Tag Archives: Challenges

07.22.17
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Book Review #37: “The Unknown and Impossible: How a research facility in Virginia mastered the air and conquered space”

The Unknown and Impossible

Image Credit: Amazon

“I am proud to be part of a species where a subset of its members willingly put their lives at risk to push the boundaries of our existence.”

~ Neil deGrasse Tyson

Mike Holtzclaw is a good friend of mine from church and our blood drives. This year, he’s also a co-author of this amazing book. He, along with Tamara Dietrich, and Mark St. John Erickson, are all employees with the Daily Press. All part of the News division, Dietrich is the Senior Reporter – Science and Environment, Holtzclaw is a Senior Reporter, and Erickson is the Senior Reporter – History.

Mike took to Facebook a while back to make the announcement that the book was being published. I immediately went to Amazon and pre-ordered it. I was impressed – It arrived earlier than expected!

—

Once I started reading, I couldn’t stop! Having worked for the student newspaper of Longwood University, The Rotunda, I immediately recognized the vast amount of research, interviews, and collaboration that went into writing this book!

It’s such a quick read, but it’s jam-packed with over 100 years of history, and a look into our future. I thought I knew a lot about the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Langley, but boy, was I wrong!

It’s fitting they published the book during the 100th anniversary of Langley Research Center, as well as the 25th anniversary of the Virginia Air & Space Center (The NASA Langley Visitor Center), both located in Hampton, Virginia. I remember taking many trips to the Air & Space Center as a kid, having grown up across the water in Chesapeake. I was always in awe of the exhibits and the history there. However, this book has helped me truly understand how significant Langley has been to the development of the space program, training the astronauts, and making both aviation and space travel better.

If you haven’t seen Hidden Figures, just do it. It’s not only an impressive movie, but it also shines a nice spotlight on both Hampton and Langley. I want to read Margot Lee Shetterly’s book as well. Katherine Johnson is one of the many profiles in the book, and she’s 98 years old!

I greatly appreciated the dedication to historical accuracy – The authors clearly demonstrated that. They used a vast array of sources, resources, and interviews. Thanks to their work, I now have a much better appreciation of Hampton as a city, and this great research facility that started out so small, and unappreciated. I always smile when I see the NASA logo directing people to Langley on Interstate 64 West on my way to work every weekday!

In addition to historical accuracy, I loved seeing all the photos! I loved how they were set within the text, and each one of them added something to the words on the page. Plus, the profiles of the pioneering people at the end of every chapter was really awesome to see and read, recognizing their talents and contributions from 1917 forward.

If you want to learn about how NASA came out of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), how a tiny corner of southeastern Virginia was one of the first places to pursue and develop groundbreaking research in aviation, how aviation development gave way to the space program, and what the future may behold – Absolutely, definitely read this book.

It’s a refreshing, fascinating read about 100 years that truly shaped our skies, our planet, and our future. Here’s to leaving more footprints on the moon, Mars, and more.

5 out of 5 stars.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

07.13.17
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Book Review #36: “The Lost Symbol”

The Lost Symbol

Image Credit: Target

If you’re curious about other books involving protagonist Robert Langdon, here are my previous Book Review posts:

Dan Brown has done it again!

Like Angels & Demons, this book was really long – Over 500 pages. However, I didn’t mind that it was so long. It was action-packed, and I learned so much about Washington, D.C.

However, I certainly wouldn’t recommend trying to read this book in one sitting. It’s so dense, I found myself taking multiple breaks, sometimes days at a time, in order to process all of the information. It wasn’t necessarily a turn-off, but it was a challenge. The longest stretch was a few nights ago, when I read Chapters 78 through 112. I needed a day-long break before starting again. Luckily, reading through Chapter 112 brought me closer to the end – I finally finished last night, around 10:30 p.m.

Langdon’s adventure this time is set primarily in Washington, D.C., with a few scenes in Maryland and northern Virginia. If you’ve ever been curious about the Masons and their history, this is a good book to learn about them!

