Kate’s 2¢: “The Best Is Yet To Come” by Judith Gould

“The Best Is Yet To Come” by Judith Gould

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Colleen Delany did a good job of reading this book. The two men who publish under the name of Judith Gould have crafted a good story that holds your attention.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Judith Gould is a fictional American writer of romance novels, and is the pseudonym used by co-authors: Nicholas Peter “Nick” Bienes and Rhea Gallaher, who are actually both men. Gould is a New York Times bestselling author[1] whose books have been translated into 22 languages.[2]

In addition to being writing partners, Bienes and Gallaher are also involved romantically. They currently live together in room 600 of the famous Hotel Chelsea in New York City, regarded as the hotel’s most luxurious suite.[3]

Biographies[edit]

Nicholas Peter Bienes[edit]

Nick Bienes was born on January 9, 1952, in a small town in Austria, and baptized Klaus Peter Peer. After his biological father died he was adopted by his aunt, who had married a U.S. American serviceman, and consequently he was renamed Klaus Peter Bienes. He has lived in Austria, Yugoslavia, Germany and the United States. He is a native speaker of both German and English.

Rhea Gallaher[edit]

(pronounced Ray) Rhea Gallager was born on May 22, 1945. He grew up in Harriman, Tennessee (a small town near Knoxville, Tennessee).

From NLS/BARD/NLS:

The best is yet to come / DB55308

Gould, Judith. Reading time: 10 hours, 56 minutes.

Read by Colleen Delany.

Family

Psychological Fiction

Romance

After Carolina Mountcastle’s husband dies, she discovers that he had a mistress and child in Amsterdam. She survives the emotional shock and subsequent sabotage of her flower business with the help of Seth Foster, one of her customers. Explicit descriptions of sex. 2002.

Downloaded: October 6, 2024

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Kate’s 2¢: “The Echo Maker” by Richard Powers

“The Echo Maker” by Richard Powers

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares her thoughts about what she reads. Inho…

   The ethical dilemma of the fictional neurologist Gerald Weber, who is a research scientist and writer, comes to haunt him when his books feature patients he has treated. I wonder if the real M. Scott Peck’s books, where he, too, uses his patient’s clinical histories in his books, ever feels exploitive. Where does one draw the line between ethical privacy and books sales.

    Christopher Hurt did a good job of reading this lengthy novel to us.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richard Powers (born June 18, 1957) is an American novelist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology. His novel The Echo Maker (ISBN0-374-14635-7) won the 2006 National Book Award for Fiction.and was a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist.[3]

According to Richard Powers,[4]

[The] aim in The Echo Maker is to put forward, at the same time, a glimpse of the solid, continuous, stable, perfect story we try to fashion about the world and about ourselves, while at the same time to lift the rug and glimpse the amorphous, improvised, messy, crack-strewn, gaping thing underneath all that narration. To this end, my technique was what some scholars of narrative have called double voicing. Every section of the book (until a few passages at the end) is so closely focalized through Mark, Karin, or Weber that even the narration of material event is voiced entirely through their cognitive process: the world is nothing more than what these sensibilities assemble, without any appeal to outside authority.

In a review in the New York Review of Books, Margaret Atwood described the novel’s “underlying sketch” as being from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.[5]

Colson Whitehead, writing in The New York Times, called it a “post-911 novel .. not an elegy for How We Used to Live or a salute to Coming to Grips, but a quiet exploration of how we survive, day to day.”[6]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The echo maker DB64523

Powers, Richard. Reading time: 18 hours, 3 minutes.

Read by Christopher Hurt. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Human Relations

Psychological Fiction

Twenty-seven-year-old Nebraskan Mark Schluter flips his truck one night and suffers a head injury that makes his loved ones unrecognizable to him. His sister Karin enlists neurologist Gerald Weber to help Mark. As Mark searches for an accident witness, Gerald begins to fall apart. Strong language. National Book Award. 2006.

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Kate’s 2¢: “Tall, Duke, and dangerous” by Megan Frampton

“Tall, Duke, and dangerous” by Megan Frampton

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares her thoughts about what she reads. Inho…

   Well, it’s a romance novel, so you know the boy meets girl and eventually, boy marries girl. It’s the escapades that keep them apart and them bring them together that makes this story fun to contemplate as Jilly Bond narrates it for us.

Megan Frampton is an American author that writes historical fiction. People that have read Megan Caldwell’s novels might be surprised to learn that the pen name belongs to Frampton as well. She uses it to write romantic women’s fiction. Why Do Dukes Fall in Love?

She likes the color black, gin, dark-haired British men, and huge earrings, not in that order. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and kid.

