Eragon

Title: Eragon

Author: Christopher Paolini

Pages: 513

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: B+

Synopsis: While hunting deep in the Spine, 15-year-old Eragon finds a majestic blue stone. He returns home empty-handed from the hunt and tries to sell the stone for food. Nobody is willing to buy the stone and before long a dragon hatches from the stone. Eragon and the dragon form a bond and Eragon becomes a Dragon Rider. Eragon's uncle is killed by the evil Raz'ac after which Eragon leaves his hometown to try and extract revenge.

My Review: Paolini started this book when he was only 15 and it shows in his writing. I really, really like the books and the stories but sometimes the writing is a little cheesy and tacky. If the writing had been more refined and polished I would have given this book an A. This is one of those few books that force me to stay up late reading "just one more chapter."

From the Book: "(p. 460) Engaged in a fiery dance, their bodies were linked and seperated by the flashing blades. At times they nearly touched, taut skin only a hair's breadth away, but then momentum would whirl them apart, and they would withdraw for a second, only to join again. Their sinuous forms wove together like twisting ropes of windblown smoke."

The Path Between the Seas

Title: The Path Between the Seas

Author: David McCullough

Pages: 698 (including 83 pages of notes and index)

Genre: History, Non-fiction

Grade: A+

Synopsis: This is the story of the building of the Panama Canal. The book is split up into three sections. The first (1870-1894) explores the French's attempt at building the canal at Panama. The French spent hundreds of millions of dollars with a loss of around 20,000 lives and ultimately failed in their endeavors. Their failure brought depression to the French and forced out the government's leaders. The next section (1890-1904) involves the United States's decision to build a canal in Central America. Most of America wanted the canal to be built in Nicaragua (because how could the French have possibly chosen the best location?) but due to ingenious lobbying, the Americans ultimately decided on Panama. They purchased the canal holdings from the French and helped Panama secede from Columbia because the Colombian government wouldn't ratify the canal treaty that the Americans had drafted. The final section (1904-1914) covers the building of the great Panama Canal. The sheer scale of the work in the Panama Canal defies comprehension. At the height of the work, 45,000-50,000 people were working on the canal. Enough dirt was excavated to build a canal 55 feet wide and 10 feet deep from San Francisco to New York.

My Review: This book has claimed the top spot of my favorite books. This is a book that shouldn't be interesting but ends up being one of the most fascinating. The story is full of intrigue, deception, hard work, failure and ultimately success. McCullough has a way of describing events using written accounts and his knowledge of the time period that brings history to life. This is the fourth book by McCullough that I've read, and I look forward to reading all the rest; my only disappointment is that he has not written books about every President and historical occurrence.

From the Book: "(p. 78) One had only to look at the map to see that Panama was the proper place for the canal. The route was already well established, there was a railroad, there were thriving cities at each end. Only at Panama could a sea-level canal be built. It was really no great issue at all. Naturally there were problems. There were always problems. There had been large, formidable problems at Suez, and to many respected authorities they too had seemed insurmountable. But as time passed, as the work moved ahead at Suez, indeed as difficulties increased, men of genius had come forth to meet and conquer those difficulties. The same would happen again. For every challenge there would be a man of genius capable of meeting and conquering it. One must trust to inspiration. As for the money, there was money aplenty in France just waiting for the opening of the subscription books."

"(p. 417) Seen under the microscope, Stegomyia is a creature of striking beauty. Its general color is dark gray, but the thorax is marked with a silvery-white lyre-shaped pattern; the abdomen is banded with silvery-white stripes and the six-jointed legs are striped alternately with black and pure white. Among mosquitoes Stegomyia is the height of elegance."

"(p. 499) To the majority of those on the job his presence had been magical. Years afterward, the wife of one of the steam-shovel engineers, Mrs. Rose van Hardevald, would recall, "We saw him...on the end of the train. Jan got small flags for the children, and told us about when the train would pass...Mr. Roosevelt flashed us one of his well-known toothy smiles and waved his hat at the children..." In an instant, she said, she understood her husband's faith in the man. "And I was more certain than ever that we ourselves would not leave until it [the canal] was finished." Two years before, they had been living in Wyoming on a lonely stop on the Union Pacific. When her husband heard of the work at Panama, he had immediately wanted to go, because, he told her, "With Teddy Roosevelt, anything is possible." At the time neither of them had known quite where Panama was located."

Enchantment

Title: Enchantment

Author: Orson Scott Card

Pages: 387

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: A-

Synopsis: The subtitle of the book reads: "A classic fantasy with a modern twist" and that seems to be a pretty good description of the book. Ivan was born in the Ukraine when it was still under Soviet rule. His family finds a way to leave the Soviet Union and emigrate to the United States. When Ivan is a graduate student working on his dissertation about old Slavic folktales he returns to visit and study in the Ukraine. Once there, he wakes an enchanted 9th century princess placed under a spell by Baba Yaga with a kiss (ala Sleeping Beauty) and then finds their lives intertwined across a millennium.

Disclaimer: While I wouldn't call the book dirty, it does have some fairly frank discussions about sexuality.

My Review: Alison recommended this book to me a few years ago and then was surprised that I was reading this book because she didn't really like it. First off, this book was really strange. A large chunk of the story takes place in Russia and is based upon popular Slavic folktales. I'm not sure if I liked the book because of its Russian and Slavic folklore references or because it was a good book. I actually took a class in college on Slavic Folklore and was able to relate to many of the stories and tales that the book is built upon. At the beginning of the book I felt like Card was really struggling to make the story believable (and I realize that the book is a fantasy), but by the middle of the book the story begins to mesh and flow a little better. I found the book to be very clever.

From the Book: "(p. 20) Before we are citizens, he thought, we are children, and it is as children that we come to understand freedom and authority, liberty and duty. I have done my duty. I have bowed to authority. Mostly. And now, like Russia, I can set aside those burdens for a little while and see what happens."

"(p. 83) You get used to being naked, that's the first thing that Ivan discovered. Crashing through thick brush with branches snagging at your bare skin, you stop worrying about who's looking and spend your time trying to keep yourself from being flayed alive. He got shy again when they entered the village, but once he decided simply to let the gawkers gawk, he found himself much more interested in what he was seeing than what they were."

The SCIENCE of FEAR

Title: The SCIENCE of FEAR - Why We Fear the Things We Shouldn't--and Put Ourselves in Greater Danger.

Author: Daniel Gardner

Pages: 324

Genre: Non-fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Daniel Gardner takes a look at why we are so afraid of things that have incredibly slim chances of occurring to us. He compares decisions made by our gut to decisions made with our heads. Topics from terrorism to biology, crime to radiation are discussed. We are always overestimating the risk from crime and terrorism all the while underestimating the risks of major killers such as car accidents and heart disease. Gardner explores how politicians, the media and private corporations all use fear-mongering to their advantage.

My Review: If I had to come up with one word to describe this book it would be 'insightful.' The author cites study after study that shows how humans in general allow their gut to control their decisions and thinking. I often found myself thinking "Well, that doesn't apply to me" or "That's not how I look at it," before I realized that I am pretty much the same as the subjects in these studies. While people don't see themselves as biased by their gut or fear-tactics, we all certainly are. This isn't a book that you can cruise through, and there are some parts that are slower than others, but on the whole, this book was very interesting and one that everybody that is interested in how politicians, corporations, and the media use fear should read.

