My new blogs

 I have created 3 new blogs:

One is to share photos and along with the photos some background about the photo or photos.  You can think of it as a photo, travel, culture and food blog.

https://timnewphotos.blogspot.com/

A second is about books and reading.  It will let me connect with readers out there in the world I hope.

https://timnew-books.blogspot.com/

and the Third is all about English learning

https://new-world-esl.blogspot.com/

Feel free to share the blog links with anyone you think will be interested.  I still need to decide about my first blog for ESL. 

'Tis the Season for Giving

Yes it is the season for giving with Christmas just around the corner. Have you wondered why we restrict ourselves to giving just this time of year? Should we?

This blog is about giving. It just so happens this is the time of year for giving. It could be any time and it would would apply.

14 year old starts Library in his town: needs Books donated!

I was reading through the website of author Lois Lowry (a favorite author of mine) and discovered an opportunity to give. A Young boy, age 14, is starting a Library in his town of Rollinsford, New Hampshire. He had written Lois when he was 11 and mentioned his town did not have a Library. Reminescent of Cicero, Lois responded "I told him then that a town with no library was like a body with no heart." Being a lover of books, I agree. And this is my small part of helping.

If you would like to help 14 year old Robert (or R.J.) Bolian and his efforts to start a Library, one can make a donation to:

This is the address to which book donations should be sent:

Rollinsford Public Library
Cutter Family Properties
Suite 214
1 Front Street
Rollinsford, NH 03869

RJ Bolian, the 14 year old boy who spent three years getting this library up and running—because

his town had none—tells me that they are especially short of children's books.

You can read the original blog of Lois Lowry on this and other issues at http://loislowry.typepad.com/lowry_updates


Give the Gift of Life!

Another gift that is always timely is the gift of life. I have been a regular donator of blood to the American Red Cross since I was 18 and old enough to donate. About a month ago the Red Cross called me. That is a fairly regular occurrence. Every 54 days for years they have called to remind me I was once again eligible to give. This call was different. This time they called wanting me to donate platelets. It is a longer process, but they need platelets for Cancer victims among others.

It took about 80 minutes for me to donate the platelets. They had a portable DVD player so I was able to watch a movie while my platelets were collected. One is able to donate platelets every 2 weeks or so compared to 54 days between blood donations. My blood is CMV negative which is the only blood newborns or peopre who are receiving an organ transplant can use. Now I must chose as two branches of the Red Cross compete - blood or platelets.

If you are healthy and able to donate blood or platelets, please do. Blood is truly a gift worth giving. You can save a life!

A Thousand Splendid Suns

I just finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. This is his second novel. His debut novel was The Kite Runner which I have not yet read. However it spent something like 2 years on the NY Times best seller list.

I don't want to spoil the book for anyone, but the setting of the book is Afghanistan and spans about 50 years. You primarily view the history of Afghanistan during this time through the eyes of 2 women. It is a poignant and moving story and is not recommended for those who are looking for a light amusing book.

For fans of UK author, Joanne Harris ( Chocolat, Blackberry Wine: A Novel, Coastliners: A Novel, Five Quarters of the Orange), you should really like this book. And vice versa. If you like A Thousand Splendid Suns, you should also enjoy Joanne Harris' books. She is one of my favorite modern authors. You should also consider Purple Hibiscus by Adichie. Another book you may want to read if you like books on life in Afghanistan during the Taliban era is Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis. And yes I have read every one of these recommended books and would not recommend a book I did not think was very good. If you have school children anywhere from 4th grade and up, this last book is one they can read and enjoy.

IF you enjoy books and reading, I am adding pages to a section on my website devoted to books - one of my passions. I just finished adding Modern Library's 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century to the site. This is actually 2 lists (100 by the Board and 100 by the readers). How many of the best books of the 20th century have you read? Take a visit http://timnew.com/books/ and see. It is interesting to see how divergent the 2 lists are.

I have also listed some of my favorite UK authors and favorite US authors in addition to a list of authors and books fans of JK Rowling and the Harry Potter series may enjoy reading since the end of that series. My plans are to continue adding material so visit often to see what is new. If you have book suggestions, comments or questions about books I have recommended on this blog or my site, please leave a comment or email me. I love feedback and prefer dialogue over monologue any day.

Cleaning up, rearranging

I've been cleaning up and rearranging the blog. It is still a work in progress as I experiment with layouts and elements. 2 Polls closed - Which of the New Wonders of the World would you like to Visit? and How Harry Potter affected your Reading Habits. Taj Mahal won the New Wonder of the World most of you readers would like to visit followed by Michu Pichu and the Great Wall of China, then the Roman Colaseum and Brasil's Statute of Christ, and the Jordon's Petra and finally Mexico's Ruins. On Harry Potter, most of you already loved to read before Harry Potter was discovered by you.

I have removed the games. I'm not sure if anyone was playing any of them or not. If you were, you can still play them by visiting my website and selecting games from the left hand frame. The Harry PotterGames, Tic-Tac-Toe, and Sudoku (my favorite) are all there.

I think everything else is still here just rearranged. 3 Polls on Harry Potter are still open. If you haven't voted yet, there is still time. The polls are located on the left side - just scroll down.

As I am posting this, I am also cleaning up, rearranging and adding elements to my website. One new section deals with books. IF you like to read, you will want to check out that section. It is still having pages added but I already have suggestions for fans of Harry Potter on books they may enjoy reading and suggestions on US and UK authors. I plan to add genre sections, Best 100 Novels sections, Non-US, Non-UK authors sections, and others as time allows. I am including links to authors' websites so it takes time.

I have also added a section on Alzheimer's and a section on Global News sites in English (listed in left hand frame).

I am also in the process of scanning photographs and adding them to my photo section of my website. I have literally hundreds of photos to process that are already scanned and plan to scan more. I am also adding photos to my Picasa albums and Flickr albums. I have more on picasa than flickr. IF you do not already have a picasa album, I would recommend it. It is FREE and part of the Google Pack. You can get it by clicking the Google Pack banner on the side menu. There are several items included in the Free Google Pack in addition to picasa. Flickr is by Google's competitor Yahoo. I have not yet done as much with it but it is also free. Why not get both and see which you prefer? Just do a quick search for Flickr above in the search box and you'll find it. I will be adding more photos to both of my accounts as time permits.

I think that about covers it. Let me know what you think.

Drago Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus

Drago Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus

is one of the first phrases a reader of the Harry Potter series sees. It appears on the title page of Book 1 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in the UK and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the US but doesn't really make an appearance in the series up to now. Does its significance await book 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? My guess is that it does.

Scholastic has released the Cover Art for the deluxe version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and, surprise ...

it shows the heroic threesome, Harry, Hermione and Ron riding a dragon!

That suggested to me that the Hogwarts' Motto may have meaning for Book 7. Then today I was reading some of the promotional material from Amazon UK and they have included an audio teaser from Stephen Fry, the voice behind the Harry Potter Audio series. And the teaser he offers is "Drago Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus" or "Never Tickle a sleeping Dragon."

So with 10 days remaining until the official launch of the final book in the Harry Potter series, we have something new to ponder. Is that dragon depicted in the deluxe cover Hagrid's pet dragon Norbert now grown? Or is it somehow Hogwarts' Motto come alive?

More on Harry Potter later