Act Soon: Google Reader is discontinuing on July 1

About three months ago, I heard that "Google Reader was discontinuing on July 1, 2013." Then I didn't hear anything more about it, and I wasn't sure what Google Reader was. Apparently, it's where you "Follow" other people's blogs and then can see the new content on those blogs when you're signed into your blogger account. (Someone please correct me if I'm misunderstanding this.)

Anyway, 47 of you Follow me that way and will lose track of Different Time, Different Place and my posts on July 1, 2013 if you do nothing.

One option is to sign up to have my new posts sent directly to your e-mail address. You can sign up for this using the below form (which can also be found along the right side of my blog):

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

I'd told that another option is to continue using an RSS reader to receive blog posts using a free service called Feedly. Feedly will transfer all of your feeds from Google Reader in a pretty simple process, and it's free. You can download the Feedly reader from Feedly's blog. That Feedly post includes tips on importing your Google Reader subscriptions.

So if you Follow me, please act soon so that you'll continue to get my reviews and giveaway posts.

Slumdog Book and Bag Giveaway

I've been participating in many Giveaway Hops over the last few years, but the coordinator of those hops has drastically cut back on the number she is doing. So this month I'm holding a giveaway just for the followers of my four blogs. It's for a book and/or bag.

Carefully read the rules as they are different that normal.


THE BOOK:
No Longer a Slumdog by K.P. Yohannan is a Christian nonfiction book. You can read my review.

"You girls stay here. I'm going to get something to drink." But after a few minutes, the train started moving again, and Mom still wasn't back! Our hearts were racing. The train kept going faster and faster. Where was Mom?

Those with no voice—the suffering children of Asia—tell their stories. K.P. Yohannan shares their stories of lives transformed, of families learning to love, of entire communities flourishing with new life.

If you are only interested in the book, you can order it for free from Gospel for Asia.


THE BAGS:
(Click on the image to see a larger version.)


These bags are made by widows in India to support themselves and their children. They are used by Gospel for Asia missionaries and sold by Gospel for Asia for $15 each. It is the exact style of bag that GFA native missionaries use to carry the Gospel literature and Bibles they give out as they witness.


This contest is for USA residents only and ends on June 19, 2013 at midnight.


If you would like the book and a bag, or only a bag, you can enter by:

1) You can leave a comment to this post asking to be entered and naming what you want to win--the book, the red bag, the white bag, and/or the turquoise bag. You can enter for all four items if you are interested in all of them. (I have comment moderation on to prevent spam comments, so don't worry if your entry comment doesn't appear immediately. It will soon.) Please also leave some way for me to contact you--or follow this blog so you can see the winner announcement.

2) This giveaway is also on my other blogs, and you can also enter on my other blogs for a total of four entries. You can enter here on Different Time, Different Place, on Genre Reviews, ChristFocus Book Club, and on Adventures With Organics.

3) This is not a requirement to win. You will gain an extra entry for every $1 donated for GFA women's literacy. When you donate, leave a comment giving the name you are using to enter this giveaway. That way I can credit the right person with the extra entries. I'm offering this option as a way to help make people aware of this program that I support.


When the giveaway ends, I will take every entry for the red bag across all four blogs (also counting donation entries), then randomly select a winner from that list and send that winner the bag and the book (if they asked for it). Then I'll do the same for the white bag, and then the turquoise bag. Winners can win only one of the bags, but all three can win the book.


I'll announce the winners on June 20, 2013 on all four blogs. You'll need to leave your e-mail address or check back to see if you won so you can e-mail me your mailing address. If the winner hasn't responded with a mailing address within four days, I reserve the right to pick a new winner.

I hope everyone has fun with this!

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon ISBN-13: 9780061732478 Trade Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Harper Perennial Released: March 20, 2012

Source: Bought at library used book sale.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Kamila Sidiqi's life changed overnight when the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan. After her father and oldest brother were forced to flee, she became responsible for providing for her five younger siblings. Banned from school, confined to her home, and armed only with determination, she picked up a needle and thread to create a thriving business that saved their lives.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana tells the incredible true story of this unlikely entrepreneur who mobilized her community under the Taliban. A story of war, it is also a story of family, faith, and resilience in the face of despair. Kamila Sidiqi's journey will inspire you.


My Review:
The Dressmaker of Khair Khana is a biography about a woman--and her family and community--in Kabul, Afghanistan. The book covered September 1996 to November 2001, roughly the period that the Taliban controlled Kabul.