From the Book: "(p. 3) The safety gap is so large, in fact, that planes would still be safer than cars even if the threat of terrorism were unimaginably worse than it actually is: An American professor calculated that even if terrorists were hijacking and crashing one passenger jet a week in the United States, a person who took one flight a month for a year would have only a 1-in-135,000 chance of being killed in a hijacking--a trivial risk compared to the annual 1-in-6,000 odds of being killed in a car crash."

"(p. 10) Put all these numbers together and what do they add up to? In a sentence: We are the healthiest, wealthiest, and longest-lived people in history. And we are increasingly afraid. This is one of the great paradoxes of our time."

"(p. 24) The rather uncomfortable feeling most of us have when we're around snakes is evidence of how this ancient experience continues to influence us today. Throughout the long prehistory of our species and those that preceded it, snakes were a mortal threat. And so we learned our lesson. Others didn't, but that had a nasty habit of dying. So natural selection did its work and the rule--beware of snakes--was ultimately hardwired into every human brain. It's universal. Go anywhere on the planet, examine any culture. People are wary of snakes. Even if--as in the Arctic--there are no snakes. Our primate cousins shared our long experience and they feel the same way: Even monkeys raised in laboratories who have never seen a snake will back away at the sight of one."

"(p. 130) However hyped the risk of germs may be, it is at least real. Some corporations go so far as to conjure threats where there are none. A television ad for Brita, the German manufacturer of water-filtration systems, starts with a close-up of a glass of water on a kitchen table. The sound of a flushing toilet is heard. A woman opens a door, enters the kitchen, sits at the table and drinks the water. The water in your toilet and the water in your faucet "come from the same source," the commercial concludes. Sharp-eyed viewers will also see a disclaimer a the start of the ad printed in tiny white letters: MUNICIPAL WATER IS TREATED FOR CONSUMPTION. This is effectively an admission that the shared origin of the water in the glass and the toilet is irrelevant and so the commercial makes no sense--at least not on a rational level. As a pitch aimed at Gut, however, it makes perfect sense. The danger of contaminated drinking water is as old as humanity, and the worst contaminant has always been feces. Our hardwired defense against contamination is disgust, an emotion that drives us to keep our distance from the contaminant. By linking the toilet and the drinking glass, the commercial connects feces to our home's drinking water and raises an ancient fear--a fear that can be eased with the purchase of one of the company's many fine products."

"(p. 240) So should we ban or restrict synthetic chemicals until we have a full understanding of their effects? This attractively simple idea is a lot more complicated than it appears. If pesticides were banned, agricultural yields would decline, fruits and vegetables would get more expensive and people would buy and eat fewer of them. But cancer scientists believe that fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of cancer if we eat enough of them, which most people do not do even now. And so banning pesticides in order to reduce exposure to carcinogens could potentially result in more people getting cancer."

"(p. 233) In 1933, it was in Franklin Roosevelt's political interest to tell Americans the greatest danger was "fear itself." Seventy years later, it was in George W. Bush's political interest to do the opposite: The White House got the support it needed for invading Iraq by stoking public fears of terrorism and connecting those fears to Iraq."

Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity

Title: Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity

Author: John Stossel

Pages: 284

Genre: Non-fiction

Grade: A-

Synopsis: John Stossel, host of 20/20 (of which I've never seen a minute), investigates common myths and old wives tales that are simply not true. Stossel looks at lies in the media, business, government, lawyers, religion, health and many other topics. Each argument is backed up with expert opinion, true stories and tests that Stossel ran for his television show.

My Review: I realize that everything in this book needs to be taken with a grain of salt. The issues are explored through Stossel's glasses and the arguments are very, very compelling and enlightening. I learned loads about how the media places spin on stories (and exaggerate the truth), how politicians are catering to the lobbyists and how slimy many lawyers can be. Stossel attacks teacher's unions, school vouchers, Title IX (if a lawyer wins a civil rights lawsuit (such as Title IX) in many states, they are entitled to 6 times their regular hourly fee!), homeopathic remedies, DeBeers (diamond cartel), farm subsidies, Republicans, Democrats (Stossel considers himself a Libertarian), minimum wage, frivolous lawsuits, etc. I think that if you can read this book without getting angry about some things then you've got issues. The book is almost depressing in how twisted some things are. This is one book that I think everybody should read (and then form your own opinion about these "myths").

From the Book (I'm paraphrasing):

Myth: We're drowning in garbage!

Truth: There's plenty of room.

Off and on, the news will carry stories about how there is not enough room for all of our garbage. This simply isn't true (and if you think about it, how can we ever produce more garbage than the earth can store?). Owning a landfill is very competitive and many beautiful green areas are created by the garbage beneath them.

Myth: Feminist lawyers' fight sexism

Truth: Feminist lawyer's lawsuits make other lawyers richer.

Stossel gives the example of hair salons being forced to charge men and women equally. even though it takes longer to cut woman's hair, salons are being sued because it's a "human rights" violation. He also tackles the argument that aside from physical differences, men and women are the exact same. Many feminists are trying to sue because they aren't being elected to public office in equal numbers as men (how sexist!) and because people still believe that, in general, women are naturally better nurturers than men.

the five people you meet in heaven

Title: the five people you meet in heaven

Author: Mitch Albom

Pages: 196

Genre: Fiction, fable

Grade: A

Synopsis: This book is about death. The protagonist, Eddie, is an old man that works as a maintenance man at an amusement park in California. The book traces the story of his life and experiences and the impact that he had on other people, whether he knew them or not. Once Eddie dies, and exactly as the title suggests, he meets five people in heaven whose lives he impacted or who impacted his life.

My Review: This was a great one-day read. I left the other book that I'm reading at my parents' and picked this one up to fill the time. The book flows well and incorporates short lessons and stories into the bigger overall picture very easily. After finishing this book I took a few minutes to think about the people that have impacted my life and the people that I may have had an impact on. It was also very clear that nobody can know somebody else's entire story. The impressions that we have about other people consist of partial stories. Hopefully we will not judge others because there is so much going on that we are unaware of.

From the Book: "(p. 91) "Time," the Captain said, "is not what you think." He sat down next to Eddie. "Dying? Not the end of everything. We think it is. But what happens on earth is only the beginning.""

I Am David

Title: I Am David

Author: Anne Holm

Pages: 239

Genre: Children's Fiction

Grade: A

Synopsis: David has spent almost his whole life in a concentration camp in Eastern Europe. While there, the most important thing that he learned was how to do whatever it took just to stay alive. David is confused when a guard helps him to escape and tells him to make his way to Denmark. What follows is an inspiring story of a boy learning the nuances of the world outside the concentration camp, finding God and living on his own.

My Review: I'm really glad that I picked up this book. It's been on my list for a really long time. It's a children's book but suitable for adults. The descriptions of what is going on in David's mind is so clear and it is exciting to read as he meets children for the first time and as he learns to talk like a normal person. David's conversations with God are some of the best parts of the book.

