Book Help Web

Young Adult Literature Challenge

2008-03-31T14:08:00.000-07:00

Peter Pan was an experience well worth reading. I had thought that I had read it long ago, but as my son and I listened to the book, I realized that my experience with Peter Pan was solely through the myriad ways he had seeped into our popular culture. I'm so glad that I took the time to go back and to hear Barrie's original (well, OK, one of his originals. The Peter Pan stories took many forms).

I've also written numerous reviews for the remaining books in the challenge and will be posting those at Book Help Web over the next couple weeks.

Combining categories

2008-02-28T10:45:00.000-08:00

I've finally decided what I'm going to do for the two final categories in the juvenile literature challenge (I'm still working on the graphic novel).

I'm listening to Barrie's Peter Pan on CD. So that will cover both the classic and the book on tape categories.

The third Leon Goss review is now posted.

Leon Goss III

2008-02-21T08:02:00.000-08:00

I'll get back to writing about the young adult literature challenge in my next post, but I'm going to take a slight (very slight) detour.

Toward the end of last year, I stumbled upon a new children's book author. He published four titles that came out on the first day of 2007. All of them were children's picture books with empowering themes. What I especially liked about the three titles that I read was the sense of humor. Most of them had a fairly light touch and were amusing as well as uplifting. Leon Goss III has formed what he dubs an entertainment company that includes a publishing arm.

The main page of the company's Website refers to other books that they're publishing, but the publishing pages of the Website lead to dead links.

Speaking of digressions, I absolutely cringed at the press release talking about their donation of 150 books to a congresswoman for dispersal to needy readers. In a quick read of the two paragraph release, I found eight spelling and punctuation errors as well as content challenges. It was a bit painful for a site that promotes literacy.

Book Help Web now has reviews for two of the three titles that I read and the third one, Selfus Esteemus Personalitus Low, is on the to-do list. My favorite was In Your Seat, Mr. Pete because it took such a delightful outlook on a young, creative, rambunctious boy. However, I was also tickled by both the illustrations and storyline of By the Light of the Moon.

Challenge Readings: Contemporary/Realistic fiction

2008-02-19T10:17:00.001-08:00

I read two books that fall into the contemporary/realistic fiction book for the young adult reading challenge.

Actually, I should say that I read two books that self-classify themselves as juvenile fiction. The first, The Pale Surface of Things, might more rightly be categorized as an adult fiction book that is appropriate for young people. In fact, it would make an excellent nominee for a Christopher Award.

It was an enchanting book in a setting that was, to me at least, unique. I'd never before read a book set in modern Crete. It tells the story of several people who are forced to make choices between their own self-interest and what is best for the community. It begins with a runaway groom, fleeing from a grasping, materialistic bride into a world of unexpected kindness and violence.

The author is an excellent storyteller with a great command of mood and language. My one complaint is that the book wraps up a little too neatly and has a few too many coincidences in it. However, he also created characters who really have to question what moral courage means and the situations are compelling and filled with suspense.

I'll plan to get a review posted of it before too much longer.

The second book was Emmy's Question. I approached this book with a healthy amount of skepticism. It's the sort of topic you expect to be addressed on after-school specials. When done well, it can be a memorable classic, when not done well, it can be turgid and heavy-handed. I was pleased that this book firmly fell into the first category. From the very first paragraph, I was hooked and couldn't stop reading until I'd finished the book.

Emmy is a young girl with an alcoholic mother. The entire story is told from her perspective as she struggles to understand something far beyond her experience. She takes the reader with her as she learns more about her mother's disease and how not to take responsibility for it.

Both books were highly satisfying reads.

Edward Albee quotes

2008-02-14T07:42:00.000-08:00

I was updating some profiles on Book Help Web today (adding new publication, death dates, new awards, etc.), when I came across these wonderful quotes by Edward Albee:

What could be worse than getting to the end of your life and realizing you hadn't lived it?

A usefully lived life is probably going to be, ultimately, more satisfying.

Writing should be useful. If it can't instruct people a little bit more about the responsibilities of consciousness, there's no point in doing it.

If you're willing to fail interestingly, you tend to succeed interestingly.

That's what happens in plays, yes? The shit hits the fan.

Creativity is magic. Don't examine it too closely.

Challenge List

2008-02-13T10:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I blogged about the Juvenile Fiction challenge. Here is the list I'm working with:

Contemporary/Realistic Fiction
Emmy's Question
The Pale Surface of Things

Poetry, Drama, or Humor (any of these will work)
The Triple Chocolate Brownie Genius

Sports, Mystery, Supernatural/Paranormal (any of these will work)
The Secret Zoo

Fantasy or Science Fiction
The King and Fire Chanter
Seeing Redd

Historical Fiction
The Red Scarf
The Pirate Hunter: Book II
Zan-Gah

Nonfiction
Voices from the Village

Classic “juvenile” fiction (first published pre-1920)
Undecided--I'm going to have to take a trip to the library before I decide on this one. I may go with "Through the Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll. I think I've only ever read excerpts from that one.

