The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Title: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Author: Barbara Robinson

Pages:96

Genre: Children's Fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: Everybody knows their roles in the upcoming Christmas Pageant, they've played the same roles or similar roles for years.  But when the usual director breaks her leg and a family of incorrigible children begins to show up to rehearsals (they heard there were treats).  Because of the new kids, everything with the pageant turns out different than it has in the past.

My Review: This was a nice book to read just before Christmas.  It was Alison's book club selection for the month.  I think Alison read it ti Ada, and she is just about the perfect age to enjoy it.

The Origin of Species

Title: The Origin of Species

Author: Charles Darwin

Pages: 576

Genre: Non-fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: This book took Charles Darwin more than 20 years to produce.  He left on the Beagle in 1831 as a geologist and naturalist and formed his theory of natural selection based upon his discoveries and observations.  Many of Darwin's predictions on natural selection and evolution have since been proven as factual as additional research and investigation has taken place.

My Review:  I found this book to be more readable (or in my case, listenable) than I expected.  I generally understood the discussions and chapters and found myself even enjoying many of them.  As you can imagine, this book does get bogged down in the details, but that is also one of the more impressive parts of Darwin's theories.  What really struck me in the book was Darwin's genius.  To make the observations and connections that Darwin made required pure genius.

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Title: How to Win Friends and Influence People

Author: Dale Carnegie

Pages: 320

Genre: Self-help

Grade: B+

Synopsis: First written in 1936, Dale Carnegie's book is a collection of tips, tricks and anecdotes about being more likeable, being a leader and helping people that you interact with to feel needed and important.  Simple ideas, such as being a good listener and talking about your own mistakes prior to criticizing another person.

My Review: This is a book that I've been interested in reading for quite a few years, so I was happy when I found it at the DI or a garage sale (I don't recall exactly).  It's a book that I'd like to read every few years; at least the first half of the book, the second half wasn't quite as engaging.

Predicatbly Irrational

Title: Predictably Irrational

Author: Dan Ariely

Pages: 384

Genre: Non-fiction

Grade: A-

Synopsis: This book investigates how we make decisions and how we think that we are in control of our lives, yet in many situations it is easy to predict how we are going to act.  Dan Ariely is a behavioral economist from MIT who has designed and implemented a ton of different experiments to try and figure out the process of decision making.  As noted on the book jacket, "We consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate. We fail to understand the profound effects of our emotions on what we want, and we overvalue what we already own. Yet these misguided behaviors are neither random nor senseless. They're systematic and predictable — making us predictably irrational."

My Review: I found this book very fascinating.  There were plenty of times when I thought to myself, there is no way that I would act like that (or do that), but the experimental proof is nearly inarguable.  The fact of the matter is, is that we as humans are a bunch of suckers.  Hopefully, though, we can start to realize when we are being taken advantage of so that we can start to take control of our lives and decisions.

Just a couple of weeks after finishing this book I came across an interesting article in Wired by Dan Ariely "How Online Companies Get You to Share More and Spend More."  Give it a read!

Title: The Amber Spyglass - His Dark Materials - Book III

Author: Philip Pullman

Pages: 465

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: A-

Synopsis: This is the third and final book in the His Dark Materials series.  Lyra and Will are continuing on their journey to the land of the dead, where no living soul has ever ventured.  Dr. Mary Malone is in another world with creatures that rely on the trees near their villages, but they have been dying for the last 300 years or so.  Finally, Lord Asriel continues to fight against the Almighty with his armies from many worlds, including battalions of angels.

My Review: Once again I really enjoyed the book.  The story with Will and Lyra is very easy to follow.  I wish that I was better able to understand the allegory and symbolism in the book and I am certain that I failed to understand the adult level themes in the book, so I would like to read them again in the future with a more open mind. 

