Google Book Treasures

Where To Buy Pillow Pets

2010-12-07T15:25:00.000-05:00

I've found myself searching for awhile now where to buy pillow pets. And I'm not just talking about those 4 to 6 different ones that a lot of retail stores carry. I want a big variety to choose from. My kids will love these things I just know it and I think I finally found a site that offers more than just the basic Unicorn, Dog, Bee and Lady Bug. No this site has more than 30 different genuine pillow pets, not those knockoffs. The site is: ForPillowPets.com and I love it!

Newsboys Born Again

2010-06-14T08:22:00.000-04:00

On July 13th the Newsboys will be releasing their highly anticipated album Newsboys Born Again. Here's a look back at one of their previous releases:

After many years of clamoring for a live album fans of the Newsboys can finally have their appetites satisfied. Well 8,000 of them anyway. The Newsboys recently recorded four of their concerts and only 2,000 copies of each concert will ever be produced. Instead of the normal process of recording a concert and allowing it to be produced and mixed, the band choose to go with a company called Disclive, a company that records and burns copies onto cd directly after the concert for fans who attended. While this is a neat concept the end result however is a poorly mixed, much lower sound quality cd.

I had expected the lower sound quality ahead of time but it was actually worse than I expected. Admittedly though once you have listened to a couple songs its not really noticeable.

My favorite tracks on Live In Minot are easily the two new songs Name Above All Names and Blessed Be Your Name. Being an avid Newsboys fan I've heard most of these other songs hundreds of times. Including Shine, which by my count has been on seven Newsboys cds now. Let's count: 1. Going Public, 2. Take Me To Your Leader Single, 3. Entertaining Angels Single, 4. Shine...The Hits, 5. It Is You Single, 6. Remixed, 7. Live In Minot, ND. Well if I wanted to be picky there are 4 different live cds so that would be 10 total. The song is tired boys, let it rest.

It may seem like I'm overly critical of this live effort but in actuality I do appreciate the offering. I just hope that someday they will release a proper live recording with good mixing and production. And one that features more of their rock songs. As of the time that this review was written, copies of all four concerts were still available at Disclive.com. Otherwise I'm sure copies will soon start appearing on eBay at extortionist prices.

So remember Newsboys Born Again releases on July 13th, 2010. Go find out more and pre-order your copy today!

Toy Wooden Trains

2010-04-18T11:28:00.000-04:00

I love these things! Toy wooden trains are so much fun I wish I could play with them all day long. From the engines to the freight cars they make me laugh and dance! There are so many different choices and tracks and sets and you don't need any batteries at all. Boy are these toy wooden trains fun to play with. Everyone should be able to have toy wooden trains. The Thomas the tank engine trains are lots of fun too though there are more generic choices as well.

Toy Wooden Trains

2010-04-08T21:11:00.000-04:00

I love toy wooden trains! They are so much fun and such a natural toy compared to all the electronic junk out there today. The ability to change and make something new with the track whenever you feel like is the best part! And there really isn't much to break on these toys. If you are unfamiliar with toy wooden trains, check out this website that has lot's of great info to get you started: Toy Wooden Train.

My Latest Site

2010-01-03T14:40:00.003-05:00

It's been some time since I've updated this blog. Just wanted to let everyone know that I have transitioned all of my current websites to timothyyordy.com, please come and visit me there.

Eternity's End

2007-10-15T21:54:00.000-04:00

I don't usually write posts about a "limited preview" books on Google Book Search but I decided to make an exception today. In 2001, one of my favorite authors, Jeffrey A. Carver, published Eternity's End. The book is adventurous and captivating and is one of Carver's best. Check out a limited preview of Eternity's End on Google Book Search.

If you enjoy the limited preview then head on over to Starrigger.net to purchase a copy through Carver's website.

He also has an active blog on blogger that is a joy to read. http://starrigger.blogspot.com

Johnnykin and the Goblins

2007-10-10T16:29:00.000-04:00

After a couple of historical books I figured that it would be a good time to make a return to literature. Today's feature is Johnnykin and the Goblins, a fantasy novel from 1887 by Charles Godfrey Leland. The book is filled with wonderful illustrations and poetry.

