FREE Kindle eBook: “An Insider’s View of Rocky Flats”

book_cvr3D_sm_pngMany of you have either read the original online version (which is no longer available) or downloaded the pre-publication PDF version of An Insider’s View of Rocky Flats: Urban Myths Debunked. And special thanks to a sizable number of you who have purchased the Paperback version of the book from Amazon.

My original purpose in writing An Insider’s View… was to provide an accurate biographical account of the Rocky Flats story to as broad an audience as possible.

Consistent with that objective, I’m now offering the Kindle version of the An Insider’s View FREE for 3 days beginning March 6, 2015. I encourage you to take advantage of this FREE ebook offer even if you purchased the paperback or downloaded the pre-publication PDF book from the RockyFlatsFacts.com website. That’s because – unlike the paperback and PDF which are text-only documents – the Kindle ebook contains the added bonus of over 2 dozen full-color (unclassified) photos that I think you’ll find memorable including one of burning plutonium (in a glovebox!) and two photos of plutonium ingots.

Don’t be put off if you don’t already own a Kindle reader: you don’t need one. You can download an entirely FREE Kindle ebook reader app to your PC, Mac, or mobile device by clicking here. (Clicking link will take you to Kindle reader app installer webpage.) Trust me, it is easy and it works just fine.

I do have a couple of requests to go along with this free Kindle ebook offer. First, I know that I’ve only a small fraction of email addresses for people interested in Rocky Flats news and information. Please forward this message to anyone you think might want to get the FREE An Insider’s View Kindle ebook with its cool photos. And if you enjoy the Kindle ebook version of An Insider’s View, please consider writing a short review of the ebook at Amazon.com.

Yes, A Second FREE Kindle eBook…

FIM_3D_Cover_341pxMy second request is that you take a look at my two more recent fiction books. I published these as collaborative efforts with my grandchildren who served as “Creative Staff and Illustrators.” The first book in the series is Angry Pigs Organized Against Gerbils: The Farmer Island War, and the more recent sequel is Farmer Island Magic.

To entice you further, I’m offering the Kindle ebook version of Farmer Island Magic FREE for the 3-day period beginning March 6, 2015. Of course, I’m hoping that you will eventually consider purchasing one or both of these books in paperback.

And once again, if you read one of my Farmer Island books and enjoy it, please consider writing a short review on Amazon.com and/or refer the book(s) to a friend, relative, or colleague.

Alex & Me

Reviewed by Kathy London

alex&meThis book by Irene M. Pepperberg is recommended to anyone who thinks science is dull. As Stephen Jay Gould wrote “science must be understood as a social phenomenon, a gutsy human enterprise, not the work of robots.” Irene Pepperberg’s book is subtitled “How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence – and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process.”

It describes a passionate researcher producing ground-breaking science against considerable odds.

While she has published many scientific papers, this short book is personal, an autobiography centered on her work with the Grey Parrot Alex. Pepperberg writes in an easily-read style.

I have one quibble: the first chapter of the book deals with the aftermath of Alex’s death. This may not make sense until you’ve read the rest of the book. I suggest you start at Chapter 2. Continue reading

Book Club Review of Angry Pigs

apoagWe belong to a book club called “Denver Read and Feed,” and the club takes turns selecting a fiction book for everyone to read and hosts a meeting with a sit down meal to discuss the book or whatever else anyone wants to share. It was my turn, and the book I selected was “Angry Pigs Organized Against Gerbils: The Farmer Island War.” I am the author of that book and Andrew Brown, one of the four grandchildren listed in the book as “Creative Staff and Illustrators” attended the meeting. (The other three grandchildren are Davis K. Hobbs, Clayain M. Hobbs, and Campbell E. Brown.)

One tradition of the club is for each of the members to record their comments about the book in the “official record” and to rate it from one to ten, with one being pathetic and ten being excellent. I’ll turn over the review to the members after noting that Cathy and Tara were unable to attend, but Tara provided comments and a score by email.

Steve—What can I say, I loved the book. The story was original and well structured. The illustrations were very creative as well. Great book…8

Paul—This inspired me to look into publishing one of my own books. Great collaborative effort with the grandkids. I really liked the rat and pigeon spies. It surprised me that the kids wanted there to be killed animals in the book, but kids are more precocious that I was at that age. Good job. 7

Barb—Good story and delightful idea to co-write a book, granddad and grandchildren. 7.5

Steph—My favorite part of the book is the collaboration between the generations in making the book. My favorite part of the story is when the pigs matured (evolved) enough to realize they didn’t need war to fix a problem. 7

Frank—I think the story of how the book came about was at least as good as the book. I liked the escalation of the story and how the conflict was eventually resolved. Great illustrations as well. 7

Sally—Very interesting story about war and pigs. I liked the kid-friendly treatment of topics that were, frankly, above my head. I am interested to see where the story goes—next time, more character development would make it even better. Great illustrations and collaboration! 8.5

Farrel—Of course I loved this book, since I wrote it with the grandkids. 10 (of course!)

Sheryl—Cute book—nice story—painful to watch the person write—a fun and easy read. 7.5

Tara—I absolutely loved that you got your grandchildren involved in doing a book with you. What an amazing and powerful experience for them…! On content…my favorite part was the illustrations. They are so charming, intuitive and well done. I would have liked to have been there last night to tell the illustrator(s) personally. 🙂 I agree they should be darker in the next one, if only to make their specialness more apparent. The storyline had proper conflict and a positive resolution, which was important to this story. If I had any constructive criticisms…it would be to include more storyline detailing the characters themselves and their relationships with others. That being said, however, I loved the book!!! 10

Andrew—I think the book could have used a few more explosions, but overall, I really loved the book and my first time in book club. I also had a great time writing it with my grandad. 9 (Andrew was pleased  that several book club members had him autograph his illustrations.

The composite score was 7.8, which is higher than the overall average for books read and rated by the members. Farrel and Andrew’s ratings were not included in that result. 

Information about the sequel is included in the “Continuing Adventures” link on our web site.

Angry Pigs Organized Against Gerbils: The Farmer Island War

apoagThis review is about what may turn out to be my favorite book of all time. The reason is that I am the author and our four grandchildren are the Creative Staff and illustrators. The grandchildren are, in order of age, Andrew, Davis, Clayain, and Campbell. The intriguingly creative Angry Pigs book is the product of sharing ideas with those grandchildren and is, according to one reviewer, “An entertaining and well-illustrated book.”

Why in the world did pigs organize against gerbils, and why were they angry? The gerbils that had been farm pets did not prepare for the future when the Old Farmer, the only remaining human caretaker of the isolated farm, died. The pigs recognized that the animals had to grow food to survive, but the gerbils resorted to declaring war after the pigs refused to surrender their supplies of corn. The pigs became angry when the gerbils began using lethal weapons.

The pigs form a military organization and develop weapons to respond to the threat. They gain allies from other animals, including secret spies. The pigs also gain honor and respect as they bravely face danger together, and learn compassion is more rewarding than anger.

We are confident that you will enjoy this entertaining story and encourage you to order the book here. We also encourage tell your family and friends about the book, forward them the link to the book, and write a “customer review” on Amazon.com. We don’t think you will be able to resist ordering the book when you see the intriguing cover art that was developed by Keith Motyl, our publisher.

You also might also be interested that we have begun a web site to highlight the book and to post information about pigs and gerbils and describe the upcoming and continuing adventures of the animals on Farmer Island.