Geek Love

Title: Geek Love

Author: Katherine Dunn

Pages: 12 discs

Genre: Fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: This book is about the Binewski's traveling carnival.  The business goes through some rough times and Al Binewski and his wife Crystal Lil begin to experiment with a way to breed their own carnival freak show by having Lil ingest drugs and radioactive elements while she is pregnant.  The results are Arturo (the waterboy), a boy with flippers for hands and feet; Electra and Iphigenia, Siamese twins; Olympia, a hunchbacked albino dwarf and the storyteller; and Fortunato a normal looking baby/child with telekinetic powers. This is the story of their life in the carnival and Olympia's life as a radio-host after the carnival has been disbanded.

My Review: This was a bizarre, fascinating and surprising book.  There were plenty of instances where you question the judgement of the author and characters in the book because the Binewski's get into some pretty weird stuff.  I enjoyed the book because it humanized so many people with disfigurements and it always left me thinking about the situations in the book.

Title: Hot Lights, Cold Steel

Author: D.P. Lyle

Pages: 325

Genre: Thriller

Grade: B

Synopsis: This books is a fast-paced and captivating thriller about the forensic criminologist Dub Walker. An old friend enlists his help in finding her missing 19-year-old daughter.  When her daughter's body and other bodies begin turning up in shallow graves, Dub Walker begins investigating the causes of their deaths.  Each of the deceased had gone through numerous highly technical surgeries prior to death, but the surgeries themselves were never the cause of death.

My Review: I have had the book "Hot Lights, Cold Steel" on my to-read list for years, so I was excited when I found this brand-new copy at the local library.  I enjoyed the book, but I couldn't figure out why it was on my to-read list.  It turns out, there are two books with the same title and I had picked up the wrong book.  It turned out to not be a big deal as I enjoyed the unexpected thriller of this book.  It was a little gruesome, but an easy read.

The Subtle Knife

Title: The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials #2)

Author: Philip Pullman

Pages: 288

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Lyra has entered into an abandoned city in a parallel world where she meets a young boy, Will, from our world.  They are in Cittagazze, where children run wild and the adults are non-existent.  There is a tower in this city that houses a knife with the ability to cut openings into the parallel worlds.  Lyra and Will's destinies become intertwined when Lyra's alethiometer instructs her to help Will find his father. 

My Review: This book continues the quest and narrative from the first book with a few added dimensions, twists and turns, including visits to our own parallel world.  A battle is brewing between Lord Asriel and his innumerable armies and the strongest angels in the universe. Lyra must determine whose side she is on as the war moves closer.

The Golden Compass

Title: The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials - Book 1)

Author: Philip Pullman

Pages: 351

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Lyra Belacqua is an orphan living at Jordan College in Oxford, England.  Lyra's Oxford is not like our own.  Everybody has a daemon in animal form, which is analogous to our souls.  Lyra spends her days racing along the roofs of the college, playing in the mud with her dear friend Roger and wreaking havoc wherever she can.  This continues until she spies an attempt to poison her uncle, which sets things in motion that leads her on a journey to save children who are being abducted and taken somewhere to the north.

My Review: I've read this book once before, but I wanted to re-read it before I got into the rest of the His Dark Materials Trilogy (Original review).  I really enjoy the story and was excited to find the full trilogy for cheap at the DI.  Lyra is a precocious pre-teen with a big heart and who is not afraid of big ideas. 

Nickel and Dimed

Title: Nickel and Dimed

Author: Barbara Ehrenreich

Pages: 256 Pages

Genre: Non-fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: Back in the late '90s when the Clinton administration was pushing welfare reform, there was a lot of talk about the low-wage workers in America.  To better understand their struggles and to determine whether or not just having a job would allow somebody to climb out of poverty.  She spends time as a waitress and hotel maid in Key West, FL, as a housekeeper and nursing home aid in Maine and in retail in Minnesota.

My Review: Back when this book was written, the economy was booming and the federal government was touting that job growth and simply holding down a job would allow people to climb out of poverty.  What Ehrenreich found was that as a single person trying to make ends meet on minimum wage was very, very difficult.  However, when there were multiple wage earners in a family, home or residence then things were easier to manage.  This book provided me an alternate perspective of people struggling financially.  I believe that I can be more compassionate in my interactions with these people.

