Not Dead Yet written by Phil Collins

Remember listening to the 80s band Genesis either on the radio or boom box? When Phil Collins wrote his song, In the Air Tonight, did you belt it out so the world can hear you, whether you’re a great or terrible singer? Ever wondered how Phil Collins got to where he is now? Well . . . how about reading his memoir Not Dead Yet? Since Phil Collins is my favorite male singer, I thought it would be appropriate to share the fact that he did write his own memoir.

         Now, I don’t want to give away too much of Phil Collins’s story, I’ll just give a sneak peak of his music career. First, Phil Collins was born in the United Kingdom where he started out as a drummer for a British band, Genesis, before he became their lead singer and songwriter. Later in life, Phil Collins did release albums with songs that he wrote himself.  Not only did Phil Collins write music for Genesis, and for his numerous albums, he also wrote the songs for the Disney animated movie, Tarzan.

         Phil Collins will tell you everything in his book about the stories behind his music, even the song that every Phil Collins fan is wondering, what the heck is a “Sussudio”, and what gave him the idea to write that hit song? Phil will also tell you about his experiences touring and singing on stage. Besides describing life on stage and singing, Phil Collins will tell stories of his love life and how life was like being a father while working in the music business.  

          One of Phil Collins’s biggest struggles that he will tell in his memoir is his addiction to alcohol. Phil Collins’s will tell you stories after stories of times when he drank too much because he felt hopeless and worthless, he will even tell the story of what made him to finally get help, and how he overcame being an alcoholic.

         Over all, Not Dead Yet is a book that every Phil Collins fan should read because it is written by the man himself who wants to tell his story to the world so we can all know that one question, what gave you the idea to write____?

Trivia Questions: 

How many times was Phil Collins married?

How many children does he have? 
Between drumming and singing, what does Phil Collins prefer to do? Why did he not want to be the lead singer in Genesis? 

Collins , Phil. Not Dead Yet. New York, NY: Penguin Random House , 2016. Print.

I want to put citations in my blogs to show credit to the author(s) and editor(s) who published the book. The description above are my words. 

Real Men Don't Text written by Ruthie and Michael Dean

Are you the type of man or woman who are tired of dating the same type of people? You know those other men or women who are Mr. and Miss Unreliable, Just Want To Make Out Not Date, and of course, Vanish Without a Trace. Yes, I know guys and girls; ever since the wonderful inventions of Wi-Fi and texting the whole world has turned the dating world upside down. Several examples are, sending love letters is a thing in the past, calling on the phone has died, and talking face to face has been replaced with profiles. My point is, don’t you want to try another method of dating but just don’t know how? Well then, let me recommended the book Real Men Don’t Text written by a married couple, Ruthie and Michael Dean. In their book they both give their own perspective on texting, to going on dates, how to avoid the Red Flags (never avoid them), and to what to do and what not to do when it comes to online dating.

First, let me point out that Ruthie and Michael Dean are indeed Christians and they do talk about God and some Bible verses, but they do not write their book in a way that sounds like they are saying, God says this about dating_____ so don’t do that. Ruthie and Michael simply wrote a book about how to identity the Red Flags more closely, translating on what a text message really means and how to respond to them, and how to do online dating safely and what to look for when you’re online.

 Even though I am now married, the first time I read this book was back when my husband and I were dating. I fell in love with this book for two reason

First, I love that the book mentions how texting too much and talking less (either by phone or face to face) can make a relationship complicated. I promise you I have had experience with guys that I were interested in before I met my husband. First, when I met a guy and texted all the time, next, we would make out when we were face to face and have no intimate conversations, and finally after I arrived home we would start texting for several hours. The out come, we never became boyfriend and girlfriend. I pinky promise you it got tiring guy after guy. Fortunately, when I met my husband, in the summer of 2012, he was a caller.  When we first met, we lived in different cities and going to school when we met at the church where I attended, when he was in town for an internship, thank you singles class! Later when we met up again in the fall when he came to stay at my parent’s house, where I lived as well. My husband and I decided that we both liked each other a lot but did not want to jump in head first into a long distant relationship (but he came to visit me once a month for almost two years).  Anyways, my point is, since seeing my husband after he first visited me in the fall of 2012, we started talking on the phone constantly, we set up phone dates two times a week every week and it was non stop intimate talking for hours. When he came to visit me every month. We never had a make out session since kissing before a relationship never worked out for me and I didn’t want to mess up this time. Instead of making out we would go on adventures, such as shopping at new malls, tried cooking meals for each other (I hated cooking back then), and came up with tons of inside jokes.

