Unknown Dangers in Free Books

I got a Kindle not-sure-how-long-ago, and ever since, I've been getting tons of free books on it, courtesy of Amazon.com.

Some of the free books are pretty awesome, while some are just okay, and others are downright horrible. Sadly, there's really no way to tell ahead of time which will be which.

Oh, sure, Amazon has a place where readers can put their reviews of the books, but it's not always helpful. There's always going to be someone who loved the book and someone who hated the book, and the people who loved it generally outnumber and outrank the people who hated it.

What I would appreciate from Amazon is ratings like they do for movies: a basic code thing that tells what audience the book should be appropriate for and the content that determines that rating.

Occasionally, but only VERY occasionally, Amazon's description of the book or some very thorough reviewer will mention something like "Warning: This book has such and such content," and I'll know to steer clear and not download that particular book. I am very grateful for those moments.

There are also occasions that I learn from experience. For instance, I no longer download books that say they have angels and demons in them because I've learned that the way any of the characters are portrayed is horrible.

But most of the time, I still innocently download books that I honestly wish I'd never ever ever laid eyes on.

Wow, this post doesn't really go with the theme I'd planned on it fitting in with. I guess I'll alter the title accordingly. Have a great day, dear readers!

Reading Beginnings Pt. 5

Although I branched out and found a bunch of authors I liked, I still starting running out of new things to read again.

So how did I solve this problem? Goodreads.com came to my rescue!

A couple summers ago, my mom took my brother and me on a trip to visit family. Dad hates traveling and probably also couldn't really get the time off, so it was just the three of us. To help my brother and me out with killing time at the airport and stuff, Mom offered to buy us new games and/or books as long as the total price didn't go above a certain amount.

Naturally, I chose books. Solely books.

I found a list on Goodreads that had several dozen books recommended for readers my age, and I probably fit at least one dozen titles into Mom's price range.

I can't remember all the books that I got, but I made many new friends out of them before the summer was over. I got the first book in several series and a few stand-alone novels. If I liked the book well enough, I looked for more in the series and/or by the same author.

That summer, I discovered the Mysterious Benedict Society, Cameron Dokey's Once Upon a Time contributions, and Princess Ben, among others.

Two or three years later now, though, I would probably be running out of new books to read again if it wasn't for one thing: free Kindle books.

Reading Beginnings Pt. 4

Probably my first branch outside the books like the Boxcar Children and Nancy Drew was Ella Enchanted.

I've somewhat talked about this before, I think. I saw the movie, and then sometime later I ran into the book at a bookstore. So naturally, I picked up the book.

At first, I was shocked by all the differences between the movie and the book, and stopped reading the book in frustration. But later, once I got my perspective and expectations straightened out, I picked up the book again and instantly fell in love.

From there, I believe I read more of Gail Carson Levine's books, particularly the Princess Tales. After I ran out of Levine's books, I found some other fairy tale stories, either in a library or a bookstore, or maybe I even stumbled across them online and followed up in one of the two types of buildings.

I remember finding Princess Academy by Shannon Hale, Once Upon a Curse by E.D. Baker, and The Seer and the Sword by Victoria Hanley. Those first books were the bait, and I was suddenly caught by the hook. I made sure to read as many of their other books as possible!

One coworker of my mom's let me borrow the first Percy Jackson book. Because it dealt with Greek gods and goddesses, I was bound and determined not to like the series. I took the first book to be polite, but I had already formed my opinion of the series. Too bad Rick Riordan had a different plan, and I fell in love with the entire series as quickly as I could get my hands on the next book, and the next, and the next!

Of course, then, I started hunting for more of his works.

And I believe that will be all for today. See you tomorrow with more fascinating talks about how I started reading! xD ...And I apologize if I'm boring you...

Reading Beginnings Pt. 3

I think last time we left off saying that Trixie Belden had more continuity than Nancy Drew and the Boxcar Children, but didn't say much overall about Trixie Belden; so here goes.

Trixie Belden was having a lonely summer in her home way out in the countryside because at least two out of her three brothers were away at camp. Out of the blue, some rich new neighbors move in on the next hill over and Trixie finds a new best friend in Honey Wheeler. The two girls somehow run into Jim Frayne, who ran away from his legal guardian and is hiding in the third and last house out in this neck of the woods.

