The Swan Gondola

The Swan Gondola
Timothy Schaffert
Riverhead Books
Penguin Books
New York, New York
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-59463-343-0
2014
$ 16.00
456 pages


A hot-air balloon has just crashed into a farmhouse on the lonely Nebraska prairie begins the adventure in the unconventional tale by a local author called The Swan Gondola. The unintended pilot, Ferret Skerritt tells of the circumstances of 1898 Omaha World's Fair and his escapades to the two elderly spinsters who reside at this home, Emmaline and Hester. Their home was the unfortunate landing spot for this stolen hot-air balloon.

With a taste of Baum's The Wizard of Oz, this tale begins to unwind as a storyteller slowly reveals each layer of this unconventional adventure.

Ferret Skerritt is a ventriloquist/pickpocket. He earns money as a wandering artist attaching himself to various traveling productions. With friends who possess a multitude of bizarre talents both natural and learned, many of his motley crew of friends prove that descriptions and appearances can be deceptive.

Love at first sight does exist for Ferret and he is immediately smitten and obsessed by the beautiful actress who is part of a traveling company. He must meet this elusive, but charismatic woman. Like many who have this ability, she has a secret that is kept in her traveling carpetbag.

The Swan Gondola tours the fair through Ferrit. Fortunately throughout the book, the reader is privileged to attend the 1898 Omaha World's Fair. Chicago had been the host city of a previous world fair but Omaha was not established and respected. The city was still young and more often than not, resembled a Wild West Show. Many early business wanted to attract the world to this new city and financed this fair in their investment of the future. This entire fair complete with a lagoon in the northern part of east Omaha was meant to be completely temporary to display the world's best, newest, and most modern attractions.

The story is told by Ferret who is not always honest or likeable. The perspective is through Ferret's eyes and his eyes see things that most of us would never notice. He observes pickpockets and the light criminal side.

How can Ferret attract Cecily to fall in love with him? He arranges for their first true date in the swan gondola on the lagoon after the fair closes for the day. This tale of history and adventure is full of surprises and twists with unique characters that are visually realistic.

The author, Timothy Schaffert is a Nebraska native, currently residing in Omaha while teaching writing and literature at the University of Nebraska located in Lincoln. The Swan Gondola is his fifth novel following The Coffins of Little Hope, The Phantom Limbs of the Rollow Sisters, Devils in the Sugar Shop, and The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God.

Who would enjoy this book? The Swan Gondola is for those readers who appreciate well-researched historical fiction in an unusual tale.

Skip's Game Plan

Skip's Game Plan
Steve Sigafoose
Publish America
Baltimore, MD
ISBN: 978-1-4512-5798-4
2010
$ 24.95
204 pages


Starting a new school is not enjoyable for most students. For high school students it can be a nightmare. However, Calvin Hawkings is conscientious, works hard, and focuses on what he should in high school, his classes. His friends are his books and one is always close to him. He is not athletic even though he is close to seven feet tall. Why isn't someone who is almost seven feet tall on the basketball team?

Skip Weber is on the basketball team and plans to play on the varsity team this year since he is now a junior. Most of last year's team graduated leaving only one senior for the varsity team. That leaves room for many juniors making varsity this year but no one has any height.

Skip is determined to make this varsity team the best possible this year. Could this new student be the answer to a successful year for the basketball team?

Skip lives, eats, and breathe basketball. His classes are not really important to him, basketball is his world. Wouldn't it be great it this Calvin played basketball? This could be just what his high school team needs.

Calvin has never played basketball. Skip is determined to make Calvin his friend, but what do they have in common? Can there be a friendship between a scholar and an athlete? Can Skip turn a tall scholar into an athlete? Would Skip learn anything from this relationship

Skip decides to make friends with Calvin. Could Calvin be the basketball center the other players dream about?

Skip's Game Plan is a book about high school basketball. As the friendship develops between Skip and Calvin, they learn how friendship can benefit everyone. Perhaps Skip could utilize some of Calvin's study skills as Calvin learns about his basketball skills.

