Book Review: It Is Dangerous To Be Right When the Government Is Wrong by Judge Andrew P. Napolitano

From the publisher:

The United States of America was born out of a bloody revolt against tyranny. Yet almost from its inception, the government here has suppressed liberty. In his sixth book on the Constitution and human freedom, Judge Andrew P. Napolitano asks: Where does freedom come from? How can government in America exercise power that the people have not given to it?  What forces have collaborated to destroy personal freedom?
In this back-to-basics on freedom, Judge Napolitano addresses hard questions: 

• Do we still have a Constitution?
• What are the limits to government power in a free society?
• Why does the government attack, rather than defend, our rights?
• If our rights are inalienable, how can the government take them away?
• Do we really own any private property?

The Judge gives a sweeping treatment of natural rights and all the philosophical, religious, and ideological principles that underscore the concept of human freedom.

Americans, have you looked at the state of your country, your government and its involvement in your lives and asked, "What happened?"  How did a country that was born from a revolution of people saying "no" to a tyrannical government encroaching on individual lives evolve into an Orwellian nation where both major political parties are bickering on just how they are going to control your life?  What happened to individual freedom and Natural Law?  Judge Andrew P. Napolitano addresses this very issue in It Is Dangerous to be Right When the Government is Wrong.

Napolitano's introduction, while a bit dry, outlines two laws: Natural Law and Positive Law.  Natural Law are rights that "every human being possess by virtue of being human."  In other words, these are our God-given right to be free to choose.  (For my non-believing readers, this is our plain ol' human nature.)  Positive Law, on the other hand, are man-made laws given or taken away by other men or man-made institutions, such as governments.

Once you make it past the introduction, Napolitano takes you on a crash course in history, law and economics.  As you make your way through theses chapters, I suspect that many people will become angry as their eyes are opened to the fact that we are not free, we do not have "life," "liberty," or the option to "pursue happiness" as everyday the United States Government encroaches more and more on this sovereign right that was penned in The Declaration of Independence.

And I suspect that Napolitano will make many people angry with the ideas that people have the right to be racist, to sell their organs and to do many things that would be considered offensive by the masses.  I hope, once the anger subsides, that people will seriously start to think and ask themselves if the government should have control over your thoughts, your body, your property, your life.

The chapters on economics are the most enlightening, explaining in layman's terms the Federal Reserve, how it works and how it is killing our country.  Napolitano's arguments are solid as he provides examples, gives both sides of the argument and is successful of putting the ideas of Positivism to shame.  I also admired the fact that Napolitano reinforced the idea that we have not learned from the past and history does repeat itself.  An appeal to tell us we must know our history, our true history, and that our children must learn it, understand it and keep it from happening again.

Napolitano penned a wonderful introduction to Libertarianism/Freedom/Restoring America.  If you're an old-school revolutionary, this book may seem a bit obvious.  However, for people who are starting to question the government, this book is for you.  Read it, learn from it, think about it and buy a copy for your friend.

(I feel so wrong about adding the disclosure.  Because Booksneeze asked me to, and I agreed, here it is:  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.” )

Title: It Is Dangerous to be Right When the Government Is Wrong
Author: Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
Publication Year: 2011
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 9781595553508
Source: Received from Booksneeze in return for honest opinion.
Rating: 4.5/5
Recommend? Yes!

•   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •  •   •

Finally, this book was dedicated to Senator Ron Paul.  He's once again running for president.  If you're looking for someone who wants to restore the Constitution, limit government and actually knows about economics, Dr. Paul is your man.

Wishlist Wednesday: Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese

Wishlist Wednesday, hosted by Pen to Paper, is a book blog hop where we will post about one book per week that has been on our wishlist for some time, or just added (it's entirely up to you), that we can't wait to get off the wishlist and onto our wonderful shelves.

From the publisher: When Jennifer Reese lost her job, she was overcome by an impulse common among the recently unemployed: to economize by doing for herself what she had previously paid for. She had never before considered making her own peanut butter and pita bread, let alone curing her own prosciutto or raising turkeys. And though it sounded logical that "doing it yourself" would cost less, she had her doubts. So Reese began a series of kitchen-related experiments, taking into account the competing demands of everyday contemporary American family life as she answers some timely questions: When is homemade better? Cheaper? Are backyard eggs a more ethical choice than store-bought? Will grinding and stuffing your own sausage ruin your week? Is it possible to make an edible maraschino cherry? Some of Reese's discoveries will surprise you: Although you should make your hot dog buns, guacamole, and yogurt, you should probably buy your hamburger buns, potato chips, and rice pudding. Tired? Buy your mayonnaise. Inspired? Make it.
With its fresh voice and delightful humor, Make the Bread, Buy the Butter gives 120 recipes with eminently practical yet deliciously fun "Make or buy" recommendations. Reese is relentlessly entertaining as she relates her food and animal husbandry adventures, which amuse and perplex as well as nourish and sustain her family. Her tales include living with a backyard full of cheerful chickens, muttering ducks, and adorable baby goats; countertops laden with lacto-fermenting pickles; and closets full of mellowing cheeses. Here's the full picture of what is involved in a truly homemade life—with the good news that you shouldn't try to make everything yourself—and how to get the most out of your time in the kitchen.