After two books focusing on Jim, Honey's family adopts him and Trixie's brothers Brian and Mart come back home. In later books, Di Lynch and Dan Mangan are added as main characters.

These seven teens banded together to form the Bob-Whites of the Glen club. Together, they solve mysteries and sometimes travel to different places. They don't travel quite as extensively as Nancy Drew, and these kids have the addition of school to keep up with. Unlike the Boxcar Children, the Bob-Whites don't only run into mysteries during summer vacations.

I think Trixie Belden was a lot more realistic, but I probably appreciate that now a lot better than I did as a kid. I remember being annoyed with the characters when they would get into arguments, and being especially annoyed with Trixie for complaining about her chores. Shows what I hypocrite I was, I guess, considering I had fewer chores than her and probably complained more.

Anyways, for a good long while, those three series constituted the majority of my reading experience. I probably read some Judy Moody books, but I never really liked them. I probably also read several American Girl books, mostly the ones involving Kitt Kittrage. Other than that, I would just reread the books I had already read - and reread them again and again!

Reading Beginnings Pt. 2

For a good long while, I probably didn't read much of anything for pleasure except for the Boxcar Children series; and then my mom introduced me to her childhood best friends: Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden.

We went over to my grandma's house for some reason, maybe even for the books themselves. Mom pulled out a box Grandma had stored away, and in it were several, several books! Probably about twenty Nancy Drew books (not necessarily the first twenty in the series) and about thirty Trixie Belden books (all the books in the series up to that point).

I dove into Nancy Drew immediately, and I started hoarding copies of those books much the same way as I had the Boxcar Children books. I now have about fifty Nancy Drew books!

Trixie Belden was a little harder for me to get into at the time just because it was so different from what I was used to reading. It was still a mystery series, true; but it had continuity! Shocker!

In the Boxcar Children, the continuity sort of stopped after the first five or so books. The only kind of continuity that continued after that was just the close family: the four kids and their dog of course, and their grandfather, and (very) occasionally their cousin and their great-aunt and (maybe) their housekeeper. And even at that, their great-aunt somehow melted off the years through the books to become just their aunt.

Nancy Drew was sort of the same way. She had a friend Helen Corning in the beginning, which somehow switched to Bess Marvin and George Fayne in later books. After Ned Nickerson was introduced in one of the books, I think Dave and Butch were also added for Bess and George's sake. And then those five became a (near) constant throughout most of the series - the only (near) constant in the series. Well, aside from Carson Drew and Hannah McGruen.

Reading Beginnings

I think I've told you before that it was a mystery series that got me hooked to reading in general; maybe I'll go into a little more detail about that.

For Christmas or my birthday one year (I forget which), my grandma got me the first four books to a series called The Boxcar Children. The first book doesn't have too much mystery in it, aside from the mysterious grandfather the kids are running away from, but it caught me hook, line, and sinker anyways.

What kid doesn't get excited learning about the adventures of four kids living on the run and still managing to have a great time? Henry, Jessie, Violet, Benny, and Watch (the kids' watchdog whom they met in the woods) were just so appealing!

For years after reading those first four books, I would beg for more in the series. The original author has long since stopped writing them, but the series has been continued to include more than 100 normal books and goodness-knows-how-many special books. I now own several (and I mean SEVERAL) of those, and I borrowed even more from the library.

In the first few books, the children aged normally. Summer would come and go and the kids would solve a mystery, and the next book was the same with the kids a year older. But eventually, Henry, as the oldest, would have had to move away; so the problem of Henry leaving was solved by reversing all the kids' ages and keeping them permanently set there.

Henry forever after remained 14, Jessie 12, Violet 9 or 10 (I think 10), and Benny 6.

Lord of the Ring

Lately, I've been trying to read J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Ring series.

Late in the previous semester at college, my college had a book sale. At this sale, my friend found the entire series plus a bunch of bonus stuff in one book. She was considering buying it until I mentioned that if she didn't, I might.

I'd never read the series before, and I remember very little of the movies that I saw only once a few summers ago. I'd honestly never had much of an interest in them until so many of my friends at college would randomly go off on long discussions about how awesome it is and quote a few lines at every turn.

Almost instantly, my friend backed off on her claim to buying the book, encouraging me to buy it.

