Tag Archive: Disabilities



Taxi - Talk (Book 5)Taxi – Talk by Sophia DeLuna

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Remember when I read the first four episodes of Taxi? Well, I got a welcome surprise after the review of the fourth one. Ms. Sophia DeLuna, the author of these great stories, sent me a sweet email that included coupons for the next three books in the series. Yay! Thank you so much. With my tight budget, it is often hard to decide if the next dollar is for food or reading. I hate to admit that I don’t look like I would if I chose books more often. Or maybe it is the fact that one can do both eating and reading comfortably at the same time?

At any rate, I got to the reading as soon as I could. And I think that Taxi 5, Talk, is one of my favorites. It is so real and honest. It touched deep emotional threads for me. This book deepens the relationship of Carmen and Ulrike. You see Carmen, still dealing with her bit of PTSD, or maybe there is a deeper issue going on, like social anxiety, depression, or other mental problems. I found I related to Carmen very much, phone phobia, isolation, etc. And Ulrike is fleshed out in how she and Carmen’s cat bond over yogurt, sharing a spoon. Carmen cringed and so did I. But as different as Carmen and Ulrike are, you see them working hard to communicate and deepen their love for each other.

By the way, I just did a review of New Hire: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show…, where my complaint was that the characters weren’t deep at all. In comparison, this Taxi series has what I think give fictional characters real life. In this series, I was surprised at how well I had pictured the two characters. It had to be how the author described them. I went to the author’s website: http://www.sophiadeluna.com/ and under the Taxi category I found the author’s rendition of her characters. I would have known who they were had I met them on the street. That is how good Ms. DeLuna is creating her characters. She’s quite the artist, as well! I can’t wait to read #6!

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Taxi - Timing (Book 4)Taxi – Timing by Sophia DeLuna

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The trauma that started in book/section three continues. It is so bad that it could be the end of the relationship between Carmen and her lover and even plays a part in her relationships with family and friends. But is time on her side? Is there a point where your trauma can isolate you to a point of starvation. Can she find her inner strength before everyone gives up on her?

This may be the most personal of all. If you haven’t lived with trauma that is that debilitating you might not understand what Carmen is going through. But I felt the author, Sophia Deluna, did a marvelous job getting inside the heads of characters of this section. And something I haven’t written about in my reviews of the previous Taxi installments is her writing. I love it! Her descriptions and ability to tell a story, reeling in this reader, hook, line and sinker. All the relationships seem real. I am looking forward to reading the rest of this story.

As with the other few bits of this story, I am most upset by the price per bit. I am now at the end of my budget for the month so I won’t be able to read part five for a month. It is this that is causing the less than five stars for me. At least with Kindle Unlimited I can still read a book when the money runs out. Oh well. I still have a few of Ms. DeLuna’s other stories downloaded to peruse over the next few weeks.

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Blabbering/Wordcount


20130623

I am reading Zen and the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury. I am on the penultimate chapter in which he says (as he does throughout the entire book) to write. His four words to remember are ‘Work, Relax, Don’t Think.’ Anyway, the idea is that if you don’t write everyday and write a lot you are not doing it right.

 

Meanwhile, in real life, I spent my morning reading email and worrying that I don’t have my laptop working any more. But next to me, in his new recliner is hubby working on his novel. I’m sitting in my new bed with my tablet open, with plenty of programs to work with… Why am I not writing like I am being told by life in the moment? No excuses. So. since I have no goal for the day I will journal until an idea strikes.

 

I mentioned that my laptop isn’t working. It started out that the recharging cord seemed to be blinking out. Maybe it was the connection within the laptop itself. Who knows? Then the internet went out. No web could be found. DH and I went to WalMart to get an ethernet cord. Got it home and found it too short to reach the box. DB had to make a hole in my closet wall so that it would work. Well, all that work and expense (we had to take a taxi as we have no car) gained me a day of work on my computer. When the battery ran down, I couldn’t recharge it any more. Now I am SO missing all my programs like yWriter, Office, RoughDraft, WriteItNow, etc. Is this the universe saying use it or lose it?