Now here is the big picture that I see when it comes to texting, since texting is all about using your fingers and not your mouth, you can use your brain to make up and words and think, it worked on the last person when I said ____ maybe it might work for this person and just type it and send. Also, people could just copy whatever flirty text they sent to another person before you came along and paste it and send. See how easy and manipulative texting can be? You just don’t know what the other person is doing on the other side of the phone. Now if that person were to call you and say sweet nothing in your ear because 1) you would know those words that he/she is speaking is true because it is coming from his mouth and 2) it would be more obvious if the phone conversation was a three way call.

  As a Christian myself, the second reason why I love this book is how Ruthie and Michael wrote encouraging words about how God is the true author of our love story. I promise you the love stories that people see today are in movies are in fact made up. Why? First, movies are made into a script that is made out of paper. Next, auditions take place to find the best main character. Voila you have a movie that is directed by someone paying the actor and actress to fall in love in front of the camera, hello million-dollar paycheck. Take it from me who grew up doing theatre in school as a kid, I know a thing or two about acting, actors and actresses tell a story through acting.

Besides having the authors talking about God writing your love story, they also do highlight the fact that real women don’t text either (real men can read this book too), the authors gave tips on what men and women should look for on their first date together. Also, Ruthie and Michael wrote scenarios in their book if someone were to send you a text message that is inappropriate or if they are really not interested in you, just want a make out session or something a little more in the bedroom. Spoiler Alert: ignore those text messages don’t act all giddy and innocent like the man or woman likes you, they just want your hot body not your heart.

Over all, I do think Christians and non-Christians could learn a lesson or two from this book since it does cover a variety of dating advice and advice to what happens after one gets married (hint: nothing about you or your spouse changes).  In concluding, if you are tired of the whole dating world of everything just faded away at the end or you just gotten out of a bad relationship and you don’t know what to do, I urge you to buy this book, single, married, or divorced, I do hope this book will restore some faith for you in your dating life that Mr. and Miss Right is out there for you, you just have to seek them out and leave Mr. and Miss Wrong behind.

Trivia Questions:

1          1) Name all the Red Flags that Ruthie and Michael mentions in their book.

2) In the book, Michael has written his point of view of the four types of men that should not be in our lives. Name those four types of men.

Dean, Ruthie, and Michael Dean. Real Men Don't Text. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 2013. Print.

Birnbaum's Disney Travel Books

Are you or someone that you may know thinking about visiting Disney World or Disneyland? Don't know when to go, what to do, where to stay, or what restaurants to eat, and what shops to shop at for souvenirs? Well here is a solution for you, buy these wonderful books from Birnbaum's Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World. 

I would highly recommend these books for your trip to Disneyland or Disney World because these books will tell you when their busiest seasons are to their slow seasons, what to pack, and how to get to the parks if you are flying or driving there. These books will also tell you all about their resorts if you want to stay on property or not, what to do in all of the parks if you have only one day to stay there, Disney World has something called a Park Hopper and it costs a lot of money and to some people it's not worth it. In all of the parks there are restaurants, if you want to know all about the restaurants, every restaurants you want to know more about and what kind of food they serve it's all in these books. If you want to spend a whole day of shopping for souvenirs, learn about every shop there is around Disney Springs (Disney World) or Downtown Disney (Disneyland), use the coupons inside the books to save money. One more thing, my husband and I are going to Disney World this fall with my side of the family, the Disney World book gives us all the answers to how-to-do Disney; I should tell you now that the first and last time I went to Disney World was in 1999! Which means I have never used a Magic Band, a Fast Pass, much less a Smart Phone to use Disney apps around the parks for shopping and finding my favorite Disney characters. 

Another reason why you should read this book is what to do based who you are going with, whether you're traveling with kids, yourself or with your loved one, with a group, or with someone with a disability, these books will tell you what rides to go on, what romantic activities to do with your significant other. 

I should let you know that inside the Birnbaum's Disney World book, if you are planning on going on a Disney Cruise or want to know more about what the cruise line offers, there is information inside the book.

In concluding, Birnbaum's travel guide to Disney World and Disneyland would be helpful to everyone even if it were not your first time. I mean there could be information in there that you may not know about even if you thought you know everything about Disney's parks and cruise line. There are coupons in the back of the books that you can use this year to help you save money. So please do yourself a favor and buy these books if you are thinking of either going to Disneyland or Disney World, you won't be sorry. 

No trivia questions since these books are used for traveling and planning only. 