So I did. One novel divided into three sections, which in turn are each divided into two sections, before coming to the breaking down by chapters.

Sadly, my progress is slow. I've been reading it steadily for about a month, and I've only finished little more than a sixth of the book. But I think I'm picking up my pace now that most of the world-building has been completed and I can focus on plot.

I'll probably let you know my thoughts when I've finished. Deal? =)

Dee Henderson

Now that I've talked about all of Dee Henderson's books that I've read, I'll try to touch on some of her other books.

The only two O'Malley series books I didn't really say much about were Full Disclosure and Jennifer: An O'Malley Love Story. But since in a previous post I did give a bit of info on them both, let's move on.

Henderson's Uncommon Heroes series has a few more books. In order, they are True Valor, True Honor, and True Courage. I have never read any of them, nor have I heard Mom talk specifically about them, so I can't give you much in the way of plot summary and writing quality.

Henderson also has a series called Shield of Honor, but I can only find listed the first book in the series: The Witness. Again, I don't know anything about it.

Finally, Henderson seems to have written several stand-alone books. Then again, Full Disclosure is actually listed on Goodreads as though it is a stand-alone novel, even though every impression I got from my Mom pointed towards it being part of the O'Malley series. So I'm not sure if any of these other "stand-alone" books are actually somehow connected with some of Henderson's other series.

Anyways, if you wish to see the list of Henderson's books for yourself, please follow this link. Kaiti out.

True Devotion

Now that I've told you about all of the O'Malley series that I've read, let's turn to the only other Dee Henderson book I've read: True Devotion, the first book in a series called Uncommon Heroes.

The two protagonists in this book are Kelly Jacobs and Joe Baker.

Kelly was the wife of a Navy SEAL who died some time before this book begins. Now she's hurting emotionally and spiritually, and it takes a near-drowning experience as she tries to rescue a teenaged boy before she can start straightening her life back out.

Joe, also known as Bear, is a Navy SEAL who was best friends with Kelly's husband. He knows exactly how much Kelly hurt when her husband died, and he can't ask her to risk that pain again, no matter how much he loves her.

And then - danger. Closer than any of them could ever suspect, the man responsible for Kelly's husband's death is back. Not only do our heroes have to worry about the deadly missions, but important work gets done before each mission as well. This man's last contact (for clarification: not Kelly's husband) ended up washed up on a beach dead; and now, Kelly is his new contact. Joe pulls out every trick in the book to keep the past from repeating itself, but it just might not be enough.

I liked this book. The only thing keeping me from reading the others in the series is the fact that Henderson seems to thrive on murder mystery material, and at least one murderer appears in every book of hers that I've read so far. Reading too much of that might start to depress me, or scare me; not sure which one.

But in small doses, I like her books, and this one is no exception. I feel really awful for one of the characters, and I forget what happens to him by the end of the book; but other than him, pretty much every ends up with their happily ever after.

The Rescuer

The last book in the main part of Dee Henderson's O'Malley series is The Rescuer, in which we mainly follow Stephen O'Malley, but Meghan Delhart is also a protagonist.

Stephen is having issues. He used to be a firefighter with Jack, but then he became a paramedic. After several years, he developed a phobia of blood and had to quit. Doubled with quitting his job, his sister Jennifer dies, so Stephen does the adult version of running away: He takes an extended vacation.

Stephen's first and last stops along the road happen to be at Meghan's house. Meghan is an old friend who went blind after a car accident years ago. Since then, she's been living alone with her guide dog in a small town where she works for her father.

When Stephen stops running, he settles down in an old farm house just outside of Meghan's town. I think that's around the same time that a gem thief and eventual murderer comes into town. While Stephen is working towards turning his hobby into something that will make him a living, he discovers what the gem thief is looking for: jewelry pieces hidden all over the farmhouse and even in the barn, hinting that not all was as it seemed with the man Stephen bought the grounds from.

So, as per the norm, danger follows as, one by one, secrets in the past become revealed. And in the midst of all the danger, the protagonists managed to make some good memories.

My usual complaint about the romance applies here. Meghan is a Christian, and Stephen is not. But Meghan was definitely better than most of the others about resisting, despite the fact she'd had a crush on Stephen since before she got serious with God. She earned my permanent respect by outright telling Stephen that if it came down to a choice between him and God, Stephen would lose.