From the Book: "(p. 32) The sun glistened on a drop of water as it fell from his hand to his knee. David wiped it off, but it left no tidemark: there was no more dirt to rub away. He took a deep breath and shivered. He was David. Everything else was washed away, the camp, its smell, its touch--and now he was David, his own master, free--free as long as he could remain so."

"(p. 131) David thought living in a house was very difficult. It was not the house itself--that was lovely to be in--but the people. What was so difficult about them was that they constantly seemed to expect him to say and do things he would never have though of, and what appeared sensible and natural to him seemed to surprise them..."

The Brothers Karamazov

Title: The Brothers Karamazov

Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky

Pages: 702

Genre: Classic

Grade: B

Synopsis: The book follows the penny-pinching father, Fyodor Karamazov and his three sons, Dmitri, Ivan, and Alexey. Dmitri is the prodigal son of sorts, he has received much of his inheritance but feels that his father has cheated him out of the rest. Ivan is the intellectual son, who struggles to get along with others and Alexey is the spiritual strength of the family and the hero of the book. The book mainly follows the three brothers and their relationships with each other, their father and ladies in the town. The father gets killed and one of the brothers is accused of the murder and is set on trial as the book winds down.

My Review: There were parts of the book that I loved and there were parts of the book that were incredibly difficult to get through. The book is long (over 411,000 words, according to amazon.com) and a fairly slow read. One thing that Dostoevsky has going for him is that the book really gets you thinking about religion and God, philosophy and the nature of man. For some reason, everytime I read this book, I would be falling asleep within a few pages.

From the Book: "(p. 60) 'By the experience of active love. Strive to love your neighbour actively and indefatigably. In as far as you advance in love you will grow surer of the reality of God and of the immortality of your soul. If you attain to perfect self-forgetfulness in the love of your neighbour, then you will believe without doubt, and no doubt can possibly enter your soul. This has been tried. This is certain.'"

"(p. 219) 'To begin with, for the sake of being Russian. Russian conversations on such subjects are always carried on inconceivably stupidly. And secondly, the stupider one is, the closer one is to reality. The stupider one is, the clearer one is. Stupidity is brief and artless, while intelligence wriggles and hides itself. Intelligence is a knave, but stupidity is honest and straightforward. I've led the conversation to my despair, and the more stupidly I have presented it, the better for me.'"

"(p. 227) 'No, I can't admit it. Brother,' said Alyosha suddenly, with flashing eyes, 'you said just now, is there a being in the whole world who would have the right to forgive and could firgive? But there is a Being and He can forgive everything, all and for all, because He gave His innocent blood for all and everything. You have forgotten Him, and on Him is built the edifice, and it is to Him they cry aloud, "Thou art just, O Lord, for Thy ways are revealed!"'"

"(p. 271) 'Truly,' I answered him, 'all things are good and fair, because all is truth. Look,' said I, 'at the horse, that great beast that is so near to man; or the lowly, pensive ox, which feeds him and works for him; look at their faces, what meekness, what devotion to man, who often beats them mercilessly. What gentleness, what confidence and what beauty! It's touching to know that there's no sin in them, for all, all except man, is sinless, and Christ has been with them before us.'"

"(p. 442) 'When all are undressed, one is somehow not ashamed, but when one's the only one undressed and everybody is looking, it's degrading,' he kept repeating to himself, again and again. 'It's like a dream, I've sometimes dreamed of being in such degrading positions.' It was a misery to him to take off his socks. They were very dirty, and so were his underclothes, and now everyone could see it. And what was worse, he disliked his feet. All his life he had thought both his big toes hideous. He particularly loathed the coarse, flat, crooked nail on the right one, and now they would all see it. Feeling intolerably ashamed made him, at once and intentionally, rougher. He pulled off his shirt, himself."

"(p. 542) 'God preserve you, my dear boy, from ever asking forgiveness for a fault from a woman you love. From one you love especially, however greatly you may have been in fault. For a woman--devil only knows what to make of a woman: I know something about them, anyway. But try acknowledging you are in fault to a woman. Say, "I am sorry, forgive me," and a shower of reproaches will follow! Nothing will make her forgive you simply and directly, she'll humble you to the dust, bring forward things that have never happened, recall everything, forget nothing, add something of her own, and only then forgive you. And even the best, the best of them do it. She'll scrape up all the scrapings and load them on your head. They are ready to flay you alive, I tell you, every one of them, all these angels without whom we cannot live! I tell you plainly and openly, dear boy, every decent man ought to be under some woman's thumb. That's my conviction--not conviction, but feeling. A man ought to be magnanimous, and it's no disgrace to a man! No disgrace to a hero, not even a Caesar! But don't ever beg her pardon all the same for anything...'"

The Woods

Title: The Woods

Author: Harlan Coben

Pages: 404

Genre: Thriller, Mystery

Grade: A

Synopsis: 4 teenagers were killed by a serial killer after they snuck out from the camp they were in.  The person that was supposed to be on patrol that evening (Paul Copeland) had also snuck out into the woods for a bit of hanky panky with his girlfriend.  He and his girlfriend lived while the other four campers didn't.  Paul is now a county prosecutor and is in the midst of a rape case eerily similar to the Duke Lacrosse team case from a few years ago.  Somebody is trying to keep what really happened in the woods 20 years ago a secret from Paul.

My Review: The Woods has all of the elements that you would expect in a Harlan Coben mystery thriller. The twisted plot with unexpected turns and revelations and multiple storylines.  I enjoy books like these because I read them so quickly.  Even when I'm not reading the book I'm thinking about what's going to happen, what could happen and trying to decipher and figure out exactly what is going on.  Satisfyingly, all loose ends have been wrapped up by the end of the book.

From the Book: "(p. 76) I ordered a cheeseburger and a beer from a waitress who looked as though she wanted to be in one of those want-to-get-away? commercials. She called me hon. I love when a waitress calls me hon."

"(p.107) Her voice was polished with a hint of a New England-boarding-school accent that shouted refinement over geographic locale. I was trying not to stare. She saw that and smiled a little. I don't want to sound like some kind of pervert because it wasn't like that. Femal beauty gets to me. I don't think I'm alone in that. It gets to me like a work of art gets to me. It gets to me like a Rembrandt or Michelangelo. It gets to me like night views of Paris or when the sun rises on the Grand Canyon or sets in the turquoise Arizona sky. My thoughts were not illicit. Ther were, I self-rationalized, rather artistic."

The Kite Runner

Title: The Kite Runner

Author: Khaled Hosseini

Pages: 372

Genre: Fiction

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Amir and his wealthy father, Baba, live in a beautiful house in Kabul, Afghanistan.  Their servants and lifelong friends Hassan and Ali live in a small house on the same property.  Amir and Hassan do everything together with Amir always trying to gain his father's love and adoration.  Hassan, being Amir's servant, is one of the most loyal and likeable character in all literature,  One of the boys' favorite things to do is to fly kites in the winter.  After one of the city's big kite running competitions, an unspeakable event comes between Amir and Hassan.  An event that would haunt Amir for the rest of his life.

