Book blogging (mostly)
Books
Half Moon Investigations (Audio)
02 years ago
Before we headed to Pennsylvania for Christmas vacation, Vanessa and I picked up the audio book versions of the first Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from our local library. These were meant to be safe, guaranteed good listens for the many hours of driving we were going to have to do up north. Unfortunately, I left them at home and when we arrived in PA, with a four hour drive looming on the horizon, we were feeling a little nervous.
Vanessa’s mom, and her trusty library card, came to the rescue, however, and while we prepared for the drive she went to her library to pick up “any Artemis Fowl book you can find” (we have read and enjoyed them all, so we weren’t going to be picky at this point). While she did find the first Artemis book, she accidentally grabbed the book you see to the left as well – Half Moon Investigations. Since we had not ever read this one before, and we were feeling adventurous, we decided to give Half Moon a go. We made the right decision.
Half Moon Investigations is the story of a young private detective, Fletcher Moon, who is accused of committing multiple crimes and thereby forced to clear his own name. What really makes the book great is Colfer’s ability to flawlessly combine the interests and vocabulary of a teenager with the wit and tone of classic private eye literature. Within moments of starting the book we were blown away by how strong a character Colfer had created in Moon, and were laughing hysterically as Fletcher, with complete earnestness, reveals the rough and tumble life of a teenage detective.
All of this is enhanced even further by the narration of Sean Patrick Reilly. This Irishman brings Fletcher and his world to life so vividly that I have to wonder if actually reading the book would have been half as enjoyable. After all, would I have had the presence of mind to read Fletcher’s inner dialogue in the classic private detective style? If not, I would have missed out on a huge aspect of the book. My descriptions so far have been pretty insufficient, so I recommend listening to the sample of the audio production available on Amazon (there’s a play button just under the image of the book).
This one is definitely recommended. In fact, if I hadn’t finished it in 2010, it would have been extremely difficult to decide between this and The House of the Scorpion for the best audio book of the year. Fortunately, I won’t have to make any hard decisions like that for at least 11 months.
“It was shiny. He was eight.”
Oh Fine – Ten on Tuesday on Wednesday (Book Edition)
10Yeah, yeah, it’s Wednesday and I’m doing a Ten on Tuesday. I got in trouble for not doing this yesterday, even though it was about books. (Courtesy roots and rings via Kathleen and Megan).
1. Favorite book(s) as a child and why?
This might not come as a surprise to anyone, but the earliest book I remember reading for fun was Encyclopedia Brown. I always enjoyed trying to solve the mystery, and never seemed to mind the fact that I never could. I always wonder, if I read them again now, would I still be surprised by the endings? Are they logical and reasonable, or just outrageously ridiculous? I plan to find out when Lucas is old enough to enjoy them.
2. First “grown-up” book you remember reading?
For starters, I’m not even sure what this question means. Grown-up is in quotes, which might imply that it isn’t meant to be serious. If that’s the case, then it would have to be the expanded universe Star Wars novels I read in junior high. These are “grown-up” in the sense that their target audience is people (like me) who haven’t ever grown up.
3. Favorite movie that came from a book?
It’s a tie, but to be fair it’s two movies based on books by the same author (Nick Hornby): High Fidelity and About a Boy. I chose these because, first, both are great movies. Second, they treat the source material with respect. Third, you can either watch the movies first, then read the books or go books then movies and still really enjoy both. They are more supplemental and complimentary than most book/move relationships and I appreciate that.
4. Movie that you loved so much that you WISHED there was a book out so that you could find out more about the movie.
Donnie Darko. If you’ve seen the movie, you understand.
5. Worst book you’ve ever read?
Unlike some of my other friends I, unfortunately, have a really hard time putting a book down no matter how bad it is. It happens, but not often. At the top of the list is The Once and Future King by T.H. White. I remember hating this book in high school. I even wanted to enjoy it, but it simply wasn’t happening. Sorry Merlin.
6. Book that everyone raves about that you either a) haven’t read and feel slightly dumb for not having read it or b) have tried to read and hated and so feel slightly dumb that everyone is getting something you don’t?
Little Women. But I don’t feel particularly dumb about it since I’m clearly not in the target audience.
7. If you were forced to choose only 3 books that you could read for the rest of your life, which ones would they be?
I’m going to steal an idea from Megan, and go with Aristotle’s Complete Works. In addition, it would probably be Lord of the Rings, and The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead.