Safro, Jill, and Stephen Birnbaum Birnbaum, eds. Birnbaum's Disneyland Resort 2017. Glendale, CA : Disney Editions , 2016. Print.

 Safro, Jill, and Stephen Birnbaum, eds. Birnbaum's Walt Disney World 2017. Glendale, CA: Disney Editions , 2016. Print.

I want to put citations in my blogs to show credit to the author(s) and editor(s) who published the book. The description above are my words. 

The Pregnancy Project written by Gaby Rodriguez with Jenna Glatzer (biography)

Ever wondered what people might think of you or treat you if you told them that you're going to be a mother? Not just a mother who is in her early to mid 20s, graduated from high school (or college), get married (or not), and becomes pregnant. I mean a mother who is a teenager who has not graduated from middle or high school. Well there was a girl who went through that experience in high school, but here is the catch she wanted everyone to believe something that wasn't true.

The Pregnancy Project is a memoir written by a teenage girl name Gaby Rodriguez with Jenna Glatzer.

Now, you're probably wondering why some teenage girl is writing a book with the word pregnancy in the title.  Well it is not some fairytale story; it is Gaby's own story on how she faked her own pregnancy for a school project when she was a senior (12th grade) in high school!

Just to let you know, Gaby did not fake her own pregnancy for attention, sympathy, or because it was expected of her to get pregnant, she faked it for two reasons. First, she wanted to know how people would treat her at school, her family, and her boyfriend's family. Gaby wanted to take notes on what the people who meant to her the most would say so she could give her speech to her entire school about what they have said about her. Second, Gaby wanted to prove her point how stereotypes can be hurtful to other people.

I came across this book randomly at the library not too long ago at the library. I thought it was a book that was written by one of the teenage girls from Gloucester, Massachusetts who joined a girls' only "club" at her high school (17 girls joined to be exact) back in 2008, this group was called The Pregnancy Pact. Why? The girls wanted to get pregnant at the same time and raise their babies together because they thought life would be awesome if their children were raised together.

Anyways, I thought Gaby Rodriguez did a great job describing her family background on how was raised by a single mother who became a teenage mom herself and never went to high school. Also, Gaby's mother was not the only one in the family who went though a teenage pregnancy; Gaby had siblings that went though child labor when they were teenagers.  I do recommend this book to boys and girls who are thinking about becoming sexually active because it does give you a glimpse of what people would think of you and how they would be affected by their pregnancy.  So parents, you may read this book too but I do hope you will allow your teenagers to read it as well.

I know teen pregnancy is a tough topic to discuss, but I can tell you that Miss Gaby Rodriguez wants to spread the awareness of teen pregnancy and also share her story of her experience of what she went though she wasn't really pregnant.

Trivia Question:

1) When Gaby was planning her fake pregnancy for her school project, she told only three people, whom did she tell?

2) Gaby was raised in a huge family; seven siblings to be exact, out of how many of the seven siblings became a teen parent?

***while on the subject of teen pregnancy, I posted a link to a website about The Pregnancy Pact at the Massachusetts high school***

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-pregnancy-pact-shocks-mass-town-19-06-2008/


Rodriguez, Gaby, and Jenna Glatzer. The Pregnancy Project A Memoir. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 2012. Print.

CBSNews. "Teens' Pregnancy Pact Shocks Mass. Town." CBS News. CBS Interactive, 19 June 2008. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.

Both The Pregnancy Project and The Pregnancy Pact have been turned into a movie. 


I want to put citations in my blogs to show credit to the author(s) and editor(s) who published the book. The description above are my words. 

Taylor Swift: This is Our Story written by Tyler Conroy

Hello "Swifties"! are you a huge Taylor Swift fan? Of course you are, that is why you call yourself a "Swiftie". Taylor Swift: This Is Our Story is written Tyler Conroy, actually Tyler didn't write the book word for word, he pieced together a huge collection of Taylor Swift interviews from well known magazines and also interviews from Taylor Swift fans. I would say it is a book written by a Taylor Swift fan for the Taylor Swift fans.

So if you love Taylor Swift or you want to know more about her and the stories behind her music, since she does write all of her music, I would highly recommend this book.

I enjoyed this book myself because I hardly knew about Taylor Swift's story but I love her music. After reading this book I learned about the other songs that I have never heard of the radio,  such as, "Ours" and "Innocent", now I am listing to all of her music since it has been a while since I have burst out singing, "We are Never Ever Getting Back Together", or, "22". Anyways, I sure have learned a lot about Miss Taylor Swift after reading nothing but interviews that Taylor Swift had to do for magazines, so make sure all you "Swifties" out there read this book made just for you.