I learned about this book a week or so ago and automatically added it to my wish list.  See, I have a desire to homestead, to become self-sufficient.  I would love to be able to go off the grid, but currently these are dreams.  However, I try to make a lot of our food from scratch.  While saving money is one reason, the other is that I know what is IN the food.  And it tastes better.  I'm someone who believes that organic is better for you and that GMOs are bad for you.  (We don't buy much organic because we don't have access to it or a lot of $$ to buy it.  If I wanted more, I'd have to take a two hour drive, which really isn't in the cards until the kids are older.)

I tend to make my own bread, especially during the winter.  If you don't know how beautiful a home smells as a few loaves of bread are baking away in the oven, you need to find a recipe online and go and make a loaf.  Now.  (Seriously, it's easier than you think!)  And it tastes way better than store-bought bread.  Plus, flour is crazy cheap here.  I can get a 10kg (22lb) bag for about $8-$13!  I don't think I can touch that back home in the US.  I did give making my own butter a go.  It's quite easy, actually!  A mason jar with lid, some whipping cream, and about ten minutes of shaking and you have yourself some beautiful butter with yummy buttermilk that makes even yummier pancakes.  However, after you factor the cost of the cream compared to a pound of butter, it's about the same (at least here for me in Manitoba, Canada).  Getting all the buttermilk out of the butter is my challenge and is the main reason why I don't make my own butter more often.

I'm very curious to see the outcome of what is more cost effective.  I have recently admitted defeat with trying to keep up with the home, a husband, the two little ones, trying to have a little "me" time (books/blogging), and trying to figure out how to finish my university courses.  There's more store-bought stuff in the house.  And maybe reading this book will make me feel a bit better that I'm doing it!

The link to the author's blog, The Tipsy Baker.

Passages to the Past: Win a copy of The Time Traveller's Guide to Mediev...

Passages to the Past: Win a copy of The Time Traveller's Guide to Mediev...

Hello readers!  For those history buffs, I have a fabulous giveaway for you!  Up for grabs this time is one paperback copy of The Time Traveller's Guide . . . US/Canada only!

Wishlist Wednesday . . . My Brother's Shadow by Monika Schröder

Wishlist Wednesday is a book blog hop where we will post about one book per week that has been on our wishlist for some time, or just added (it's entirely up to you), that we can't wait to get off the wishlist and onto our wonderful shelves.  This blog hop is hosted by Pen to Paper.

This week's pick is My Brother's Shadow by Monika Schröder.  Here's the synopsis from Goodreads:

As World War I draws to a close in 1918, German citizens are starving and suffering under a repressive regime. Sixteen-year-old Moritz is torn. His father died in the war and his older brother still risks his life in the trenches, but his mother does not support the patriotic cause and attends subversive socialist meetings. While his mother participates in the revolution to sweep away the monarchy, Moritz falls in love with a Jewish girl who also is a socialist. When Moritz’s brother returns home a bitter, maimed war veteran, ready to blame Germany’s defeat on everything but the old order, Moritz must choose between his allegiance to his dangerously radicalized brother and those who usher in the new democracy.

I'm drawn to this because it's set during WWI and a YA novel.  For me, this is surprising because most YA I see anymore is full of vampires, supernatural, and the paranormal.  I'm quite interested in the post-WWI aspect as there aren't too many novels set during this time period.  Also, it's also portrayed from a German POV.  If you read my earlier review of Every Man Dies Alone, you'll see that it's rare to see a book in North America giving us a glimpse of lives in Germany during the first half of the 20th Century.

The best part of this Wishlist Wednesday is that I don't have to wish anymore.  It arrived in the mail yesterday as I won it on Goodreads!  Seriously folks, if you live in the US or Canada--especially the US--you need to enter to win free books.  I've won about five books so far!

Book Thrift -- Score!

