The Final Summit by Andy Andrews

This is a wonderful book you will not want to put down. It combines a fantasy experience and a dutiful dilemma all at the same time. One remarkable asset of the author is his research into the biographies of the "real" people he introduces into the action. This book required a tremendous amount of historical research and it is reflected in the characters the author revealed in the telling. It is the story of a summit. The participants--all deceased but one--the moderator of the panel who has found entrepreneurial success in life and had been shaped by the words of seven people. Gabriel, the archangel, is the "guy" in charge of making the panel and the moderator stick to a program and reach a decisive decision about what needs to be done at this moment. Each of the deliberations are meticulously researched and presented. In fact, it is fancifully believable. Their final answer came as a surprise to me and, I suspect, it will also surprise most readers. The character of David Ponder, the moderator who is hell-bent on his continued success, is carefully scripted. His characterization is covered in every boardroom in the country and his frustration with failure and people who contribute to "his" failure is eerily evident to the reader. I would be surprised if many readers could not not identify with their own David Ponder. It is a book worth reading and worth thinking about after the reading.

Eat Your Peas, by Cheryl Karpen

Eat Your Peas (for Mom) by Cheryl Karpen is a delightful, short book to say thank you to a Mom. But it also gives the same kind of approval to the Mom that the Mom gave to her growing daughter. The book is illustrated in simple but fanciful printing and design. It adds much to the readability of the book.

I can't imagine what mother would not be pleased to receive a copy of this book. Often those daily, even momentary, commands seem to be floating somewhere out in space, missing the mark of the one intended to hear them. The author is constant in her remembering the remarks and the reasons behind the remarks. She validates that the remarks were legitimate whether the daughter heard or heeded the words.

The author asks the question, "What can I do to make your life easier and better?" and then she proceeds to validate her mother with encouragement to pursue any of her delayed dreams. The daughter nudges her mother to get out and try new things and to "ask for what she wants." One gets a sense, here, in the reading, that the mother has been reluctant to make her own set of demands as the years have gone on. The book comes full circle with the admonition from the daughter to stay healthy by eating the peas, herself!