I also must say I think I enjoyed the Christian aspect more in this book. Stephen didn't make his choice when his life was at stake; he made his choice when he realized, on one calm night, that eternity was at stake.

The Healer

The Healer is the next book in Dee Henderson's O'Malley series, and the two protagonists are Rachel O'Malley and Jack's boss Cole Parker.

I forget the official title of Rachel's job, but her specialty is helping kids through trauma. She's good at helping anyone through trauma, really. She's also there for her own family as they deal with Jennifer's cancer.

There's a minor problem, though. Everyone relies on Rachel, including Rachel herself. All the years she's been doing this, she's never relied on anyone else, and she finally seems to be reaching her breaking point. Even though she accepted Christ in the previous book, Christianity is so new to her, and it scares her to know that there's nothing she can do in return to merit the love of Jesus - and she's facing a similar problem with her current romantic situation.

To be honest, I don't remember too much of Cole in this book. I remember a lot about him from the last book, but not so much in this one. He's strong physically, mentally, and spiritually. He becomes a shoulder for Rachel to lean on, and boy does she need it.

Aside from Jennifer's cancer, there's another crisis Rachel ends up in. I think the book started off with a flood, but the biggest mass trauma started in a school shooting. And if memory serves, there was another murder incident too.

So, yeah. Drama. Lots of it. It's been so long since I've read the book, I don't remember the finer details of my opinion towards this book. But I'm sure it was decent, at the least. =)

...Wow, that wasn't very convincingly put, was it? But I mean it; I'm sure it was pretty good overall.

Ohhh, wait, I just remembered another tragic event that happens in this book. Yeah, this is probably the most depressing book in the series. Maybe that's why I don't remember much of it: Too much sadness, so I made myself try to forget it?

The Protector

The fourth book in Dee Henderson's O'Malley series is called The Protector, featuring Jack O'Malley and one of his former coworkers Cassie Ellis.

Jack is a firefighter, and a good one too. Sadly, a certain firebug doesn't seem to think so. At least, that's the assumption when several fires attributed to a single arsonist are all set during Jack's shifts at the fire station.

Cassie also used to be a firefighter, until a nearly fatal accident at The Fire cost her her career. Now that she's been released from the hospital for good, she's opening up a bookstore.

And then... Cassie sees the man who set a fire, and she instantly feels betrayed and traitorous simultaneously as she thinks she recognizes the man.

A whole mess of plotline ensues, in which Cassie rejoins the fire department, Jack pursues the relationship he had wanted for years, Jennifer's condition is a constant background plot, and more than just one O'Malley is targeted by Christianity in this book.

From what I can remember, I have two complaints about this book. One of them, I already mentioned about another book. Cassie is a Christian, and Jack is not; but romance pops up anyways. Not cool.

Another complaint I have is probably only because, being used more than once in the series, it's now overused. Lisa's conversion to Christianity was right as she was dying of suffocation, and Jack was in a similar (though more firey) situation when he accepted Christ.

I'm not in any way saying God doesn't save people when they call out to Him on their deathbeds, because He most certainly does. I'm just saying that Henderson, as an author, should probably use something that dramatic only once in a series.

The Truthseeker

The Truthseeker is Dee Henderson's third installment in the O'Malley series, featuring as protagonists Lisa O'Malley and Marcus's friend and U.S. Marshal partner Quinn Diamond.

Lisa, I believe, is a forensic pathologist. She worked with Marcus on the murder case Shari was witness to in the last book. She is now taking on a new challenge: solving cases that had been shelved decades ago because no one could discover who the murderer was.

Quinn, though he's a Christian and Lisa is not, is trying desperately to get Lisa to agree to a date with him and has been trying since the last book. But there's a bigger problem here than just stubbornness on Lisa's part; Quinn has dated two other women in the O'Malley family (Jennifer and Kate) and even accidentally reveals later that he asked out Rachel too. Lisa is definitely not happy about being asked out last.

Things get complicated in this book as Henderson juggles a plotline that follows many different strings. Lisa's past, the Christianity that seems to be taking hold of her family one by one, the stalker that shows up in Lisa's life and burns her house with all her pets trapped inside, the romance also taking hold of her family one at a time, and (worst of all) Jennifer's cancer that has recently become public knowledge among the close-knit family of seven.

