Kill the Farm Boy by Kevin Hearne and Delilah Dawson, 1st book in the Tales of Pell Series.

If you want a fun fantasy to read, then this is it.  If you want the full power of the book then listen to the audiobook.  Luke Daniels is the greatest.  He did all the urban fantasy Iron Druid series, which is completed and Luke Daniels did the audiobooks on these, using his voice to do the cast of dozens.  If you listened to any of these, you'll pick up Oberon in Kill the Farm Boy.  What is Kill the Farm Boy about?  This was in the acknowledgments of the book.

Unlike perhaps all other humans in history, we are thankful for airport barbecue. Not because the barbecue was good but because the joint inside the Dallas–Fort Worth airport was strangely open at 10 a.m. in February 2016 and we could sit down and chat for an hour before we had to catch our flights home. It was during that discussion that we thought it was high time someone killed the farm boy. And by that we meant it was time to make fun of white male power fantasies, the formula for which almost always involves some kid in a rural area rising to power in the empire after he loses his parents, usually because somebody comes along and tells him not to worry, he’s special. (For the record, we do not have anything against farmers of any gender.)

The book main characters are a poo boy farm boy, a talking goat, a woman cursed to be half rabbit, a terrifying warrior in a chain mail bikini, a sand witch, and a Dark Lord and his rogue (both afraid of chickens).  Each has their own quest but join to create a mighty party and a single quest.

This was the second time I've read/listened to the book and even though the Kill the Farm Boy is not that old of a book I must have been multi-tasking when I read it the first time, just remembering small parts of the book.  The reason was to read the next in the series, No Country For Old Gnomes, which Hearne says you don't have to read Kill the Farm Boy before reading the second.

I rate the book 9 of 10, a great read, but I rate the audiobook a perfect 10.

Kill the Farm Bou by Kevin Hearne and Delilah Dawson

1st book in the Tales of Pell series.

Redemption by David Baldacci, Book 5 in the Amos Decker Series

David Baldacci doesn't write bad books, most are pretty good, like this book Redemption.  Baldacci writes his characters very well.  He doesn't spend a lot of time taking paragraphs or pages to describe rooms or the outdoors.  In the Amos Decker series, he doesn't talk about feelings, because Amos doesn't have feelings, so some time is spent on what he should be feeling.

Decker was a college football linebacker at OSU (ROLL TIDE) and during the first American professional football game in which Amos played in, he took a blindside hit and died twice on the field that day.  As a result of his injuries, his brain was rewired, giving him Synesthesia, where in his case he sees trauma or sometimes just normal-seeming people in a color.  Another problem with his brain is hyperthymesia, which is never forgetting something he's seen or read. Like finding the bodies of his wife and daughter, or remembering the good times he had with them, or crime books and crime scenes,  perfectly remembering every detail.

Before the deaths, Amos had become a successful detective for the Burlington Police department.  After the deaths, he fell apart, became homeless and became a private detective.  After the first book, he starts working as a consultant for the FBI with his only friend Alex Jamison.

In Redemption Amos Decker returns to Burlington with Jamison in tow to visit his daughters' grave on her birthday.  As he leaves a person walks out from the shadows, a person Amos would never have guessed to show up at the cemetery.  It is the first person he ever put away for murder, a mass murder, Meryl Hawkins.  Hawkins was a man that had received a life sentence with no possible chance for parole.  The facts were stacked so far against this man that it was easy to put this man away.  Hawkins got out of prison because he had cancer with few weeks to live.  A compassionate release.

The man had one request.  That request was to prove that he was innocent.  Decker deems that he got it right the first time but the next evening.  Now his FBI partner has to leave him but Alex able to enlist help from his original partner from that case Mary Lancaster.

In the end, Decker solves the crime, but maybe his life is in jeopardy.  But as I always say, it's an Amos Decker story so by the end of the book Amos lives.