My Review: There are very few books that you just love and hate.  The loyalty and unwavering love of Hassan and his father are inspiring and the friendship between the two boys (Amir and Hassan) is incredible.  The terrors that haunt Amir as he and his father flee the Russian occupation of Afghanistan are heartbreaking.  Amir is very likeable but some of the things he does and the decisions he makes tear you apart.  This is a powerful book about growing up in Afghanistan before all of the wars and occupations.

Disclaimer: The book has some violence and a bit of foul language and sex.  Not recommended for children.

From the Book: "(p. 52) Except that wasn't all. The real fun began when a kite was cut. That was where the kite runners came in, those kids who chased the windblown kite drifting through the neighborhoods until it came spiraling down in a field, dropping in someone's yard, on a tree or a rooftop. The chase got pretty fierce; hordes of kite runners swarmed the streets, shoved past each other like those people from Spain I'd read about once, the ones who ran from the bulls. One year a neighborhood kid climbed a pine tree for a kite. A branch snapped under his weight and he fell thirty feet. Broke his back and never walked again. But he fell with the kite still in his hands. And when a kite runner has his hands on a kite, no one could take it from him. That wasn't a rule. That was a custom."

"(p. 128) I wanted to tell them that, in Kabul, we snapped a tree branch and used it as a credit card. Hassan and I would take the wooden stick to the bread maker. He'd carve notches on our stick with his knife, one notch for each loaf of naan he'd pull for us from the tandoor's roaring flames. At the end of the month, my father paid him for the number of notches on the stick. That was it. No questions. No ID."

The Audacity of Hope

Title: The Audacity of Hope

Author: Barack Obama

Pages: 364

Genre: Politics, Memoir

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Barack Obama wrote this book a couple of years after his highly-acclaimed speech at the Democratic National Convention. He expounds on the topics that he spoke about then, explaining his ideas and views for the direction the country should take. He touches on partisan politics, values, the Constitution, race, foreign policy and his family. He is very respectful in explaining his positions and makes a conscious effort to not judge others on their opinions. While he doesn't support Bush's policies, he was honest and respectful in his disagreements.

My Review: This was a pretty good book. Obama is a brilliant man and has a very readable writing style, even while being a difficult read because of the vocabulary and historical references. I feel pretty well versed on politics and history, but I had to look up all sorts of things on wikipedia in order to understand them. I really felt that Obama knew what he was talking about throughout the book. Every Bush supporter should read a short section of the book on the budget and tax cuts pushed through by President Bush. Unless you are in the top .01% of wage earners, you should be disgusted with the way the American public has been treated. My other favorite section of the book was the section on foreign policy. This is one of the things that I agree 100% with Obama on. The United States should not be taking unilateral actions in this world. We cannot continue to alienate our allies and fuel anti-American sentiment throughout the world.

I respect Obama more than I did before reading this book. I can see where he's coming from and I understand his positions a little better. Unfortunately, some of what is written in this book seems a little bit different than his positions today. I much prefer the ideology from the book.

Why I Chose this Book: I really enjoyed the Republican National Convention and thought that it had a far more positive vibe than the Democratic National Convention. I thought that Rudy Guilianni's speech was incredible and that speech alone almost convinced me to vote for McCain (even though I liked Obama at the time). After reading this book, I understand Obama's positions better but I'm still up in the air as to who will get my vote.

From the Book: "(p. 10 - Prologue) But that is not all that I am. I also think my party can be smug, detached, and dogmatic at times. I believe in the free market, competition, and entrepreneurship, and think no small number of government programs don't work as advertised. I wish the country had fewer lawyers and more engineers. I think America has more often been a force for good than for ill in the world; I carry few illusions about our enemies, and revere the courage and competence of our military. I reject a politics that is based solely on racial identity, gender identity, sexual orientation, or victimhood generally. I think much of what ails the inner city involves a breakdown in culture that will not be cured by money alone, and that our values and spiritual life matter at least as much as our GDP."

"(p. 41 - Republicans and Democrats) Maybe the critics are right. Maybe there's no escaping our great political divide, an endless clash of armies, and any attempts to alter the rules of engagement are futile. Or maybe the trivialization of politics has reached a point of no return, so that most people see it as just one more diversion, a sport, with politicians our paunch-bellied gladiators and those who bother to pay attention just fans on the sidelines: We paint our faces red or blue and cheer our side and boo their side, and if it takes a late hit or cheap shot to beat the other team, so be it, for winning is all that matters."

"(p. 171 - Opportunity) Education. Science and technology. Energy. Investments in these three key areas would go a long way in making America more competitive. Of course, none of these investments will yield results overnight. All will be subject to controversy. Investment in R & D and education will cost money at a time when our federal budget is already stretched. Increasing the fuel efficiency of American cars or instituting performance pay for public-school teachers will involve overcoming the suspicions of workers who already feel embattled. And arguments over the wisdom of school vouchers or the viability of hydrogen fuel cells won't go away anytime soon."

"(p. 190 - Opportunity, Obama recounting a conversation with Warren Buffet) "I did a calculation the other day," he said as we sat down in his office. "Though I've never used tax shelters or had a tax planner, after including the payroll taxes we play, I'll pay a lower effective tax rate this year than my receptionist. In fact, I'm pretty sure I pay a lower rate than the average American. And if the President has his way, I'll be paying even less."

A Distant Prayer

Title: A Distant Prayer

Authors: Joseph Banks and Jerry Borrowman

Pages: 147

Genre: Memoir, LDS

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Joseph Banks (brother of Elder Ben Banks and former Stake President) was a flight engineer aboard a B-17 bomber in World War II. He was the only survivor (out of 10 crewmen) when his plane was shot down over northern Germany. The crew was on their 49th mission, 1 successful mission from returning home. This book documents the incredible miracles that took place both aboard the airplane and down on the ground where he spent months imprisoned in a German concentration camp.

My Review: This was a great Sunday read (and I really did read it in one Sunday). The story is written as if Joe was sitting next to you telling it. His faith, his strength and prayers are inspiring and truly he inspired many in his company and innumerable others through the telling of this story. The miracles that he was blessed with leave you believing that God had a higher calling for him. An incredible story.

The Poisonwood Bible

Title: The Poisonwood Bible

Author: Barbara Kingsolver

Pages: 543

Genre: Historical Fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Nathan Price is an evangelical Baptist minister from Georgia that decided to take his family on a mission to the Belgian Congo. They were discouraged from going because of the political climate in the country. Nathan Price, his wife, and four daughters arrive in the small town of Kilango, where Reverend Price quickly alienates all of the locals for their immodest dress, plural wives and refusal to be baptized in the river. The story is told through the viewpoints of Orleanna Price (Nathan's wife) and his four daughters, Rachel, Leah, Adah and Ruth May. The different viewpoints and writing styles make for a choppy story at times but also give intriguing insight into what each girl is thinking. They all have issues with their abusive father and find their own ways of coping with their suffering. Nathan is slowly destroying their family while preaching the gospel of love to the natives in the Congo.