Skip's Game Plan is outstanding with explaining basketball skills and what is needed to develop a winning team. The sporting observations and skill building ideas in the book would benefit any team.

I did thoroughly enjoy reading this novel but was bothered by one aspect. What high school boy is not interested in girls and cars? Apparently the ones in this book have little interest in either. Is that realistic?

Who should read this gem of a novel? Everyone who enjoys a well-written novel set in a high school without foul language, sexual situations, or violence. Even high school students would enjoy Skip's Game Plan, especially those who play or dream of playing basketball.

Being that this book was published through a self-publication, there are some spelling errors that occasionally distract from the story.

The author, Steve Sigafoose retired from working at the Council Bluffs' Nonpareil. He is a former sports editor who covered high school and junior college games over thirty years in Leavenworth, Kansas and Rome, Georgia as well as Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Skip's Game Plan is a great book for everyone to read, learn a little basketball strategy, and to thoroughly enjoy.

The American Game

The American Game
Jeff McArthur
Bandwagon Books
Burbank, CA
ISBN: 9781500420475
2014
$ 12.99
324 pages


Few things throughout the years have unified enemy soldiers.

The most memorable was the singing of "Silent Night" by opposing forces on a Christmas Eve almost a hundred years ago which became problematic for the leadership of both sides. Despite the military leaders and the politicians, most people saw this events as the joining of humanity while temporarily putting aside differences. These instantaneous events prove the vulnerability but also strength of character in all those who were privileged and fortunate enough to be part of the unexpected gifts uniting people.

Jeff McArthur researched the Civil War battles and events discovering that baseball was often successful in unification while political leaders failed with compromises. Yankees facing Rebels sometimes shared an old-fashioned game of baseball. With a variety of ever changing rules, substituting anything available for bases and bats, the game became a unifying element proving that the people are basically the same no matter where they are born or who they choose their alliances.

The American Game excelled with the sense of place and time. For example when some Confederate soldiers were relaxing, they would play a game using stale bread as a ball in a simple game with rules constantly changing to meet the current situation. How many strikes were allowed? What can be used as a bat? How far apart are the bases? These varied as much as the players. The game was called stick ball, cricket, fletch-catch, and city ball with many more other names for what would eventually evolve into baseball.

Another positive and realistic aspect of The American Game was the age of the characters. In almost every time of war, many men were really boys. Viewing the wars through the eyes of boys definitely changes the perspective of the reader. The soldiers on the ground involved with the fighting were boys, as has been frequently found in every war.

Sometimes in this novel, it is difficult to separate the Confederates from the Union soldiers. However this book was written while looking at their commonalities, not their differences. Perhaps this was intentional by the author.

This is not a book for children or teens. The language and events are only for adult readers.

The focus of The American Game is a field somewhere in the middle of Tennessee, The two sides met with a different type of combat, the winning of games. What did they have to do to play ball with the enemy? As the wagers increase so do the risks.

Jeff McArthur is a native of Nebraska. For his education, he studied the film and the television business at New York University leading him into the film industry for fifteen years in Los Angeles. Mr. McArthur has written a variety of fiction and non-fiction books including the Relic Worlds science fiction series and Pro Bono which is about his grandfather's case as a lawyer while defending Caril Ann Fugate. He then wrote The Great Heist-The Biggest Bank Robbery in History. Additionally Jeff McArthur is the author of The Table of Truth and Stolen Souls.

For a different book for the history buffs, the baseball fans, and those who enjoy fresh approaches to both baseball and the American Civil War, read The American Game.

Gateway to Intimacy

Gateway to Intimacy

Edward M. Gomez

Millstone Press

Ashland, Oregon

2013

How often do people wish they had fatherly advice?

When Edward Gomez received a phone call from his daughter to ask him to walk her down the aisle in her upcoming wedding, he was thrilled. After his divorce from Jessica's mother, contact between father and daughter was not as frequent or meaningful as a father desired. Weekly phone calls are not enough to maintain a strong relationship. He viewed her phone call as an opportunity to again establish a meaningful relationship between a father and daughter.

