Birds Of Florida by Frances W. Hall
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’ve probably got a dozen copies of this and most of those are different editions. Probably had most for 30 years or so. Never read any of them, but did use them for reference.

Decided to aid ‘Draw a Bird Day’ by doing a live video of me showing how to draw Florida birds. Nabbed a half dozen Florida bird books off the shelf to talk about. Decided to finally read this one.

This suffers from age. Publishing in the ’40s was tough involving photographs and back then it was tough to get photographs, especially birds. So, the author drew the birds. Just not all of them. So, the wiring of each bird doesn’t have an image of a bird to go with the description. Many of the drawings are not even on the same page of the description. Again, limitations of printing at the time.

The descriptions are a bit slight to tag a bird in the wild. Even the drawings are pretty loose. Though, the illustrations are very good.

Something else this book suffers from age-wise is that some of the information is no longer accurate. The dusty seaside sparrow is now not proliferating, but extinct. And the ibis is no longer low in numbers. There’s more.

Still a great effort for it’s time.

Bottom line: I don’t recommend this book. 4 out of ten points.

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Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand by Leonard Peikoff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Want to know or understand Ayn Rand’s creation, ‘Objectivism’? This is IT.

To the music video-video game crowd, this will seem cumbersome in ideas and reading. In the past few decades the education has been a backward one of emotion and not reason. This book well explains why folks can take the emotion and altruistic route. but also explain why that is a route to a cliff to fall off. Young people need to read and read books like this.

I don’t even agree with a bunch of this. Young people just need to really read and accept challenging their thinking.

Peikoff does a very good job presenting Rand’s ideas and theories. He slips at times with flimsy writing and obtuse examples. This is especially the case in his presenting ideas of ‘Capitalism’ being “real” after hundreds of pages explaining the importance of empirical truth. It’s pretty tough to support the man-imagined ideas of financial exchange as a truth that exists beyond faith, a mostly bad term for Rand. Especially when Peikoff labels those who won’t accept Rand’s view of ‘Capitalism’ as “stupid”.

Peikoff also struggles through the chapter about ‘Art’ with the similar problems with ‘capitalism’. Both also happen to be the last chapters.

This is mostly not the case. Peikoff does an excellent job of presenting Rand’s ideas of “Whim Worship”. Some despise her views of this. i think those against the idea would have trouble getting around Peikoff’s cogent explanation.

Another excellent entry is laying out the ideas of “rights” in the ‘Government’ chapter. Separating Rand’s views of “rights” (Which i disagree with) and how “rights” are generally perceived (Which i also disagree with). The chapter is well crafted and worded. Great work!

I’ll write the book starts off clunky and, as pages turned, gets very focused. The last few chapters are a bit sloppy. The last chapter seems to have been constructed separately and is the best part of the books.

Bottom line: i recommend this book. 9 out of 10 points.

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Asterix the Gaul by René Goscinny
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

First, I love the storytelling and illustration throughout. Outstanding work that sails waaaay past the dodgy story told. There really isn’t a story. It’s more about one side picking on the other side and vice-versa with a simple story device to conclude it all. There is little intrigue and the Gauls and Romans are nominally defined to care about any of them…except for the excellent illustration work. That is really the only reason to look at this. It’s also interesting to see the artwork make a bit of an alteration over the course of many pages. Seems Uderzo may have had this as a rush project and figured it out as he went. Still a great portfolio of cartoon work.
Consider this a picture book than a story to read and the reader will be far more satisfied.

Bottom line: I recommend the art and not the story. 5 out of 10 points.

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Bad Kitty School Daze by Nick Bruel
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

As I try to navigate through what is available these days for young people (apparently the intent), I pick up what I come across. This got put before me, so I read it. Never more than after this do I pity the folks slogging through nasty stuff like this and thinking this is child worthy.

This would’ve been better presented as text than with the horrible art attached. The drawings are inconsistent and the person illustrating flips the card of lack of training with the near entire lack of setting. The characters, or whatever that is drawn, are so inconsistent and poorly rendered. The cat is a swipe of ‘Bloom County’s ‘Bill the Cat’. Unfortunately, the illustrator shows little to no ability to present an illustrated story. Knowing the history of children’s literature, how this found a publisher is baffling.

I wrote that this would be better as just text. That would be true, if a coherent story was attached. Instead the plot involves a cat presumed bad and sent to a school. The reasoning for this is barely explained. The school is also left to the imagination except for a name on a page. This goes on involving shoddy writing about interactions among those in the class and situations trod far too many times in various media.

The best written parts are asides that are mostly text that don’t connect well with the over all story.

There’s a short comic book-like few page story that is supposed to look crudely drawn. These pages are the best rendered of the lot. Story is typical bad guys versus good guys stuff involving the characters seen in the story preceding.

Of all the children’s books out there, parents are advised to choose on of the hundreds of thousands available better than this.

Bottom line: i don’t recommend this book. 2 out of ten points.

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Ha-Ba-Da-Bee Live Drawing – Today – 3pm!

I’ll be live creating an illustrated story entirely based upon the interactions I have with those of you that tune in.
No telling what will happen and what i might draw!

Here’s the Ha-Ba-Da-Bee Live Drawing I did Saturday in an hour with gray later added.

Next live broadcast: Tuesday at 3pm.
Come on by and let’s see what we come up with then!

A Colorado Christmas by William W. Johnstone

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Certainly one the best books in the Johnstone Clan corral. I say in the top 20, but think after 100 plus of these I’m past that number. So, I’d push this into the top 10.

First is the plot: A handful of threads coming from many directions that coalesce in a satisfying story and ending. Most, especially recent Johnstone books contain a rather easy or lazy plot model. This one does not. This is one of the few most complicated Johnstone novels I’ve read.

What this entry has that is most often missing in a Johnstone novel is a firm setting of atmosphere. Rare one could read a Johnstone novel and feel chilly in warmth, but this ghost writer does it in excellent form.

The characters are typically very strong. The ghost writer does a really terrific job entering the various Johnstone characters from other novels.

There are some inconsistencies with the Johnstone character’s canon, could be better written and hardly on the level of the greatest classics. But it’s a great book.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 10 out of 10 points.



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The Christmas book of legends and stories by Elva Sophronia Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


For those interested in creation myths or Christian history, this book is a wonderful collection of interpretations of the story of the birth of Jesus. The interpretations span the time before and after the birth and stories loosely associated. Many are poems, including, what we now think of as, lyrics to well-known Christmas songs.

The book is laid out in sections of significant instances involving the Biblical story of Christ. This sectioning is an excellent addition and very well thought out.

Some of the stories are excellent. Some are weak. All are a great study of view points to the Christmas story. Well worth time to read if you fall into the two categories I wrote of above.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 7 out of 10 points.



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