There will be no trivia questions for this book since everyone who knows about Taylor Swift will give the answers without opening the book.

Conroy , Tyler . Taylor Swift: This is Our Story . New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2016. Print.

I want to put citations in my blogs to show credit to the author(s) and editor(s) who worked on the book. The description above are my words. 

Columbine written by Dave Cullen (and a Few Other Books)

Remember on April 20, 1999 when everyone saw on the news about two high school students shooting their own classmates? Ever wondered why or how two students succeeded in killing many people at a school that it became known as a massacre? Well guess what, Dave Cullen, the author of the book Columbine, wrote about the Columbine high school massacre.

Dave Cullen did an excellent job researching about what  happened before, during, and after the tragic event. It is a 382 page book (some notes after page 382, but who read those?) full of details about the shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, I think Dave may have interviewed people that were involved investigating in the case. There are copies taken from both Eric's and Dylan's journals that they wrote and Dave copied them in the book (look towards the back).

Finally, I became interested in reading about the Columbine shooting when a Columbine survivor visited my school and he shared about his experience and how he lost his older sister in the tragic shooting. Since then I have seen videos about Columbine on YouTube (including the Basement Tapes). In case if you were wondering if I was around during that time, my answer is yes, I was in elementary school when it happened so I don't remember how my family and I were after we found out about the shooting.

Trivia Questions:  1) after the school shooting, Eric's and Dylan's journals were found, what was the significant difference between their journals? 2) Since Eric and Dylan did write in journals, which one was considered depressed and the other one a psychopath?

Besides Dave Cullen writing his book Columbine, Dylan's Klebold's mother wrote a book about her version on how her life was turned upside down when she found what her son did on April 15, 1997! The title of Sue Klebold's book is called A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy. It is a very personal story about what the Klebold family went through after they found out about Dylan.

My thoughts about the book is that I do admire Sue Klebold to finally write about her point of view of what happened after the massacre. I think it did take a lot of guts and bravery for Sue Klebold to  tell her story about what a great son Dylan was to her before she was awarded as the World's Worst Mother from all the families whose children were affected by the shooting. Overall, Sue Klebold just wanted the world to know about how much she loved her son, Dylan, how sorry she is about the shooting, and that she was a mother who was a victim to lose her son along with the families who lost their son or daughter during the shooting.

Trivia questions: 1) What was Sue Klebold's biggest regret that she should have done to help Dylan before he helped Eric with the Columbine shooting? 2) How did Sue Klebold find out that Dylan had depression?

Ok one more book (which is fiction) that is called Nineteen Minutes written by Jodi Picoult. This is one of my favorite book that she has written. It is about a boy named Peter Houghton who did commit a violent crime of shooting inside of his school and he has to stand trial. The daughter of the judge who is taking the case, Josie Cormier, was affected by the shooting that she will not talk.
Mainly, the book is full of plot twists and unexpected relationships between the main characters. It is a book that I could not put down, all the characters each tell their own point of view about the school shooting that Patrick had committed. Jodi Picoult did a phenomenal job of character development and plot twists, I really wish that someone would make a movie out of this book.

Trivia Questions: 1) who killed Josie's boyfriend? Josie or Peter? 2) What was Peter's verdict?

Bonus: Josie and Peter were once best friends, what happened to make them grow apart?


Nineteen Minutes is one of Jodi Picoults older books so please don't think it is written like her latest book Small Great Things. 

Cullen, David. Columbine. New York, NY: Twelve, 2009. Print.

Klebold, Sue. A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy. New York, NY: Crown Publishers, 2016. Print.

Picoult, Jodi. Nineteen minutes: a novel. New York, NY: Atria Books, 2007. Print.

I want to put citations in my blogs to show credit to the author(s) and editor(s) who published the book. The description above are my words. 

Homeless Bird written by Gloria Whelan

This book is my ultimate favorite ( I know shocking it's not written by Jodi Picoult) but I love it.

Homeless Bird is written by Gloria Whelan and it is about a girl name Koly. I'm not sure where it takes place but my guess on the location is in India, based on the character's name they are not American. Anyways, the story is Koly has to go through an arranged marriage at a young age and move into her husband's family. After moving into her new family's home, Koly went through a lot of trials and heartbreak events that made her stronger in the end. Without giving too much of the book away, let's just say that Koly's in-laws did not like her and she always felt like the ugly duckling.

I was introduced to this book when I was in the 7th grade in a bookclub group at school, since then I could not put this book down (I have re-read this book at least four times). I love how the Gloria Whelan developed her characters and each one has a different personality. I also love Gloria's flow of writing and the setting where she placed her characters. I do not know if Gloria Whelan had written another book or not but I will search for more eventually.

