Night - Elie Wiesel (4 of 5 Frozen Toes)

A few months ago a friend of mine passed me this book, but I haven't had a chance to look at it because of school. Sorry Shannon. You can have your book back now... :)

Night is the story of Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel's childhood during WWII. During a late-night raid, Elie and his Jewish family were taken from their homes and shipped to Auschwitz. The story follows Elie and his father as they struggle to survive the holocaust.

In spite of the many honors of the author, it took quite a few pages of the short novel to really sink into the story. Over the years I've been exposed to many forms of the atrocities that took place during WWII: novels, videos and most recently the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC this summer. For the first half of the novel I didn't find too much that differed from the usual narrative. Forgive me Shannon. But...by the end of the novel the father-son relationship had developed enough to hold my interest. Another aspect of the book that grew on me was Wiesel's emphasis on the Jewish feeling of abandonment.

While it wasn't quite the quality I was expecting, I still enjoyed the novel. It's an above-average depiction of the Jewish persecution during WWII. If you're interested in the holocaust, you'll most likely enjoy the new details and perspectives that this book offers.

A smattering of everything

The Nazi Officer's Wife
If you enjoy memoirs and are interested in WWII/Holocaust, this is a must read. It's the story of Edith Hahn Beer, a Jewish woman that grew up in Vienna. She was a young adult at the start of the war. She survives by marrying a member of the Nazi party who later becomes an officer. It's very well written and the story of her life moves at the perfect pace. I stayed up late to read the next chapter and then the next chapter. It was a very touching look at humanity and what we will do in order to survive. She is first forced to live in a ghetto and then into a labor camp. When she gets back her mother has been forced to the "east"...Poland and eventually death in a concentration camp. She goes underground for a brief period of time but then, with the help of a Christian friend she becomes a Christian woman and moves away from Vienna. She then meets and marries Werner Vetter, a Nazi Party Member. It's not graphic or violent as many WWII memoirs can be given the subject matter. It's a close look at it was like for countless Jews that were hidden in plain sight and the everyday terror that she and many others must have felt at a knock at the door, getting her weekly rations, clothing, etc. Seriously...read it.

The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins
This is actually the first in a trilogy. The second book was recently published and I'm not entirely sure when the third will be completed. My coworker first got me interested in this book but when she told me what it was about I was seriously disturbed and I wasn't sure I was going to read it. Having read it, I really enjoyed it. It's a young adult novel. Following a rebellion, all of North America has been destroyed and it is now the nation of Panem. 12 Districts that are all controlled by the Capitol. The 13th district was utterly destroyed in the rebellion. In remembrance of the Uprising and to remind each district the control the Capitol holds over them the Capital hosts the Hunger Games. Each district sends two tributes, one girl and one boy ages 12-18, to participate in the Games. They are sent to the Capital and then they are all put in a huge arena that changes landscapes, traps, animals, conditions etc. every year. Once in the arena, they have to kill everyone off and the last person standing is the winner. So now you see why I was extremely unsure about this book but really it's very good. It's disturbing but I think it's supposed to be disturbing. You have to continually remind yourself that the characters you are reading about are just children. It reminded me a bit of William Golding's Lord of the Flies. This story centers on the two tributes from the poor, coal producing District Twelve. I can't say too much without giving away the ending but it's an interesting story and really pulls you in. If you look deeper you could find the social commentary but you don't need to in order to enjoy the book.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
I am actually currently reading this one. I started it quite a while ago but at the time, I had recently been on a "classics" reading spree and I just couldn't get through it. But now, I've been reading pretty "easy" books and decided it was time to have another go at Hardy. So far I've been enjoying it. It's not a book that you read just to get to the end of the story. You have to enjoy the language and the descriptions of what is going on. Hardy has a way of layering meaning on top of meaning. It can be difficult to get through but it's worth it, in my opinion, to persevere to the end. In Tess the title character gets into bad situations, gets herself out just to get into more trouble down the road. It's not her fault necessarily but it's not a real pick me up sort of story. In describing Tess's budding relationship with another character throughout the day, Hardy describes the rising and setting of the sun. He says

The gray half-tones of daybreak are not the gray half-tones of the day's close, though the degree of their shade may be the same. In the twilight of the morning light seems active, darkness passive; in the twilight of evening it is the darkness which is active and crescent, and the light which is the drowsy reverse.

Hardy has a way of describing the world around the characters as a way of giving further illumination into the mind, life and emotions of the characters. I don't think Hardy is for everyone but I'm enjoying it. I don't think he'll make it to my top 5 favorite "classic" authors but I can at least understand while he's considered a classic.

There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom by Louis Sachar

Its just so fun to reread books from your childhood!! And its also sort of amazing to see how your new/older perspective can entirely change the message of the story. Thus was my situation in my recent reread of Louis Sachar's There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom.

Bradley Chalkers is a bully. He was left behind so he's a year older than everyone else and he generally epitomizes the label "Problem Child." But that's the real problem--he's been labeled as a problem and does his best to live up to it. He has no friends and he's okay with that. Kids are scared of him because he beats them up and he's okay with that too. Or at least...he was. But when a new kid, Jeff, moves in and seems to want to be his friend, and when the new counselor, Carla, begins to work with him and be his friend...Bradley begins to think it might be worth trying.

As a kid, I loved this book because it was about this funny boy, Bradley who goes into the girl's bathroom accidentally and later two other people went into the wrong bathroom too! Yep. Awesome. But reading it now, as a teacher, the heartstrings were seriously given a workout. I totally felt for this kid who was limited by the labels put upon him. And his struggles to make friends and deal with things that were totally new to him--even something as simple as a birthday party!--brought me to tears. Literally. Let's just say its a great book. If you've read it before, read it again. Fabulous.

A

A Few Works by Austen

In the last couple weeks I've plowed through three different Jane Austen novels. Rather than post three times, I thought I'd just do a mini review on each of them and give you three for the price of one. Woohoo!

Emma. I'd give this one a solid A. The story is of a young gentlewoman who tries her hand at matchmaking with somewhat disastrous results. Things all end up for the best, of course, but the journey is full of mixups and general mayhem that make for an entertaining read.

Mansfield Park. This earns a B in my book. Its very different from other Austen novels--the tone is more serious and there's a real sense of social commentary that I find absent from a lot of her others. (Well, the others do have social commentary but its carried off in a much lighter manner.) The story is about Fanny Price--a young girl sent to live with her wealthier cousins. Thrown into a world with morals much unlike her own, Fanny must stand fast against the onslaught of the negatives that wealth can bring.

Northanger Abbey is also a B book, though its much different from Mansfield Park. The writing style is different than any other Austen book I have read--even just her approach to telling the story--but its still a good time all around. And short! On another site I read that scholars have called this book Austen's "Gothic parody" and I see where that's coming from. Catharine Moreland is enraptured by Gothic novels and when life seems to throw her into the middle of one...well, read the book and find out how it all goes. Oh, this was also the only Austen book with a character I just hated. I think the reader is supposed to, but STILL. Boo on John Thorpe.

Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris

I have a weakness for a good fluffy fiction. You know the kind that you will forget pretty quick after you read it, but its super fun while you're in the middle of it? And you're in the middle of it for a very short amount of time because you read the book so fast? You know? You with me? Yeah, those are the kind of books I love.

Jean Ferris' Once Upon a Marigold is a pretty good example. Its a fun young adult novel set in a fantastical world of princesses, trolls, and giants who guard the castle. The action revolves around Chris--a commoner who lives in the forest with his troll foster father--and the girl he is smitten with--Marigold. Marigold, it turns out, is a princess with special powers/curses (depending on how you look at it). Chris figures he has no chance with the girl, but as a friendship develops...so does the fun. Oh, and then Chris finds out the queen is planning on quietly getting rid of Marigold so she, the queen, can rule forever? And the excitement just builds from there!

The story is fun, fast-paced, and original enough to keep you guessing. I laughed out loud at a couple different places--the characters are fabulous!--and barely put the book down until I was finished. Thank goodness for school holidays...