For once, I greatly appreciated the lack of a romance aspect. This book appeared to focus on the various mysteries surrounding Langdon, especially since these 500 pages are set, for the most part, within just one night in the characters’ lives. I’d be happy to eventually see Langdon and Katherine end up together – I think they have a lot in common – but I was excited that the book primarily focused on solving the mysteries!

Again, like his other books, I really liked and appreciated Brown’s attention to detail and historical accuracy. It was incredible to see just how much history is jam-packed into Washington, D.C. Reading his books has taught me so much about our world’s various secret societies and great mysteries!

This book was a great mix of an intense thriller and historical novel. When I was able to wrap my mind around everything that was happening, I found myself flying through the pages. I think Brown is clever to mix up the length of his chapters – Some were long, some were a few pages, and a handful were either one page or a half-page. It’s a great way to keep the reader interested and wanting to read “just one more chapter” before turning out the lights.

Following the chronology of Robert Langdon’s character, I now need to find a copy of Inferno (2013). Hopefully, I can read that one right before Origin is released in early October!

4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

 

 

06.25.17
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Book Review #35: “The Man in the High Castle”

the_man_in_the_high_castle_c4

Image Credit: Catspaw Dynamics

Finally! This is one book that I was hoping to finish a LONG time ago. I almost finished it in the fall, but the two-week window from the library closed so quickly. It was bugging me, for months. I hate not finishing books, unless it was so insufferable that I couldn’t stand to finish it.

This book was not one of those insufferable ones. I got it from the library two Saturdays ago, and I just made the deadline. Hooray!

—

It was an intriguing book. In a sentence: Imagine if the Allies lost World War II.

Think about that. If Germany, Japan, and Russia had won, what in the world would happen?

Philip K. Dick is (was) a very interesting writer. As I’ve said in previous reviews, I’m not a huge fan of science fiction, but alternate reality has recently captured my attention. I’ve even considered using it in some of my own writing.

Now that I’ve finished the book, I’m excited to see what Amazon has done with their TV series of the same name.

Trying not to give away a lot (The book is only a little over 200 pages), it’s 1962 and the U.S. has been divided into the Greater Nazi Reich and the Japanese Pacific States. Mr. Dick creates multiple characters as they try to live their lives under seemingly oppressive rule and challenging times.

Mr. Dick also creates “a novel within a novel.” This is something that I don’t see very often, but I usually enjoy. The novel within the book shows details of what would happen if the Allies HAD won the war, though it’s different that what actual history has shown. Regardless, it was fascinating. I appreciated how the author carefully wove it into the plot.

In writing this post, I started looking at other books that employ alternate reality or history. One that made me raise my eyebrows was Bring The Jubilee (1953) by Ward Moore, about an alternative Civil War. You can bet I’m adding this one to my TBR.

—

This was not a hard read, at all, despite my previous reservations / hesitancy about science fiction. It flows easily, and I enjoyed learning about the different characters. Through his words, it was frighteningly easy to imagine what life could like if the Allies had lost and Germany and Japan swiftly took over everything. The characters attempt to make the most of what they have and what they are living with, but I imagine that life would be pretty miserable. I found myself reading at least one chapter per night, unless I was completely exhausted.

This book made me think about how wars affect everyone and everything. Unfortunately, several countries in our world are suffering under dictatorships and oppressive rule, and there’s nothing that anyone can do about it!

Seeing what Mr. Dick created made me shiver. I’m curious to see what else he wrote in his short time on this Earth (He died in 1982 at age 53, from a stroke).

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

06.24.17
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Book Review #34: “Music in My Heart: My Journey with Melody”

American Girl Melody Music

Image Credit: American Girl

If you haven’t already, I recommend checking out my previous Melody book reviews before reading this one:

This book was incredible! I’ve been so impressed with how historically accurate Melody’s books have been – I can clearly see the research and attention to detail. Every time, I feel like I’ve been transported to Detroit, Michigan in 1964.

