Closer to the Heart by Mercedes Lackey

Closer to the Heart by Mercedes Lackey - 336 pages
Valdemar: The Herald Spy series #2

Mags and Amily don't want to wait any longer to get married, but the king wants to use their wedding as a state event so foreign ambassadors will visit.  Then the Hardorn ambassador unexpectedly visits with the news that Hardorn rebels are fighting against the child king and seem to be supplied with weapons from Valdemar.  The regency council is about to declare war on Valdemar.  So it is up to Mags and Amily to figure out what is going on -- Amily working with Mags child spy network in the city and Mags going back to mining country to see if he can discover the person responsible.

This was a great second book in the series.  I really enjoyed the story.  The reader discovered the villain as the characters in the book did.  The only complaint I have is that I probably have to wait another year for the next book.

Lewis & Clark Tailor Made, Trail Worn: Army Life, Clothing, & Weapons of the Corps of Discovery

Lewis & Clark Tailor Made, Trail Worn: Army Life, Clothing, & Weapons of the Corps of Discovery by Robert J. Moore, Jr. Illustrated by Michael Haynes 288 pages published 2003

The Lewis and Clark expedition is one of the great adventures in American history. What they did and how they did it is still an amazement. This book explores their clothing, their weapons and equipment, as well as their living conditions in the 1803 military. A great deal of research has gone into this book, as can be seen in the bibliography. Many of the articles used are still in existence. 

This book is not only a good read, but a lot of fun to thumb through and enjoy the illustrations. If I close my eyes, I can almost smell the camp fire smoke.

Soul Eater, v 1-3 by Atsushi Ohkubo

Soul Eater, v.1-3 by Atsushi Ohkubo
v.1 - 205 pages
v.2 - 192 pages
v.3 - 187 pages

I picked up this manga after watching the anime.  I was curious to see how closely the manga followed the anime.  The first three volumes are followed exactly from what I can tell. 

Soul Eater tells the story of meisters that train weapons to become death scythes for the death god.  The weapons are in human form when not being wielded in battle.  Soul Eater focuses on three meisters -- Maka, Death Star, and Death the Kid -- who attend the Death Weapon Meister Academy (DWMA).  The first volume sets up the characters with their own  prologue stories.  The books then get into a story arc with a witch that is trying to create a "kishin" who eats good souls.

I enjoyed the anime and will probably continue to read the manga.

The Prairie Traveler by Randolph B. Marcy -252 pages

The Prairie Traveler: A Handbook for Overland Expeditions - Randolph B. Marcy Captain U.S. Army (published by authority of the war department) originally published in 1859, 252 pages

In 1859 the westward expansion was in full swing. But horrible tales of lost and ill equipped pioneers were causing people to be hesitant. Captain Marcy was commissioned to write a guidebook to help those in the east navigate to the verdant western territories.

The instructions on: what to wear, what weapons to carry, what foods and medications to bring, how to make your animals last for the entire trip, and a host of other things. All these things the pioneer needed to know.

From a 21^st century viewpoint we think that certain levels of technology are essential to life. Yet 150 years ago, a great many people traveled more than 1600 miles to new homes and new opportunities without the aid of an acceptable Internet connection!