I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun, quick read that will make you beam! inside and out. Seriously. Its a happy book.

B+

Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (4 of 5 Missing Exclamation Points)

Is it hard to believe that I went through all of high school and nearly all of college and never had to read anything by Mr. Dickens? What is this world coming to? And come to think it, I've ever seen any movies based on his works either...strange, no?

Oh, wait, sorry, don't kidnap me and force me into a life of organized crime, but I didn't make an attempt at Tale of Two Cities shortly after returning from my mission three years ago. And by attempt I mean that I only got through the first hundred and fifty pages or so before getting antsy and moving on to something else. Oops. Sorry Charles.

I guess it is a little different though when you're reading a book for a class rather than on your own. Reading on my own, I feel less obligated to finish. If it's nothing something that interests me, I move on. If you stop reading in the class, you might get an F on your test or paper. Having a guided tour of the book does however have its benefits sometimes. I appreciated the classroom discussions that we had about Oliver. The professor provided historical context to the book that made sections of the story much more meaningful than they would have been if I was reading on my own. Discussing specific incidents with other minds helped to tease out subtle nuances in the book, which Dickens may or may not have intended to include...ah the beauty of English literature classes.

And in the end, I did enjoy the book. A little slow, yes. What do you expect from a book where the protagonist spends half of the book asleep? I found myself rooting for the bad guys a few times; is that wrong? A little more violent than I anticipated...at the very least I can now talk about Dickens at Victorian dinner parties!

The Snow Leopard - Peter Matthiessen (3.5 of 5 Wandering Blue Sheep)

This novel is the story of one man's journey into the Himalayas. What begins as a hunt for the illusive snow leopard, becomes a spiritual quest as the author leaves his urban environment and presses forward into the snow-capped mountains. When he reaches the peak of one of these mountains, he seeks refuge in a Buddhist monastery. There he experiences the beauty of simple living.

Now that I think of it, it's a lot like a Himalayan version of Walden Pond. In both, one man goes into the wilderness to escape urban drudgery. Thoreau builds a small cabin; Matthiessen stays in a palace. David writes about birds for fifty pages; Peter writes about blue sheep for fifty pages. Our hero of the lake uses his birds as a spring board into the depths of philosophy and Christian theology while our champion of the mountains uses the sheep as a ladder into the heavens of idealized Buddhism.

The language is beautiful, but the story drags a bit. Basically, if you liked Walden Pond, you'll probably dig The Snow Leopard.

What other books have you read that follow this structure?

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls

Its interesting to read a book you've heard a lot about before you even crack the cover. You go into the whole experience with loads of expectations--be they good or bad--and those expectations are always hovering around as you read. Its unfortunate, but true. And my expectations had a major impact, I'm sure, in how I interpreted this much-talked-about memoir.

Jeannette Walls starts her story in the present-day--noting her embarrassment at looking out her car window and seeing her own homeless mother picking through the trash cans in New York. From there she jumps back in time and begins to take the reader through the chaotic and unbelievable world of her childhood. She grows up with two parents who live by the seat of their pants and seem to have no interest in being truly responsible. Whether its petting a cheetah, dashing out of town to avoid the law, or living in a ramshackle hut in West Virginia without any heating...the stories seem to grow more unbelievable chapter by chapter. But she survives--and obviously loves her parents--and you just keep reading desperately wanting to know how she escapes such a life to make herself a success.

Here's the truth: I wasn't as impressed as I'd expected I would be. However, it was still an interesting read. No matter how unbelievable the stories become, you do believe them because...well, because the author's voice is so incredibly straightforward you immediately trust her. There's no exaggeration or commenting on the seriousness of a situation. She simply tells it like it was--as crazy as the events often seem. Overall, an interesting read. I just wish I hadn't gone into it with such high expectations.

B-

King Solomon's Mines - H. Rider Haggard (3.5 of 5 Lost Civilizations)

So...it looks like my last review was posted on September 28, 2009. That's pretty sad. This isn't for lack of reading though. I read about 30-35 books this semester. I just haven't had time to write up the reviews. But, now that finals are over, I hope to share many of these books with you.

King Solomon's Mines was published in 1885. It was one of the first "Lost World" adventure novels. It follows three white men in their exploration of the interior of Africa. Along the way they meet a noble native who serves as their guide. When they reach the lost civilization they are perceived as God's coming down from heaven. Life is all fine and dandy until their story begins to unravel.

The book is somewhat entertaining, but there isn't a lot of depth to the story. This novel is well-known for its historical rather than literary significance. Everything is pretty typical for its genre: a few unsurprising plot twists, a few epic battles, a rather shallow love story, lost treasure, and one crazy old woman. If you're looking for a quick and fluffy adventure story from the 19th century, this is the book for you.

The Man Who Would Be King - Rudyard Kipling (4 of 5 Disguised Priests)

A newspaper journalist sits in his office on a muggy summer night in India counting down the minutes before he can close up the office and go home. There is a knock in the door. He debates whether or not to answer it. There is another knock and he struggles to get up from his table. When he arrives at the entrance he finds two wanders, Dravot and Peachy who immediately disclose to him their plans to become kings of a remote region of Afghanistan.

The book is a quick read. I've seen it in book form with large type as well as a short story of about 30-40 pages. It moves quickly, sports some memorable characters and brings up some interesting issues about exploration and colonization.

I've been told there was a movie made from the book, which stars Sean Connery and Michael Caine. Imdb says that it was nominated for 4 Academy awards - sounds like it did well. Has anyone seen it?

The Bottom Billion - Paul Collier (4 of 5 Templates for Recovery)

Paul Collier published The Bottom Billion in 2007 as an attempt to raise awareness regarding the one billion people living in poverty. Many of those suffering are currently living in failed states, most of which are in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the first half of his book, Collier outlines the causes of this poverty and in the second half describes what can be done about it. He is a firm believer that reviving a failed state requires the support of the local government and citizens, though policy changes by the developed nations around the globe can make this transition easier.

The four traps that plague the bottom billion are military conflict, abundant natural resources, being landlocked with bad neighbors and corrupt governance. Not all failed states experience all four traps. Some failed states are afflicted by one. The probability of failure however, increases as each trap is added. These traps do not operate independently. Corrupt government for example often leads to civil war.

Approximately 73% of the bottom billion have recently been through a civil war or are still in one. Civil war destroys the economy, drains national resources, and kills the workforce. Investors are wary of pumping resources into nations when conditions are unstable. Abundant natural resources such as oil distract small governments from developing their economies. They believe that they can subsist wholly on one export. Much of the revenue from exports is pocketed by corrupt leaders, leaving citizens to suffer. Have access to seaports also causes problems. Being landlocked means that a country has to depend on the infrastructure of its neighbors. If those neighbors are engaged in civil war, exporting can be anywhere from difficult to impossible.

Collier is quite convinced that developed nations should not be content to let the bottom billion suffer. In his book he outlines several reasons why developed nations should help to pull these nations out of chaos. According to his calculations, the cost of a failed state from meltdown to recovery is approximately $100 billion. Costs are allocated to the country itself, its neighbors and the global marketplace. Preventing a state from falling apart or helping it to recover more quickly can reduce these costs.

While a state is in ruins, its conditions can spill over into other nations in the forms of epidemics, terrorism and drugs. He cites Somalia as an example of how these effects can be felt around the world. Somalia was one of the last states affected by small pox. The disease was eliminated shortly before the Somalia meltdown. Collier believes that if the meltdown had occurred any earlier, small pox might have made a turnaround. Global transportation makes the possibility of the outbreak of such diseases much more likely. Civil war also leads to the spread of disease. In times of conflict, occurrences of rape skyrocket. STDs such as HIV/AIDS, syphilis and other deadly diseases spread like wildfire. Such outbreaks often jump borders affecting other failed states as well as developed nations.

Many young men have fled Somalia for developed nations. Once there, they have found themselves unable to integrate into the local culture and economy and have become frustrated. During 2005 alone, young men from Somalia were responsible for both attempting to blow up a commuter train and murdering a policewoman in a bank robbery in London. Collier supports President Bush’s claim that neglecting the war against terrorism abroad, means dealing with it at home.

