considering that I was reading it on my cell phone the whole time because my Kindle needs to be emptied before I can load any more books, it’s amazing that I even stuck it out. Out of forty-two chapters, there wasn’t a single dud. I read it because I was intrigued when someone wrote that when […]

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Categories: animals, art, Books, Common Core, Education, Featured Blog, people, Photography, science • Tags: Amy Share and Connect, book review, Common Core, conservation, Elephant Whisperer, featured blog, Greece, hiking, Italy, Lawrence Anthony, Marsha Lee, non-fiction, South Africa, Travel

Writing Challenge: New Year’s Resolutions (Doompocalypse Redux)

January 1, 2013 by tchistorygal

In essence there is a 97.3% probability that any one of us could have three months or three minutes more to live with or without a gigantic asteroid, meteor, renegade planet, or star residue knocking at our door. If I think I only have that much time left to live, do I bother to plan at all? Probably not. I’m looking around me thinking, what should I do? I can plan for right now at least. So here’s my daily […]

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Categories: About, Books • Tags: end of world, Marsha Lee, New Year, Resolutions, Writing Challenge

Miles Dean, age 57 riding across America

Book Review: A Black Cowboy’s Ride Across America

December 23, 2012 by tchistorygal

It’s not every day that a good book about both geography and history comes along, but Lisa Winkler’s non-fiction epic, A Black Cowboy’s Ride Across America, guides the reader from New Jersey to California. Each chapter portrays the real-life adventure of an African-American teacher, Miles Dean, who rides horseback across the United States beginning September 22, 2007. The mini-biography of Dean spans not only the country, but the centuries of African-American history in various places along the way. There is not […]

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Categories: animals, Books, Common Core, Experience, history-social science, Travel • Tags: A Black Cowboy's Ride Across America, book review, geography, history, Lisa Winkler, Marsha Lee, Travel, United States

Romance in Tulare County

December 22, 2012 by tchistorygal

If you’ve been reading my blog recently, you’ll notice that several blogger friends are wanting to get together. Several have suggested that they want to come to Tulare County. I will just say that it’s a great place! Romance is in the air. You’ll be given lots of space So come to TC for your special romantic vacation. You can’t go wrong! Boyfriends or girlfriends are not provided!!! *******************************************************************************************************************Now for some serious business: I received a present of a book […]

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Categories: Books, California, Featured Blog, hotel, Travel, Tulare County • Tags: book review, hotels, Marsha Lee, romance, Travel, Tulare County

Book Review: Entertaining an Elephant

December 7, 2012 by tchistorygal

Thank you and congratulations to Larry Otter, the 30th “LIKE” on my new Facebook page, GOLD STAR! Thanks to the many others that also pressed “LIKE” Many of you are teachers, and many more of you have children, grandchildren, or at some point in time are expecting to have them. A few months ago I went to a Common Core Conference, at which Dr. Bill McBride presented strategies to help teachers implement Common Core Standards. His presentation style was just as […]

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Categories: Blogging, Books, Common Core, Education, Featured Blog, Fiction, Writing • Tags: book review, Common Core Standards for Language Arts, Education, Entertaining an Elephant, featured blog, instructional strategies, Marsha Ingrao, Sierra Foothill Garden, William McBride

The Answer Is…

December 5, 2012 by tchistorygal

We didn’t have to wait until Friday. Tonia Hurst, a California gal, picked up on this little tendril right away. Congratulations Tonia!!! Gold Star Tonia Hurst!! Now, since you have been such good guessers, I have a couple of blogging questions to ask you. I am writing an article about blogging for What’s Happening in the Foothills, a Kiwanis magazine. What I wonder is what blogging had done, and is doing in your life? What makes it worth doing? Do you know […]

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Categories: art, Books, Family, Fiction, Writing • Tags: A Tall Tale told by and Average Size Boy, dried grape tendril, Paula Terrill

Book Review: The Everything Theory

December 4, 2012 by tchistorygal

Dianne Gray became my blogger friend four months and three weeks ago now, and we have rallied blogger chit-chat back and forth between our blogs. As I read her blog the other day, I learned about her book, The Everything Theory, Browsing the comments on the post, I decided that I definitely wanted to buy the book. So I headed over to Amazon, made a few clicks, and started reading, and finally put it down because I had to sleep […]

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Categories: academic vocabulary, Blogging, Books, Common Core, Education, Featured Blog, history-social science, science, Writing • Tags: book review, Common Core Standards, Daine Gray, fiction, history-social science, Marsha Ingrao, science, teaching

Widow of the South and the Common Core

October 6, 2012 by tchistorygal

Attention English teachers!!! Revel in teaching literature for informational text and argument writing assignments using the genre of historical fiction. History teachers – join forces and use the same literature as background materials to introduce topics. Widow of the South addresses California history-social studies standards in 8th grade about the Civil War. It also addresses several Common Core standards noted in the body of the text. It has many primary source documents, like diary entries, woven into the text. […]

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Categories: Books, Common Core, Education, Experience, history-social science • Tags: American Civil War, Carnton, Common Core Standard, Common Core State Standards Initiative, Education, English Language Arts, Franklin, Robert Hicks

Authors Behaving Badly: The Seedy Underbelly of Reviewing

September 4, 2012 by tchistorygal

Reblogged from The Happy Logophile: Up until a few months ago, I didn’t realise there was a seedy underbelly to publishing. But all of a sudden, I can’t seem to look anywhere without turning up odd or unpleasant behaviour from authors, publishers, or other members of the writing community. It’s actually got to the point that my husband asks me of an evening, “So, what’s the controversy today?” Read more… 1,130 more words There is so much more to professional […]

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Categories: Books, Writing • Tags: Reviewing

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Marsha Lee

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Category Archives: Books

Tuesdays – Review Day – YIKES!

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Blogging Schedule

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Book Review: Soul’s Child

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A Book Review: Wolf Pear

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Book Review: The Secret Child by Marti Healy

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What Are You Reading?

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Ubiquitous Valley Oak

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Writing Challenge: New Year’s Resolutions (Doompocalypse Redux)

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Romance in Tulare County

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Book Review: Entertaining an Elephant

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The Answer Is…

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Authors Behaving Badly: The Seedy Underbelly of Reviewing

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