Megan Frampton’s love affair with books began when her parents moved her to a remote town in New Hampshire where there was only one television station. And then the TV broke.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Tall, Duke, and dangerous DB120477

Frampton, Megan Reading time: 8 hours, 23 minutes.

Jilly Bond

Historical Fiction

Human Relations

Romance

“Nash, the ‘dangerous’ Duke of Malvern, has always bristled against the rules of English society. Hot tempered and fearful of becoming like his brutish late father, he lives a life of too much responsibility and too little joy. And although he’s vowed to never marry, a duke has a duty and there’s only one way to get himself an heir and a spare. So Nash reluctantly takes a look around at society’s available young ladies to see who might be willing to put up with his one-word answers and frequent glowers. After the death of her father and wicked stepmother, Ana Maria goes from virtual servant to lady-in-training, and while society life has its benefits gorgeous gowns! its restrictive rules stifle her spririt. And when her independent actions put her in danger, her half-brother insists Nash teach her some self-defense. While most of London’s ladies find Nash intimidating, she only sees a man who needs introducing to all the joys life has to offer. So although officially they are coming together for fighting lessons, unofficially their physical contact begins to blur the line between friendship and begins to grown into something more …”– Page 4 of cover. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

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Kate’s 2¢: “Eye Contact” by Cammie McGovern

“Eye Contact” by Cammie McGovern

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   This story was narrated by Martha Harmon Pardee, my favorite narrator.

   McGovern has done a good job of shedding light on several stages of the Autistic spectrum; from young child, older child, and adult. She brings awareness to various strategies parents can use, as well as, what to avoid.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification.

Cammie McGovern is the author of four novels for children and young adults: The Art of Seeing,[1] Eye Contact, Neighborhood Watch, Chester & Gus, and Say What You Will.[2]

Early life[edit]

McGovern was born in Evanston, Illinois, the daughter of Katharine Wolcott (née Watts), a high school teacher, and William Montgomery McGovern, Jr., a university professor. Her older sister is actress Elizabeth McGovern.[1] When Cammie was seven years old, her father accepted a teaching position with UCLA School of Law and the McGoverns moved to Los Angeles. Her paternal grandfather was adventurer William Montgomery McGovern, her maternal great-grandfathers were U.S. diplomat Ethelbert Watts and Admiral Charles P. Snyder, and her maternal great-great-grandfather was congressman Charles P. Snyder.[citation needed]

She currently lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with her husband and three sons, the oldest of whom has autism. Many of her life experiences with her family, autism and starting Whole Children influenced her writings.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Eye contact: a novel DB66043

McGovern, Cammie. Reading time: 10 hours, 0 minutes.

Read by Martha Harmon Pardee.

Mystery and Detective Stories

Psychological Fiction

Adam, a nine-year-old autistic boy, disappears during recess with his classmate, Amelia. Amelia is later found dead, but Adam is unable to communicate what he witnessed. Adam’s mother, Cara, attempts to interpret Adam’s behavior to help find the killer. Strong language, some descriptions of sex, and some violence. 2006.

Downloaded: January 1, 2025

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 Kate’s 2¢: “Finnegans wake” by James Joyce  

“Finnegans wake” by James Joyce  

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Patrick Horgan did a good job of narrating this story, but be sure to have a swig or two of Irish whiskey before you try to read or listen to this novel.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of the 20th century. Joyce’s novel Ulysses (1922) is a landmark in which the episodes of Homer’s Odyssey are paralleled in a variety of literary styles, particularly stream of consciousness. Other well-known works are the short-story collection Dubliners (1914), and the novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Finnegans Wake (1939). His other writings include three books of poetry, a play, letters, and occasional journalism.

Joyce was born in Dublin into a middle-class family. He attended the Jesuit Clongowes Wood College in County Kildare, then, briefly, the Christian Brothers–run O’Connell School. Despite the chaotic family life imposed by his father’s unpredictable finances, he excelled at the Jesuit Belvedere College and graduated from University College Dublin in 1902. In 1904, he met his future wife, Nora Barnacle, and they moved to mainland Europe. He briefly worked in Pula and then moved to Trieste in Austria-Hungary, working as an English instructor. Except for an eight-month stay in Rome working as a correspondence clerk and three visits to Dublin, Joyce resided there until 1915. In Trieste, he published his book of poems Chamber Music and his short story collection Dubliners, and he began serially publishing A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in the English magazine The Egoist. During most of World War I, Joyce lived in Zürich, Switzerland, and worked on Ulysses. After the war, he briefly returned to Trieste and then moved to Paris in 1920, which became his primary residence until 1940.