I love how there are previews of the next book at the end of the previous ones – It makes me excited for the next chapter, in a way. This way, I discovered the modern girl in this story has a piano teacher named “Ms. Stricker,” which happens to be my maiden name! I realize this is fictionalized, but I can’t tell you how excited I was to see that! It’s so rare to see something like that!

To me, this book had more adventures than Maryellen’s journey, which I really liked. It was exciting to pick so many paths!

—

Melody is such a sweet character. It’s one of the things that immediately drew me to her stories when she was introduced in 2016. She’s passionate about her family, music, and the world around her. She wants to do what’s right!

Without giving away a lot of details, I loved everything about this book. Melody and the modern girl both love music, especially the piano and “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Because of Melody, our modern girl discovers Motown, and experiences the Civil Rights Movement first-hand. We even meet a few key figures along the way!

This book snatched me up and didn’t let me go! I wanted to keep reading the first night, but I had to break it up over two of them. Getting up so early is a curse sometimes.

I’m keeping Melody’s books forever!

—

There’s at least one more Melody book out there – A mystery! I’m hoping my library has it! But, if I’m being honest, I’ll probably buy it, at some point.

I’m definitely adding more American Girl books to my TBR!

5 out of 5 stars.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

12.21.16
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Book Reviews #22, #23, and #24: “The Hunger Games” Trilogy

hunger-games

Image Credit: Scholastic Media Room

“One of the reasons it’s important for me to write about war is I really think that the concept of war, the specifics of war, the nature of war, the ethical ambiguities of war, are introduced too late to children. I think they can hear them, understand them, know about them, at a much younger age without being scared to death by the stories.”

~Suzanne Collins

This is the fourth book from my 2016 Reading Challenge!

I honestly can’t remember the first time I read The Hunger Games, but as soon as I did, I was hooked. I was elated that there was a trilogy, and I couldn’t wait to read all three.

My copy of The Hunger Games is in paperback, but I decided to buy Catching Fire and Mockingjay as hardbacks. I think hardbacks hold up better, in the long run.

I re-read these books for the challenge as voraciously as I had when I first bought them. I think I’ve read the entire trilogy three times now. Katniss’s story just grabs you by the collar and pulls you in within the first few pages.

While preparing this review, I realized that I made a comparison to this trilogy in my book review on the “Divergent” trilogy, published nearly two years ago:

It’s interesting to see how young adult (YA) literature has had its trends over the years. Even more fascinating is how similar The Hunger Games and Divergent are, in terms of structure.

Like the Divergent trilogy, I planned to break down this review into the three books. Here we go!

The Hunger Games

hunger-games-cover

Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org

Like I said earlier, Katniss and her story instantly grabbed me by the collar and pulled me into the world of Panem and its districts. It made me think of war zones, and some of American history. How divided some of our countries are, and how divided our own United States appear to be, too.

Reading her story made me think of courage, honor, family, love, and bravery. I was absolutely appalled at The Hunger Games and how long they had gone on, and how brutal people could be, but at the end, I was left wanting more.

5 out of 5 stars.

Catching Fire

catching_fire

Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org

Picking up at what feels like the moment that The Hunger Games ended, Catching Fire held on to me and never let me go. It was an adrenaline rush the whole time.

This is the one that I powered through the fastest because the story would not let my mind stop to put it down.I detected political waves during the first book, and it became abundantly clear here. We follow Katniss through more tribulations and tragedies than triumphs, but I’ll take it. Like the first book, I couldn’t wait to start the third after finishing this one. Collins has that power that leaves you desperate to find out what happens next.

5 out of 5 stars.

Mockingjay

mockingjay

Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org

I’ll admit, the first time I read this book, I absolutely hated it. It was really hard to force myself to get to the end.

The second time through – It was a little easier. I started to understand how important this book was to the overall story. It still wasn’t my favorite book,  and it took longer to read than the other two, but I started to appreciate it more.

