5th Review

Conagher
Louis L'Amour
Western Fiction
7/10

In this story there is a man named Con Conagher. He is a ranch hand that just travels from job to job. One of his jobs was to herd horses around to each of the Stagecoach stations. One of these stations there is a house who Evie Teale lives. Something first sparks there at that first meeting. Anyway, Conagher keeps on going until his job is done. Then naturally he moves on to find the next job. And just keeps moving around until he finds something that brings back memories.

One major theme this book has is remembering. In this book L'Amour keeps bringing up memories of Conagher. I think he is trying to tell us to remember all of the good times that we have had and forget about the bad times. Also, I think he is telling us that we always need to keep looking forward. There will be better things to come.

This book is kind of a romance. Conagher can't seem to forget about Mrs. Teale. Also in this book are some scenes of which you would expect to be in a Western book. There are fight scenes and ranching scenes but it is mostly centered around Romance. In this book you get to see both points of view. You can see what Conagher is thinking and seeing but, you also get to see what is happening around Evie. I would say it is first person because you can only see the thoughts of these two people.

I believe that this book is intended for adolescent boys. I think that the girls would also like it because there is some romance. That might turn the boys away at first but there is a lot of action involved as well.

I would recommend this book. I rated it a 7 out of  10 because I wasn't really into the whole romance thing but I did like the action scenes. I would recommend this book to people who need something to uplift them because like most romance books do the good guy always ends up on top. As Rain Levity puts it "As authentic and gritty as you expect from L'Amour, but also a romance. I really enjoyed this story. It gives the perspectives of both the cowboy, Conagher, and the widow, which is interesting and a little different from the L'Amours I'm used to reading." to Second what she said Lao T. Sue states that "This is one of L'Amour's best books -- with a stronger romantic plot than usual. It's certainly one of the best ways to start reading this author -- or to start again if you haven't read his stuff lately.

My Mother Told Me To Read This One

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens (1998)
Covey, Sean
Self-Help
7/10

In case you didn't guess this book tells about 7 habits that help teens be more effective. They are as follows: 1) Be Proactive, 2) Begin with the End in Mind, 3) Put First Things First, 4) Think Win-Win, 5) Seek First to understand, Then to be understood, 6) Synergize, 7) Sharpen the Saw. I have only started trying to follow a few of these habits and it has really started to help.

The Theme for this one is the same as the Genre. It is a self-help theme. It gives you assistance on how to control your life and still give yourself time to do the things you would like to.

Covey is really helpful in teaching you how to organize your time to get all of your stuff done. He uses stories that other teens have told him about what they have changed in their life and how if affected them. He also uses stories from his own life and from his family's lives.

This book is intended for teens both male and female. You may think it is for teens who are struggling with not organizing their time and getting into bad habits. It is for those teens but it can also help teens that are on top of their life.

I would definitely recommend this book. It can help in so many different ways. Maureen Grey says: "I got this to read with my daughter, thinking that she might tolerate it. She loves it. She is actually pestering me to read it with her every night (I am so delighted). We read it together and discuss the stories. I think that is why she is connecting to it so much, the delightful stories." Jane Reader states; "This book is a great book and it has really given me a lot of insight on things I've been doing/thinking wrongly about. I'm 15 myself, and I would highly recommend it to any of my friends."

Nothing Better Than Louis L'amour

Lonely On The Mountain (1980)
Louis L'Amour
Fiction
9/10 Little Violent

The Sackett boys always help each other out. When Tell Sackett got a letter from his cousin Logan saying that he needed Tell to bring him cattle Tell immediately starting planning out how he was going to do it. He had a few problems to worry about such as; He was in the Midwest and Logan was in Washington, he had a long way to go and not a lot of help. Also, from the Dakotas to Washington was Indian country and they were not very friendly to outsiders. Tell and his brothers Tyrel and Orrin run into more than their share of problems on their way.

The theme of this book is probably staying true to word and working as a team. These boys have a lot of problems but they push through and do their best to finish what they started.

Lonely On The Mountain is an action book. There are fight scenes and things like that. L'Amour uses first person in this book to tell how this story unfolds. In the beginning he bounces back and forth from Tell being the Narrator and Orrin. It is interesting to see how they think while they are apart. L'Amour is a Western adventure writer. He writes about things we think of when we hear the word Western.

This story is intended for males of all ages. My dad and Grandfather both suggested it to me. They both liked it as I did. It is not for people that do not like violence or Western "lingo."

I would recommend this book. I really liked it as did everybody that I know who has read it. It was a quick read for me but I liked it quite a bit. Robert S. Clay Jr. believes that "Louis L'Amour breathes new life into the familiar elements of the Western story. The Sackett tales stress family solidarity in the face of adversity. In addition, there is L'Amour's typical emphasis on the freedom of the big sky country and the lure of distant trails." Daniel R. Baker says: "Why does Logan Sackett need a herd of beeves by winter? His kinfolk Tell and Tyrel Sackett don't know, but they will cross high water and everything else that gets in their way to get the herd to him. And Orrin is on his way, too."

Interesting New Book

I just recently finish a book titled: Little Britches

Little Britches (1950)
Moody, Ralph
Fiction
7/10 Book is really slow

Ralph and his little family move out to a farm in Colorado. From what they were told their little farm was one of the best there was in Colorado, much to their surprise when they get there they found only a few items. They have many struggles but they get their ranch up and running. The Family as a whole runs into many challenges along the way, as does Ralph himself. This book is about how he thrives when over coming his trials and learning from them.

In my opinion the theme of this book is about overcoming your trials. Also, turning your weaknesses into strengths which in turn helps Ralph build his character even as a young boy.

Little Britches is kind of like a biography of the character Ralph. It tells about him growing up and deciding who he wants to be a becoming just that. In this book Moody uses first person narration for this book. You can only hear and see what Ralph does. You can also hear his thoughts and what he worries about.

Little Britches is written for younger to adolescent boys who are trying to decide who they are. This book tells about how you can find out who you want to be as Ralph does. Ralph wants to become a  Cowboy and does everything he can to become one. It could also be written by younger girls too but I don't think they would enjoy it much.Scott Axom reviews the Little Britches as follows; Written in beautifully spartan prose, “Little Britches” is told through a series of (autobiographical) parables deriving from life on a dirt ranch near the Colorado foothills at the beginning of the twentieth century. The charm of Moody’s style shines through his authentic eight year-old voice, leading the reader to numerous, and occasionally elegant, lessons on honor, duty and pride. James Brogan says; I haven't re-read as an adult, so I can't really comment on the writing style, but it was sort of like the Little House books from a boy's point of view and at a later date in history. Lots of growing up and coming of age stuff.