Failed states often do not have a functioning police force or economy. A failing economy leads to high levels of unemployment. As members of the bottom billion become more desperate they turn to illegal means of generating income. Without a functioning police force in these failed states, the production of illegal drugs increases. Because few people within the state have money to purchase the drugs, many are exported to developing nations.

Contrary to the belief of Zambisa Moyo, Collier believes that aid has produced positive effects in failed states. Aid from developed nations has been the difference between stagnation and severe cumulative decline. Aid has meant an average increase in GDP of 1%. This has offset the average decrease in GDP of failed states of -1%. On a more personal level aid has meant the difference between life and death to millions of suffering people. He warns however, that the efficiency of aid can be increased significantly. Tight control of resources can prevent corrupt governments from redirecting aid away from the people. Clear benchmarks for contract renewal can be instituted to give governments direction on how to allocate resources. Positive growth can help to counteract the frustration that produces conflict. Controlling the revenue streams more closely would also dissuade potential coups that seek to take control of foreign aid.

Epidemics: Opposing Viewpoints - Mary E. Williams (2 of 5 Articles Not About Malaria)

Hm...well. Don't read this book if you're looking for information on malaria...and especially if you're doing research for a college paper.

The serious lack of malaria material in this book created a mental block the size of Montana so I pretty much didn't enjoy anything about this book. I probably shouldn't have gotten anything from the juvenile non-fiction section with the intent to use it in my college research paper. Lesson learned. Most of the points here were fluff and not pertinent.

Only read this if you are in your early teens wanting to know about HIV/AIDS.

Walden Pond - David Thoreau (4 of 5 Deliberate Swallows)

This book has been on my list of stuff to read for a very long time. I was almost able to finish it before having to return it to the DC library before I left. I missed the last few chapters...oops. Chances of finishing the book anytime soon are slim. First, I have very little extra time to read books not required for my college classes. Second, I really don't want to finish the book.

The introduction and first few chapters are quite profound. Thoreau describes the benefits of living the simple life. He shows how someone can shrug off many of the unnecessary cares of life - something that is quite desirable for one such as me that can't even find time to tie his shoes some days. Elder Perry did a great job of summarizing and expounding upon these chapters in his talk in the October 2008 conference.

The rest of the book drags on forever and ever. You can only read so many pages about squirrels before you want to puke and go read something else. For all of you out there that actually made it to the end - props.

A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market - John Paulos (3.5 of 5 Shares of WorldCom)

Sorry to leave these blank posts floating out here for so long. Embarrassing, no? I suppose it's kind of like walking around in public with your zipper down. I've spent the last week trying to adjust to Utah life, return to work and start school. Tonight is my first break. Oh well. So it goes.

When I saw this book at the library a few months ago, I was anticipating a John Nash Beautiful Mind experience...well...not quite. Not that exciting. Instead, you get to hear Mr. Paulos whine several times about his dumb decision to buy WorldCom at it's peak and then the dumber decision to hold it until he had lost almost all of his money. Hm...poor guy...probably made it all back from publishing this book.

It's not all bad. You will get some interesting discussions of the probabilities surrounding the buying and selling of stocks. Some knowledge of calculus might be needed to follow all of the mathematical computations, but he explains everything in basic terms at the end. He also spends a lot of time covering the psychological aspects of investing.

If you don't go in expecting too high of a return, you'll probably enjoy this book. Cheers.

The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde (5 of 5 Well-timed Letters from Mr. Bunbury)

Man...why do I even write reviews? You've got five posts up before I even get anything on the page. Thanks for the contributions!

I'm at a lost for words. It's as if I was telling a joke and you all beat me to the punch line. It's a wonderful play. I've seen it, listened to it, read it, and seen the movie. Each time has been a great experience. I always finish wanting more. Thanks for the recommendations of Wilde's other works.

The grand plot line is somewhat predictable, but I don't really care. Wilde makes up for it the line by line banter. Love it.

I'd write more but I just received a text from my poor cousin Mildred. She's stuck on I-15 with a flat tire. I'll be back in a few days... :)

Dead Aid - Dambisa Moyo (5 of 5 Locally Produced Bed Nets)

Dead Aid is a provocative look into the failure of aid to Africa over the past 60 years. The author Dambisa Moyo, originally from Zambia, provides a first-hand account of the efforts of the West. Her resume is quite impressive; she holds a bachelors degree in Chemistry and an MBA in Finance from American University, a Masters from Harvard and a PhD in Economics from Oxford. She has worked for both the World Bank and Goldman Sachs. Earlier this year Time magazine named her as one the top 100 most influential people in the world.

The first half of her book describes the reasons why aid has failed to awaken the African continent. She argues that not only has it not helped, but it has exacerbated the problems in Africa. She believes that the primary reason why aid does not work is that it promotes government corruption. Leaders of autocratic regimes quickly become accustomed to receiving large lumped sums of cash from foreign governments. Because they are not expected to pay back the loan, they feel no need to use the money wisely. Much of it is simply funneled out of the country into the corrupt leader’s foreign bank account. Zaire’s president Mobutu is purported to have taken nearly US $5 billion. The rest of it is squandered in ineffective government programs. Very little of it is ever seen by the citizens of the country for which the money was intended. The prospect of overthrowing the corrupt leader to take control of the aid channels causes frequent civil wars. The atmosphere created by the corrupt politicians makes foreign and domestic investment unattractive. Without these investments the country descends deeper into dependency on foreign aid.

According to Dambisa Moyo, the first step to fixing Africa is cutting all aid to the continent. She believes that this will open up greater possibilities for foreign direct investment. She spends a significant portion of the book describing how China is already leading the way in investments in Africa. While much of China’s actions are the result of its need for oil, it has provided much needed infrastructure to several African countries. Many Africans see China’s influence as more positive than the US. Moyo also proposes the institution of micro-credit organizations patterned after the Grameen Bank in India as well as decreasing taxes on African remittances, allowing funds to be transferred directly to the people who need it most.

While the data that Dambisa Moyo offers makes it quite apparent that aid is part of the problem, it is difficult to believe that all aid is detrimental. Employees of the non-profit group where I am interning have indicated that the malaria programs in African have been some of the most effective programs in utilizing foreign aid. Very real successes have been achieved in the country. Malaria rates in each of the 15 target countries of the President’s Malaria Initiative have been reduced. This has allowed families to dedicate their resources to economic growth rather than pills to kill the malaria parasite.

This doesn’t mean that malaria programs are flawless. The administrative pyramid of the President’s Malaria Initiative is extremely complicated. Several layers of bureaucracy separate the source of funding and center of disease control from the African child receiving his or her first dose Artemisinin pill. A reduction of levels and additional correlation meetings between the non-profit organizations using the funding could greatly improve the efficiency with which the funding is used.

Dambisa Moyo also points out that when giving aid to Africa, foreign governments have a tendency to give finished products directly to the people putting many local producers out of a job. Manufacturing plants producing bednets in America can easily undercut start up groups in Africa. When considering an increase to the funding for combating malaria, American organizers should divert funds to local producers whenever possible in order to stimulate economic growth while simultaneously promoting better public health.

Fantastic book. Quick read. Find it. Read it. Love it. Live it.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Um, No, just no, you did not, C-? C-? Really? Shirley, you jest! Oh wait your name isn't Shirley, its Tara, I wish it was Shirley, because then you wouldn't be Tara who insulted one of the best and most influential science fiction books ever written.

Allow me to back that statement up. First, lets look at just how daring and original this book is. Published in the 60s this is one of if not the first book of the genre to have a young female protagonist. On top of that it quite adequately empathizes with the feelings of a bright young person who doesn't fit in and and toward whom resentment is directed from their peers. Ender's Game is the only other book I have read that reaches that type of person. Not only that but this book revels in the individuality of its characters.