My Review: In my opinion, this book was about 200 pages too long. It took a while to get used to Kingsolver's writing style but I quite enjoyed it by the end. Fittingly, I most enjoyed the chapters written from Adah's viewpoint. She could see things frontward and backward and looked for palindromes in everything. The book makes a political statement about how the West attempted to culturize and democratize Africa, destroying their culture and ignoring their history.

From the Book: "(p. 114, Leah) In exchange for his first taste of powdered milk, Pascal showed me a tree we could climb to find a bird's nest. After we handled and examined the pink-skinned baby birds, he popped one of them into his mouth like a jujube. It seemed to please him a lot. He offered a baby bird to me, pantomiming that I should eat it. I understood perfectly well what he meant, but I refused. He did not seem disappointed to have to eat the whole brood himself."

"(p. 474, Leah) But we've all ended up giving body and soul to Africa, one way or another. Even Adah, who's becoming an expert in tropical epidemiology and strange new viruses. Each of us got our heart buried in six feet of African dirt; we are all co-conspirators here. I mean, all of us, not just my family. So what do you do now? You get to find your own way to dig out a heart and shake it off and hold it up to the light again."

The Stranger

Title: The Stranger

Author: Albert Camus

Pages: 123

Genre: Classic

Grade: B

Synopsis: A young Frenchman, Meursault, living in Algeria becomes friends with another man in his building who takes advantage of his naivete and carefree spirit. Meursault's mother has just recently died and he shows no real sorrow or sadness at his mother's passing. Before long, Meursault finds himself thrown into the middle of a senseless murder.

My Review: This is one of the most published novels of the 20th century, receiving the Nobel Prize for literature in 1957. It's a book read in many high school English classes because it explores the inner soul of a dispassionate atheist. Meursalt reminds me a lot of the autistic boy, Christopher, in the curious incident of the dog in the night-time. Meursault is not autistic but simply disengaged from his own emotions. I found the book though-provoking but not one that I'd ever read again.

From the Book: "(p. 9) It was a rustling sound that woke me up. Because I'd had my eyes closed, the whiteness of the room seemed even brighter than before. There wasn't a shadow anywhere in front of me, and every object, every angle and curve stood out so sharply it made my eyes hurt. That's when Maman's friends came in. There were about ten in all, and they floated into the blinding light without a sound. They sat down without a single chair creaking. I saw them more clearly than I had ever seen anyone, and not one detail of their faces or their clothes escaped me. But I couldn't hear them, and it was hard for me to believe that they really existed. Almost all the women were wearing aprons, and the strings, which were tied tight around their waists, made their bulging stomachs stick out even more. I'd never noticed what huge stomachs old women can have. Almost all the men were skinny and carried canes. What struck me most about their faces was that I couldn't see their eyes, just a faint glimmer in a nest of wrinkles. When they'd sat down, most of them looked at me and nodded awkwardly, their lips sucked in by their toothless mouths, so that I couldn't tell if they were greeting me or if it was just a nervous tic. I think they were greeting me. It was then that I realized they were all sitting across from me, nodding their heads, grouped around the caretaker. For a second I had the ridiculous feeling that they were there to judge me."

breaking dawn

Title: breaking dawn

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Pages: 756

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Bella Swan is still in love with both Jacob and Edward. How can she marry the vampire without hurting the "best man" in the process?

My Review: I just have to laugh when I'm reading these books. The plot line can get so ridiculous that it's almost comical. This book has so many twists and turns it will have you wondering which way is up. Although long, it's an easy read that will keep you interested. By the end, Meyer has done a surprisingly good job at tying up all the loose ends and somehow partially satisfying everybody.

From the Book: "(p. 188) Did you know that 'I told you so' has a brother Jacob?" she asked, cutting me off. "His name is 'Shut the hell up.' "

"(p. p. 259) Nudity was an inconvenient but unavoidable part of pack life. We'd all thought nothing of it before Leah came along. Then it got awkward. Leah had average control when it came to temper--it took her the usual length of time to stop exploding out of her clothes every time she got pissed. We'd all caught a glimpse. And it wasn't like she wasn't worth looking at; it was just that it was so not worth it when she caught you thinking about it later."

Under the Banner of Heaven

Title: Under the Banner of Heaven - A Story of Violent Faith

Author: Jon Krakauer

Pages: 339

Genre: Non-fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: The book mainly focuses on the brutal murders of a woman and her infant daughter in Utah County in 1984. The crimes were committed by LDS Fundamentalists who believed that they were commanded by God to remove those who were getting in the way of God's work. The book discusses other crimes committed both by the mainstream LDS population and Fundamentalist LDS believers, from the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart to the Mountain Meadows massacre from murders in the Toquerville ward house to rampant sexual abuse and incest in the fundamentalist communities. It really is "a story of violent faith."

My Review: This is a difficult book to review. I've wanted to read it for a long time and finally picked it up at the library. There were parts that were tedious and long-winded but most of the book was very intriguing and enlightening. My biggest complaint is that many of the quotes aren't clearly cited and I often wanted to research something that had been stated in the book. While the book answered many questions it left many unanswered as well. I never felt that this book was anti-Mormon, but quite the opposite in fact. While the facts discussed were often difficult to swallow or depressing to read, I felt that the author was only trying to be as unbiased as possible. There are a lot of things from Church history that the Church is trying to hide, but that I feel should be discussed openly. The only Church history that I've ever read was written by the Church. This book is a view of Church history from the other side.

From the Book: "(p. 3) Balanced atop the highest spire of the Salt Lake Temple, gleaming in the Utah sun, a statue of the angel Moroni stands watch over downtown Salt Lake City with his golden trumpet raised. This massive granite edifice is the spiritual and temporal nexus of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), which presents itself as the world's only true religion. Temple Square is to Mormons what the Vatican is to Catholics, or the Kaaba in Mecca is to Muslims. At last count there were more than eleven million Saints the world over, and Mormonism is the fastest-growing faith in the Western Hemisphere. At present in the United States there are more Mormons than Presbyterians or Episcopalians. On the planet as a whole, there are now more Mormons than Jews. Mormonism is considered in some sober academic circles to be well on its way to becoming a major world religion--the first such faith to emerge since Islam.

"(p. 14) When Debbie was fourteen, she felt "impressed by the Lord" to marry Ray Blackmore, the community leader. Debbie asked her father to share her divine impression with Prophet LeRoy Johnson, who would periodically travel to Bountiful from Short Creek to perform various religious duties. Because Debbie was lithe and beautiful, Uncle Roy approved of the match. A year later the prophet returned to Canada and married her to the ailing fifty-seven-year-old Blackmore. As his sixth wife, Debbie became a stepmother to Blackmore's thirty-one kids, most of whom were older than she was. And because he happened to be the father of Debbie's own stepmother, Mem, she unwittingly became a stepmother to her stepmother, and thus a step grandmother to herself."

"(p. 53) Whether one believes that the faith he spawned is the world's only true religion or a preposterous fable, Joseph emerges from the fog of time as one of the most remarkable figures ever to have breathed American air. "Whatever his lapses," Harold Bloom argues in The American Religion, "Smith was an authentic religious genius, unique in our national history.... In proportion to his importance and his complexity, he remains the least-studied personage, of an undiminished vitality, in our entire national sage."