In concluding, Homeless Bird is an excellent book for people who are looking for an adventure and also a love story. This book is truly a masterpiece.

Trivia Questions:
1) Why did Koly's husband's family want her to be married into the family?

2) Why couldn't Koly go back to her family? What would happen if she did?

Bonus:
What skill did Koly's sister-in-law wish Koly taught her and why?

Whelan, Gloria. Homeless bird. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2000. Print.

I want to put citations in my blogs to show credit to the author(s) and editor(s) who worked on the book. The description above are my words. 

Hamilton: The Revolution written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jermey McCarter(biography)

Are you a theatre fanatic? Do you enjoy listening and seeing Broadway music all the time on your iPod or iPhone (or some other device that plays music) until you think you are over it but then it's never over because you are that addicted? If you are aware that Broadway is all about the most sold out, hard to get tickets unless you donate some vital organ to go see it, I am talking about the Broadway show Hamilton that was written by the genius, talented actor, and best music writer, Lin-Manuel Miranda.

You want to know the best part is? Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter did write a book about the making and behind the scenes of Hamilton called, Hamilton: the Revolution. That's right Lin-Manuel will take you behind the scenes of how he started writing Hamilton from the dialogue to the music and everything in between. He even put in all of his music along with annotations to the lyrics!

The Broadway show Hamilton is about one of our Founding Fathers of our Nation, Alexander Hamilton. What makes the show so popular is Lin-Manuel Miranda does not write the songs as ordinary Broadway songs,  he wrote the songs with hip-hop and rap! Which makes the show very popular, very hard to see (but don't worry traveling shows are on the way), and very creative. Which is why everyone is obsessed with the music and play.

In concluding, as a theatre lover myself I could not put this book down and cannot stop listening to the music. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter did an outstanding job writing and putting in pictures of the cast, behind the scenes pictures, and a lot of information on what went on during the early stages of the show to what the show is like now. If you are a true Broadway fanatic please I encourage you to pick up this book and be fascinated with it as I was.

Trivia Questions:
1) What gave Lin-Manuel Miranda the idea of writing the Broadway show Hamilton?
2) as I have said before Lin-Manuel Miranda is a genius, what is the title of the song in the musical he wrote as a love song to his wife?
Bonus: Lin-Manuel and his wife found two stray dogs when they were on vacation, that event gave him an idea to write a song for Hamilton, what is the title of that song?

McCarter, Jeremy, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Hamilton, the revolution: being the complete libretto of the Broadway musical, with a true account of its creation, and concise remarks on hip-hop, the power of stories, and the new. London: Little, Brown, 2016. Print. 

I want to put citations in my blogs to show credit to the author(s) and editor(s) who published the book. The description above are my words. 

My Life With Bonnie and Clyde written by Blanche Caldwell Barrow Edited by John Neal Philips

Are you a history buff? A history buff as in you want to know about the infamous bank robbers from Dallas, Texas area during the Great Depression known as Bonnie and Clyde (also known as the Barrow Gang)? My Life with Bonnie and Clyde is written by Clyde's own sister -in- law (not Bonnie's sister-in-law), Blanch Caldwell Barrow, who was married to Clyde's older brother Marvin Ivan "Buck" Barrow. This book is edited by John Neal Phillips who added his own information of things about Blanch and the Barrow Gang.
But not to confuse you, Bonnie and Clyde started out as the Barrow Gang because Blanch, "Buck", and a friend of theirs were in the whole bank robbing job together and were known as the Barrow Gang.
My interest in Bonnie and Clyde started in a long car ride with my mother and I told her from what I heard from a friend of mine who knew some information about them. Next thing I knew I read about a hour and a half article all about Bonnie and Clyde out loud to my mother. That's when I looked up at my library's database and found this book. Blanche and the editor John Neal Philips do an excellent job giving details about the personalities of Bonnie and Clyde, also there are pictures (which I believe people may have not seen before) in the book. I did enjoy it and I hope you do too.

Trivia question one:
Was Blanche the only survivor out of the whole Barrow Gang?
Trivia Question two:
What did Clyde do to intentional injure himself when he was in jail and why?

Caldwell Barrow, Blanche. My Life with Bonnie and Clyde . Ed. John Neal Phillips. Norman, OK: U of Oklahoma Press, 2004. Print.

I want to put citations in my blogs to show credit to the author(s) and editor(s) who worked on the book. The description above are my words.