Rather than dictating that the kids fit into a pigeonhole it expresses that Calvin is uncomfortable with being characterized as a jock and is capable of being more than just an athlete, Meg thrives when she does things her own way, and Charles Wallace doesn't care what anybody thinks about him, he is a sport and he loves it. The idea of mindless conformity is condemned as the goal of IT, or rather the forces of evil. So, take into account that Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and Leave it to Beaver were en vogue when this was published and I dare you to say "meh" to this book.

The next topic I will address is sheer creativity. The author creates stunning panoramas in the mind of an imaginative reader, and the interaction between the characters is engaging. The Mrs. W's are hilarious at times. The creatures are really unique as well, not merely borrowed from some other mythology.

A Wrinkle in Time is more than just a fluff fiction book, it stimulates thought, it contains original ideas, it teaches that science and math have practical application, it encourages the expansion of the reader's vocabulary, and beyond that it manages to entertain and inspire. Madeline L'Engle wrote what children should be reading instead of pointless adventure stories with fantastic (fantastic-ridiculous, not fantastic-good) plot lines that end all happy and good conquers evil forever. Oh, and her book doesn't end with "everyone lives happily ever after" it ends with the idea that God has a purpose for us and that we need to have faith and love and then after we do our part, things will be ok.

To sum things up, only a square would call this book "somewhat entertaining". I give this book a A+ and consider it required reading for the young, and everyone else too.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

We've recently tackled the topic of "classics" so it seemed appropriate that I just finished what most consider a children's class--Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. I am positive I read this book when I was younger but my only memory of it is a mass of confusing bits and pieces. Today I was headed to the lake for some fishing and decided to give it another go.

Meg Murray's father has been missing for over a year. He's on some classified mission for the government and the family is left in the dark as to his whereabouts. So Meg, her incredibly intelligent younger brother Charles Wallace, and new friend Calvin O'Keefe set out to cross time and space to bring him back. They're helped by some mysterious guardian angel types--the Mrs. W's--and also find aid on a variety of other planets. Spoiler alert? They're successful and everyone lives happily ever after (at least in this book...the first in the "saga").

I'm guessing there are many of you who read this as a kid. If you're thinking about giving it another try like me...don't. I'd give it a solid "Meh." Its not terrible. Its somewhat entertaining. But I'm not sure why people like it so much. There's a strong Christian message in it, and "love conquers all" in the end so maybe its parents who push it so much. No idea. I just know I wasn't all that impressed.

C-

The Princess Bride - William Goldman (4 of 5 Empty Flasks of Iocane Powder)

I really wish I could have read this book prior to seeing the movie. It's always hard to erase the images you have in your mind (especially with this movie, having seen it just under a bazillion times). Rather than enjoy the book for what it was I found myself constantly skimming over the parts in the movie to find the new content. Most of this new content was back story to the characters, some scenes which are quite hilarious. The rest of the new stuff was William Goldman interrupting his own story. Some of his comments were quite funny. Some could have been left out. They get old after a while.

If you get the 25th anniversary edition you'll also get the first chapter of the sequel "Buttercup's Baby." This story follows Wesley, Buttercup, Fezzik and Ignacio as they flee from Prince Humperdink after storming his castle. There are a couple funny moments, but it seems like nothing more than an afterthought - not really worth your time.

If you haven't seen the movie, go get the book as soon as you can. If you're from the Mormon Heartland and have seen this movie at least once every few months for most of your childhood, you might want to think twice before checking it out from the library.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution - Kevin Gutzman (3 of 5 Coniving Supreme Court Justices)

Same deal as the other politically incorrect guide. I got through almost all of this book at the copy machine. I would have finished it all, but one of the CDs wasn't working.

Like the other one it started off being interesting, but it quickly got old and I had to push myself to get through it. The book attempts to show that the laws of the United States are not quite as idealistic as we all hope they would be. Using several examples from the foundation of the nation to the present, Gutzman shows that the evolution of law in the United States was heavily influenced by the personal interests of the supreme court justices. Simply put, it left a bad taste in my mouth for government. If this is what you're looking for, have at it.

The Politcally Incorrect Guide to Capitalism - Robert P. Murphy (3 of 5 Piggy Banks)

First off, I must confess that I didn't actually finish this book. I kept putting off the review hoping that I would finish it, but I never got around to it. I have to take the CDs back now that I'm leaving DC, and frankly I don't feel that it's worth it to go find the discs back in SLC.

I started it a couple of months ago during my long days at the copy machine at work. In the beginning it was quite interesting. I was intrigued by the author's arguments about the value of pure capitalism. Murphy energetically campaigns against any kind of government intervention/regulation based on the belief that the market place will automatically regulate itself. Consumers will buy only that which they feel is desireable. And so it goes. You probably already know the rest.

Yes it was interesting. Yes it got old after a while.

The Fever Trail - Mark Honigsbaum (3.5 of 5 Ripe Cinchona Trees)

Mark Honigsbaum’s Book The Fever Trail is extremely comprehensive look at the first efforts to find a cure for malaria. The story begins in 1638 with the mysterious cure of the Spanish princess Dona Francisa Henriquez de Ribera. While visiting Peru she contracted what appears to have been malaria. A Jesuit priest that was passing through the area heard of her illness treated the disease with an infusion bark from the cinchona tree. She quickly recovered from the disease and returned to Europe to spread the news.

The quinine extracts from the bark effectively lower the temperature of the body enough to prevent the reproduction of the parasite in the body, breaking the cycle of fevers. Unfortunately the species of tree from which this powerful drug was derived was only found in Peru and Bolivia along the Andean fault line. A few British scientists recognized the value of transporting the seeds to Europe where mass production could begin. Among them were Richard Spruce (1817-1893), Charles Ledger (1818-1905), and the Sir Clements Markham (1830-1916). Several attempts were made by each to acquire the seeds. They were often foiled by the South American winters, sickness, and the governments of Peru and Bolivia that carefully protected the rare crop of trees. The bulk of The Fever Trail centers on these travels.

Each of these men hoped to accrue great wealth from the developing a crop of Cinchona trees in the West. After great personal hardship Spruce managed to transport a small quantity of seeds to India where a small plantation was developed. To his disappointment the British government offered him little in compensation. As the plantation matured, it was discovered that the variety of tree that Spruce had bought back was ill suited to the conditions and produced very little quinine.

Ledger’s seeds switched hands a few times before ending up in the possession of the Dutch. With time it was discovered that the variety was far superior to Spruces. By the early 1900s the Dutch plantation in Java was producing nearly 66% of the world’s supply of quinine and reaping significant returns on its investment. After years of petitioning on behalf of Ledger, the upper class Markham succeeded in convincing the Dutch to offer the poverty stricken finder of the tree a small yearly sum of £100. Honigsbaum hopes to give these men their long-due credit for finding the first cure for malaria.

The one downfall of this book is that it was published in 2001. A lot has changed since then in the field of malaria. Honigsbaum indicates toward the end of the book that the Plasmodium Falciparum strain of malaria is beginning to show signs of resistance to quinine. Over the past eight years this level of resistance has increased significantly. Pharmaceutical companies have been forced to seek other treatments to combat the disease. Artemisinin is at the top of the list. While Chinese natural healers have been using the drug for over a thousand years, it has only recently been mass produced to treat malaria. This new drug has been shown to clear the parasite faster than any other drug yet discovered. The plant from which the drug is derived is Artemisia annua, which grows in many parts of the world, including along the banks of the Potomac River in Washington DC.

The use of combination therapies has also become much more common since Honigsbaum finished his book. This is the practice of using multiple drugs in tandem to combat the malaria strain. The benefits of this strategy are that the parasite is killed more rapidly and the development of resistance is slower. Artemisinin is commonly combined with sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine or lumefantrine, depending on condition of the patient. The use of Artemisinin or its derivatives Artemether or Artesunate as a monotherapy is strictly outlawed by the World Health Organization for fear that resistance will render this compound ineffective. Signs of early resistance have already been seen in South Asia. Pharmaceutical companies continue to seek new treatments. While there have been some attempts to develop a vaccine to the disease, none have been successful.

