Book Review: A Supremely Bad Idea

A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All by Luke Dempsey

This book is kind of a travel memoir around the author's birding trips with his friends. He gives some of his personal background, some local history of the areas he visits, and lots of information about the birds he sees. He and his traveling partners run into some colorful folk along the way that make for entertaining stories.

The writing is light-hearted and humorous but I didn't find myself getting carried away by it. It was entertaining but not a "must read." I never got caught up in the birding aspect either although I do find myself paying a bit more attention now when a bird flies by.

Review originally posted to LibraryThing (LT review, 10/13/09) as part of its Early Reviewers program

Book Review: Guardian of Lies

Guardian of Lies by Steve Martini

This was my first Steve Martini book in about 10 years, featuring attorney Paul Madriani. This time around Paul meets a young woman in a grocery store and gets mixed up in a terrorist plot ... complete with a Soviet scientist, nuclear weapons, and escapees from Guantanamo. At times the technical details of the weapon got to be a bit much for me, but skimming over them didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the story. There were also several references to previous Paul Madriani novels that regular readers would understand, but, again, nothing that kept me from following the storyline.

Overall, it was an entertaining read. A great way to escape for a few hours.

Review originally posted to LibraryThing (LT review, 8/9/09) as part of its Early Reviewers program

Book Review: Soldier's Heart

Soldier's Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point by Elizabeth D. Samet

This was an interesting book by a civilian English teacher at West Point. She shares her initial impressions of the school and how she adapts to the military lifestyle ... gives some history of the school and its alumni ... and shares her experiences getting to know her students, both while they are at school and also after they have entered active service.

It was interesting to see which books she chose to teach and how she connected the themes in them to the experiences of the cadets, the military, and current events. In addition, she includes insights shared with her via email by former students serving in Iraq. I also loved that she included discussions of classic movies as well as books. (I added several titles to my Netflix queue as I read!)

Overall, it was a good read although it dragged in parts for me. I never quite clicked with her writing style and found myself somewhat annoyed at having to stop and re-read sentences that just didn't "flow" for me.

Review originally posted to LibraryThing (LT review, 6/20/09) as part of its Early Reviewers program

Book Review: Beat the Reaper

Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell

This is the story of Dr. Peter Brown ... a former mob hitman, now in the witness protection program, and a hospital intern. His former life and his current life collide when a former mob associate comes into the hospital as a patient. While the story moves along in the current day, we also learn through flashbacks about his early life in the mob and his search for answers to his grandparents' murder.

It is an incredibly violent story at times but it was a fun read. I had to suspend disbelief through much of it, because one person could not possibly experience all this ... but it was certainly entertaining.

Review originally posted to LibraryThing (LT review, 6/20/09) as part of its Early Reviewers program

Book Review: Tell Me Where It Hurts

Tell Me Where It Hurts by Dr. Nick Trout

This was a very engaging book about a composite "day in the life" of an animal surgeon at Boston's Angell Animal Medical Center. I enjoyed Dr. Trout's writing style and sense of humor. Although it is written as if it chronicles a single day, we get a glimpse of his own background, previous cases, and current issues in veterinary science.

He also tried to show the deep connection between people and their animals. His descriptions of people's attitudes and reactions was pretty good and covered a wide spectrum. I think, though, that if you aren't already an "animal person" you would still not understand how much animals mean to some people. It is a hard thing to describe to someone who just doesn't get it ... like the daughter of the elderly man in the book, who kept referring to her father's beloved dog as "it."

Overall it was a charming read that had me smiling at points and teary eyed at others.

Review originally posted to LibraryThing (LT review, 5/11/08) as part of its Early Reviewers program

RIP: George MacDonald Fraser

One of my favorite authors died yesterday ... George MacDonald Fraser. He wrote the wonderful Flashman series of books which my friend Dennis just introduced me to last year.

I just got one of his non-fiction books for Christmas, Quartered Safe Out Here. I stumbled across this book while shopping for my Secret Santa as part of LibraryThing's SantaThing. From my Secret Santa's library I knew (1) he reads tons of military history and biography and (2) he'd listed George MacDonald Fraser as a favorite author. Quartered Safe Out Here is Fraser's autobiographical account of serving in Burma during the latter part of World Ward II. A perfect match!