Johnnykin and the Goblins is truly one of the great early fantasy novels that shouldn't be missed.

The Revolutionary War: Introduction

2007-10-08T17:39:00.001-04:00

There is a large number of books and essays contemporary to the American Revolutionary War that can be found on Google Book Search. I plan to do a whole series on the subject here but for now we'll start with an introduction to the subject with "A Candid Examination of the Mutual Claims of Great Britian and the Colonies" by Joseph Galloway. The book was published in 1775, just before a declaration of independence that would change course of history for the United States of America and countless other countries around the world.

New England's Present Sufferings...

2007-10-05T09:46:00.000-04:00

In 1675, Edward Wharton wrote "New-England's Present Sufferings Under Their Cruel Neighboring Indians." It is a gruesome tale of the atrocities committed by Native Americans against their English neighbors. One of the great things about reading historical texts written and published as a contemporary piece of the events that were taking place is that you see a more clear picture of what was actually happening. Hundreds of years later we have a version of American history that has been intentionally filled with political correctness and ignores the fact that not all of our nations bloody history lies in the hands of the "white man." But I would be naive to not consider that because this is a contemporary piece it is being written by an individual who in all likelihood viewed the Native Americans as savages and knew nothing of their culture.

Any individual with an interest in history would do themselves well to seek out books written when the events they are studying actually took place. You will a world of knowledge and perspectives not present in modern history books.

George Fox

2007-10-02T07:46:00.000-04:00

Google Book Search is a treasure trove of old religious writings and one that I've come across is the autobiography of George Fox. Fox was the founder of the religious group the Quakers and his autobiography is really a collection of his journal writings as he traveled the country preaching the Gospel. There are many excellent truths to be learned from the wisdom contained in it's pages as well as some mildly amusing tales of declaring people to be witches in various towns. Check out George Fox: An Autobiography on Google book, you won't be dissapointed.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

2007-09-16T09:12:00.000-04:00

I grew up watching Charlton Heston portray Ben-Hur in the classic movie that was one of the highest grossing movies at that point. This past summer I chanced upon an old copy of the book by Lew Wallace at a library book sale for $0.75. I'm a sucker for library book sales and that 1921 mint condition copy of Ben-Hur was easily the best find of the summer. I'm not sure I had ever really known that Ben-Hur was a book, I had simply grown up on the movie.

The book I found to be even more of a joy than the movie. Even though there are plenty of copyrighted editions available, Google does have a 1908 printing of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ available in full view to read and enjoy.

Johnny Appleseed

2007-09-13T11:32:00.000-04:00

The other day I chanced upon a novel from 1915 by Eleanor Atkinson titled Johnny Appleseed: The Romance of the Sower. I had never known very much about Johnny Appleseed other than being a man who walked all over America planting apple trees. Atkinson's book gives a much more detailed, if not highly idealized, view of the man whose real name was actually Jonathan Chapman.

The novel peaked my curiosity and I decided to seek more historical records of the man. The oldest reference I was able to find to him is from a magazine from 1846. This magazine however didn't even know Johnny Appleseed's real name. Most later references to the man though contained his name.

Take some time to relive this legendary man from America's past and the next time you are eating an apple keep in mind that that apple may very well be a descendent of trees planted by Johnny Appleseed.

Welcome

2007-09-12T09:04:00.001-04:00

I have found much joy and enlightenment using Google's Book Search feature over the past year and I wish to share the joy of some of the treasures I have found and continue to find.

There are so many pieces of forgotten literature that deserve to be explored.

Historical texts that are contemporary to the times that they were written about that give you a completely different perspective on a time in history than you can get from modern history books that are simply regurgitating the past.

There is wisdom to be found in ancient religious texts. You can find writings from men and women who had the same scriptures available to them as we have to day but approached them from a world view that was shaped by the time period they lived in and so their approach to the scriptures was completely different than any of our contemporaries.

One cannot hope to have even a fraction of these resources available to them at their local library. Google has opened the doors to a vast array of knowledge that was previously only available to the scholarly elite and was in danger of being lost to time forever.