This most recent time – I couldn’t put it down. I think part of it is because I started Mockingjay immediately after finishing Catching Fire. I didn’t realize how much of a difference that made until now. The way Collins writes, by the end of Catching Fire, I just couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen to Katniss, Peeta, Gale, and President Snow, among others. There is quite a myriad of characters to keep up with by the time you reach this book, but I think  Collins does a great job of keeping the characters straight. I also appreciated that the narrator was consistent throughout the trilogy, and I didn’t have to deal with multiple narrators.

At the very end, I felt sad. Not because of the book’s ending, but that my journey with the books was actually over. It’s a captivating story, one that Collins created beautifully, with great attention to detail. I felt immersed in the world the entire time. It was hard to get back to reality.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

One more note: I don’t normally do this, but I think this next part is worth mentioning.

I had read all three books once when the movies began to be released. When we first saw The Hunger Games in 2012, I was blown away at how well they had adapted the books to the silver screen. It’s certainly not an easy task to do so, since other book-to-movie adaptations have been criticized. But, I think this trilogy was nearly perfect for movie adaptations, and I think the filmmakers did a great job in doing so. I wasn’t happy that they divided Mockingjay into two parts, and made us wait a WHOLE FREAKING YEAR for Part 2. However, I think it was worth it.

I usually sit and watch them when they come on TV. Plus, these movies made me fall in love with Jennifer Lawrence. I told Al recently that I can totally see why they picked her – She’s a nearly flawless choice.

I highly recommend both!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

09.30.16
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Writing Prompt #36: “30 Day Writing Challenge” (Day 30)

writers-quotes-story-writing-34823017-400-263

Image Credit: livingalifeofwriting.com

Here’s the list!

  1. List 10 things that make you happy
  2. Write something that someone told you about yourself that you never forgot
  3. What are your top 3 pet peeves
  4. Write about someone who inspires you
  5. List 5 places you want to visit
  6. 5 wins to your heart
  7. List 10 songs you’re loving right now
  8. Something you struggle with
  9. Post some words of wisdom that speak to you
  10. Write about something for which you feel strongly
  11. Something you always think “what if…” about
  12. Write about 5 blessings in your life
  13. What are you excited about
  14. Post your favorite movies that you never get tired of watching
  15. Bullet-point your whole day
  16. Something that you miss
  17. Post about your zodiac sign, and whether or not it fits you
  18. Post 30 facts about yourself
  19. Discuss your first love
  20. Post about three celebrity crushes
  21. What are 3 lessons you want your children to learn from you
  22. Put your music on shuffle and post the first 10 songs
  23. A letter to someone, anyone
  24. What about a lesson you’ve learned the hard way
  25. Think of any word. Search it on Google images. Write something inspired by the 11th image.
  26. Write about an area in your life you’d like to improve
  27. Conversely, write about something that’s kicking ass right now
  28. Post 5 things that make you laugh-out-loud
  29. What are your goals for the next 30 days
  30. Your highs and lows for the month

Your highs and lows for the month

My highs:

  • Celebrating a wonderful dating anniversary with Al!
  • Chipping away at the work that needs to be done on the house.
  • A mini-getaway to the farm to see family.
  • Making plans for friends to come and visit us!
  • Finally cracking into Go Set A Watchman.
  • Blogging every single day for a whole month! Woohoo!
  • Going back to the gym!

—

My lows:

  • Not getting to finish Go Set A Watchman.
  • Getting irritated at minor things.
  • Feeling stressed with things getting busier at work.
  • Having a panic attack at work earlier this day, basically in front of my manager AND system director. Ouch!
  • Blisters, everywhere on both my feet. Breaking in new running shoes – Oww!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

09.29.16
by

Writing Prompt #35: “30 Day Writing Challenge” (Day 29)

writing-quote-3

Image Credit: quotesgram.com

Here’s the list!