Panic

Title: Panic

Author: Jeff Abbott

Pages: 368 pages

Genre: Thriller

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Evan Casher is trying to find his niche as a documentary filmmaker in Houston, Texas when he gets an urgent phone call from his mother in Austin.  Evan speeds to her help where he finds her murdered in her kitchen with the assailants waiting to knock Evan off as well.  After he escapes the initial attack, he starts to unravel details of his and his parent's lives and realizes that his whole life was an elaborate ruse.

My Review: Every once in a while it is fun to pick up a well-written thriller that is hard to put down and takes unexpected turns around every corner.  I try to limit my intake for these types of books, but when I'm reading them I find myself really enjoying them.  This book was no exception, The CIA, KGB and an underground spy network called the Deeps are all featured as Evan Casher attempts to untangle his life story.

Disclaimer: If you're looking for violence and language, they're all here.

The Invention of Air

Title: The Invention of Air: A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America

Author: Steven Johnson

Pages: 6 Discs

Genre: History/Biography

Grade: B


Synopsis: The story centers on the life of Joseph Priestley, who was an eighteenth century scientist, minister and friend of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.  Priestley was a deep-thinker who discovered Oxygen, helped found the Unitarian Church and after being run-out of England emigrated to the United States.

My Review: With a title like "The Invention of Air," I had great hopes for this book.  However, it would have been more appropriately titled as the Biography of Joseph Priestley.  Rarely did the book stray far from Priestley's impact on science, politics and religion during the eighteenth century.  I really enjoyed the parts of the book discussing his discoveries and how they came about, but there were drier parts of the book that went off on tangential topics.

Oliver Twist

Title: Oliver Twist

Author: Charlie Dicken

Pages: 496

Genre: Fiction, Classic

Grade: B

Synopsis: Little Oliver is abandoned at a young age and forced to live as an orphan.  The Orphanage keeps the kids on such meager rations that they are all nearly starving.  Oliver runs away from the orphanage and makes his way into London where he finds food and lodging with a group of pickpockets and swindlers.  Due to Oliver's exquisitely fair and honest complexion, Fagin and the artful Dodger are intent on corrupting Oliver and reeling him into the business, while Oliver, in his heart desires to be a good and honest lad.

My Review:  I enjoyed listening to this book and there were only a few times when I found my mind wandering while the narrator droned on during the dryer portions of the book.  When this book was published, it caused quite a stir as the book dives into some of London's dirty secrets. Sometimes when you read a classic you finish the book wondering why or how that particular book is a classic.  This story is interesting and engaging enough that that is not the case.

Edenbrooke

Title: Edenbrooke

Author: Julianne Donaldson

Pages: 264 pages

Genre: Romance

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Marianne Daventry is thrilled to receive an unexpected invitation to join her sister for a visit to the sprawling estate of Edenbrooke in the British countryside. Her sister has the hots for the rich heir of the estate and Marianne expects to help her woo the object of her desires.  As Marianne's carriage travels to Edenbrooke the carriage is attacked and robbed, which dramatically changes the course of her visit.

My Review: This book took me completely by surprise.  I had heard good things about it, so I expected the book to be good, but I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed the story and found myself laughing while I read.  The author is a neighbor of ours so we were excited to have her sign our book at the City Creek Deseret Book.  I believe that her intent was to pen a proper romance in the Victorian era and she certainly delivered.

Green Hills of Africa

Title: Green Hills of Africa

Author: Ernest Hemingway

Pages: 208

Genre: Non-Fiction, Travel

Grade: B

Synopsis: This is the non-fiction account of Ernest Hemingway's two-month hunting safari for big-game animals in East Africa, in the shadows of Mount Kilimanjaro.  He and his companions are hunting rhinoceros as well as other animals in the deer and antelope families (such as kudu).  This book documents their hunting excursions and interactions with the natives.

My Review:  I imagine that this book was a hit back in the 1930s when it was released. Now, with rhinos and some of the other animals very endangered I found the stories a little depressing.  I guess that you could say that hunting is not in my blood.  Generally the book was interesting and kept my attention, but there were parts that were a little dry.