While we do get some information about life before and after this period (with the last event reported happening in 2009), it was mainly a description of life for women before and during Taliban control. Women had to find ways to support their families even though they weren't allowed to work outside their homes. Kamila and her sisters started a tailoring business to support their family and to help provide jobs for other women in the neighborhood.

It was an interesting and suspenseful tale since running the business held many dangers, yet not doing so would mean starvation for many families. I found the story very readable and interesting.

I would have been interested in more about how life changed for women in Afghanistan after the Taliban left as I'm sure that held new and different challenges. But I understand the focus was intended to be on women entrepreneurs under the extreme challenges created by Taliban control.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

A Dream So Big by Steve Peifer

A Dream So Big by Steve Peifer with Gregg Lewis ISBN-13: 9780310326090 Hardcover: 326 pages Publisher: Zondervan Released: March 19, 2013

Source: Review copy from the publisher through Booksneeze.com.

Book Description, Modified from Booksneeze:
Steve Peifer was a corporate manager who oversaw 9,000 computer software consultants in America. When Steve and his wife, Nancy, discovered they were pregnant with their third child, doctors told them that a chromosomal condition left their baby “incompatible with life.” The Peifers only spent 8 days with baby Stephen before he died.

Seeking to flee the pain, Steve and Nancy accepted a 12-month position as dorm parents for missionary kids at a Kenyan boarding school. This thrust them into a third-world setting where daily life was often defined by tragedy---drought, disease, poverty, hunger, and death. Their surroundings spoke to their hearts.

Steve wanted to end tears of hunger. Today, Steve helps provide daily lunches for over 20,000 Kenyan school children in thirty-five national public schools and maintains solar-powered computer labs at twenty rural African schools.


My Review:
A Dream So Big is a memoir by a missionary in Kenya. This is the story of why this family went to Africa on a short-term mission trip (which turned into a long-term one), about his work at the missionary school as a dorm parent, teacher, etc., about the differences between American and Kenyan cultures, and about their travels to various parts of Kenya. It describes how Steve's heart was touched by the sight of children faint and crying from hunger and how he started a program to provide free lunches (and, later, computer training centers) at nearby schools.

Kenya and its people are vividly described. Steve made me really care about the Kenya kids and missionary kids. The situation of the poor in Kenya really touched my heart. I wasn't aware things were so bad there or that that it costs so little to feed one child for a month. I'm glad Steve is providing a way for people to help the Kenya kids. I'd highly recommend this book to those who like stories about other cultures and/or missionary stories.

These quotes are a good summary of the heart of the book. From page 170: "I knew I couldn't do anything about world hunger. But surely, I thought, I can provide lunch for the kids in that one school. Not doing something would be making peace with the idea of hungry children--not starving, faceless children on the far side of the world but African neighbors who now looked so much like my own Katie and Ben."

And from page 322: "If [God] can use me, he can use anyone for his purposes. He can use even you. Wherever you are. Wherever you go. You don't need special talents, special training, or even a special calling to get your own story started. It's not that hard if you have eyes and ears. See the needs all around you. Hear the cries. Accept the gift of tears. And do whatever little thing he asks you to do, if only to feed a child lunch or to teach kids basic computer skills. I promise. Once you find his purpose for you, you too will discover a dream so big."


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Voices of Haiti by Lisa Armstrong

Voices of Haiti by Lisa Armstrong, Kwame Dawes, Andre Lambertson ibook: 94 pages Publisher: Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting Released: July 21, 2012 Link to buy the book. This book can only be viewed on an iPad.

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
An itinerant preacher whose story reads like Job—except for an incandescent smile and a mountain-moving faith. A woman who remains resolutely joyful despite the HIV that has infected half her family, young girls subjected to rape and forced into commercial sex, a couple whose triumph over the disease that challenges them both is a study in grace.

Haiti has always been a place of extremes, especially in the rubble of the earthquake that shattered the country in early 2010 and all the more so among those of its people who are also struggling with HIV/AIDS. The award-winning “Voices of Haiti” tells their stories in a mesmerizing presentation that combines the poetry of Kwame Dawes, the writing of Lisa Armstrong, the photography of Andre Lambertson, and the music of Kevin Simmonds.