8. Name one book that you would recommend everyone you know read.
Other than East of Eden and The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, the only other book I’ve been recommending to everyone is I Am A Cat by Nastume Soseki. It’s funny, clever, and surprisingly approachable for a book about 19th Century Japan. Plus, it’s not the type of book most people would come across on their own, so it needs as much recommending as it can get.
9. What is your guilty pleasure reading?
Definitely juvenile fiction. It’s the perfect light reading between more mature books and most of them are just so fun to read. In the past year, it has been Percy Jackson and The Olympians, Fablehaven and just recently The Hunger Games. I also highly recommend Artemis Fowl, or pretty much anything by Eoin Colfer.
10. What book (excepting the Bible or other major document of your religion/faith) has changed your outlook on life the most?
Honestly, I don’t know. Is that terrible? That I don’t let books impact me in that way (or that I don’t read books that should?) It’s not as though books to speak to me in profound ways (The Catcher in the Rye certainly did), but it’s more often that they reach me as I am now, and not that they change me. Maybe I’m not just not aware of the change?
Catching Fire
02 years ago
My friend Raina (a librarian) recently mentioned in a book review on Goodreads that the first book in a series has to be extremely good if she is going to read any sequels. I found this interesting because this is absolutely not the case for me. A book only has to be moderately enjoyable if I’m going to continue on in a series. If I like even a single character, or if the plot is remotely interesting, I feel compelled to find out what happens next.
Is this a bad thing? Sometimes, like when it results in reading terrible novels (His Dark Materials 2 & 3 come to mind), but for the most part I prefer it. Sometimes it takes more than one book to really appreciate the depth of a character, or the subtleties of a plot. Plus, I hate to think that I might miss out on a great sequel because of a bad first novel.
Regardless, this is all a moot point when it comes to Catching Fire. The first volume in the series (The Hunger Games) is excellent. No doubt if you read the first book, you’ve either finished the second already, or are already planning on it, and don’t need me to convince you.
Then again, perhaps you are the type of reader who doesn’t just need the first book to be excellent, but you need to know that all the volumes of a series are worth it before you even start with the first. If that’s you, rest assured that the first two (# 3 isn’t out yet) are worth your time. Full of action, adventure, realistic characters, and exciting plot twists, both are flat out fun to read. I highly recommend giving this series a shot. For more information on both books, see below:
Spoiler free discussion on book 1 – The Hunger Games.
2009 Reading Year in Review
22 years ago
I’m posting this later than I originally hoped, but oh well. You’ll forgive me, won’t you internet?
I think it’s safe to say that I read more in 2009 than any year before. It was both fulfilling and motivating to record my thoughts on books after I finished them, and so I don’t have any intention of stopping in the future. To recap the year, though, I’d like to provide you with my top books of the year, and leverage the database to provide you with some fun stats!
This “Best books list” is obviously the best books I read in 2009, not the best published in 2009. I am aware of the flaws of working this way, but I can’t imagine any other way of dealing with it!
In 2009 I read…
- 33 books
- 11298 pages
- 1 Comedy (255)
- 3 Fantasy (889)
- 5 Nonfiction (1348)
- 5 Juvenile Fiction (2015)
- 8 Science Fiction (3061)
- 11 Fiction (3730)
Now on to my favorite books of the year:
Favorite Audio Book:
This is an easy category. Of the 30+ audio books I listened to this year none came close to The House of The Scorpion. This young-adult fiction book tells the story of a young clone who is forced to come to terms with his understanding of self as well as avoid the isolation and danger that comes with being the illegal clone of a powerful drug lord. It is well-written, unexpectedly broad in its scope, and it handles difficult subjects with grace and maturity. The narration is also excellent, and the numerous Spanish names and words are pronounced flawlessly, adding greatly to the immersion of the tale.
Favorite Book:
This was, easily, the best book I read all year. Hands down, no questions asked. I read a lot of great books, but none were as epic, as beautifully written, or as enthralling as East of Eden. If you are dying to read even more of my thoughts on this fantastic work, check out the links below. Beware, though, the database entry spoils the entire book! Only check it out if you’ve already finished this wonderful book (and if you haven’t, read it as soon as possible!):
Click here for my spoiler free thoughts on East of Eden.
Click here for the full database entry on East of Eden (including spoilers).
Feel free to post your favorite books of 2009 in the comments below.
And Another Thing…
02 years ago
Eoin Colfer is an excellent author. I don’t know how to pronounce his name, but that hasn’t stopped me from reading 9 of his books now. My first introduction to Colfer was the Artemis Fowl series, which as of book 6, is still immensely entertaining. I was afraid to pick up anything else by him, assuming it couldn’t live up to the high expectations I had from the Artemis books. Eventually I gave in and listened to Airman. It was, quite possibly, even better than any and all of the Artemis books.