  1. List 10 things that make you happy
  2. Write something that someone told you about yourself that you never forgot
  3. What are your top 3 pet peeves
  4. Write about someone who inspires you
  5. List 5 places you want to visit
  6. 5 wins to your heart
  7. List 10 songs you’re loving right now
  8. Something you struggle with
  9. Post some words of wisdom that speak to you
  10. Write about something for which you feel strongly
  11. Something you always think “what if…” about
  12. Write about 5 blessings in your life
  13. What are you excited about
  14. Post your favorite movies that you never get tired of watching
  15. Bullet-point your whole day
  16. Something that you miss
  17. Post about your zodiac sign, and whether or not it fits you
  18. Post 30 facts about yourself
  19. Discuss your first love
  20. Post about three celebrity crushes
  21. What are 3 lessons you want your children to learn from you
  22. Put your music on shuffle and post the first 10 songs
  23. A letter to someone, anyone
  24. What about a lesson you’ve learned the hard way
  25. Think of any word. Search it on Google images. Write something inspired by the 11th image.
  26. Write about an area in your life you’d like to improve
  27. Conversely, write about something that’s kicking ass right now
  28. Post 5 things that make you laugh-out-loud
  29. What are your goals for the next 30 days
  30. Your highs and lows for the month

What are your goals for the next 30 days

Well, this is convenient!

Here’s a sneak peek at my upcoming post of my October goals! The full post will be up on Saturday. I cannot believe it’s the end of September!

  1. Prep the house for our first overnight visitor!
  2. Donate blood!
  3. Plan our Halloween costumes!
  4. Decorate the house for fall!
  5. Clean up the clutter and plan my office space!
  6. Recap my 44 for Bill Movement participation.

I’m so excited that the weather is starting to shift. I love the cooler air and the crispness in the air!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

09.28.16
by

Writing Prompt #34: “30 Day Writing Challenge” (Day 28)

tobias-wolfe-writing-quote-poster

Image Credit: quotesgram.com

Here’s the list!

  1. List 10 things that make you happy
  2. Write something that someone told you about yourself that you never forgot
  3. What are your top 3 pet peeves
  4. Write about someone who inspires you
  5. List 5 places you want to visit
  6. 5 wins to your heart
  7. List 10 songs you’re loving right now
  8. Something you struggle with
  9. Post some words of wisdom that speak to you
  10. Write about something for which you feel strongly
  11. Something you always think “what if…” about
  12. Write about 5 blessings in your life
  13. What are you excited about
  14. Post your favorite movies that you never get tired of watching
  15. Bullet-point your whole day
  16. Something that you miss
  17. Post about your zodiac sign, and whether or not it fits you
  18. Post 30 facts about yourself
  19. Discuss your first love
  20. Post about three celebrity crushes
  21. What are 3 lessons you want your children to learn from you
  22. Put your music on shuffle and post the first 10 songs
  23. A letter to someone, anyone
  24. What about a lesson you’ve learned the hard way
  25. Think of any word. Search it on Google images. Write something inspired by the 11th image.
  26. Write about an area in your life you’d like to improve
  27. Conversely, write about something that’s kicking ass right now
  28. Post 5 things that make you laugh-out-loud
  29. What are your goals for the next 30 days
  30. Your highs and lows for the month

Post 5 things that make you laugh-out-loud

  1. Anything with The Muppets.
  2. Most anything with the Peanuts characters.
  3. The Big Bang Theory.
  4. Mike Rowe – His awesome posts on Facebook, and his podcast The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe.
  5. Mushu from Mulan.
muppet-mythbusters

Image Credit: pastemagazine.com

snoopy_and_woodstock_camping

Image Credit: peanuts.wikia.com

cc514bd2-9de1-4af6-840e-5dc07bd07b54

Image Credit: hellogiggles.com

mike-rowe

Image Credit: mikerowe.com

mushu_character

Image Credit: disney.wikia.com

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

 

09.27.16
by

Writing Prompt #33: “30 Day Writing Challenge” (Day 27)

download

Image Credit: en.wikipedia.org

Here’s the list!