Baldacci writes Redemption and gives us a good story and he's able to make lots of plot twists and turns while he kills off a dozen people and saves some lives in the end.  Baldacci is a lot of talking between characters.  Sometimes he uses 'said' 5 or 6 times in a page, and he does that often.  But don't ask me how not do that,  I just read the facts and Baldacci writes the facts.  That's the arrangement we have worked up between us.  He writes and I buy.

I give this 3 of 5 stars, it's an enjoyable book that will entertain you while you read it.   It just won't be a memorable book.  I won't be re-reading this before the next book comes out.

The Redemption by David Baldacci
The 5th book in the Amos Decker series

420 Day, 2019 or CBD Cream, Part 3

While lots of people are partaking in their smoke we go another year with political prisoners (no party to blame, both parties don't want to lose the Big Pharma money by legalizing Cannabis) being held just for only having a small stash for personal recreational use.  Most of these are people of color, which is why the law was created in the first place.

History.com has an excellent article on why Marijuana became illegal.  Some law enforcement officers have the common sense to ignore people holding small amounts and some areas have laws allowing small amounts to be held.  But our jails are way too overcrowded and in 12 states as of today, they wouldn't be in jail because of the legalization of pot.  

I get medical benefits from Cannabis, just with the Cannabidiol extract without the THC.  Good pain relief from a topical cream.

Just don't drive stoned.

https://www.history.com/news/why-the-u-s-made-marijuana-illegal

CBD Creams, Part 2, 420 Day

Today is 4/20 and that means it's 420 Day, the international day to celebrate cannabis by lighting up.  Things have changed since the 1st 420 Day, supposedly back in the '70s.  Cannabis can now be used to control pain, anxiety, and other maladies with its natural healing ingredients.  With my psoriatic arthritis, I stay in constant pain which has changed me from an active lifestyle to sitting and reading books.  I've read a little about the benefits of pot and most say if you want to get the most out of the healing powers of cannabis you need both THC and cannabidiol, the two cannabinoids found in pot. Since because of my job I can't have THC in my system I tried the cannabidiol, which has no THC in it, or that's what is said.

I've used a cannabidiol cream for 21 days now and there is relief found from my pains.  I got a jar of 44 grams of a product from CBD Clinic, Professional Series, Level 5 Pro Sport Deep Muscle & Joint Pain Relief.  That's what it says on the cap anyway.  Whatever it is, it works.  It's not immediate but it doesn't take long for me to start getting relief.  I use it when I get home from work and it gets me through the 4 or 5 hours of pain that I have before bedtime.  I don't know how much it cost because my wife paid for it but I either takes the pain away or dulls my pain to make it bearable.  The jar is hot huge but I just barely dab my finger in it and rub on the affected area and repeat until I get the area covered and rubbed in.  After 3 weeks I have what looks to be maybe 2/3 of the jar left.  It has that menthol smell which I didn't like to start with but now I look forward to it.  It's on a torn muscle as I type this out and I'm not in any pain.  When I finish with this post I'll put some on my fingers, wrists, and bones on the back of my hand for the pain I'm getting from just typing this post.

As for the CBD Clinic, I'll probably stick with them if I find a Coachella Valley source.  Their website has a search feature so I'll give them a try.  CBD Clinic looks like they go for professional's like chiropractors or physical therapists, I haven't really looked much at their client targets and probably won't.  

The negative thing about this exciting new (?) pain relief is that it is unregulated and can differ from the quality and the amount of Cannabidiol in the product.  CBD Clinic offers different strengths, probably for different uses.  I might even try the oil too as an added pain reliever.  One thing I don't understand is the bottle shows the active ingredients as Camphor and Menthol and you have to go to the website to find out how much CBD is in their product, which is that in 1 gram of cream there is 1000 mg of CBD and it is 99.11% pure (?).  

CBD is not controlled and doesn't have industry standards so until it is controlled we can't really compare product to product.  When I speak compared, I would like to see cooperation between companies setting up their standards and leave the government out.  Shared cooperation would be cheaper for the end user than having companies pay to have their product constantly certified but the government.  I know every company sends their product out to be analyzed to meet their own quality standards but the consumers d need protection in knowing they are getting a quality product.