In reading about the book, I decided to add it to my own LibraryThing tbr/wishlist and to check it out some time. Then, lo and behold, a few days later my sister sent me Quartered Safe Out Here for Christmas! (She is known for prowling through my tbr/wishlist and is very generous about sending me books from it.)

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/01/george_macdonald_fraser_1925_2.html

http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2234527,00.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/arts/03fraser.html

Book Review: There's No Place Like Here

There's No Place Like Here by Cecelia Ahern

This is the story of Sandy Shortt, who searches for missing persons and things ... and then goes missing herself. The story is told from Sandy's perspective with flashbacks to tell us about her childhood and background. We also learn about Sandy through a secondary storyline told by Jack, who hired Sandy to find his brother and who then goes looking for Sandy.

I wasn't so much taken with the story of Sandy's going physically missing as I was with her going emotionally missing. Ever since childhood she had removed herself from ordinary human interaction and kept herself at a distance from other people. I felt bad for the people in her life who had to put up with her disappearances.

Overall, it was an entertaining read but not something I couldn't put down. I actually enjoyed Jack's portion of the story a bit more than Sandy's. He seemed more "real" to me.

Review originally posted to LibraryThing (LT review, 1/2/08) as part of its Early Reviewers program

Book Review: Olive Kitteridge

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

This series of short stories revolves around life in a small town. There is no single viewpoint (some stories are told from Olive Kitteridge's point of view, some told by other residents) ... there is no set time frame (some take place when Olive is an old woman, some while she is still teaching junior high) ... and there is no central action (each story stands on its own and tells a different tale). The only unifying thing is the setting (Crosby, Maine) and Olive Kitteridge, who makes an appearance (or at least gets a mention) in each story.

Despite all this, it works. I enjoyed the book and felt that author Strout had at times really captured the essence of everyday human life with all its struggles. Life is messy and confusing (even when it's going well), and she didn't shrink away from that. She just wrote about it simply and honestly.

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Review originally posted to LibraryThing (LT review, 12/22/07) as part of its Early Reviewers program

Early reviewer copies

I got notified by LibraryThing that I will be getting 2 books through their Early Reviewers program. I got one a few months ago, but I lucked out to get 2 in this round.

• There's No Place Like Here by Cecelia Ahern
• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

The requests for each book far outnumber the available copies, so many people go empty-handed each month. I'm not sure what I did to be so fortunate, but I'm looking forward to reading (and reviewing) them both.

Book Review: A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
As performed by Jonathan Winters

This audio adaptation of A Christmas Carol was done for NPR, I believe. (The cover blurb said that this version is a special performance edition created by Dickens himself.) It's well done, and I enjoyed listening to it. I admit I got distracted, though, whenever I noticed that the story line skipped over something.

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Review originally posted to LibraryThing (LT review, 12/4/07)

Quirky Blogs

I thought I'd share a few of my favorite "quirky" blogs. I still marvel at the myriad of topics that people find to blog about!

Men Who Look Like Old Lesbians ... http://menwholooklikeoldlesbians.blogspot.com/... The name says it all, I think.

Passive Aggressive Notes ... http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/ ... Be careful about leaving notes for people who annoy you. They may get posted online!

Post Secret ... http://postsecret.blogspot.com/ ... Read the secrets that people share via anonymous postcards.

Book Review: Rethinking Thin

Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight Loss--and the Myths and Realities of Dieting… by Gina Kolata

I really enjoyed her book on the flu, so I had great expectations for this book. But it took me a while to get through this because I kept putting it down. It didn't always grab me, but when it did I thought it was good.

I liked the perspective that there are many factors involved in America's obesity rather than just "eat less, exercise more." There are many people (myself included!) for whom eating better and exercising more would make a huge difference. But that is not the whole picture for all people.

Overall, an informative read.

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Review originally posted to LibraryThing (LT review, 9/27/07).