Robert Henry Hinckley: Getting to Know Him - Bae B. Gardner (4 of 5 Votes)

So...before you get too deep into this post, let me remind you of my purpose for maintaining this website - why do I always avoid calling this thing a blog? Here, there, doesn't matter who I'm talking too. Blog is such an ugly word. Can anybody back me up on this? I know it's short for weblog, but it's such an ugly word. It seems so...geeky. Is there anything attractive about the word blog? Do I gain any clout for owning a blog?...or seven for that matter...sheesh. What a mess. Am I the only one that thinks this way? Does anyone else cringe whenever the hear the word blog or are forced to utter its horrid name? Perhaps it's because the blogosphere...yuck, exploded while I was a missionary (or so I claim). Maybe that's why. I missed the boat. I'm like an old man ashamed that he can't use a keyboard. Mystified. Paralyzed. Why can't they come up with a more debonair title like...well...um...like...I don't know...siphon. Yeah. We'll call it siphon.

Jake walks into the apartment.

Dan: "Hey. Nice drop on the siphon today."

Jake: "Thanks. I'm glad I siphoned it."

Dan: "Yeah. You've had a lot of great posts on your siphon lately. Lots of siphoners too."

Jake: "Yeah. No kidding. It's probably because I started calling it a siphon."

Dan: "Yeah. Probably. What are you going to be siphoning about tomorrow."

Jake: "Don't know. Depends on how siphony I feel after work."

Friends, Romans, Siphoners, lend me your ears. Let it be known from here on and hereafter that the object before know as a bl...yem....that website thingy...will henceforth and forever be known as a siphon. That's right folks - a siphon. Knowledge, opinions, recipes and scrapbooking ideas can all be siphoned from the internet by you, the intrepid siphoners. Let the stream of water dribble out or come gushing from the pipe. Take it with you. Tell your fellow siphoners after all of the great ideas you've found on the siphonet. Oh yeah...like that...the siphonet. Siphon, siphon, siphon. Siphon. Have no fear to speak of the siphon with family, friends, coworkers, girlfriends, even your goldfish. Everybody loves the sound of siphon. It slips slyly so softly succulently soff syour stongue. Put your Star Trek and WoW shirts back in the closet. Pull out the titanium cufflinks and the Armani suit cause we are going out on the town baby. Siphon!

Oh dear.

Um...well...I think I had too much mac and cheese tonight...sorry about that. I'm not quite sure what came over me. Um...well...Robert Hinckley? Yeah. Great guy. Started the Hinckley Institute at the University of Utah. Want to know more? Go read the book!

Do you like the word blog? If so, why? If not, what would you rather call them?

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Let me start by publicly saying that I love Goodreads.com. If you aren't yet a member, you should be. Its a great website where you can create bookshelves for yourself (helps me keep track of the books I want to read), write reviews, read reviews, and generally just be part of a great reading community. And it was on Goodreads that I first heard of The Mysterious Benedict Society.

This piece of young adult fiction revolves around four children who all answer an odd ad found in the paper--encouraging gifted children to come be a part of "special opportunities." Turns out these opportunities land them on a special team of kids who are to go undercover and help stop a crazy person from doing crazy things and taking over the world. I guess that was sort of a spoiler but hopefully vague enough it won't give too much away.

As is usual with me and books I love, I found the characters in Stewart's novel absolutely DE-lightful. Bald little Sticky Washington, pint-sized Constance Contraire, the mysterious Mr. Benedict and his green suit...all inviting characters, well-written enough that I could picture them without illustrated help. The story moves along at a pretty good clip. My only complaint was that I could often predict what was going to happen before it did. I'm a fan of true "twists" that leave me shocked. Little of these twists did. Still, the book was an entertaining-enough read that I would recommend it to most anyone. Fun for all ages!

B+

The Survivors Club - Ben Sherwood (3.5/5 Near Death Experiences)

This book is an analysis of the commonalities found in the genetic make-up, habits, life choices, faith, and age of people who have come close to dying. The author did extensive research on the topic and he explains it to the reader by telling the stories of the survivors and explaining how they survived.

I often found myself jealous of the author, in researching this book he had the opportunity to be trained in survival by the United States Military and various other organizations in surviving life threatening situations. The best part of the book is the beginning where it discusses how not to die if an Airplane that you happen to be flying in plummets to the ground and explodes. Of course it tells you that you don't really need to know how to survive that situation, because the odds of it occurring are slimmer than an Olsen twin on a diet.

If you are looking for ideas on how to survive mountain lion attacks, jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, sinking ferries in the Bering Sea, and stab wounds from knitting needles, then this is your kind of book. The most interesting fact in the book is that if you regularly attend church activities on multiple nights a week then your life expectancy is substantially higher, at least until you begin questioning your faith and then it goes down the tubes.

Not the best put together book but I gave it extra points for being non-fiction and not being soporific.

Labeling: The New Frontier

As you have probably noticed, there have been some changes to the sidebar of this website. The "Topics" thingy will now provide us with a better way of classifying the books that have been reviewed. I believe this will make it easier for visitors to search for books that they might find interesting. It will also give those of us that have been here for a while a way to find book reviews that we may have missed when they were originally posted.

All of the "Contributors" listed on right sidebar should have permissions to use the labeling function. To access the labeling page you will first need to log in to Blogger and then click on the "Customize" link in the top right corner of the homepage. You will then click on the "Posting" tab on the left side, followed by the "Edit Posts" tab just below it. You should now be able to see all of the posts on the site. To add a label you need to click on the little grey box to the left of the post title. Then go up to the top of the list and click the drop down menu "Label Actions." From there you can add an existing label or input a new label.

I have now labeled most of the books I have reviewed. In a few cases I labeled a post written by someone else because I was familiar with the book. I would appreciate it if you would go back through the list and apply label to the books you have reviewed. You may apply multiple labels to a post, but please don't go nuts.

I'm always open to new suggestions about how to make this website more interesting. I recently watched a video of a conference on blogging that my dad sent me that had some pretty interesting ideas. Please send me any ideas you may get while watching it.

“How to Build a High Traffic Blog without Killing Yourself”

It's hard to believe that we've been posting book reviews here for over a year now. There are now over 100 books on this website! Thanks to all those that have contributed. Please let me know if you know anyone that might be interested in writing reviews. Send me their email address and I'll send them a permissions invite.

The Last of the Mohicans - James Fenimore Cooper (3 of 5 Cheap Haircuts)

Before you read this book, make sure you do the following:

1. Learn French
2. Take an college course on American Indian politics
3. Minor in the French and Indian War
4. Commit to yourself in writing that you are willing to read countless sentences that are over 100 words long
5. Don't read Eats, Shoots & Leaves

I have often heard that this book is one of the classics of American literature. Now that I've read it...uh...I can't really tell you why. I'm guessing that back in 1826 when it was first released, everyone was still concerned about getting scalped. But even then, Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) who was a bit closer to that time than me said the following, "Cooper's art has some defects. In one place in 'Deerslayer,' and in the restricted two-thirds of a page, Cooper has scored 114 offences against literary art out of a possible 115." Glad to know I wasn't alone in my opinion.

The book does have some exciting sequences. I think all of them involve people trying to avoid getting scalped. I've heard that the movie is pretty intense. It's probably because the producer cut out all of the non-scalping parts.

The writing style is pretty pompous at times; I've had more fun reading legal cases than portions of Cooper's book. The run-on sentences sometimes make the comings and goings of the plot fuzzy. Perhaps one of the redeeming qualities of the book though is that not everything ties up in a pretty little pink bow. It is very unlike all of the narrow escapes in the rest of the book. I found the ending both surprising and somewhat refreshing. But...I'm still only giving it a 3 of 5.

Anyone want to argue that this should still be an American classic? What other books did you read in high school that you think were overrated?

Eats, Shoots & Leaves - Lynne Truss (4.5 of 5 Overburdened Commas)

This "Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation" is hilarious; if you haven't read it, go find it - now, unless you're doing laundry or cooking, which everyone knows are things that you can't just put down and walk away because you'll find that your shirts will be all wrinkled or your rice will be crusty on the bottom of the pan!