I want to thank CBD Clinic for my pain relief.  I've only used CBD Clinic with this being the first product I ever used with CBD.  This is unsolicited and just my experience with CBD.  As always, I ramble but like I said earlier, not every product is for the same use, and not every product is the same quality.  Part 3 will follow in just a few minutes.

The Chosen by K.F. Breene, Book 1 in The Warrior Chronicles Series

Chosen is a good book about a woman with a gift and her people believe she is The Chosen.  They believed it so much that most gave up their lives to protect her.  Shanti, the lead in this book and probably the series, is a leader, a warrior, and a woman that can touch people with her mind.  She is on a quest.

It's hard for me to put this book in a place.  Some people and societies are slow-paced hunter/gatherer and some places are cities with candle lanterns in the main streets with houses of rich leather and wood.  Shanti is from a place that places battle training at the top of the list, the city she goes to is regimented with an army but has normal city life, while another city is in a rustic place somewhere between the two.  The villain is a society of people that take over other cities by the sheer numbers of their armies and the higher you are in the food chain, the better your life.  Shanti's quest is to stay free and keep her people from being taken.

Enough of that. Chosen while an original story has been done over before different ways.  I like it enough to read the next in the series.  While not a majority of Breene's writing is like this, here is a part that doesn't reach out and grab me.

She watched him, noting a crease between his eyebrows as he looked inward. She took this opportunity to assess him without interruption. His masculine face looked like it was chiseled from stone, then sanded by a great artist. His bone structure was defined and symmetrical, with dark bushy brows that gave his eye sockets a striking depth. When he wasn’t busy being so serious and in control, he had a pleasant vibe about him—a charisma that exuded a sort of animalistic primal quality. He was one well-made, handsome bastard. And judging by all the women batting their eyes at him, he was in demand. Some men just had it all.

and then there is . . .

Okay.” She crawled to his side and kneeled, positioning one hand in the center of his warm back, and one nestled between his pecs. She couldn’t stop a flitted grin, fighting her desire to let that hand roam around his well-built chest. The man was a perfectly defined powerhouse. She hadn’t seen anyone this well-proportioned in useful muscle…ever, maybe. The men from her land were thinner, lithe. He was…not.

Maybe reach out and grab me wasn't the correct term to use but I can read books like this.  Some of her suggestive thoughts and the most graphic is a stolen kiss by the head of a city she is talking about above.  I like the Kate Daniels series and the Deadwood Murder Mystery series and they started out mild and grew in passion, some boot shaking but not as bad descriptive wise as some romance scenes written by some male writers.  I want to make it clear I'm not comparing the writers or stories, just the romance in them.

I did enjoy Shanti's jocularity as a female warrior in a town where women were supposed to be the weaker, obedient sex where the men did all the warring.  Breene's verbal sparring was really good.

I give this a 7 of 10 rating. Good enough to read the next in the series.

The Chosen by K.F. Breene

Book 1 in The Warrior Chronicles series

Cold Flame by Ann Charles, Deadwood Series Book 6.5, Deadwood Shorts Book 3

This is a short novella about Violet Parker's Aunt Zoe and the man that chases her Aunt, Reid Martin, and their past.  Cold Flames goes over their meeting, their relationship, some imps, and fires.  Building fires and fires of the heart.  I usually don't get into romantic novels but I started the Deadwood series before it got hot and heavy (but most other people would call mild) and the paranormal aspect of the series is fun.  I haven't read any of the series for a couple of years and thought it would be nice to catch up.

Cold Flame by Ann Charles

Deadwood Series book 6.5, Deadwood Shorts book 3

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett, Discworld Book 1

I guess this would, or should be 'The Colour of Magic', but us Americans are stingy with our "U's". No review from me on this book. I imagine anything that could be said about this book has been said many times and many languages, so I leave us with 2 quotes that I loved.