I love finding books on the cheap.  And for $3.50, I scored the following:

Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier.  I've only read Falling Angels by Chevalier and enjoyed it.  I have a few of her other novels in my TBR pile, but obviously haven't had the chance to read them yet.  But a dollar for a hardcover is a deal I couldn't pass up!

Hell's Fury by Peter Muehling.   Now this isn't usually my typical reading material.  However another woman was there perusing books, grabbed it and gave it to me stating it was a good read.  For fifty cents, I figured I'd give it a go.  This is a local author.

The Outlander by Gil Adamson.  I've heard mostly good things about this one.

I usually don't pick up YA novels, but I've been known to now and again (is it shameful to admit that I really enjoyed Cabot's Princess Diaries series??).   Here are three that I found:

Deep Down Popular by Phoebe Stone.  For twenty-five cents, I want to re-live some high school drama.

Ever Soul a Star by Wendy Mass.  We'll see how the trio figures out the universe.

A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson.  I have another book by Ibbotson in my TBR file.  I want to check out YA historical novels.

Giveaway Winner!

I'm pleased to announce the winner of my very first giveaway!  Gisele Alv is the lucky winner of The Postmistress!  I hope you enjoy the book, Gisele.

I want to thank everyone who stopped by my blog and entered the contest.  Don't be discouraged as I plan on giving away a few more books as I go through my collection.  I think passing on books that I no longer have the room for to other book-a-holics is a great way to make sure they are re-read.  It was also wonderful to read the various books that you all are reading.

Thank you again for making this so fun!

Wishlist Wednesday: Nanjing Requiem by Ha Jin

Pen to Paper hosts Wishlist Wednesday!  It is a book blog hop where we will post about one book per week that has been on our wishlist for some time, or just added (it's entirely up to you), that we can't wait to get off the wishlist and onto our wonderful shelves.

Nanjing Requiem by Ha Jin
Goodreads synopsis:

In 1937, with the Japanese poised to invade Nanjing, Minnie Vautrin—an American missionary and the dean of Jinling Women’s College—decides to remain at the school, convinced that her American citizenship will help her safeguard the school and the welfare of the Chinese men and women who work there. She is painfully mistaken. In the aftermath of the invasion, the school becomes a refugee camp for nearly 10,000 homeless women and children, and Vautrin must struggle, day after day, to intercede on behalf of the hapless victims. Even when order and civility are restored, Vautrin remains deeply embattled, and she is haunted by the lives she could not save.

This book does not come out until the 18th of October.  It has not been on my wishlist for long as I recently heard about it.  The moment I heard about it, I wanted to read it.  It may be a book that I go straight out and purchase.

I read the book, The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of WWII by Iris Chang, a few years back.  This book was not an easy read.  It was rather a disturbing, but I was fascinated because I had never heard of this happening.  In the late 1930s, the Japanese occupied parts of China.  And while they swept through, there were a number of atrocities that occurred.  The reasons that this is not taught along with Hitler and WWII may have more to do with politics than anything.  At the end of WWII, Emperor Hirohito was the only Axis leader left in power by the Allies.  America also needed a presence in Asia as the Cold War ignited.  Therefore, it was easy to sweep these atrocities under the rug.  Along with Japanese revisionist history, this bit of information is not well known.

While Nanjing Requiem is a fictional tale, I think it will bring more awareness to what happened.

One other book that is on my bookshelf is The Good Man of Nanking: The Diaries of John Rabe.  Rabe was a Nazi who saved lives in Nanking.

Book Review: Abe's Lucky Day by Jill Warren

From Goodreads: 

Abe is a homeless man who lives in the alley behind a bakery and winter is coming. What will happen on his lucky day that will change his life?

It is refreshing to see a story for young readers like Abe's Lucky Day.  This is a heartfelt story that exposes youngsters to the realities of poverty and the idea of giving of oneself.

Abe is down on his luck.  He has no home, no job, no money and no family.  He is alone.  If living on the street wasn't bad enough, winter is quickly approaching making life for a homeless person more miserable.  Abe, however, does not let his circumstances dictate his behavior--at least, not in a negative way.  Instead, we see Able set his own circumstances aside and commit many selfless acts.

Abe's Lucky Day started out wonderful.  Finding many items that he desperately needed throughout the city, Abe comes across others with the same needs.  Abe doesn't question them or ponders if they are deserving of the items.  Instead, when Abe sees someone in need, and he can help, he readily sacrifices his comfort.