I suppose there are many grammar books out there that can tell you what was wrong with that first paragraph (and all of the following paragraphs). That which makes this book so special is the unique voice that the author brings to the book. Yes, she'll outline the basic rules of grammar, but no, it's not boring.

Frankly, I learned more from her examples of incorrect usages and general principles. One of my favorite passages was her summary of the purposes of each of the marks of punctuation. She writes, "in the family..." Ah poop. I wrote down the page number in my notes, but I just realized that I took the book back to the library last week. Oh well. Go get your book out. It's on page 137.

I'd like to meet this woman, but I have a sneaking suspicion that she might be a tad intimidating. Her best advice for using commas is, "don't use the comma like a stupid person." Oh well. Go take a look at the emails you got today. The world could surely use more people like her.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians series by Rick Riordan

I am a huge fan of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & The Olympians series. I was introduced to Book 1: The Lightning Thief by our librarian at school. I opened up the book and barely put it down for a second until I had finished. I borrowed the next three books from the library in quick succession and then waited anxiously for the final book, Book 5: The Last Olympian, to become available. I finished it this morning and--BOY HOWDY!--this is an amazing series.

In a nutshell, the hero of the story is Percy Jackson--a demigod (son of a Greek god)--living in the modern day. Turns out Mt. Olympus and all those "mythological" stories we learned about in school aren't exactly ancient history. Mt. Olympus just moved to the new seat of western civilization and culture: New York City. The gods, and their magic, is still around us all the time. As mortals, we just lack the ability to see it; something called The Mist keeps us from seeing a giant monster for what it really is. On the other hand, being a demigod, Percy and his other demigod friends, are always running in to trouble with the aforesaid monsters...plus the ever-present drama that is Mt. Olympus and the Olympians. These demigods are the new heroes of our day--like Hercules of ancient times. As heroes, the adventures never stop and each new book is better than the last.

I am recommending this series to anyone and everyone. The stories are fabulously exciting and definitely entertaining. If you liked Harry Potter you'll almost definitely like these. The story's pattern is sort of the same, but there's enough unique material here you won't find yourself constantly comparing the two. Anyway, check them out. Percy Jackson rocks my world.

A++

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (4 of 5 Restless Cannibals)

I do not make a habit of reading books more than once. Exceptions occur in the following cases:

1. I have to read the book for two different classes (Heart of Darkness)
2. I forget I already read the book (The Time Machine)
3. Religious study (Book of Mormon)

I was surprised that I enjoyed this book more than the first run through the jungle back in my 11th grade English class. This might be due to improved reading skills. It might also be a superior instructor. It could just be a short-lived fascination with cannibalism. Go fish.

Yes, it is a lot to slosh through, but the text does contain some powerful descriptions of the African continent during the time of European occupation. I believe this classic novel is worth your time if you haven't already read it.

Have you returned to any books lately to discover that you either liked or disliked them more than the first read?

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

One of my good friends recommended this book to me and then added to her recommendation by actually giving me a copy. I finally got a chance to read it on my flight home from New York and it proved to be a very fast read and an engrossing story.

Rebecca is the mysterious story of a young woman who is swept off her feet, marries quickly, and settles at the English estate of Manderly as the second wife to a wealthy landowner. Once arriving, however, she finds herself constantly questioning her place in reference to the first wife--Rebecca. Who Rebecca was, how she was viewed by the servants and the neighbors, how she was loved by Maxim himself...all of these questions begin to drive the heroine quite mad (...but not literally). How the story all turns out? Well that's what the reading is all about.

Overall I enjoyed the book. The author is very skilled at keeping the reader interested. At the moment when I started getting a little bored of the storyline, BAM! she threw a million "answers" at me and a million more questions as well. I literally read this entire book in one sitting, and I think its an entertaining enough read to recommend it.

B+

Terrorism: The New World Disorder - Nicholas Fotion (4 of 5 Just Causes)

I came across this book while doing research for my DC internship paper. In the end, I don't think I'm going to use the terrorism angle anymore, but the book was interesting enough to push through.

The book begins with a philosophical analysis of reasons for starting a terrorism campaign vs. reasons for continuing it. It covers the advantages and disadvantages of terrorism, as well as actor types, motives and objectives.

Most of the book is a description of the history of terrorism. The goal of the author is to show that terrorism is nothing new. It goes back many decades if not centuries. The form may change a bit over time, but the underlying theme is the same. The final chapter predicts that terrorism will continue to be a prominent world issue for many years to come.

The World We Have - Thich Nhat Hanh (3.5 of 5 No Car Days)

I read this book a few months ago for my Environmental Literature class. It's a tiny little handbook that can probably fit in your pocket and because it's only about 100 pages, you could likely get through it in one sitting.

Short and sweet: it's a Buddhist approach to conserving the world we have. Most of the book focuses on the Buddhist ideology for protecting nature. The last chapter contains many simple habits that you can put into practice to make a difference in your home, family and community. If this angle to the green revolution sounds interesting to you, check it out. The worst case scenario is you lose an hour or two.

Buffettology - Mary Buffett (4.5 of 5 Shares of Gillette)

Mary Buffett was married to one of Warren's sons for a time before filing for divorce. During her stay in the Warren compound she had the opportunity to see the inner workings of the Oracle of Omaha's investing strategy. In this book she outlines the core Buffet investing strategies.

The underlying theme of Buffet's time-tested strategy is value investing in bear markets. When the indexes hit bottom, you dump your money into companies that have been around for many years and aren't going anywhere. They make products that consumers will always buy and have to buy often. The best way to find these companies is by walking into any local grocery store. There you'll find names like Johnson and Johnson, Mars, Gillette, etc. Their stock prices will be down because of the overall market but they will surely rise during the economic recovery.

There is also an interesting section of the book that discusses arbitrage. This is essentially looking for rumors of potential buyout situations. When a company agrees to buy another, it will establish a buyout price per share for all available shares. Your profit will be the difference between the current share price and the buyout price. This strategy is difficult and more risky than the first. It is hard to find these buyout deals before the crowd does, and the agreements often don't go through in the end. The buyout offers do however create a great deal of volatility that day traders can exploit.

What Matters: The World's Preeminent Photojournalists and Thinkers Depict Essential Issues of Our Time - David Cohen (4.5 of 5 Gold-plated Handbags)

I found this book at the library while doing research for my internship paper on malaria. Twenty to thirty key issues are covered ranging from atrocities in Sudan to rampant consumerism in the United States. Many of the full-page photos are absolutely stunning. The combination of these images with an engaging text make this book a powerful experience.

This book has generated several interesting conversations in the month or so that it has been sitting on our kitchen table. The poignant images quickly draw any passerby into the book. The chapters are largely self-contained allowing a reader to become familiar with an issue in one sitting. I would usually go through one or two chapters while eating my morning raisin bran.
The controversial nature of the topics often prompted me to talk them over with my roommates.

At the very end of the book there is a short chapter that outlines additional resources for each topic covered. There is also information about how readers can participate, donate, serve in each area.

Tarzan of the Apes - Edgar Rice Burrows (3.5 of 5 Bulging Biceps)

This is another of the books from my Darwin class this past semester. I had not read the book previously, but I had seen several theatrical versions of the Tarzan story. I feel that these other versions in someways made my reading of the book more difficult. I kept having to tell myself that the book was the original work and that the movies were the copies.

For those curious about going back to the roots of the Tarzan story, you'll most likely enjoy your experience. I was surprised to discover that it was the first novel in a series of 40 or so books. Move over James Bond. If you want to enjoy it as fiction, it's a quick enjoyable read. If you want to dig a little bit more, there is a deeper commentary here about human nature. Burrows believed that the epitome of mankind combined modern intelligence and technology with primeval strength and agility. Time and time again this belief is portrayed by Burrows in Tarzan's actions.

If you think you can read the book without hearing Phil Collins echoing in the back of your mind, I say go for it.

The Time Machine - H. G. Wells (4.5 of 5 Rabid Morlocks)

Yep. Another day at the copy machine. But have no fear, audio books are hear...