Ulysses was first published in Paris in 1922, but its publication in the United Kingdom and the United States was prohibited because of its perceived obscenity. Copies were smuggled into both countries and pirated versions were printed until the mid-1930s, when publication finally became legal. Joyce started his next major work, Finnegans Wake, in 1923, publishing it sixteen years later in 1939. Between these years, Joyce travelled widely. He and Nora were married in a civil ceremony in London in 1931. He made a number of trips to Switzerland, frequently seeking treatment for his increasingly severe eye problems and psychological help for his daughter, Lucia. When France was occupied by Germany during World War II, Joyce moved back to Zürich in 1940. He died there in 1941 after surgery for a perforated ulcer, at age 58.

Ulysses frequently ranks high in lists of great books, and the academic literature analysing his work is extensive and ongoing. Many writers, film-makers, and other artists have been influenced by his stylistic innovations, such as his meticulous attention to detail, use of interior monologue, wordplay, and the radical transformation of traditional plot and character development. Though most of his adult life was spent abroad, his fictional universe centres on Dublin and is largely populated by characters who closely resemble family members, enemies and friends from his time there. Ulysses in particular is set in the streets and alleyways of the city. Joyce is quoted as saying, “For myself, I always write about Dublin, because if I can get to the heart of Dublin I can get to the heart of all the cities of the world. In the particular is contained the universal.”[1]

Early life[edit]

James Joyce at six in 1888 in sailor suit with hands in pocket, facing the camera

Photograph of Joyce aged six, 1888

Joyce was born on 2 February 1882 at 41 Brighton Square, Rathgar, Dublin, Ireland,[2] to John Stanislaus Joyce and Mary Jane “May” (née Murray). He was the eldest of ten surviving siblings. He was baptised with the name James Augustine Joyce[a] according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church in the nearby St Joseph’s Church in Terenure on 5 February 1882 by Rev. John O’Mulloy.[b] His godparents were Philip and Ellen McCann.[7] John Stanislaus Joyce’s family came from Fermoy in County Cork, where they owned a small salt and lime works. Joyce’s paternal grandfather, James Augustine, married Ellen O’Connell, daughter of John O’Connell, a Cork alderman who owned a drapery business and other properties in Cork City. Ellen’s family claimed kinship with the political leader Daniel O’Connell, who had helped secure Catholic emancipation for the Irish in 1829.[8]

Joyce’s father was appointed rate collector by Dublin Corporation in 1887. The family moved to the fashionable small town of Bray, 12 miles (19 km) from Dublin. Joyce was attacked by a dog around this time, leading to his lifelong fear of dogs.[9][c] He later developed a fear of thunderstorms,[11] which he acquired through a superstitious aunt who had described them as a sign of God’s wrath.[12][d]

In 1891, nine-year-old Joyce wrote the poem “Et Tu, Healy” on the death of Charles Stewart Parnell that his father printed and distributed to friends.[14] The poem expressed the sentiments of the elder Joyce,[15] who was angry at Parnell’s apparent betrayal by the Irish Catholic Church, the Irish Parliamentary Party, and the British Liberal Party that resulted in a collaborative failure to secure Irish Home Rule in the British Parliament.[16] This sense of betrayal, particularly by the church, left a lasting impression that Joyce expressed in his life and art.[17]

That year, his family began to slide into poverty, worsened by his father’s drinking and financial mismanagement.[18] John Joyce’s name was published in Stubbs’ Gazette, a blacklist of debtors and bankrupts, in November 1891, and he was temporarily suspended from work.[19] In January 1893, he was dismissed with a reduced pension.[20]

Joyce began his education in 1888 at Clongowes Wood College, a Jesuit boarding school near Clane, County Kildare, but had to leave in 1891 when his father could no longer pay the fees.[21] He studied at home and briefly attended the Christian Brothers O’Connell School on North Richmond Street, Dublin. Joyce’s father then had a chance meeting with the Jesuit priest John Conmee, who knew the family. Conmee arranged for Joyce and his brother Stanislaus to attend the Jesuits’ Dublin school, Belvedere College, without fees starting in 1893.[22] In 1895, Joyce, now aged 13, was elected by his peers to join the Sodality of Our Lady.[23] Joyce spent five years at Belvedere, his intellectual formation guided by the principles of Jesuit education laid down in the Ratio Studiorum (Plan of Studies).[24] He displayed his writing talent by winning first place for English composition in his final two years[25] before graduating in 1898.[26]

University years[edit]

picture of the Newman House

Newman House, Dublin, which was University College in Joyce’s time[27]