As he searched for the perfect wedding gift, Mr. Gomez pondered what gift would be reflect his renewed connection while still being significant, helpful, and meaningful for his daughter? His solution became this book. Sharing his years of experience, he chose to write this book based on his personal reflections, personal growth, education, and experiences throughout the years.

Originally written for a newlywed couple, "Gateway to Intimacy" is a guide for couples of all ages to share a more intimate approach in marriage to their special partner. The emphasis is on the couple as one and not as individuals.

Much of the advice is common sense but that element is frequently missing in relationships. The author spends time step-by-step explaining the foundation to the stairway of true intimacy complete with exercises for the emotional as well as the physical aspects of a strong, loving relationship. Utilizing breathing exercises, the book gradually teaches the individual and their partner how to improve their personal responses to each other beyond the sexual activity.

The first of three parts is this manual are Laying the Groundwork, Technical Assistance, and Application. Laying the Groundwork discusses the foundation of positive and profoundly intimate relationships. Technical Assistance discusses the physical sexuality aspects with Application combining and utilizing the information from the previous two sections. These are supplemented with appendices explaining Karezza, basic sexual anatomy, sexual complications, as well as a list of additional resources, glossary, and an index.

Karezza is also an important element in this relationship building. This is a special type of relationship focusing on the spiritual rather than the orgasmic ejaculation aspects in a bonding sexual partnership.

The author Edward M. Gomez practices the principals of this guidebook and is creating a companion workbook entitled “The Thirty-Day Passion-Building Workout”. He currently resides in Oregon and is a Gottman Seven Principles Program Educator.

Who is this book for? Anyone who wants to enhance their relationship into becoming more intimate would unquestionably treasure this book. There are explicit drawing and explanations which are adult oriented.

The Great Plains Guide to Buffalo Bill

The Great Plains Guide to Buffalo Bill

Jeff Barnes

Stackpole Books

Mechanicsburg, PA

ISBN: 978-0-8117-1293-4

2014

$ 19.95

226 pages

Imagine a book that explains real and present day historical tourist sites and the significance of each place in reference to one person's life from their birth to their death recording the memorable events along the way. For the legendary, William Cody who was known as Buffalo Bill, that is exact; Jeff Barnes created in The Great Plains Guide to Buffalo Bill.
Barnes combines a well-balanced biography of Buffalo Bill filtering the legend from the facts. Additionally he uses photographs and maps as he personally visited each of these sites throughout Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota, Iowa, Oklahoma and Missouri. With each one, he tells the story while also giving current information such as directions, significance, costs involved, and even the hours and days when open and a listing of additional research for the reader about each place.
This book is a non-fiction journey into Buffalo Bill's life is written in a fascinating style while allowing the reader to draw conclusions about the personality and character of this Western legend. Barnes informs the reader about conflicting stories and sites to allow the reader to personally decide the authenticity of each event.
For Cody's family, life had to be difficult considering that most of the time he was not with them. The life of being an Army scout or being an entertaining requires constant changes of location. Cody enjoyed his position of respect in both and thrived in creating the person who became legendary.
The book is masterful in separating thi legend from the factual events and even explains events that are questionable with regards to the oftentimes larger than life person.
What is amazing about this nonfiction gem, is its readability. The author writes with a strong personal voice much like a storyteller as he reveals each home, way station, battlefield, ranch, arena and burial site into an actual image frequently accompanied by a photograph/ Barnes is your personal tour guide allowing the reader to comfortably enjoy the legend of Buffalo Bill and the numerous sites while never leaving their home. (He even mentions sites that you don't want to visit after the rain since they are basically impassable due to the mud.)
Besides the history of Buffalo Bill, many other legends and events are discussed while being labeled in the index concluding the book.
Jeff Barnes has also written The Great Plains Guide to Custer and Forts of the Northern Plains. He spends his time as an historian, trustee of the Nebraska State Historical Society, and is a former newspaper editor while residing in Omaha.
For those of us who would enjoy stopping along way on a long trip to learn about an area or to enjoy traveling from the comfort of your home, The Great Plains Guide to Buffalo Bill is the perfect companion for everyone.