"(p. 77) For a person accustomed to the multi ethnic commotion of Los Angeles, Vancouver, New York, or even Denver, walking across the BYU campus can be a jarring experience. One sees no graffiti, not a speck of litter. More than 99 percent of the thirty thousand students are white. Each of the young Mormons one encounters is astonishingly well groomed and neatly dressed. Beards, tattoos, and pierced ears (or other body parts) are strictly forbidden for men. Immodest attire and more than a single piercing per ear are forbidden among women. Smoking, using profane language, and drinking alcohol or even coffee are likewise banned. Heeding the dictum "Cougars don't cut corners," students keep to the sidewalks as they hurry to make it to class on time; nobody would think of attempting to shave a few precious seconds by treading on the manicured grass. Everyone is cheerful, friendly, and unfailingly polite.

Most non-Mormons think of Salt Lake City as the geographic heart of Mormonism, but in fact half the population of Salt Lake is Gentile, and many Mormons regard the city as a sinful, iniquitous place that's been corrupted by outsiders. To the Saints themselves, the true Mormon heartland is here in Provo and surrounding Utah County--the site of chaste little towns like Highland, American Fork, Orem, Payson and Salem--where the population is nearly 90 percent LDS. The Sabbath is taken seriously in these parts. Almost all businesses close on Sundays, as do public swimming pools, even on the hottest days of the summer months.

This part of the state is demographically notable in other aspects, as well. The LDS Church forbids abortions, frowns on contraception, and teaches that Mormon couples have a sacred duty to give birth to as many children as they can support--which goes a long way toward explaining why Utah County has the highest birth rate in the United States; it is higher, in fact, than the birth rate in Bangladesh. This also happens to be the most Republican county in the most Republican state in the nation. Not coincidentally, Utah County is a stronghold not only of Mormonism but also Mormon Fundamentalism."

"(p. 208) Alleging that the Mormons had committed a long list of treasonous acts, in May 1857 Buchanan dispatched a contingent of federal officials to restore the rule of law in Utah, including a new territorial governor to replace Brigham Young. More ominously, the new president ordered twenty-five hundred heavily armed soldiers to escort these officials into Salt Lake City and subdue the Saints if necessary. For all intents and purposes, the United States had declared war on the Mormons."

"(p. 250 - quoting John Taylor) God is greater than the United States, and when the Government conflicts with heaven we will be ranged under the banner of heaven and against the government. The United States says we cannot marry more than one wife. God says different.... Polygamy is a divine institution. It has been handed down direct from God. The United States cannot abolish it. No nation on earth can prevent it, nor all the nations of the earth combined; these are my sentiments and all of you who sympathize with me in this position will raise your right hands. I defy the United States; I will obey God."

"(p. 334) I was irresistibly drawn to write about Latter-Day Saints not only because I already knew something about their theology, and admired much about their culture, but also because of the utterly unique circumstances in which their religion was born: the Mormon Church was founded a mere 173 years ago, in a literate society, in the age of the printing press. As a consequence, the creation of what became a worldwide faith was abundantly documented in firsthand accounts. Thanks to the Mormons, we have been given an unprecedented opportunity to appreciate--in astonishingly detail--how an important religion came to be."

The Know-It-All

Title: The Know-It-All -- One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

Author: A.J. Jacobs

Pages: 386

Genre: Non-fiction, Humor

Grade: A

Synopsis: A.J. Jacobs read all 32 volumes of the 2002 Encyclopaedica Britannica. That’s 33,000 pages and 44 million words. And to think that I was complaining about War and Peace’s measly 1,000 pages and 595,000 words. This book is set up like an encyclopaedia with different entries in alphabetical order. He touches on the most interesting things that he learned while easily weaving his own personal story into the text. The book is funny, extremely interesting and engaging. He tries to fit in with the Mensa crowd and other intellectual societies – even making an appearance on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

My Review:I first heard about this book when I saw the author interviewed on The Colbert Report. More recently, this book was recommended to me by a childhood friend Heather [Gibby] Ward. She remembers me as a nerd and was spot-on with this recommendation. I’m a fact guy and this book is chock-full of random facts (that I will unfortunately never remember). In fact, I started reading the encyclopaedia a few times when I was younger. It was something that I always wanted to read and I when my dad bought a used encyclopaedia set (1978 edition) from the DI in 1993 or 1994, I would read it off and on. Nowadays, there are simply too many other books on my plate to give up a year reading the encyclopaedia.

Disclaimer: Mr. Jacobs is fairly loose with his language in this book and some may find it offensive. I just found it funny...

From the book: “(p. 17 – atrophy) Let me tell you, though: being the smartest boy in the world wasn’t easy. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t want this. On the contrary, it was a huge burden. First, there was the task of keeping my brain perfectly protected. My cerebral cortex was a national treasure, a masterpiece of the Sistine Chapel of brains. This was not something that could be treated frivolously. If I could have locked it in a safe, I would have. Instead, I became obsessed with brain damage.”

“(p. 24 – bell) Back to the books. The world’s largest bell was built in 1733 in Moscow, and weighed in at more than four hundred thousand pounds. It never rang—it was broken by fire before it could be struck. What a sad little story. All that work, all that planning, all those expectations—then nothing. Now it just sits there in Russia, a big metallic symbol of failure. I have a moment of silence for the silent bell.”

“(p. 56 – Deseret News) I always thought the name of Utah’s major newspaper was some sort of weird misspelling of the word “desert.” But no, Deseret is the “land of the honeybee,” according to the Book of Mormon. I guess I should have figured they would have caught a typo in the masthead after 154 years.”

“(p. 58 - Dionysus) A few weeks later, I’m in a fluorescent-lit classroom in Chelsea awaiting the start of the official Mensa test. I’m sitting next to a guy who’s doing a series of elaborate neck stretches, like we’re about to engage in a vigorous rugby match. He’s neatly laid out four types of gum on his Formica desk: Juicy Fruit, Wrigley Spearmint, Big Red, and Eclipse. I hate this guy. I hope to God he’s not a genius.”

“(p. 102 – frigate birds) Huh. I’m not sure how to respond to this. Is Alex Trebek black? He sure doesn’t look black. He looks pretty white to me. He looks like the quintessence, the very incarnation, of whiteness.”

“(p. 125 – gymnasium) The literal Greek translation is “school for naked exercise.” Which made toweling off the stationary bike even more important.”

“(p. 179 – Las Vegas) Mormons were the first settlers. Not sure Joseph Smith would approve of today’s topless showgirls and liquor. Though he would like the volcano at the Mirage. Everybody likes the volcano.”

“(p. 305 – Scrabble) The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t really explain why.”

The Alchemist

Title: The Alchemist

Author: Paulo Coelho

Pages: 167

Genre: Fiction, Fable

Grade: B

Synopsis: The Alchemist is a fable written by the Brazilian author Paulo Coelho about following your dreams. It has been published in more than 56 languages and sold more than 56 million copies. The story is about the shepherd, Santiago, who lives in Andalusia. He dreams that a treasure awaits him near the pyramids in Egypt. He seeks help in understanding his dream before setting off on the adventure of a lifetime.