Joyce enrolled at University College[e] in 1898 to study English, French and Italian.[30] While there, he was exposed to the scholasticism of Thomas Aquinas, which had a strong influence on his thought for the rest of his life.[31] He participated in many of Dublin’s theatrical and literary circles. His closest colleagues included leading Irish figures of his generation, most notably, George Clancy, Tom Kettle and Francis Sheehy-Skeffington.[32] Many of the acquaintances he made at this time appeared in his work.[33] His first publication—a laudatory review of Henrik Ibsen’s When We Dead Awaken—was printed in The Fortnightly Review in 1900. Inspired by Ibsen’s works, Joyce sent him a fan letter in Norwegian[34][f] and wrote a play, A Brilliant Career,[37] which he later destroyed.[38][g]

In 1901 the National Census of Ireland listed Joyce as a 19-year-old Irish- and English-speaking unmarried student living with his parents, six sisters and three brothers at Royal Terrace (now Inverness Road) in Clontarf, Dublin.[40] During this year he became friends with Oliver St. John Gogarty,[41] the model for Buck Mulligan in Ulysses.[33] In November, Joyce wrote an article, The Day of the Rabblement, criticising the Irish Literary Theatre for its unwillingness to produce the works of playwrights like Ibsen, Leo Tolstoy, and Gerhart Hauptmann.[42] He protested against nostalgic Irish populism and argued for an outward-looking, cosmopolitan literature.[43] Because he mentioned Gabriele D’Annunzio’s novel Il fuoco (The Flame),[44] which was on the Roman Catholic list of prohibited books, his college magazine refused to print it. Joyce and Sheehy-Skeffington—who had also had an article rejected—had their essays jointly printed and distributed. Arthur Griffith decried the censorship of Joyce’s work in his newspaper United Irishman.[45]

Joyce graduated from the Royal University of Ireland in October 1902. He considered studying medicine[46] and began attending lectures at the Catholic University Medical School in Dublin.[47] When the medical school refused to provide a tutoring position to help finance his education, he left Dublin to study medicine in Paris,[48] where he received permission to attend the course for a certificate in physics, chemistry, and biology at the École de Médecine.[49] By the end of January 1903, he had given up plans to study medicine[50] but he stayed in Paris, often reading late in the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève.[51] He frequently wrote home claiming ill health due to the water, the cold weather, and his change of diet,[52] appealing for money his family could ill-afford.[53]

Post-university years in Dublin[edit]

Jame’s Joyce’s bust on St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin. It says James Joyce 1882–1914.

Bust of Joyce on St Stephen’s Green, Dublin, by Marjorie Fitzgibbon

In April 1903, Joyce learned his mother was dying[h] and immediately returned to Ireland.[60] He would tend to her, reading aloud from drafts that would eventually be worked into his unfinished novel Stephen Hero.[61] During her final days, she unsuccessfully tried to get him to make his confession and to take communion.[62][i] She died on 13 August.[64] Afterwards, Joyce and Stanislaus refused to kneel with other members of the family praying at her bedside.[65] John Joyce’s drinking and abusiveness increased in the months following her death, and the family began to fall apart.[66] Joyce spent much of his time carousing with Gogarty and his medical school colleagues,[67] and tried to scrape together a living by reviewing books.[68]

Joyce’s life began to change when he met Nora Barnacle on 10 June 1904. She was a twenty-year-old woman from Galway city, who was working in Dublin as a chambermaid.[69] They had their first outing together on 16 June 1904,[j] walking through the Dublin suburb of Ringsend, where Nora masturbated him.[72] This event was commemorated as the date for the action of Ulysses, known in popular culture as “Bloomsday” in honour of the novel’s main character Leopold Bloom.[73] This began a relationship that continued for thirty-seven years until Joyce died.[74] Soon after this outing, Joyce, who had been carousing with his colleagues,[75] approached a young woman in St Stephen’s Green and was beaten up by her companion. He was picked up and dusted off by an acquaintance of his father’s, Alfred H. Hunter, who took him into his home to tend to his injuries. Hunter, who was rumoured to be a Jew and to have an unfaithful wife, became one of the models for Leopold Bloom, the protagonist of Ulysses.[76]

Joyce was a talented tenor and explored becoming a musical performer.[77][k] On 8 May 1904, he was a contestant in the Feis Ceoil,[79] an Irish music competition for promising composers, instrumentalists and singers.[80] In the months before the contest, Joyce took singing lessons with two voice instructors, Benedetto Palmieri and Vincent O’Brien.[81] He paid the entry fee by pawning some of his books.[82] For the contest, Joyce had to sing three songs. He did well with the first two, but when he was told he had to sight read the third, he refused.[83] Joyce won the third-place medal anyway.[l] After the contest, Palmieri wrote Joyce that Luigi Denza, the composer of the popular song “Funiculì, Funiculà” who was the judge for the contest,[88] spoke highly of his voice and would have given him first place but for the sight-reading and lack of sufficient training.[89] Palmieri even offered to give Joyce free singing lessons afterwards. Joyce refused the lessons, but kept singing in Dublin concerts that year.[90] His performance at a concert given on 27 August may have solidified Nora’s devotion to him.[91] Although Joyce did not ultimately pursue a singing career, he would include thousands of musical allusions in his

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Finnegans wake DB21424

Joyce, James. Reading time: 26 hours, 58 minutes.

