Organic Granny

Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser My rating: 5 of 5 stars  (click above or on book image to go to Amazon.ca) This is a fat, academic-standard biography by Caroline Fraser about one of my favorite childhood writers, Laura Ingalls Wilder. When I was in third grade the teacher, Mrs. Kathleen Turtle, read a chapter out of one of Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books after lunch each day. I likely checked the books out of the library since I do not recall owning any of her books. But she definitely left an impression. I recall sitting in my desk and relaxing, just letting my mind follow the story set on the prairie in the USA, like our prairies in Canada, to which, as a Saskatchewan rural farmgirl, I could relate. I day-dreamed about my maternal grandmother as a child because she had actually been born in North Dakota, coming up to Saskatchewan "in the Early Days" with her parents and eight of her siblings. You can

Bare-Faced Messiah: The classic exposé of the extraordinary true life of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology by Russell Miller My rating: 4 of 5 stars Bare-Faced Messiah by British journalist, Russell Miller, is, as the subtitle explains, "the classic expos é  of the extraordinary true life of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology." The last book I finished, "A Billion Years: My Escape from Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology" was a memoir by Mike Rinder, ex-Scientologist, who referred to the "Bare-Faced Messiah" as a shocking confirmation of the red flags and conscious recognition of the delusional and dangerous narcissist leadership of L. Ron Hubbard. Rinder's story involved a close look at his many-years involvement with Scientology, particularly the years that he spent from his teens and onwards in the exclusive "Sea Org" leadership group and other high ranking experiences in the cult. He makes quite a few references to L. Ron