Oh, and although it doesn't seem like it from the description I just gave, Quinn is more than just a side character. He takes an active part in just about every single turn in Lisa's life.

The Guardian

Second in Dee Henderson's O'Malley series is The Guardian, referring to the oldest member of the O'Malley family.

Our two protagonists here are Marcus O'Malley and Shari Hanford. Marcus is a U.S. Marshal assigned to protect Shari after she becomes the only witness to the murder of a family friend who also happens to be an extremely powerful man. Shari is pretty powerful too, writing speeches for several people and aiming to be a politician herself.

The two click instantly, meeting just hours before the murder and arranging for coffee the next morning.

Then everything changes. Shari must take on a level of security similar to what you read about in Henderson's Danger in the Shadows.

This book is probably my favorite out of the O'Malley series, but I do have one pretty big problem with it. Shari is a Christian, even though she decides for a time that she doesn't like God anymore. Marcus is definitely not a Christian, though he respects her beliefs.

In my opinion, there was too much romance going on between them while they were supposed to have this major difference. I firmly believe it is extremely unwise for a Christian to get romantically involved with a non-Christian. Sadly, most of the O'Malley books have this problem.

Other than that, though, this book is pretty good overall.

The Negotiator

The Negotiator is the first official book of Dee Henderson's O'Malley series.

Dave Richman, Sara's brother, is one of the two protagonists for this book. He is, if I remember correctly, an FBI agent and former head of his sister's security. Like his sister, he is also a Christian.

Kate O'Malley is the other protagonist, second oldest "sibling" in the O'Malley family. Like I said earlier, the O'Malleys are a group of seven orphans who adopted each other and legally changed their last names to become family. And like the other members of her family, Kate is most decidedly not a Christian.

Kate is a hostage negotiator, who also recently seems to be the victim of stalker, though no one knows why. Then her name is attached with a plane that explodes, and everything changes.

Kate helps in trying to solve the mystery of the bomber, and Dave pitches in too, unable to leave the woman he met during a bank-bomber-hostage situation, for lack of better knowledge on my part as to how to explain it.

Things start to dig into Kate's past, and she also has to deal with the knowledge that a certain member of her family is dying, but no one else in the family can know yet. Dave tries to get Kate to see that God can straighten these things out, but Kate is having none of it.

How on earth can this mess be solved to everyone's satisfaction? Find out in The Negotiator.

Danger in the Shadows

As I mentioned yesterday, Dee Henderson's prequel to the O'Malley series is Danger in the Shadows.

There are two protagonists to every Henderson book that I've read so far. In this book, they are Sara Walsh and Adam Black.

On the surface, Sara is a children's author who comes from a wealthy family. Under the surface, Sara is the victim of a stalker, and has been for most of her life, necessitating security at every second of the day or night. She had been kidnapped when she was just a child, and now she is scarred inwardly and outwardly.

Adam is more or less just as he appears: a former star football player who has finally decided to step down from the field. But he also carries a bit of secrecy. It doesn't have the drama Sara's life is laced with, and it's revealed pretty early on, but it is his own personal demon.

How do these polar opposites meet? Can Sara risk being associated with a public icon? Can Adam handle the transition from fame to hiding?

Can they both trust God to not only help them survive, but to actually live?

Overall, a pretty good book. Rather dark in places, and Sara rarely gets a moment of fun without it being completely ruined five seconds later. But still. Pretty good book.

Dee Henderson's O'Malley Series

Now I feel sort of guilty because I've gone so long without mentioning my mom's favorite author, whom I've also read: Dee Henderson.

The series by Henderson that I have read almost completely is the O'Malley series, featuring seven orphans who banded together and legally changed their last names to become siblings. The stories pick up when they're around 30 years of age.

There are three books that are part of the series, although not technically. Hmm, that sounded confusing. Allow me to explain.

Danger in the Shadows is a sort of prequel to the O'Malley series. No O'Malleys are shown, but the main character later is linked indirectly with the O'Malleys.

Jennifer: An O'Malley Love Story is a book which I don't think was ever printed, but it could for a time (and maybe still) be found published online by the author for a free read. It shows how the youngest O'Malley, who never got her own book in the original series, fell in love with a man and his Savior. I have yet to completely read this book.