  1. List 10 things that make you happy
  2. Write something that someone told you about yourself that you never forgot
  3. What are your top 3 pet peeves
  4. Write about someone who inspires you
  5. List 5 places you want to visit
  6. 5 wins to your heart
  7. List 10 songs you’re loving right now
  8. Something you struggle with
  9. Post some words of wisdom that speak to you
  10. Write about something for which you feel strongly
  11. Something you always think “what if…” about
  12. Write about 5 blessings in your life
  13. What are you excited about
  14. Post your favorite movies that you never get tired of watching
  15. Bullet-point your whole day
  16. Something that you miss
  17. Post about your zodiac sign, and whether or not it fits you
  18. Post 30 facts about yourself
  19. Discuss your first love
  20. Post about three celebrity crushes
  21. What are 3 lessons you want your children to learn from you
  22. Put your music on shuffle and post the first 10 songs
  23. A letter to someone, anyone
  24. What about a lesson you’ve learned the hard way
  25. Think of any word. Search it on Google images. Write something inspired by the 11th image.
  26. Write about an area in your life you’d like to improve
  27. Conversely, write about something that’s kicking ass right now
  28. Post 5 things that make you laugh-out-loud
  29. What are your goals for the next 30 days
  30. Your highs and lows for the month

Conversely, write about something that’s kicking ass right now

I love that I’m educating myself with podcasts! I’m learning so many different things about different topics.

Granted, most of the podcasts that I subscribe to are from NPR, but it makes me happy.

I listen to them when I’m in the car, and it’s awesome! Just today, I finished an episode on how accidental integration helped one of the worst school districts in the state of Missouri, the journey of opera singer Ryan Speedo Green, and the fourth time Neil deGrasse Tyson talked about everything, in the name of science!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

 

09.26.16
by

Writing Prompt #32: “30 Day Writing Challenge” (Day 26)

quotes-writing-role-anais-nin-480x480

Image Credit: quotesgram.com

Here’s the list!

  1. List 10 things that make you happy
  2. Write something that someone told you about yourself that you never forgot
  3. What are your top 3 pet peeves
  4. Write about someone who inspires you
  5. List 5 places you want to visit
  6. 5 wins to your heart
  7. List 10 songs you’re loving right now
  8. Something you struggle with
  9. Post some words of wisdom that speak to you
  10. Write about something for which you feel strongly
  11. Something you always think “what if…” about
  12. Write about 5 blessings in your life
  13. What are you excited about
  14. Post your favorite movies that you never get tired of watching
  15. Bullet-point your whole day
  16. Something that you miss
  17. Post about your zodiac sign, and whether or not it fits you
  18. Post 30 facts about yourself
  19. Discuss your first love
  20. Post about three celebrity crushes
  21. What are 3 lessons you want your children to learn from you
  22. Put your music on shuffle and post the first 10 songs
  23. A letter to someone, anyone
  24. What about a lesson you’ve learned the hard way
  25. Think of any word. Search it on Google images. Write something inspired by the 11th image.
  26. Write about an area in your life you’d like to improve
  27. Conversely, write about something that’s kicking ass right now
  28. Post 5 things that make you laugh-out-loud
  29. What are your goals for the next 30 days
  30. Your highs and lows for the month

Write about an area in your life you’d like to improve

I’d love to not procrastinate as much. I don’t necessarily put things off until the last minute, but I’m known to drag my feet and find excuses to avoid certain things (Homework, cleaning, mundane tasks).

However, I try to remedy this with motivating myself. I use a reward system. For example: If I work on my homework for an hour straight, without any distractions, then I can play a game on my phone or iPad for 15 minutes.

I also do this with my job. Some of the work I do is incredibly dry, boring, and annoying. But, I try to use the same reward system: If I finish a task early, or make a certain number of phone calls, or work on a project for a certain length of time, I reward myself with getting up from my desk to walk around, stretch my legs, and play a game for five minutes. It’s a good refresher moment.

It really works!

Tonight, I was struggling to get motivated to do my homework. But, with Al holding me accountable, I completed Chapter 4 AND Chapter 5 in less than an hour! I rewarded myself with finishing this blog post and spending a few minutes on Facebook, plus finishing the task in time to watch the new episode of The Big Bang Theory!

Granted, my reward system doesn’t always work. But, I try to put a positive spin on the boring and mundane areas and try to banish procrastination as much as possible.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