Magic never dies. It merely fades away.

Then there's my favorite quote of the whole book.

“You’ll fight us both together?” said Liartes, a tall, wiry man with long black hair. 

“Yah.” 

“That’s pretty uneven odds, isn’t it?” 

“Yah. I outnumber you one to two.”

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
Discworld book 1

Lost Girls by Angela Marsons, Book 3 in the D.I. Kim Stone Series

I finished Lost Girls last night and this series gets better and better.  Usually, I binge read a series when I find a good one but this time I'm going to mix it up.  I actually was going to read another book instead of this one but I didn't have it loaded on either of tablet or Chromebook.  I think I made a great choice resuming the series.

Lost Girls finds us with D.I. Kim Stone being assigned to a case instead of demanding to be put on a case after she was asked to do an initial interview after a parent of a kidnapped girl asked for her by name.  The biggest thing about the kidnapping is that it wasn't one girl but two girls.  Best of friends with families that always did things together.  Marsons takes us on a very journey through this case through Kim's eyes and the result is an easy to read detective story about a D.I. that is like a bulldog and won't let go of anything and while she refuses to get personal, touchy-feely she still takes and makes everything personal. To me, it is really a good series so far and worth reading.

A very good 9 out of 10 read!

Lost Girls by Angela Marsons

Book 3 in the D.I. Kim Stone Series

Delivery to The Living Desert

I got out of the warehouse at work because we were short-handed and had to make a delivery. So I went from one zoo to another zoo.  OK, to a real zoo.  In the maintenance yard, I found a friend and thought I would get a selfie with him. Or her.  OK, her.  Anyway, I was impressed with her.

Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey, Book 8 in the Expanse Series

In the religion of ancient Babylon, Tiamat (Akkadian: 𒀭𒋾𒊩𒆳TI.AMAT or 𒀭𒌓𒌈TAM.TUM, Greek: Θαλάττη Thaláttē) is a primordial goddess of the salt sea, mating with Abzû, the god of fresh water, to produce younger gods. She is the symbol of the chaos of primordial creation. (from Google).

Not once in this book is Tiamat mentioned, so I guess they mean "the chaos of primordial creation" part, which when you read this book, it fits.  With that said this is the first "10" that I've given this year, probably because I'm a 62-year-old fanboy of the Expanse series.

I starting reading this book by reading the 7th book in the series, Persepolis Rising and then reading this book Tiamat's Wrath. This took over 35 hours of reading and I had a grin on my face or was a look of amazement the whole time.  Did I say I was a fanboy?

I can't really do a review because to me each of these books are great, and anything written about this book would be spoilers, which I don't like doing.  The Expanse series is written by two people that I've tried to read one of their singular books but didn't really care for it.  I don't know if written of choreographed is actually the correct word for this collaboration but Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck paints beautiful pictures with their storytelling.  This book makes me sad because as of right now, there is only one book left in the series unless something changes.  The nice thing about this book is that even though there are questions left unanswered there is no cliffhanger like after the 7th.

For my friends that haven't read any of this series, give it a chance.  Don't try to binge read these but read 2 or 3 a year so they remain fresh in your head.  There are a lot of quotes made in earlier books that are requoted with no reference and you get that familiarity and sometimes sadness knowing where it came from.

This is a perfect 10, a really a great reading experience.  Did I say I was a fanboy?

Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey

Book 8 in The Expanse series.

Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey, Book 7 in The Expanse Series

I can't write a review on this because of 1, it's been out over a year a done many times, 2, I just read it so I would be prepared for Book 8 in the series, Tiamat's Wrath, and 3, it would just be spoilers and I don't like to do spoilers.   If you haven't read the book then read it. I read it when it first came out last year, so this is a re-read for me.  I'm happy because I really needed the refresher.

I give this book a solid 9 if not a 10.  Make it a 10 because I'm a fanboy.

Now onto Tiamat's Wrath.

Persepolis Rising by James S. A. Corey
Book 7 in the Expanse Series