Read by Patrick Horgan.

Classics

A controversial, experimental novel written in 1939. The book is apparently a dream sequence representing one night in the unconscious mind of a Dublin tavern keeper. Joyce’s unique style makes extensive use of slang, arcane puns, and obscure allusions.

Downloaded: December 30, 2024

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Kate’s 2¢: “The Fountainhead: by Ayn Rand

“The Fountainhead: by Ayn Rand

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Decades ago, I read this story and I wasn’t impressed. I recently reread it and, I suppose with age and the resulting wisdom, I now can appreciate the myriad of ideas, theories, and Subtilties threaded throughout the twists and turns of the narrative arc.

   It is a love story, so of course, the guy gets the girl in the end with a lot of problems before the ending, but it is also a love story of Roark and the buildings he erects while sticking to his principles; Peter’s love of glory and money; Elmer’s love of himself and playing the demi-God; and Dominique’s love of being contrary, yet self-serving but giving.

   Steven Carpenter did a good job of narrating this lengthy novel.

   A few take-aways:

–If I don’t enjoy my work, I’m condemning myself to 60-years of torture.

–The freedom to agree or disagree is the foundation of our society.

–If it has to be built, it might as well be built right.

–My reward is the work itself.

–I don’t wish to be the symbol of anything. I am only myself.

–Elmer: I want my power. Let all live for all. Let all sacrifice and none profit.

–The Creator served no one and nothing.

— Man cannot survive except through his mind.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alice O’Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;[c] February 2 [O.S. January 20], 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (/aɪn/), was a Russian-born American author and philosopher.[3] She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system she named Objectivism. Born and educated in Russia, she moved to the United States in 1926. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful and two Broadway plays, Rand achieved fame with her 1943 novel The Fountainhead. In 1957, she published her best-selling work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. Afterward, until her death in 1982, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own periodicals and releasing several collections of essays.

Rand advocated reason and rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism as opposed to altruism and hedonism. In politics, she condemned the initiation of force as immoral and supported laissez-faire capitalism, which she defined as the system based on recognizing individual rights, including private property rights. Although she opposed libertarianism, which she viewed as anarchism, Rand is often associated with the modern libertarian movement in the United States. In art, she promoted romantic realism. She was sharply critical of most philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her, with a few exceptions.

Rand’s books have sold over 37 million copies. Her fiction received mixed reviews from literary critics, with reviews becoming more negative for her later work.[4] Although academic interest in her ideas has grown since her death,[5] academic philosophers have generally ignored or rejected Rand’s philosophy, arguing that she has a polemical approach and that her work lacks methodological rigor.[3] Her writings have politically influenced some right-libertarians and conservatives. The Objectivist movement circulates her ideas, both to the public and in academic settings.

Life[edit]

Early life[edit]

Rand was born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum on February 2, 1905, into a Jewish bourgeois family living in Saint Petersburg in what was then the Russian Empire.[6] She was the eldest of three daughters of Zinovy Zakharovich Rosenbaum, a pharmacist, and Anna Borisovna (née Kaplan).[7] She was 12 when the October Revolution and the rule of the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin disrupted her family’s lives. Her father’s pharmacy was nationalized,[8] and the family fled to Yevpatoria in Crimea, which was initially under the control of the White Army during the Russian Civil War.[9] After graduating high school there in June 1921,[10] she returned with her family to Petrograd (as Saint Petersburg was then named),[d] where they faced desperate conditions, occasionally nearly starving.[12]

When Russian universities were opened to women after the revolution, Rand was among the first to enroll at Petrograd State University.[13] At 16, she began her studies in the department of social pedagogy, majoring in history.[14] She was one of many bourgeois students purged from the university shortly before graduating. After complaints from a group of visiting foreign scientists, many purged students, including Rand, were reinstated.[15][16] She graduated from the renamed Leningrad State University in October 1924.[13][17] She then studied for a year at the State Technicum for Screen Arts in Leningrad. For an assignment, Rand wrote an essay about the Polish actress Pola Negri; it became her first published work.[18] She decided her professional surname for writing would be Rand,[19] and she adopted the first name Ayn (pronounced /aɪn/).[20][e]