Book Review: Gifted

Gifted: A Novel by Nikita Lalwani

This is the story of Rumi, a mathematically gifted child, at ages 10, 14, and 15. Her parents emigrated from India to Wales, and Rumi has lived in Wales her whole life with a couple of trips back to India. Her whole life revolves around her father's efforts to get her admitted to Oxford early (strict study schedules, practice exams, etc.). Her mother meanwhile tries to uphold traditional cultural values and roles within the home and is resentful of having to leave India.

I never really connected with any of the characters, and I found myself not really caring what happened to them. Outwardly Rumi seemed to struggle both with her parents' expectations and with normal adolescent nightmares, but I never got a clear sense of what she was feeling or thinking ... just how she reacted to a series of somewhat disjointed situations. I got much more of a picture of the mother's feelings and frustrations throughout the book than Rumi's.

It took me forever to finish the book because I kept putting it down ... and I'm not sure I would have picked it up again if it weren't an Early Reviewer copy. The last section of the book flowed much easier, though, and had me reading right along until the end.

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Review originally posted to LibraryThing (LT review, 8/15/07) as part of its Early Reviewers program.

Naming the Presidents

Can you name all the U.S. Presidents?

I ran across this article about forgotten Presidents, and it reminded me of the time several years ago when a friend and I tried to name all the Presidents. We couldn't do it. And I'm not just talking about getting the order wrong. We couldn't even come up with all the names. That bothered me, so I make an attempt (albeit shortlived) to learn them all.

Then about a year ago the same conversation come up with a co-worker. I did pretty well, but once again I couldn't come up with all the names.

Is naming the Presidents something you can do? Should you be able to? Or maybe it's just a nifty thing to know but not necessary in this day and age?

Cheating?

The New York Times had an article yesterday about audiobooks and whether it's "cheating" to listen to a book rather than read a hard copy. The prevailing opinion in the article seemed to be that it is cheating ... or at least something to be ashamed of.

I listen to books in the car all the time. I'm careful to get unabridged versions (because I'll admit I'm prejudiced against abridged versions), so I really feel that I've "read" the book. My mind may wander at some points, but that can happen when I read print books as well.

I don't understand how anyone can say that this type of reading doesn't count or is somehow "cheating." It's simply a different way of enjoying a book. Do people really think that a vision-impaired person who listening to an audiobook didn't read the book?

Missing in Inaction

Apparently I'm not very good at updating a blog. I marvel as I read other people's blogs that they come up with something to write every day. I suppose, like everything else, it's a matter of making something a habit. The more you do it, on a regular basis, the easier and more second-nature it becomes. I'll have to work on that.

Part of my problem is that I haven't focused in on what it is I want to write about. I'm very active at my church and interested in things religious ... particularly in the United Church of Christ ... so do I want to write about things that happen at church?

I'm also very involved in my local Republican party ... so should I comment on politics? Republican viewpoints? Conservatives?

I'm a book fanatic and spend way more time than I should perusing www.librarything.com ... but do I want to write about just books?

I suppose I'll try to write about anything ... anything at all ... at least until I get a bit more consistent. Once it's a habit and I've written more, maybe I'll see a natural tendency toward one issue or another.

Reading the Old Testament

For the last year, David Plotz over on slate.com has been Blogging the Bible. He started reading the Old Testament and making a separate blog entry for (almost) each book. I thought that was a brilliant idea and thought I'd read along with him ... yeah, right. That didn't happen. Apparently he's finished his read and has made his last blog post.

Virtual Villagers

I've been playing a game called Virtual Villagers. You basically have to train these stranded villagers how to gather food, build huts, have babies, and learn new skills. They learn as they go and progress from Trainee to Master along the way. The game also keeps playing even when you have the game closed or your PC turned off. (I learned the hard way that you have to pause the game when you're away from the PC. All my villagers died!)

So that's how I'm spending my evenings. I keep an eye on the villagers while I work on other things.

I am addicted to LibraryThing. I haven't cataloged all my books yet, but I'm getting there. For a while, I was buying books just for the joy of entering them in my catalog! Okay ... I've gotten over that a bit. But I still tinkering with the tags that I've added.

They're based in Portland, Maine ... right next door. Too bad I'm not a database guru in need of a job, huh?

LibraryThing

I've been playing around with LibraryThing, a site where you can catalog your book collection. A good way to waste time when I'm avoiding other chores!