Order in Chaos by Jack Whyte

No, I have not been on hiatus ... I have been reading the book, Order in Chaos by Jack Whyte. A rather lengthy novel, Order in Chaos is the third and final installment of Whyte's Templar novels.

Set over a 7 year span starting in 1307, Order in Chaos chronicles the travels and exploits of Templar Knight William Sinclair, one of the last of the Temple's leaders to still be free after the events of October 13, 1307, in which French King Philip IV, or Philip the Fair, ordered the arrest of all the Templars in France.

Alerted in advance to the King's plot, Sinclair escapes France with a number of Temple knights, the Temple's most valuable treasure, and the Lady Jessica Randolph, fleeing to Sinclair's homeland of Scotland. The novel then chronicles the remaining Templars' exodus in Scotland, their interactions with King Robert Bruce, and Sinclair's attempt to keep the Order of the Temple intact.

A fictional work, this novel explores the possible connection of the Knights Templar with the modern day Freemasons. This connection is never explicitly stated, but there are subtle references woven throughout and anyone with a vague knowledge of Masonry should be able to make the connection. The book is rather lengthy, weighing in a bit over 900 pages, but proves an interesting read.

Order in Chaos by Jack Whyte

The Templar Legion

This adventure novel is set primarily in Africa and deals less with Templars, or even a legion, than the name implies. Retired Army Ranger Lt. Col. John "Doc" Holliday, a sometimes professor at West Point, is pulled into an adventure full of intrigue and historical reference in Africa when his cousin Peggy's husband makes an archaelogical find in Ethiopa. Traveling along the Nile river, the trio follow the historic path of a Templar scholar, a viking explorer, and the lost Roman legion, all searching for the legendary King Solomon's mines.

Simultaneously, Kukuanaland (an African country) is on the verge of another military coup, into which the trio is ultimately involved.  The overall story deals very little with the Templar connection and more with the various plans and double-crossing involving the two intertwined stories. However, this does not make the book any less of an enjoyable read. The story was entertaining and went by relatively quickly.

The Templar Legion

The Loved Dog: The Playful, Nonaggressive Way to Teach Your Dog Good Behavior - Finished

I finished this book last night and actually rather enjoyed it. It has what I hope to be some useful tips for training dogs in playful, non-aggressive ways. While at times, Tamar Geller's method seem a bit saccharine (repeating a dog's actions in a "sing-song" voice and "making a party"), it seems like they would work. Her entire training plan focuses on positive and negative reinforcement. You should positively reinforce behavior by praising your dog's actions and negatively reinforce behavior by turning your back and/or acting displeased. However, Geller's main thesis is that one should not scare, hit, frighten, or otherwise intimidate one's dog. Since I read the book in just a few days, I have not yet had time to try all of the methods on Sally, but I intend to.

If you intend to use Geller's methods, be sure to have plenty of treats on hand. She liberally uses treats to reward good behavior. Another time for stopping a jumping dog is to turn your back to it. If you are displeased a want to get a dog's attention, make noises "like a dolphin."

The book also has some interesting elements, such as Geller's disclosure of her own abused childhood, her stint in the Israeli army, and quite a bit of namedropping of the celebrities she has worked for. Additionally, there is an appendix to the book regarding puppy mills. However, overall the book was a quick read, easy to understand and presumeably has good tips.

The Loved Dog: The Playful, Non-Agressive Way to Teach Your Dog Good Behavior

The Loved Dog: The Playful, Nonaggressive Way to Teach Your Dog Good Behavior

I just started reading this book today, after owning it for about four or five years. My mother gave it to me several years ago because she knew I wanted to get a dog. However, I put off reading the book until I actually had a dog. Now that I have Sally, it seemed the appropriate time to start reading the book. So, while I was home for winter break, I dug it out of my boxes of books in the basement and brought it back to Blacksburg.

I just started reading it this morning and have actually only read about a page and half, but I am already impressed. The author, Tamar Geller, makes a comparison between bringing a new dog into the home and visiting another country that has different cultural norms. It was a really powerful analogy that highlighted the different expectations between the dog and the owner and the language barrier that can intensify the problem.

Based on this simple page and a half introduction, I am looking forward to seeing how Geller further explains the playful, nonaggressive way to teach good behavior. Hopefully some of these strategies will work with Sally, although she is already a good dog to begin with.

The Loved Dog: The Playful, Nonaggressive Way to Teach Your Dog Good Behavior

The Inner Circle by Brad Meltzer

This was an interesting political thriller set in Washington, DC. The story focuses on Beecher White, a staff member at the National Archive, who stumbles upon a book hidden in the bottom of a chair used exclusively by the president. This mishap catapults him into a mystery involving the President of the United States, an old high-school crush, an attempted presidential assassin, and a 200-year old secret society known as the Culper Ring.

Having read at least one other book by Meltzer, I was pleased with this book. It was a fairly quick read, but was also rather interesting. It kept my attention and provided plenty of twists that provided plenty of intrigue.

The Inner Circle by Brad Meltzer