In late 1925, Rand was granted a visa to visit relatives in Chicago.[26] She arrived in New York City on February 19, 1926.[27] Intent on staying in the United States to become a screenwriter, she lived for a few months with her relatives learning English[28] before moving to Hollywood, California.[29]

In Hollywood a chance meeting with director Cecil B. DeMille led to work as an extra in his film The King of Kings and a subsequent job as a junior screenwriter.[30] While working on The King of Kings, she met the aspiring actor Frank O’Connor;[b] they married on April 15, 1929. She became a permanent American resident in July 1929 and an American citizen on March 3, 1931.[31][32][f] She tried to bring her parents and sisters to the United States, but they could not obtain permission to emigrate.[35][36] Rand’s father died of a heart attack in 1939; one of her sisters and their mother died during the siege of Leningrad.[37]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The fountainhead DB53087

Rand, Ayn. Reading time: 30 hours, 49 minutes.

Read by Steven Carpenter.

Psychological Fiction

Although he is expelled from school, Howard Roark is determined to succeed as an architect, rejecting the conventional path of his friend Peter Keating and the wiles of his destructive lover Dominique Francon. Some descriptions of sex. 1943.

Downloaded: January 10, 2025

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Cornucopia: Breakfast At Cracker Barrel

Breakfast at Cracker Barrel, Non-Fiction

By Kate Chamberlin

   We had breakfast at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Henrietta, NY, on January12, 2025 from 9:30-10:10AM.

   Loud country music welcomed us to the front of the restaurant.

My husband ordered the Old Gentleman’s breakfast and I requested the Breakfast sandwich on sourdough. We shared an order of Buttermilk Beignets  smothered in cinnamon, dipped in hot pecan syrup. Our waitress was prompt and courteous; although, I would have liked her to talk just a bit louder to make up for the ¾-full restaurant noise and my hearing deficiency.

   I was pleasantly surprised when I asked her if they had a Braille menu and she went to fetch it. The thick covers were bound by a plastic comb. The front pages were large print, followed by the pages of contracted Braille. While I’m not a proficient Braille reader, the cells felt like normal size and were formatted correctly on the page.

  When our meals were served in due time, they were hot, properly cooked, and appealingly presented. Our server, different from the waitress, had been well-trained in how to present the dishes to a blind person, as well as, ignoring my guide dog.

   I was disappointed to find no booths. The tables were so close together, that when people sat in the chairs, there wasn’t enough room for my guide dog to work us through.

   Dave said the floor was a brick something that might have been why my chair didn’t set on four-legs. I tried to move it to get a level seat but couldn’t.

  Our coffees were hot and strong. The waitress kept asking if we’d like them re-filled. Our meals were ample and at an economical price, although the prices were different on-line from the hard copy menu.

   The country music seemed to bid us farewell as we left the restaurant relaxed and sated.

   We’ll be stopping in again to Cracker Barrel to have breakfast or lunch the next time we have a doctor’s appointment in the city.

Kate’s 2¢: “Steel Fear” by Brandon Webb

“Steel Fear” by Brandon Webb

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   This was quite the thriller and kept me reading and reading. I must admit, I did not discover the killer until that person was disclosed.

   Johnathan McClain Did a good job of narrating this story. Thank you.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brandon Tyler Webb (born June 12, 1974) is a former United States Navy SEAL and SEAL Sniper course Head Instructor, with one combat deployment to Afghanistan and one to the Persian Gulf. Webb is the Founder and CEO of Hurricane Group, LLC, which includes sofrep.com, The Load Out Room, sofrep radio, and the SpecOps Channel on YouTube. Brandon Webb is also a media commentator on snipers and related Special Operations Forces military issues.[1] Webb is a New York Times Best Selling Author[2] who has written or collaborated on twelve books. Webb received his education at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, and after separating from the Navy attended Harvard Business School’s OPM (Owner/President Management) program. He gives keynote speeches to Fortune 500 companies. He is a member of the YPO (Young Presidents Organization) chapter, and a Harvard Business School alumni.[3]

Military career[edit]

Webb joined the Navy in 1993 and began his career as an Aviation Warfare Systems Operator and Search and Rescue Swimmer with two deployments to the Persian Gulf on the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Kittyhawk. He completed Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training class 215 in 1998. He was then assigned to SEAL Team 3.

File:Brandon_Tyler_Webb_Milita…

Photo of Brandon Tyler Webb during his early Military service

In 2000, Webb was invited to undergo training at the SEAL Sniper Course. After becoming a certified SEAL Sniper, he deployed to the Persian Gulf with SEAL Team 3 GOLF platoon, and Afghanistan in 2001 with ST3 ECHO platoon. After his last deployment with SEAL Team 3, Webb worked at the Naval Special Warfare Group One Sniper Cell and Naval Special Warfare Center Sniper program as the Sniper Course Manager.