Even with Airman surpassing my wildest expectations I was shocked with how much I enjoyed Half Moon Investigations (more on this later – I just finished listening to this on cd). With all that said, when I learned that Colfer was writing the sixth book in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, I was probably more excited than most Hitchhiker’s fans. I was confident that Colfer could pull it off. He is, without a doubt, a talented, funny author.
I didn’t like And Another Thing, and that makes me sad. As I read through it, I wanted to like it. I really did. And it definitely made me laugh, numerous times and not infrequently or out of pity. It really had its moments. But in spite of that, it just wasn’t very good. It was middling, and not nearly of the quality of his other books. There are many possible reasons for this, and I explore them in more detail in the database entry, but I simply can’t recommend this to anyone. Colfer has much better books out there, and the original Hitchhiker’s books are plentiful if you need a fix.
(On a side note, I think there is a good chance that I wouldn’t even enjoy the original series at this point, for whatever reason, and that Colfer in fact did a fantastic job of upholding the tradition established by Adams. Maybe it’s not just for me anymore.)
The Hunger Games
12 years ago
It’s frightening to think about a book like The Hunger Games now that we are in year 2010 and officially in the future. Normally when you read a book about a post-apocalyptic world in which an evil government forces children to fight other children to the death in order to show how much power they have, you can reassure yourself with the following: “Nothing to worry about! That kind of thing only happens in the future.” Well guess what? The future is now and, if Suzanne Collins has it right, it’s brutal.
Well, maybe this future isn’t here quite yet, but it’s certainly something to think about. Anyways, bleak children killing children future aside, The Hunger Games is quite captivating. I received this book as a Christmas gift and finished it within just a few days. It’s an easy read, clearly meant for the teen reader, but great for any adult who wants to engross themselves in a world that is just far fetched enough to be exotic, without being ridiculous.
With that said, however, don’t let my flippant attitude give you the wrong impression about this book. It is brutal, with 20 plus children dying at the hands of other kids, and it deals with disturbing themes such as our cultures obsession over violence as entertainment, and the dangers of an oppressive government. I recommend this book to anyone.
Blindness
02 years ago
I remember when the movie Blindness came out a few years ago, I thought “what a fascinating idea – everyone in the world suddenly goes blind except for a single woman!” Once I learned it was originally a book, I decided to forego watching the movie, and decided to just read the book it was based on. It turns out I was right – it is a fascinating idea, if not repulsive. Jose Saramago’s vision of a society stricken blind is quite disturbing.
Unfortunately, while Blindness is a well-written, fascinating, disturbing book, it’s simply annoying and unpleasant to read. Saramago makes some stylistic choices (which I assume are meant to convey to the reader what it’s like to lose one of your senses) that create an obnoxious reading experience. Combine that with the disturbing content and it’s officially not fun on all accounts. With that said, however, if you love to see the depravity of the human spirit, and want a book structured so that it is purposefully difficult to read, Blindness is for you, and I recommend it with all confidence that you will “enjoy” it. For the rest of us, don’t bother.
“This is the stuff we’re made of, half indifference and half malice” (32).
What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy
02 years ago
When I first received this book as a gift, I looked at the cover and thought “Cool, a book that will show how good and noble video games are!” However, if I had read even the title a little more closely I would have realized that this isn’t an apologist’s book on video games. It isn’t meant to show how video games are good for us, and therefore should be played by everyone all the time (though they should).
So what is it? Just as the title says, it’s a book that looks at what video games can teach educators about learning. After all, Gee argues, good video games are complicated, difficult, long, frustrating endeavors that children and adults will spend hours mastering. Obviously they are doing something right to produce this type of effort. The question then becomes, what we can we take from video games and apply to the current education process? How can we apply the principles of learning so obviously evident in video games to schools?
Throughout the book, Gee goes into detail on 36 different principles of learning, how they are exemplified in video games, and why they are so important to learning. I may not be an educator, but in my personal experience as a learner, I will say that these principals appear to be accurate. Many of them were things that great teachers helped me do, or that I discovered on my own. Ultimately this isn’t a book about video games, but a book about education and teaching. Video games just provide a surprisingly useful context.
I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in the field of education, regardless of their interest in video games. However, if you love video games, but don’t care about learning and literacy, this is not for you. There isn’t much I can spoil in this book, so if you are curious about reading more, follow the link to the full database entry below.
“[G]ood video games build into their very designs good learning principles and … we should use these principles, with our without games, in schools, workplaces, and other learning sites” (215).
