First is Kiva. I've written about this organization in the past, but its worth mentioning again.
The second charity gift idea is Heifer International. Heifer International is dedicated to relieving global hunger and poverty. It provides gifts of livestock and plants, as well as education in sustainable agriculture, to financially-disadvantaged families around the world. Through them, you can buy any number of different kinds of animals in your loved ones' name. The animals will be given to the poor all over the world, starting for as little as $20 for a flock of geese, ducks or chicks. Each family that receives a gift from Heifer International agrees to pass on a female offspring to someone else in need - allowing your initial gift to grow and do more good. Again, isn't that a much better gift than a scented candle?
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!"Roscoe," she said, "I want you to tell us exactly what happened."From Thunderhead by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Swire sat down near the fire, still heaving from his scramble through the slot canyon, oblivious to a nasty gash on his arm that was bleeding freely.
Nora Kelly, a young archaeologist in Santa Fe, receives a letter written sixteen years ago, yet mysteriously mailed only recently. In it her father, long believed dead, hints at a fantastic discovery that will make him famous and rich---the lost city of an ancient civilization that suddenly vanished a thousand years ago. Now Nora is leading an expedition into a harsh, remote corner of Utah's canyon country. Searching for her father and his glory, Nora begins to unravel the greatest riddle of American archeology. But what she unearths will be the newest of horrors...
As regular readers of this blog may already know, I am a big fan of science fiction writer John Scalzi. He even has his own tag here, I write about him so much! His Old Man's War series is just fantastic. I am also a fan and daily reader of Scalzi's blog Whatever. "Whatever" is one of the longest running blogs - the first entry was on September 13, 1998, way back even before the term blog was invented - and has 40k plus readers a day (I can't even imagine having that many readers!). So what is "Whatever" about?Well, about whatever: Politics, writing, family, war, popular culture and cats (especially with bacon on them). Sometimes he's funny. Sometimes he's serious (mostly he's sarcastic). Sometimes people agree with him. Sometimes they send him hate mail, which he grades on originality and sends back.Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded is a collection of "Whatever" entries, some dating back to the early days of the site, some from 2008. The topics range from the serious to the ridiculous, and include such topics as September 11th, advice for writers, and fatherhood.
No surprise, I really like Scalzi's writing. As the blurb points out, there's a lot of sarcasm in the humorous pieces, which I like, though I recognize not everyone will. But Scalzi has, to me, a distinctive voice, that I just love. I think other readers (and not just science fiction fans) will enjoy this book as well.
The as-yet-unnamed third book in Suzanne Collins's bestselling trilogy that began with The Hunger Games in fall 2008 and continued with Catching Fire this fall has been set for next August 24. The U.S. hardcover edition (Scholastic, $17.99, 9780439023511) will be released simultaneously with a U.S. audio version (Scholastic, $39.99, 9780545101424).I can't wait!
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!I fell for Carl [Sagan] with the sort of blissful rapture that I strongly suspect is only available to pre-pubescent geeks, a sort of nerd crush that, to be clear, had no sexual component, but had the same sort of swoony intensity. This was the guy I wanted to be when I was age eleven.If you buy this book through Subterranean Press (the publisher), you also get a little chapter book - a novella, of sorts - by Scalzi, FYI.
January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book….I liked this book. I really liked the way the authors handled the epistolary style and I enjoyed the story. I can, though, point out about a dozen things wrong with this book that prevented me from loving it, though. The plot twists were visible from space, the off-screen lead character (Elizabeth, not the actual main character Juliet) was too good to be true, and the ending was pat. But I liked it! Does that mean there's something wrong with me? I guess not, since so many other people have loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society even more than I did. There are some sad moments, but overall this is a nice book to read when you want something sweet. Enjoy!
As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society [was] born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island. Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives.