My Review: While an enjoyable read, it was also a little strange. I liked that the book got me thinking and that Melchezidek, King of Salem, appeared to the boy to tithe him 10% and also gave him a gift of a Urim and Thummim that he took from a golden breastplate. The book has the chance to be a powerful motivator for those afraid to chase after their dreams or Personal Legends. It wasn't life-changing but it was a quick, easy read.

From the Book: "(p. 30) Take these," said the old man, holding out a white stone and a black stone that had been embedded at the center of the breastplate. "They are called Urim and Thummim. The black signifies 'yes,' and the white 'no.' When you are unable to read the omens, they will help you to do so. Always ask an objective question."

"(p. 92) At that moment, it seemed to him that time stood still, and the Soul of the World surged within him. When he looked into her dark eyes, and saw that her lips were poised between a laugh and silence, he learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke--the language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart. It was love. Something older than humanity, more ancient than the desert. Something that exerted the same force whenever two pairs of eyes met, as had their here at the well. She smiled, and that was certainly an omen--the omen he had been awaiting, without even knowing he was, for all his life. The omen he had sought to find with his sheep and in his books, in the crystals and in the silence of the desert."

Just One Look

Title: Just One Look

Author: Harlan Coben

Pages: 370

Genre: Thriller

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Grace Lawson leaves the local Photomat with her newly developed pictures. When she finally gets a chance to look at them, she finds a photograph that causes her life to unravel. When she shows the picture to her husband, he denies knowing anybody in the picture and then disappears later that same evening. Somebody is trying very hard to keep that photograph from ever surfacing while Grace is just trying to find her husband.

My Review: It's books like this one that made it impossible for me to read while I was in school. Action-packed thrillers such as this one are so hard for me to put down and I end up ignoring everything else going on in my life. Pretty much, I'm a sucker for the genre. This one had a plot that was all over the place, but the ending was more satisfying than most books of this type. It was engaging, interesting and always kept you guessing.

The Pushcart War

Title: The Pushcart War

Author: Jean Merrill

Pages: 223

Genre: Children's Fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: The pushcarts have declared war on the rude truck drivers of New York City. The streets are clogged, the trucks are smashing their carts and the public is starting to blame the pushcarts for the traffic jams. All of the pushcart people in the city band together to form an army and attack the truck tires with peashooters. The war against the three company owners and the corrupt mayor has begun.

My Review: This was an enjoyable read (and a quick one, I easily finished it in a day). It's most certainly a children's book and aside from a few things that just border on believability, it was hard to determine whether or not this was a work of fiction or a historical account of a "real" city war. It's a very funny book, and I can't help but smile even while writing this and thinking about some of the stories.

From the Book: "(p. 59) Carlos was known to the pushcart peddlers as the most skillful carton-flattener in the Lower East Side section of New York City. Carlos' business was to go around to small stores that had clean cardboard cartons which they wished to be rid of. With two or three deft motions, Carlos would flatten the cartons and carefully stack them on his pushcart. Carlos was the only flattener in the business who could stack to a height of twelve feet without the cartons slipping off."

the curious incident of the dog in the night-time

Title: the curious incident of the dog in the night-time

Author: Mark Haddon

Pages: 226

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Grade: A- (It would have been an A if the language had been better)

Synopsis: Christopher John Francis Boone is an autistic kid that sees and hears everything very literally. He is detached from his emotions which makes it difficult for him to relate to people and understand their intentions. He is very analytical and mathematical and in my opinion a genius. This is a book that he writes about the neighbors dog that is murdered in the middle of the night with a pitchfork.

My Review: I really, really liked this book. It was difficult to put down and I really felt that I was seeing things from Christopher's autistic perspective. You are able to foresee things before Christopher realizes just what is going on and it is saddening to see how difficult it is for him to grasp reality. Almost everything to him comes down to numbers or a mathematical problem. In fact, most of life can be explained by one mathematical relation or another. This book is funny, sad and enlightening of the plight of the autistic and how they are treated.

Disclaimer: This book was chosen for the inaugural Salt Lake City Reads city-wide book club a couple of years ago. There was a firestorm of anger towards Rocky Anderson because the book was said to be "suitable for all ages" (which is true if you don't mind your child reading the f-word around a dozen times). This book takes place in England which helps to explain the type of profanity that is found in the book. I wouldn't call it vulgar or lewd, but I would call it profane.

From the Book: "(Back cover, quote by Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of a Geisha) I have never read anything quite like Mark Haddon's funny and agonizingly honest book, or encountered a narrator more vivid and memorable. I advise you to buy two copies; you won't want to lend yours out."

"(p. 7) He was asking too many questions and he was asking them too quickly. They were stacking up in my head like loaves in the factory where Uncle Terry works. The factory is a bakery and he operates the slicing machines. And sometimes a slicer is not working fast enough but the bread keeps coming and there is a blockage. I sometimes think of my mind as a machine, but not always as a bread-slicing machine. It makes it easier to explain to other people what is going on inside it."

things I learned about my dad (in therapy)

Title: things I learned about my dad (in therapy)

Author: Heather B. Armstrong

Pages: 230

Genre: Essays, Parenting

Grade: B+

Synopsis: This is a compilation of 17 essays edited by Heather B. Armstrong (the writer of one of my favorite blogs, dooce.com). The other essayists include her husband and a slew of other bloggers from the infamous worldwide web. While I haven't read much by any of the other authors, I ended up really enjoying most of the essays. They all have to do with being a father, what they learned from their own fathers or just fatherhood in general.

Why I Chose This Book: I've been a big fan of dooce for a long time. Alison knew this and had Heather B. Armstrong sign my book (by sending it in) and gave it to me for Father's Day. She was having a book signing at a bookstore near our apartment but we got there just a few minutes after it had closed. We were bummed that we didn't get to meet her. As fate would have it, the last Saturday that we lived in the village I met her, her husband Jon and their daughter Leta at Dan's on Foothill Boulevard.

My Review: I really like the essays by Heather B. Armstrong and a few of the other bloggers. Unfortunately there were a couple essays that just seemed disjointed and unrelated. I laughed while reading most essays and got a bit teary-eyed during a couple of others. It really was quite interesting to get so many different viewpoints in one little book.

Disclaimer: These essays range anywhere from G-rated to a strong PG-13. Be forewarned.

From the Book: "(p. 23 from "Sam I Am" by Matthew Baldwin) The other contribution I made to the pregnancy was accompanying my wife to childbirth classes. As we live in progressive Seattle, nearly all the women in attendance were accompanied by the fathers, even though we didn't really do much beyond gawp in horror at the delivery videos and exclaim, "Holy smokes! That's going to totally suck for you, honey."

"(p. 36 from "A Girl Named Spike" by Matthew D. Laplante) She was one of those sadly conspicuous, middle-aged Mormon closet lesbians, so common in our fair city, who for reasons of either devout piety or deep self-loathing, wind up spending a lifetime like Eleanor Rigby, living vicariously through the mundane lives of others rather than succumbing to the sinful charms of another woman."