Recent books on CD (and why they aren’t in the database)
12 years ago
I am constantly listening to books on cd in the car. Literally, all the time. I do not listen the news, music on the radio, or music on cd. I don’t sit it silence as I make my way to and from work. There is always a book on, and there is always at least one in queue. I didn’t start keeping track when this book on cd endeavor began (Thanksgiving of 2007, on a trip to Dallas) but if my memory is correct, I have listened to 68 books on cd since then, with 69 and 70 in the car at the moment. This does not include multiple listens to the same book (which has definitely occurred with books in the Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl series.)
So with that said, why don’t I have entries for all of these in the database since that is meant to be a repository of all the books I’ve read? This may seem ridiculous, as some have pointed out, but I don’t think it’s fair to these books to put them in the database. I don’t pay nearly as much attention to them as I do to the books I actually read (what with all the trying not to run my car into other cars). I don’t ever have a favorite quote recorded, I don’t tag important parts, or take notes while listening, and I don’t have anything to easily look over to confirm my synopsis is correct. I simply don’t give them the same attention as I do other books, and I think any write up I would do for them would reflect that.
However, that doesn’t mean I can’t at least share a brief bit about if they are good and worth listening to (or in some cases reading). The two most recent books I’ve finished are Ironhand and Stargazer. Both books are part of a larger series, and both are aimed at younger audiences (as are most of the books on cd I listen to).
The Stoneheart Trilogy
Ironhand (sequel to Stoneheart) follows George, a teenage boy who gets caught up in an adventure when all the statues in London suddenly come alive. He meets a few friends along the way (of both the flesh and bronze variety) and wreaks all sorts of trouble. The series is read by Jim Dale, who also narrated the Harry Potter audio books. He’s talented but, unfortunately, he is the best part about the series. They aren’t terrible, but they are only just good enough to keep reading and to make the drive to and from work more interesting. If they find their way on to your “to-read” list, I would recommend they stick towards the bottom. If you really want to be entertained by statues coming to life – just watch Gargoyles.
The Land of Elyon
Strargazer is actually the fourth in the Elyon series. They tell the story of Alexa Daily, a teenage girl who seeks adventure in the Land of Elyon, only to find more than she bargained for. I have enjoyed all four books, mostly because of the sense of adventure that Carman is able to capture. Still, they aren’t phenomenal, and the narrators have changed multiple times, which is always frustrating in a series. The unique world Carman has created for the series is consistent, but not very deep. I’ve recently started his Atherton series, however, it is seems to be a little better so far. I’ll let you know more once I finish it.
I’ll try to post more on the books on cd I read as I finish them, and at the end of the year (or more likely in January) I will do a post of the best books on cd I’ve read so far. (Special thanks to the Harris County Public Library, for providing me with all these books!)
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (Heechee Saga)
22 years ago
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon is a sequel to Gateway which I read (warning – spoilers) at the beginning of the year. Beyond follows the characters from the first but, if you haven’t read the first, that probably doesn’t help that much so I’ll give a brief outline of the universe in which these books are set.
Humans made their way into space, where they discovered the remnants of an ancient, super intelligent civilization. Gateway is an asteroid from which people can launch into space in hopes of finding even more technology and thus becoming extremely rich. Unfortunately, many people simply don’t return from these flights. In the first novel, Robinette Broadhead heads to Gateway to try his luck, and the sequel continues his story.
As I was adding this book to my “currently reading” section on Goodreads, I noticed a link to the author’s (Frederik Pohl) blog. I love the idea of authors blogging, especially if they have lead as interesting a life as Pohl has. Definitely check it out of you are a sci-fi fan.
Speaking of being a sci-fi fan, you really need to be one to even consider reading this series. While there are certainly elements that anyone could enjoy, such as the clever exposition in the first, it requires far more willingness to get into the geeky sci-fi realm than a book like Dune. Plus, it is the ideas of the book that make it worth reading, and if you aren’t into concepts such as faster than light space travel, black holes, and crazy theories about the creation of our universe, you simply won’t have a good time reading it. That isn’t to say the writing is bad, it’s quite good in fact, it just isn’t so earth shatteringly amazing that everyone who has the ability to read should pick up this book right now.
People who should pick up this book (or at least the first) are those who enjoy asking the question “what if there were aliens? what would that mean? How does our humanity change or become more evident when faced with creatures and ideas that are difficult to even imagine?” These are cool questions, and Pohl handles them with skill.
“All myths and deities are tolerable enough to believe in; but what if they become real?”(76)
Full database entry on Beyond the Blue Event Horizon. Beware spoilers.