Have you ever had the experience of picking up a book and not remembering if you'd read it before? Such was the case with The Time Machine. I was positive that I'd seen the movie, but unsure if I'd finished the book. It wasn't until the second to last chapter that I got my answer. In the book, after playing hide and go seek with the Morlocks the scientist travels to the even more distant future to see the end of the world. It was the giant crabs on the beach of a dying world that sparked my memory. Does anyone else remember if this scene is in the movie?

Anyway, I was surprised this second time around at the large sections of political rhetoric scattered through the book. While wandering around in the museum, Wells delivers a long discourse about how the working classes and aristocracy separated. It sounded like something akin to Marx. I probably wouldn't have noticed Wells' political agenda if we hadn't spent a few weeks discussing The Island of Dr. Moreau in my Darwin class this past semester. I'm interested in reading in some of his other books. Do any of you have any recommendations?

I just checked his bibliography on Wikipedia. Looks like he wrote 50 books and at least that many short stories. Wow. I had no idea he was so prolific. The audio book that I checked out had a handful of his short stories: "The Man Who Could Work Miracles," "The Diamond Maker," and the "The Flowering of the Strange Orchid." They're all a little bit quirky, but seek some little insight about the human condition.

The Broker - John Grisham (1 of 5 Contrived Plot Lines)

You might find this surprising, but this is my first encounter with a John Grisham book. And frankly, I was not impressed at all. If all his books are this bad, I'm unsure why his publisher continues to speak to him. The copy I got from the library was the abridged audio version. Last time I checked, abridgements are attempts to take out all of the boring parts. Now, if the abridged version was more mind numbing than watching paint dry, what does that say about the original? Has anyone read the original? Did the editor just happen to take out the good stuff this time by mistake?... And excuse me, was that supposed to be an ending? The conclusion to The Broker, well, conclusion is too generous, the last page of The Broker was even worse than the second Pirates of the Caribbean. Is there a sequel to The Broker or was that really the end?

[Jake takes deep breaths while he counts down from ten.]

The Broker begins with a fictional president of the United States leaving office. On his last night as president, he pardons an attorney who has been sitting in a maximum security prison for six years. The attorney was charged with trying to sell secrets to foreign governments about a secret spy satellite network floating in space. The CIA plans to free him, and then wait to see who kills him, in order to discover the creator of the satellites.

Now, this plot might have a lot of potential. It might play out much like the Borne Identity books/movies. But Grisham's execution is absolutely terrible. Once the CIA dumps the attorney in Italy I was expecting all kinds of car chases, gadgets and double crossing secret agents. Um...nope, just page after page of boring bureaucrats moving him from safe house to safe house and teaching him Italian. The plot is dull. The characters are dry. The conclusion is nonexistent. This book apparently was number one on the New York Times Best Seller list back in 2005. Why? Did I uh...miss something?

White Noise - Don Delillo (2 of 5 Soup Cans)

Has anyone else read this book? Of all the crazy books I've read, this one probably takes the toxic cake. This commentary on postmodernism was assigned reading for my environmental literature course last semester. The novel follows the quirky lives of a man, his wife and their four children. A good portion of the narrative takes place in front of the television. When they're not drooling in front of the tube, they are teaching Hitler studies courses at the local university, attending bible studies classes, taking pills to combat the fear of death, flying around the world, riding tricycles down freeways, running from airborne toxic events and shopping at grocery stores. Their existence is busy, but shallow and fragile.

For the first fifty pages I remember being quite taken with the writing style. It is blunt and eccentric, quite refreshing from dense writing of The Plague. The discussions of the characters are similar to those you might hear on Seinfeld, the "show about nothing." However, just like Seinfeld, you can only take so much of it. About halfway through the book I was ready to move on. The novel bounces around so quickly that it is sometimes difficult to follow. The characters are so intentionally shallow that I found a difficult time actually caring what happened to them.

I guess the real kicker is that Delillo wrote this criticism of consumerism way back in 1985, prior to our entering the Paris Hilton era. Imagine the firepower he would have writing this book today...

Granted, this novel did win the National Book Award in 1985. But like most books that win awards such as these, they have to be somewhat off the beaten track. Personally, I wasn't impressed, but you might be. Happy reading.

The Abstract Wild - Jack Turner (3.5 of 5 Walks with Thoreau)

Yep. I did it again. The scheduled post, posted without me. I should really just block out some time and write up all of these reviews. Most of these books I read earlier this year. The details are already packed away in the dusty corners of my memory. The longer I wait the less I have to say about them. For example:

Abstract Wild is a series of essays about returning to the "wildness" of nature. Jack Turner's work is heavily influenced by Thoreau's Walden Pond. Turner took a similar journey into the wilderness of the United States to reconnect with his origins. There are few passages here and there that are quite stunning, but most of it starts to sound the same by the end of the book. If going green and getting back to nature are your cup of herbal tea, I say go for it. The book is only about 150 and is a relatively quick read.

Sharp Teeth - 4/5 Grisly Animal Attacks

I discovered this book on a recent stop in Barnes and Noble, and I knew I had to read it. It is written in free verse, like Dante's Divine Comedy, and to give you a vague and unsatisfactory description of the story it could be described as something like Romeo and Juliet meet the Wolfman with elements of I, Robot, Fatal Attraction, Boyz in the Hood, and Lady and the Tramp. So, I know what you are thinking "Oooo, wow another werewolf book, how original!" and my response to that is "Yup, just about the most original thing I have read this year!"

Disclaimer: may contain some explicit content, more suggestive than descriptive however.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (3 of 5 Short-Sighted Maidens)

Well...looks like I forgot again.

Tess, Tess, Tess...poor girl was doomed from the get go.  Don't let Thomas Hardy fool you into thinking that it's going to turn out well.  Be ready for one downer after another.  But that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy the book for what it is.  It's depressing, but lots of the great novels are depressing.  

Thomas Hardy is in fine form.  The descriptions of the landscape add several layers of depth to the novel.  I wrote a whole paper about how the city of Sandbourne mirrors Tess's predicament but I won't bore you with that here.  Just be satisfied that the depth is there if you're looking for it.

The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman (4.5 of 5 Hydrogen Balloons)

With all the negative comments I've heard about this book and the movie, I was somewhat concerned about reading The Golden Compass.  However, after finishing the book, I'm still trying to figure out what everybody was talking about.  Yes, there were a couple of discussions about the negative aspects of the Roman Catholic Church, but I don't see those comments extending to religion in general.

One of the most interesting elements of the novel is that every human character has a daemon that follows them wherever they go.  It is a shape-shifting representation of their soul.  The form of the daemons shifts constantly based on the mood of their humans' during their childhood and adolescence.  In their early adulthood their daemon takes on a permanent animal form.  The nature of animal reflects the personality of its human companion.  New aspects of this relationship between human and soul appear throughout the novel.  

Lyra Belacqua is a twelve-year-old girl living in at Jordan College.  When her friend Roger is taken by the Gobblers, a mysterious group that steals children, she and her daemon Pantalaimon set off the North to rescue him.  During her travels she meets the nomadic Gypians, an armoured bear named Lorek Byrnison, hydrogen balloon flying Lee Scoresby and the conniving Mrs. Coulter.

If you're like me and have heard the same rumors, I'd encourage you to give the book a chance.  I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading the sequel.  

The Master of Ballantrae - 2.75/5 Scottish Lords

So, everybody knows the book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, I think this is largely due to the Muppets, but when I was eight years old I read it for the first time, and I really liked it, I also have always loved the poem The Land of Counterpane by the same author as well as the story Kidnapped . I was looking for some light reading recently and I came across another of R.L.S.'s works The Master of Ballantrae. About 70 pages in I officially hated all of the characters, they are despicable people, every one. And if they all didn't get exactly what they deserved in this book it would get 0/5 Scottish Lords. There is a lot of neat stuff in this book like Indians, Pirates and people being buried alive, but it doesn't really go into enough depth, descriptions are vague and sometimes unsatifactory. I think this is one of those books where they could make a movie that surpasses the book.