Eventually, the help is returned to Abe by a stranger.  Abe's kindness forces this stranger to examine himself and to realize how blessed he is and that he can share this blessing.

I really enjoyed this story.  I think this book can be used as a wonderful discussion opportunity between child and parent or teacher.  It can not only teach children, but also adults.  Exposing ourselves to a thought-provoking tale of selflessness can change us, too.  Today, maybe we should ask, "Who can I help?"

I found only one small detail that, in my opinion, can help this book.  When Abe meets the stranger, who in turn helps Abe, the point of view transfers from Abe to the stranger.  Yet, I did not realize it.  I think if the author used, "the stranger took," instead of "he took," I would have realized the switch and not have to backtrack to re-read.

Title: Abe's Lucky Day
Author: Jill Warren
Publication Year: 2011
Publisher: Outskirts Press (Self Published)
ISBN: 9781432773052
Source: Received from Bostick Communications in return for honest opinion.
Rating: 4/5
Recommend? Yes.

Book Review: Making Waves by Lorna Seilstad

From the author's website:

Lake Manawa may mean peace, but a witty debutante finds only turmoil when Mr. Boring presses for an engagement, and she meets a intriguing sailing instructor who is everything her hum drum suitor is not.

When spunky Marguerite Westing discovers that her family will summer at Lake Manawa in 1895, she couldn't be more thrilled. It is the perfect way to escape her agonizingly boring suitor, Roger Gordon. It's also where she stumbles upon two new loves: sailing, and sailing instructor Trip Andrews. But this summer of fun turns to turmoil as her father's
gambling problems threaten to ruin the family forever. Will free-spirited Marguerite marry Roger to save her father's name and fortune? Or will she follow her heart--even if it means abandoning the family she loves?

Ms. Seilstad's debut novel, Making Waves, is set in Iowa.  Now Iowa is not a state that I generally see as a setting (and it's not a bad thing that this book is!).  And when one thinks of Iowa, making waves is not the first thing that you think of.  The ocean is far away from this landlocked state, but Iowa does have lakes!  One is Lake Manawa, the location of our story.

Our heroine is Miss Marguerite Westing.  She comes from a wealthy family and is expected, by her mother, to marry a man of a suitable societal position.  Roger Gordon is such a man, who happens not only to be a bore, but questionable in his reasons for the interest in Marguerite.  Marguerite is a girl with spunk and its obviously an unsuitable match, but circumstances may force a marriage between them.  Being a daddy's girl, she fully expects him to get her off the hook.

As the Westing family summers at Lake Manawa, Marguerite falls in love with sailing, something a young woman should not be allowed to do.  She finds a way to participate in sailing lessons from a handsome Trip Andrews.  Marguerite experiences genuine friendship and feelings of the romantic nature.  However, Marguerite's tendency of fibbing to get her way puts a strain on their relationship.

When Marguerite finds out that her father has developed a costly habit, she has to decide if she is going to be the savior to her family at the cost of her happiness.  She also learns that daddy cannot always save her and may not belong on the pedestal that she placed him on.

This is Ms. Seilstad's first novel, and I found it very enjoyable.  Marguerite is a very likeable character, naive, a bit spoiled, but believable.  An upbeat novel, Making Waves moves along quickly and smoothly, without any laggy bits.  This is the first novel in the Lake Manawa Summers series and I hope that Ms. Seilstad can continue to write engaging and funny novels while on a deadline.

This is a Christian historical novel, so there are Christian overtones/morals/lessons.  However, it is non-preachy and I suspect that mainstream readers who enjoy clean, quick-reading romances would enjoy this one.

Title: Making Waves
Author: Lorna Seilstad
Publication Year: 2010
Publisher: Revell
ISBN: 0800734459
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 4/5
Recommend? Yes.

Here is a bit of history about Lake Manawa.  It was formed after the Missouri river rerouted itself after a flood.  It became a very popular vacation spot at the turn of the 20th Century.  A tornado, the automobile, the Depression, and finally a drought in the 1930s did Lake Manawa in.  The lake dried up as there is no inlet.  Today, water is pumped into the lake, which is now a state park.  Here's a link to Lake Manawa Beach Facebook page.

Here it is on my updated Google Maps of Places I've Visted Through Books!


View Places I've Visited Through Books! in a larger map

Growing Readers

We are all sick in the household.  I have some reviews brewing, but we're running at minimum here, surviving.  So I will leave you pictures of my little ones.  My daughter loves books, and I hope my son will follow (although I think he may need a bit more encouragement).  But I want them to love books as much as I do.

 

 

 Here's to many years of happy reading!