 

We haven’t the money to fix my laptop or get another. We can’t even go to Rent-a-Center to get a new one as we just bought this bed and chair. I will have to wait until something is paid off before I can do anything. Boo! Another program I miss is the spell check/grammar check that my laptop has working continually. This program has something like it but it seems to think that contracted words are misspelled. AND I just realized that if a word is misspelled it doesn’t offer a way to correct it. I had mispelled <– but had to figure out for myself that I am a dork and needed to add an ‘s’.

 

What else am I reading? Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. I picked up the hardback, the Audible, the Kindle versions. Kindle now has a way to link with the Audible. It is a really cool feature. I love being able to read along silently during the day and then add the narrator’s voice in my bedtime read and Amazon syncs them both to where I am in either.

 

Speaking of Fingersmith, I am loving the book but found the change of perspective a little jarring. It starts out from Sue’s point of view. After reaching the conclusion of their mission, the author takes us back to relive the same events but from Maud’s viewpoint. I now understand the need to do that but I went through a couple pages thinking I was still in Sue’s head. I need to make sure I don’t do that. By the way, the hardback made that transition obvious. Kindle didn’t have any chapter or asterisks to separate Sue from Maud.

 

I have been hurting a lot lately. I had hoped by summer to feel better but I find I can’t handle the constant weather changes that we have here in Reno no better now than mid winter. I’m so tired of feeling left out of everything!

 

This is a poor time of life for me. I make about $600 a month after medicare is taken out of my pay. If my husband didn’t make a little more than me, we would probably be out on the streets. Even still, we seem to manage. We got rid of our car due to our eyes not being up to driving anymore. My fibro is so painful that I can’t take the bus. It isn’t the riding, it is the standing and waiting for the bus that makes me hurt worse. Instead, if it isn’t within easy walking distance, we take taxis everywhere.

 

I hope I can get healthy enough to live this way. I miss having my own car. And now, I miss having my own REAL computer. I love my Toshiba Thrive Tablet but as I mentioned above, I am missing a lot of programs here.

 

Well, how about that? I just wrote 777 words. Not bad for just blathering. I think I’ll post this on my blog. Now 786. That’s a healthy start towards a good habit, huh? 796 Oh, heck let’s move the word count to over 800, okay?

Review: Mars Rising


Mars Rising
Mars Rising by Cidney Swanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am SO SAD! This is the end of the series. I could live in this series forever. I want to be Jess, or Harpreet. They are my favorite characters. Both are pilots who fly between Earth and Mars and globally on either. Oh, include the moon in that for Jess.

REAL science fiction. Real research involved in the science. These things are all possible and hopefully the space travel will be something we do.

Mars as a colony is grand! Its a believable world peopled according to what is possible in the beginnings of populating another planet.

Creepy things have taken over the political system of Earth. Such a marvelous planet to an outsider. Rain, oceans, breathable air. But recycling bodies? ‘Rebodying’. Ew. Although some of the science might be worth looking into for incurable diseases.

I know. You are looking at what I am saying and wondering what in the world I am talking about. Sorry. I should stick with reviewing. I try so hard not to make spoilers that I find relaying what the book is about nearly impossible. Meanwhile, these are the books I would have died to have to read when I was a kid. Still they hold up for me at 64. Though a little heavy in males, I find that the author has included all ages and sexes which is refreshing. And they learn from each other.

Okay, there is a bit of romance, but Jess isn’t all googly she holds on to herself and the couple completes each other intellectually and emotionally. That, too, is refreshing.

Cidney Swanson, also took a chance an included a sibling that has a disability. Jess’s brother, Ethan, seems to be a bit of a savant or has autism or Asberger’s Syndrome. She never labels his differences as such, just describes him with his assets and problems in ways that he is just human like all of us. Ms. Swanson is amazing in how she portrays this character.