Year

Military Service Activity

March of 1993

Brandon Webb underwent Bootcamp at Recruit Training Center located at Orlando, Florida

May of 1993

Enrolled at Naval Enlisted Aircrew Training School located at Pensacola, Florida

July 1993

Enrolled at Search and Rescue Swimmer (SAR) school

1995-98

assigned to Helicopter Squadron 6.

1998-2002

Brandon Webb was assigned to “SEAL Team 3”

1999

attended the Naval Special Warfare Group One (NSWG-1) West Coast SEAL Sniper Course

2000

Brandon Webb and “SEAL Team 3 GOLF Platoon” was Deployed to the Persian Gulf to conduct non-compliant ship boardings, then they were diverted to Aden, Yemen to aid the stricken USS Cole.

2001

Brandon Webb was deployed to Afghanistan with SEAL Team 3, ECHO Platoon

2002

assigned to “Naval Special Warfare Group One”, Training Detachment (TRADET)

2002

meritoriously promoted to E6 as the top #1 ranked E5 at Naval Special Warfare Group 1 TRADET, as Sniper Cell Instructor.

2002-2003

served at Naval Special Warfare, Training Detachment, Group One

2003-2006

promoted to United States Navy Chief petty officer / “E-7” as Naval Special Warfare Center “Sniper Course Manager”

Overall, Brandon Tyler Webb’s military service spanned from 1993 to 2006, during which he underwent rigorous training and deployed to various locations as an aircrew SAR swimmer with HS6 and later as a SEAL sniper with SEAL Team 3.

His roles included serving as a Sniper Cell Instructor and later as the Sniper Course Manager at the Naval Special Warfare Center. Throughout his career, Webb demonstrated exceptional skill and leadership, culminating in his promotion to E7/Chief Petty Officer.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Steel fear: a thriller DB120541

Webb, Brandon Reading time: 13 hours, 19 minutes.

Johnathan McClain

Suspense Fiction

Historical Fiction

Mystery and Detective Stories

“Discovering that there is a serial killer onboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, disgraced Navy SEAL sniper Finn finds suspicion falling on him as a newcomer and must expose the real killer while searching for redemption”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

Download Steel fear: a thriller DB120541

Kate’s 2¢: “In true face: a woman’s life in the CIA, unmasked” by Jonna Mendez

“In true face: a woman’s life in the CIA, unmasked” by Jonna Mendez

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

Barbara Benjamin-Creel did a good job of reading this biography. I like to have a female narrator read a female’s memoir.

      Mendez certainly led an exciting life. She knew she’d have to start at the bottom, but she has a few colleagues who supported her along the way…not to mention her husband.

   Personally, I like mothers to stay at home with their pre-schoolers.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jonna Hiestand was born in 1945 in Campbellsville, Kentucky. In 1963, she graduated from high school in Wichita, Kansas and went on to attend college at Wichita State University. After graduation, she worked for Chase Bank in Frankfurt. In 1966, she was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Europe and started a career with them.[1][2]

In the CIA, Mendez lived under cover and served tours of duty in Europe, the Far East, the Subcontinent, and at CIA Headquarters. In the 1970’s, she joined the Office of Technical Service and worked overseas with a speciality in clandestine photography. As a technical operations officer, Mendez also prepared the CIA’s most highly placed foreign assets in the use of spy cameras and the processing of intelligence gathered by them. In this role, she also developed creative photography skills. In 1982, she was one of the few selected for a year-long leadership development program. At the program’s completion, she was given a choice among some assignments and became a generalist in disguise, identity transformation, and clandestine imaging in South and Southeast Asia.

She was assigned to Denied Area Operations for disguise in 1986. This took her to the most difficult and hostile operating areas in the world where she and her colleagues matched wits with the overwhelming forces of the KGB in Moscow, the Stasi in East Germany and the Cuban DGI.[1] In 1988, she was promoted to Deputy Chief of the Disguise Division and in 1991, Chief of Disguise. During her tenure as Chief of Disguise, she met with President George H.W. Bush in a mask disguise, which she removed in the meeting to demonstrate the effectiveness of the art of disguise.[3][4] In 1993, she retired and was awarded the CIA’s Commendation Medal.[1][5][6][7]

Jonna Hiestand Goeser met her future second husband, Tony Mendez, also a CIA officer, while assigned to Bangkok. Tony Mendez is widely known for overseeing the joint covert rescue mission “Canadian Caper” during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, a story that served as inspiration for the 2012 movie Argo directed by Ben Affleck.[8] Following Mendez’s retirement in 1990, he and Jonna married in 1991. They had a son together.[9][6][10]

Later years[edit]

After retiring from the CIA in 1993, Mendez and her husband[11] served on the board of directors for the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. They were both involved in the museum planning and design.[6] She was one of the 51 former intelligence officers who signed the public statement on the Hunter Biden emails, which claimed that the scandal was a Russian information operation.[12]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

In true face: a woman’s life in the CIA, unmasked DB120135

Mendez, Jonna Reading time: 8 hours, 45 minutes.