I have not read Full Disclosure, either. However, it contains a twist that is vital the O'Malleys, or at least our view of them. I know the twist because my mom freaked out when she read it and had to tell someone who would know what she was semi-talking about.

Anyways, we'll take a look at the O'Malley books one by one over the next several days. But you should know right now that all of them are Christian fiction, all have romance, and all have murder.

Rick Riordan

I've already told you about basically all of Rick Riordan's books that I've read, so here is some information about some of his other books.

Riordan's two series on Percy Jackson and on the Kane kids either have or are in the process of having graphic novels made of each of the eight books in both series.

Riordan has contributed to the collection of The 39 Clues series, which I know nothing about; but apparently more than one author I've read has contributed to the series.

Riordan has written another series called Tres Navarre, which seems to be a Texan crime-solving type of series. He has currently written seven books for the series; I'm not sure if the seventh is a conclusion, a continuation, or just yet another book of the same type with no end yet in sight.

Riordan also apparently has written a stand-alone novel called Cold Springs. According to the description on Goodreads, this book seems to be fraught with death and drugs and whatnot, effectively making me decide to steer well away from it.

Other than the multiple books in other languages, I think I've pretty much covered Riordan's books now. If you want to see the list of Riordan's works yourself, please click here to go to the list on Goodreads.

See you next week!

Rick Riordan's Short Story Companion Books

To accompany the three series I've just finished talking about, Rick Riordan has written a number of smaller books that contain short stories and informational tidbits that add to the overall series they are a part of.

To mention all of them would take way too long, so I'll just mention a few.

The Demigod Files contains a few games, interviews, and short stories. It probably takes place sometime after The Battle of the Labyrinth, but definitely before The Last Olympian. The short stories are in Percy's first-person perspective, like the series it accompanies.

The Kane Chronicles Survival Guide is a book I have not read, but it seems as though the layout of the book might be similar to the last book I mentioned. And of course, this book is part of the Kane Chronicles series.

The Demigod Diaries is a book also containing short stories, though there were also puzzles for the readers themselves, similar to The Demigod Files. And, this book had one story that I never expected: an entry from Luke's diary in the days when he and Thalia were half-bloods without a home, running across the country fighting any and all monsters. The last story is what dates this book, though; it shows a mishap during the time between the first and second books of The Heroes of Olympus.

And if you're the type of reader that wants to watch worlds more contrary than Greeks and Romans collide, Riordan has written another type of book: a crossover between The Kane Chronicles and Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The first one in what I hear is to be a series itself is called The Son of Sobek. It's just one short story, but it's from Carter's point of view as he runs into Percy on a hunt.

Those four books are by no means all there is. They just represent the four categories that I know of. As I wrap up with Riordan soon, I'll give you a link that will lead you to a list of his many, many works.

House of Hades

The latest book to be released in Rick Riordan's series Heroes of Olympus is titled The House of Hades, which begins perhaps a week after the end of The Mark of Athena.

In this book, the Seven from the latest Great Prophecy have been separated; Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus, and the others are being led by an addition (Nico) to the mortal side of the Doors of Death.

They are still working together, though, since the other side of the Doors of Death lie in Tartarus, and the Doors have to be closed from both sides.

This is probably my least favorite book of the series so far. It was enough of a disappointment that I'm for once actually not excited to find out the end of the story. I probably will read the final book at some point, just because that's all that's left for the series, but I likely won't buy it.

Anyways, the plot of this book was basically just explained above. If you want to know some of the finer points, Piper is learning how to control her voice powers to have better control over the people she uses her powers on. Leo got blasted out of the ship and ended up on a "certain island" for a short time. Hazel is learning magic. Frank has a growth spurt. Jason's character development/"regression" that I mentioned before comes to a boiling point here. And Nico... Well, you'll find out. Fair warning: If you have the same values I do, you won't like what you find; if you don't have the same values I do, you'll probably pity Nico or even appreciate his plot twist. I think I'm in denial.

As for Percy and Annabeth... Dark. Very dark. They're in Tartarus, so what can you expect? But still... Super dark. Super creepy. Horrible curses. And there came a point where Percy very nearly crossed the line: Annabeth was terrified of him for a few seconds.

Also, there were a few appearances from characters we haven't seen since Percy's original series and a short story that came with another book of Riordan's.

Anyways. There you have it. You may agree or disagree with my views here, but there they are.