The Book of Investing Wisdom - Peter Krass (4 of 5 Horror Films)

Wisdom is a compilation of short essays by accomplished stock investors.  Each provides interesting ideas about how he or she became successful.  Biographical notes about each character were enlightening.  Two essays were particularly interesting.

The first was about shorting stocks.  Most people think that you can only make money when the market goes up.  This isn't true.  Shorting stocks is the process of making an agreement to buy a stock at a future time when the price is lower.  This difference between the price now and when you'll buy it later is your profit margin.  As this essay points out, in an unstable economic environment it is often much easier to predict a fall in prices than a rise.  The essay outlines the actions of a few of the investing greats during the Great Depression who walked away with millions of dollars on Black Thursday.

The second is about how one can predict the movement of stocks based on cultural shifts.  The author cites such things as the number of horror films in the theater to the length of skirts and hair styles.  The number of horror films reflects the general level of pessimism in the market.  Short skirts and absurd hair styles correlate with more speculative investing activity. 

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

I picked up Ender's Game at the library after my little brother--who doesn't have much good to say about books--strongly recommended it. Its a book I've heard lots of people talk about, but I actually didn't know anything about the storyline, characters, etc. I was in for quite a surprise--and a treat!

Ender's Game takes place in a future time when desks are mini-computers, space colonization is possible, and the world has become a truly international society. Earth is in danger, however, from an alien world known only as The Buggers. Humankind has beaten them twice in the past, but a third attack is imminent. To combat the Buggers, the government breeds military genius kids to train in combat. Ender Wiggins is the genius--and hero--needed to lead the attack on The Buggers one last time.

I personally loved the story. Its science fiction--not usually a favorite--but I thought Card did a great job describing and explaining scienc-y things in a way I could picture and understand. And the story is gripping and got me reading and reading and not wanting to put my book down. And the end?! I totally didn't see that coming. Want to know what I'm talking about? Read it yourself.

A

Stock Investing for Dummies - Paul Mladjenovic (4 of 5 Shorted Stocks)

I've read a few books from the Dummy series in the last few years.  This one seems to be pretty standard: a lot of basic information, but not much depth.  It gives you a lot of information about what stocks are and provides some basic investment strategies.  That's about all I can remember.  I listened to it while moving 20-pound bags of hot chocolate at Welfare Square.  Oh well.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I don't think I've ever approached the writing of a book review with such a sense of ineptitude. But I honestly don't know how to begin to explain the brilliance of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and I can't deny its one of the most incredible books I've ever read. Forgive my pathetic attempts at a review right now and go out and get yourself a copy.

In a nutshell, The Road is about the journey a father and son take in a postapocalyptic world. The world is bleak, basically destroyed, and seemingly hopeless. But the love between the father and his son offers a small glimmer of hope in the dark nothingness. The story really suggests there is always hope as long as humanity endures. At least...that's one theme I got out of it.

The true mastery of this book is in the language. McCarthy uses words that would be prententious in any other situation or used by a less-skilled writer. I was seriously swept away by the beauty of the writing. And now I realize I'm gushing. But I am truly floored by this novel and I think everyone should read it. So...there you go.

My highest recommendation. A++

The Island of Dr. Moreau - H. G. Wells (4 of 5 Vivisections Gone Wrong)

Island is yet another book from my Darwin class.  And don't think that's all of them...there are two or three more still coming.  This short novel is the story of a man who ends up on a strange island in the Pacific Ocean.  Dr. Moreau and his assistant have been living there for several years doing experiments on animals.  These experiments consist of surgically changing the body and mind of animals, attempting to speed up evolution.  While coming close, Dr. Moreau has never been able to change an animal into a human.  Consequently, several of these mutant animals roam the island.  Dr. Moreau seems to be able to control them until one day when the puma escapes...dun...dun...dun.  Dun.

If by chance you're feeling an overwhelming urge to celebrate Darwin's 200th birthday by studying natural selection, but aren't quite up for hundreds of boring pages of descriptions of finches, Island is the book for you.  I enjoyed this novel.  You might too.  Check it out.

The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull

I've seen this book floating around my school for a while now. And then one of my best friends--a 3rd grade teacher himself--gave it a strong recommendation. So last weekend I bit the bullet and cracked the cover. AND LOVED IT! The Candy Shop War is a fun, creative addition to the fantasy genre...even as the genre seems to be getting a bit out of hand or even overdone.

The Candy Shop War takes place in a nondescript Anywhere USA. Four elementary-aged friends stop by the new candy store in town and are recruited by the owner, Belinda White, to go on a variety of errands on her behalf. The errands start out normal but become increasingly bizarre each time. In exchange for their efforts, she rewards them with magic candy that allows them to become weightless, become unbreakable...etc. Pretty awesome stuff. The kids begin to get suspicious though, and they soon find themselves caught up in a mixed up magical war with consequences more severe than they imagined.

The book is a funny, quick read that will capture your imagination instantly. Obviously written for the young adult audience, I think all ages can enjoy this book. The "unexpected" twists and turns never feel formulaic and you will never predict the ending...which is a good thing in books like this.

A

Shared Spaces

Today you all get a special bonus post.  This short video is my final project for my Environmental Literature class.  The title is "Shared Spaces."  Part of the assignment is to distribute the video to 25 people.  I tried to throw it up on YouTube but it got rejected because it was over 10 minutes long.  I thought this website might be a good alternative.  It's also on my Facebook page if you want to watch it there (viewing window is much larger).  I know it's a little out there, but I hope you still enjoy it.  I look forward to hearing your comments.

The Water-Babies - Charles Kingsley (3 of 5 Mother Doneasyoudidbys)

This is another book from my Darwin class.  It was published back in 1863 by Reverend Charles Kingsley.  Charles told his readers that the book's purpose was to teach small children about the responsibility that they had become morally evolved individuals.  It is a somewhat effective attempt to mesh religion and evolution.

At the beginning of the book, the young chimney sweep Tom runs away from his abusive master.  During his escape into the forest Tom falls into a river.  It is then that the faeries turn him into a water baby.  What exactly that is, nobody knows, but it's some kind of tadpole thingy...  During his journey Tom encounters several animals that teach him about moral evolution.  Does he become an upstanding citizen of English society?  Probably, but I don't want to give anything away.

If nothing else I admire Kingsley for his subtlty...or lack thereof.  After many years of unsuccessfully trying to teach his religious ideas to adults, Kingsley decided that he might have more luck if he focused on children.  In the midst of lighthearted descriptions like Tom frolicking through the marsh, Kingsley dumps complex details about ideological battles between natural theology and evolution.  In the course of reading the book to their children parents would suddenly have to explain these concepts to their children.  Sort of like...hmmm...Wall E.  "Mommy, what's global warming?"

You might want to read this book for its historical value rather than literary value.  It was part of the British elementary education curriculum for much of the second half of the 19th century.

Erewhon - Samuel Butler (1.5 of 5 Self-Replicating Watches)

No.  This is not the spinoff of Eragon.

Short history lesson: Samuel Butler was a cukie old man who lived in the 19th century.  Like everybody else at the time, he became intensly interested in Darwin's theory of evolution.  Unlike everybody else at the time, he tried to send some of his crazy theories to Darwin himself, which of course Charles blew off immediately.  Angered by his idol's heartless rejection, Butler set off on his own to recreate his own brand of Lamarckian evolution.  Never heard of him?  Well, that's probably because everything he believed has since been proven false.

Erewhon or...nowhere sort of spelled backwards, is a story about a man that takes a journey into the land beyond where he finds a crazy town that does everything backwards.  How exciting!  They have banned all machines.  They believe that crimes are diseases and diseases crimes (you can go to jail for getting a cold).  They teach unreason in their universities.  Their churches are banks...yada yada.  It goes on and on.  You might find a few interesting ideas here and there, but the satire will become unbearable after oh...five or six pages.  

Don't bother with this book.  Bulter basically ripped off Gulliver's Travels and jammed some skewed ideas about evolution into it.  Go read Gulliver instead.  It's much better.  If you've read Gulliver, go find something else to chew on.