"(p. 108 from "Peas and Domestic Tranquilty" by Greg Knauss) One thing that I used to believe that has stuck with me is, of course, that farts are funny. Burps, too. Sneezes, even. Pretty much the whole gamut of bodily noises is a treasure trove of ready-made comedy. You gather a handful of small boys together and let them entertain themselves and there will be more sharp honks than an angry L.A. freeway. But there's a time and place for such fun, and every second of every day, no matter the location or company, turns out not to be the appropriate venue for a gastrointestinal symphony."

eclipse

Title: eclipse

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Pages: 629

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Bella Swan is preparing for graduation and immortality with her lover, vampire Edward Cullen. This book follows her last few months as a mortal and her preparations for becoming a vampire herself. The Cullen's are forced to fight for Bella's life, protecting her from other vampires. To Edward's dismay, she still spends as much time as she can on the Indian reservation with her good friend Jacob and realizes that she is madly in love with him as well.

My Review: While I feel that these books border on ridiculousness, I quite enjoyed this one. It spends a little more time delving into the stories behind the vampires and werewolves - which I find quite interesting. As for Bella's love struggles - like I said, I think she's being ridiculous. Although this book only covers a time period of a couple of months, I felt that it moved along well and didn't drag too much. Aside from being a little on the long side, it was a good read.

From the Book: "(p. 206) I was slowly realizing that vampires were much bigger participants in this world than I'd once thought. How many times did the average human cross paths with them, completely unaware? How many deaths, obliviously reported as crimes and accidents, were really due to their thirst? How crowded would this new world be when I joined it?"

"(p. 527) He was too strong to recognize that my hands, trying to yank his hair out by the roots , meant to cause him pain. Instead of anger, he imagined passion. He thought I was finally responding to him."

Memoirs of a Geisha

Title: Memoirs of a Geisha

Author: Arthur Golden

Pages: 428

Genre: Historical Fiction

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Young Chiyo-Chan is taken from her house in a small fishing village and sold to an okiyo in the Gion geisha district of Kyoto. Contrary to popular belief, geisha are not prostitutes, but are artisans or entertainers. Chiyo's early life is extremely difficult from the suffering caused by her own mistakes and the head geisha in her okiya, Hatsumomo. The turning point in her life is when she is noticed by the Chairman as a little girl. Everything Chiyo does from here on out is only to bring her and the Chairman closer together. Chiyo is eventually adopted and trained by another geisha, Mameha, one of the most successful in Gion. One of the most important moments of Chiyo's life (who has now changed her name to the geisha name Sayuri), is when her mizuage (virginity) is sold to the highest bidder. From then after Sayuri is one of the most successful geisha in Gion.

My Review: I both liked and hated this book. After reading this book, I hardly believed that it was a work of fiction and not a true memoir. The stories and descriptions are simply astonishing and incredibly believable. Near the end of the book, Sayuri made me so angry, although the ending remained satisfying. This was a bit of a slow read but it's one of those books that really draws you in and gets you thinking - even while not reading. That is what I really liked about the book. For better or worse, I found my emotions and feelings throughout the day tied to what was happening in the story. Another interesting thing from the book is that it takes place during the Great Depression and World War II from the viewpoint of the Japanese.

Disclaimer: While this book obviously deals with the business of selling sex, it was never an uncomfortable read. I probably wouldn't read it to my kids though.

From the Book: "(p. 67) Whatever any of us may have thought about Hatsumomo, she was like an empress in our okiya since she earned the income by which we all lived. And being an empress she would have been very displeased, upon returning late at night, to find her palace dark and all the servants asleep. That is to say, when she came home too drunk to unbutton her socks, someone had to unbutton them for her; and if she felt hungry, she certainly wasn't going to stroll into the kitchen and prepare something by herself--such as an umeboshi ochazuke, which was a favorite snack of hers, made with leftover rice and pickled sour plums, soaked in hot tea. Actually our okiya wasn't at all unusual in this respect. The job of waiting up to bow and welcome the geisha home almost always fell to the most junior of the "cocoons"--as the young geisha-in-training were often called. And from the moment I began taking lessons at the school, the most junior cocoon in our okiya was me. Long before midnight, Pumpkin and the two elderly maids were sound asleep on their futons only a meter or so away on the wood floor of the entrance hall; but I had to go on kneeling there, struggling to stay awake until sometimes as late as two o'clock in the morning. Granny's room was nearby and she slept with her light on and her door opened a crack. The bar of light that fell across my empty futon made me think of a day, not long before Satsu [Chiyo's sister] and I were taken away from our village, when I'd peered into the back room of our house to see my mother asleep there. My father had draped fishing nets across the paper screens to darken the room, but it looked so gloomy I decided to open one of the windows; and when I did, a strip of bright sunlight fell across my mother's futon and showed her hand so pale and bony. To see the yellow lights streaming from Granny's room onto my futon...I had to wonder if my mother was still alive. We were so much alike, I felt sure I would have known if she'd died; but of course, I'd had no sign one way or the other."

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Title: Their Eyes Were Watching God

Author: Zora Neale Hurston

Pages: 184

Genre: Classic

Grade: B

Synopsis: This book describes the life of Janie Crawford in the small town of Eaton, Florida in the 1930's. Janie had been married to three men, was tried for the murder of one of the men and was often scorned by the town's inhabitants. Janie didn't really care what other people thought about her because she made sure to always do what's best for her and not what other people expected her to do under the circumstances.

My Review: This was a bit of a tough read. It shouldn't have taken me nearly as long as it did to read but it was one of those books that it almost felt like a chore to read. There were parts of the book that I really liked and there were other parts that required a bit of trudging. The book is well-regarded for its historical context and is chock-full of symbolism (most of which I'm sure I missed). This book does get you thinking and made me grateful for the time in which I live.

From the Book: "(p. 79) So Janie began to think of Death. Death, that strange being with the huge square toes who lived way in the West. The great one who lived in the straight house like a platform without sides to it, and without a roof. What need has Death for a cover, and what winds can blow against him? He stands in his high house that overlooks the world. Stands watchful and motionless all day with his sword drawn back, waiting for the messenger to bid him come. Been standing there before there was a where or a when or a then. She was liable to find a feather from his wings lying in her yard any day now. She was sad and afraid too. Poor Jody! He ought not to have to wrassle in there by himself. She sen Sam in to suggest a cisit, but Jody said No. These medical doctors wuz all right with the Godly sick, but they didn't know a thing about a case like his. He'd be all right just as soon as the two-headed man found what had been buried against him. He wasn't going to die at all. That was what he thought. But Sam told her different, so she knew. And then if he hadn't the next morning she was bound to know, for people began to gather in the big yard under the palm and china-berry trees. People who would not have dared to foot the place before crept in and did not come to the house. Just squatted under the trees and waited. Rumor, that wingless bird, had shadowed over the town."

"(p. 133) Mrs. Turner was a milky sort of a woman that belonged to child-bed. Her shoulders rounded a little, and she must have been conscious of her pelvis because she kept it stuck out in front of her so she could always see it. Tea Cake made a lot of fun about Mrs. Turners shape behind her back. He claimed that she had been shaped up by a cow kicking her from behind. She was an ironing board with things throwed at it. Then that same cow took and stepped in her mouth when she was a baby and left it wide and flat with her chin and nose almost meeting."