Barbara Benjamin-Creel

Government and Politics

Biography of Heads of State and Political Figures

“Jonna Hiestand Mendez began her CIA career as a “contract wife,” a second-class citizen who was hired as a convenience to her husband, a young officer stationed in Switzerland. She needed his permission to open a bank account or shut off the gas to her apartment, and she performed menial duties for the CIA. Despite battling sexism at all levels of the agency, Mendez’s talent for espionage was clear, and she soon took on bigger and more significant roles. She lived under cover and served tours of duty all over the globe, as well as at CIA Headquarters. She confronted dangerous situations that called on her spy training: coming face to face with a rogue Jihadi who had brought down an American plane, and helping steal a top-secret encryption machine from a Soviet embassy, among other high stakes situations. She became an international spy and ultimately Chief of Disguise at CIA’s Office of Technical Service–a kind of female American version of James Bond’s famous “Q.” In this breakthrough memoir, Mendez recounts not only the drama of her international spy career but the grit and good fortune it took for her to navigate the CIA’s misogynistic world. She was undermined, harassed, and threatened, and saw colleagues experience worse. While maintaining a patriotic mission and working to advance her own career, she was a firsthand witness to the cost of this gendered culture, both to the women who worked there, and to the interests of the agency and the nation it serves. In True Face is both clear-eyed and dramatic: the story of an incredible spy career, and what it took to achieve it”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

Download In true face: a woman’s life in the CIA, unmasked DB120135

Kate’s 2¢: “Vienna spies” by Alex Gerlis

“Vienna spies” by Alex Gerlis

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Rupert Bush  Did a good job of reading this interesting, tense, and intriguing novel. Now exactly how much was fact and how much was fiction?

From the Publisher’s Web page:

Alex Gerlis is the author of the acclaimed Spies series of four Second World War espionage thrillers which are noted for their detailed research and intricate plots and feature two great adversaries: the British spymaster Edgar and his Soviet counterpart Viktor. The television/film rights for The Best of Our Spies have been bought by a major production company. He lives in west London with his wife and family.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Vienna spies DB120269

Gerlis, Alex Reading time: 11 hours, 55 minutes.

Rupert Bush

Historical Fiction

Spy Stories

War Stories

“A new and terrifying enemy rears it head at last. With the end of the Second World War in sight, the Allies begin to divide up the spoils. It proves to be a dangerous game. The British realise that the Soviet Union is intent on controlling Austria. Major Edgar is tasked with establishing an espionage unit in Vienna to monitor the situation. He sends two agents to bring Austria’s most respected politician over to the British cause. But the feared Soviet spy Viktor Krasotkin is already in the war-torn city, on exactly the same mission. The game is on. A taut, tense masterclass in espionage fiction, perfect for fans of John le Carré and Alan Furst.”–Back cover. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

Download Vienna spies DB120269Kate’s 2¢: “W.E.B. Griffin rogue asset” by Brian Andrews“W.E.B. Griffin rogue asset” by Brian Andrews
NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…
 
   Oh Dear Gussie! There sure was a lot of blood and guts in this story, but they saved their man and rid the world of a few bad guys, too.
   Scott Brick Did a good job of reading this novel.
  
From the web:
BRIAN ANDREWS . Brian is a US Navy veteran, nuclear engineer, and former submarine officer. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in psychology, holds a Master’s in business from Cornell, and is a Park Leadership Fellow.
 
Wikipedia
William Edmund Butterworth III (November 10, 1929 – February 12, 2019), [1] better known by his pen name W. E. B. Griffin, was an American writer of military and detective fiction with 59 novels in seven series published under that name. Twenty-one of those books were co-written with his son, William E Butterworth IV.
 
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
W.E.B. Griffin rogue asset DB120270
Andrews, Brian Reading time: 12 hours, 4 minutes.
Scott Brick
 
Suspense Fiction
Spy Stories
 
“The secretary of state has been kidnapped by Islamic extremists and his only hope for survival is a reconstituted Presidential Agent team in this revival of W. E. B. Griffin’s New York Times bestselling series”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
 

Download W.E.B. Griffin rogue asset DB120270