In fact, the writing of these books is fantastic. I think I found an editing oops, but it was so minor that I can’t remember it at all. THAT’s how an author writes!

The series ended very well. I was glad to stick it out to the end. I didn’t have that incomplete feeling I often feel at the ends of books. Even still, I feel I will have to reread them all again and again! I recommend everyone who is a sci-fi buff to read them all. By the way, The first book, Saving Mars, is free right now. But for once I don’t feel bad about spending the money on the rest of the series. I think Ms. Swanson’s promotions of her books are very well done. Please, find these and enjoy them like I did–do.

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Review: Striking Mars


Striking Mars
Striking Mars by Cidney Swanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was the best sci-fi series I have ever read. Lots of space travel and well researched situations to keep the reader engaged. Check out my reviews on the previous four books to feel my glow. I am so excited that there is going to be yet one more book that I totally turned ‘Fan Girl’. As soon as I finished reading this book last night I wrote to the author to gush and beg for the next one. Gosh, I can’t wait to read six. It is supposed to be out this Spring, yet another reason I want Winter to LEAVE!

Once again, I am so impressed with the main character Jess and her autistic (?) hacker brother, Ethan. There is a lot of enjoying time on Mars through the family left there, time on Earth, and even time on the Moon. It was just so much fun!

Please do yourself a favor and grab the triology for $2.99 Then enjoy a great adventure. Then follow up with the science links that Ms. Swanson puts in the back of the book. It is worth every penny!

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Review: Defying Mars


Defying Mars
Defying Mars by Cidney Swanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This series is so much fun, so exciting, that I read book 1 and this book 2 straight through. Then I was stranded without book 3. Yikes! As luck would have it the boxed set came on sale for $.99 so I picked it up and started to read the #3.

The first three are still on sale:

It is often the case that a sequel isn’t as good as the first book. In this case I think this one was even more exciting. I read until 4 in the morning just to see what would happen. The characters and worlds are well built and believable. In this book we get to know more about the support team and the depth of the antagonist.

So far in the series there are no cliffhangers. The reason to keep reading is that you care about the characters and worlds. Cidney Swanson’s writing style works for me. I had already read the Rippler series by her, and I think Saving Mars is even better.

Though this is considered Young Adult I think anyone could read it and have a great adventure. And it isn’t just for teen girls. I think guys of all ages would like this, too. All you need to be is a science fiction fan to love it!

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Good Kings Bad Kings
Good Kings Bad Kings by Susan Nussbaum
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! Just Wow! This book was fantastic! Wait… And yet it was not.

Susan Nusabaum has presented us with a microcosm study in her fictional novel of the society of disabled youth in conventional nursing homes. Wow, again, that was a mouthful (keyboard full?)! Sadly, I don’t believe that the truth is far from this depiction.

The individual stories that create the novel outlines the hopeful actuation of each person dealing with their own demons, their own needs, their own striving for romance while being disabled in one way or another.

As many of you know, I read my books on Kindle with text-to-speech. This book has a character that is Puerto Rican but the author did a great job of capturing all accents and individual speaking quirks. These were so well done that my Kindle reader read them perfectly and even if I wasn’t looking at the printed e-pages I still knew who was talking.

The story starts and ends with a wheel-chair bound woman who lands a data-entry job with this nursing home. She is a strong woman who isn’t stuck in the nursing home, but sees what is going on. We see, through her eyes and the eyes of the other characters what it feels like to be collectively warehoused with others of differing disabilities.

This book is an eye-opener for all readers. Hopefully we all come out of the read with a better understanding for our all our fellow citizens. Whoever recommended this book to me, thank you! I now have it on my Amazon wishlist and hope someday to have the Audible version as well. This is well worth a few rereads. I see that there may be a movie of this book. I bet it will be equally wonderful! Kudos Ms. Nusabaum!

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Sparks Tribune – NNDA helps locals find services. I am so behind in my email! I found this and thought my friend could use a bit more airtime! Yay, Amy!

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