My Review:
Voices of Haiti is a multimedia ebook that focuses on the people of Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake. To quote the book, "This book explores the critical issues affecting Haiti's future: development, poverty, displacement, HIV/AIDS, and the role of international aid. Each chapter opens with a "visual poem," a melding of Kwame's poetry and Andre's imagery, and includes stories by Kwane and Lisa, Andre's photography and video, and excerpts from the VOICES OF HAITI productions.

"The first two chapters address the aftermath of the earthquake; the third examines the consequences of the earthquake on Haitians living with HIV/AIDS. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 tell the stories of three individuals affected by HIV/AIDS [who are ministering to others with HIV/AIDS]. Chapter 7 profiles a woman who has become a sex worker to support her family. The last chapter captures the despair and resilience of the Haitian people."

The stories told were very moving. The poetry described the scenes and stories later told in narrative. The pictures were beautiful in composition and showed the tragic (scenes of destruction) and the joyful (as life goes on). The narrative was very effective at describing the scenes and circumstances to highlight both the sad and the hopeful. Since I don't have an iPad, I wasn't able to access the video portions. It appeared that the videos complimented the text--video poems with pictures and music, a video of a spontaneous song at a hospital (referred to in the narrative), a fuller interview with a doctor, etc.

This book has only 95 pages (though videos extend the content), yet it conveys a lot with its powerful stories. I'd highly recommend this book to those who are interested in Haiti or in how people cope with such challenges when life was already hard before the earthquake.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

The Honey Thief by Najaf Mazari, Robert Hillman

The Honey Thief by Najaf Mazari, Robert Hillman ISBN-13: 9780670026487 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Viking Adult Released: April 18, 2013

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
This extraordinary book, derived from the long oral tradition of storytelling in Afghanistan, presents a mesmerizing portrait of a people who triumph with intelligence and humor over the oppression of political dictators and an unforgiving landscape. The Honey Thief reveals an Afghanistan of greater richness and humanity than is conveyed in newspaper headlines.


My Review:
The Honey Thief is a collection of folk lore stories. Some of these short stories are historical tales, others are more moral tales, but all are set in Afghanistan and come from the viewpoint of the Hazara--a minority tribe in Afghanistan. These stories give insight into the mindset and customs of these people along with a history lesson about what they've lived through. May of the stories have a rural setting and give insight into daily rural living throughout their history.

The storyteller, Najaf, understood that Westerners come from a different mindset and explained the differences with gentle humor. I found the tales interesting because they offered a look into a different culture. The recipes at the end are worth reading even if you don't cook. They give insight to the culture and some of the directions were quite funny as you'd never find them in American cookbooks: "...leave them alone for maybe half an hour. Read a book, a good one....a peaceful book" (from page 276).

Overall, I'd highly recommend this book to those who like folk lore and are interested in other cultures.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Prehistoric Cooking by Jacqui Wood

Prehistoric Cooking by Jacqui Wood ISBN-13: 978-0752419435 Paperback: 176 pages Publisher: Tempus Released: October 1, 2001

Source: Bought through Half.com.

Book Description from Goodreads:
Based on experimental archaeology at the author's world-famous research settlement in Cornwall, this book describes the ingredients of prehistoric cooking and the methods of food preparation.


My Review:
Prehistoric Cooking looks at what archaeology can tell us about food in prehistoric Britian. The author initially explained what archaeology has uncovered about food practices in prehistory, hunter-gatherer, bronze, and iron ages. This included types of food and how they got it (gathered wild vs. raised). I like that she doesn't think prehistoric people were stupid just because they didn't have a written history yet.

Next, she talked about the experimental archaeology she's been doing using this knowledge and the knowledge of primitive societies today to uncover likely cooking methods and recipes. She talked some about how the food was actually cooked, but she didn't give the high level of detail I was hoping for. The photographs from some of the demonstrations they've done and of some of the cooking steps for several recipes did help, though. There was enough detail that I think I could make the recipes work successfully with a little experimenting of my own.

About two-thirds of the book was recipes and related cooking methods, and they were divided into the categories: bread; dairy; meat, fish, and vegetable stews; cooking with hot stones; clay-baked foods; salt and the seashore menu; peas, beans, and lentils; herbs and spices; vegetables; yeast, wines, beer, and teas; sweets and puddings. Some of these recipes use plants that don't grow in my section of the world (southern USA), but others did. Though I didn't buy the book for the recipes, I think I'll try a couple of them since she makes it sound fun and do-able.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.