Graphic Novel
Still thinking; "The Sandman" isn't really young adult literature

Audiobook
Still thinking--again, it will require a trip to the library.

Juvenile fiction/Young Adult fiction

2008-02-12T10:09:00.000-08:00

I'll confess, I'm a juvenile fiction junkie. It frustrates my husband to no end as he thinks I should be reading something with more substance--or at least more adult in nature. For now, I've bought time because I tell him that I'm evaluating books for our son to read.

However, he and I both know it goes beyond that. It really is one of my favorite genres. There is a great deal of discipline involved with writing young adult fiction and it takes a very talented author to do it well. Some of the best writing takes place in so-called children's books, especially when the authors have a real respect for their audience and don't buy into the philosophy that you have to use small words when talking to children.

I've been on a juvenile fiction kick lately, reading one or two novels a night from a stack of books that were published in the past two years. I've been really impressed with what I've read, especially since some of them I was skeptical about the chosen topics and didn't have very high expectations for them. One in particular (which I'll review and blog sometime soon) absolutely blew me away.

At any rate, in my wanderings over the Web, I came across this challenge. It's a Young Adult Literature Challenge. It's a challenge that was too fun to pass up. I'll blog about it here--I need to get back in the book blogging habit anyway and share some reviews along the way.

If you find this sort of thing interesting, let me know and I'll dig up a few more. Perhaps one day we'll even have a Book Help Web challenge.

Jane May

2007-11-27T09:06:00.000-08:00

I love interviewing and talking with new authors--mostly because they're still enthusiastic about being interviewed and are willing to talk. Theirs are some of the most fascinating interviews, perhaps because they haven't answered the same questions a bazillion times already.

An example of this is the most recent Book Help Web interview with Jane May. It was really a lot of fun to do and I think it is fascinating to read. She's got a lot of interesting things to say and a wonderful sense of humor. It also helped that I truly got a kick out of her latest book, Hooked. It's a funny story that never gets preachy despite having something to say.

This was the first interview that I've done at Book Help Web using our chat room. It provided a nice opportunity for us to go back and forth on a given topic rather than being confined to a single question and answer. I look forward to doing more interviews that way.

Consulting literary horoscopes

2007-11-14T06:02:00.000-08:00

As I wandered around the Love of Reading site yesterday wondering what to blog about, I was drawn to the many wonderful books that they promote. Most of those books I probably would have known nothing about were it not for the fact that I run Book Help Web, a site that draws me far beyond my normal reading comfort zone and into the wonderful worlds beyond.

Book Help Web is a daughter site to Consumer Help Web, which is, in turn, the parent site to a collection of sites that help people make smart consumer choices about a wide variety of things whether it be media (Movie Help Web, Music Help Web, TV Help Web), hobbies (Beading Help Web, Scrapbooking Help Web, Cooking Help Web), finance and shopping (Consumer Help Web, Shopping Help Web, Financial Help Web), or travel and education (Homeschool Help Web and Travel Help Web). There’s even an MMA site (which has something to do with fighting, so I’m told).

As part of such a family, my mission at the book site is to try to cover a wide range of books and to comment where I can on what things people are reading. As the owner is constantly saying, we have to be more than a review site. We need to be a source of information. For books, that task can be pretty daunting. To avoid becoming a niche site, I've had to learn to stretch beyond what I would normally read.

The good folks at FSB Associates, the organization behind Love of Reading, have helped to do that with information about a wide variety of authors and books. It was through them that I was fascinated by the Intellectual Devotional. Thanks to them, I laughed and was warmed by Kevin Clash and his memoirs, My Life as a Furry Red Monster. They set me up with Adrienne Brodeur and her hilarious Man Camp. They left me outraged at what we're putting our teens through Alexandra Robbins' The Overachievers. It's been a good relationship that has helped pull me out of my comfort zone.

I've also taken to perusing best seller lists and ruminating over why people are reading what they're reading (or at least, buying what they're buying whether or not they're reading it). I've especially come to enjoy the Amazon top-seller list. It's one of those spyholes into the reading psyche, a hidden horoscope of American culture. It's like reading a code that tries to predict where the shifts in our cultural thinking are about to take place.

Bestselling titles reflected such things as the shift from support to opposition to the Iraqi war, the move from angry conservativeness to hesitant moderation.

Now, my study has been so loose as to almost not merit so weighty a word as "study," but as an indicator of trends, I've found the list to hold great interest. It invites all sorts of wonderful conjecture from wild to thoughtful.

A year ago, non-fiction books dominated the list. Was it a desire to make some sort of sense out of the world around us? Even the fiction tended to be contemporary realism, with settings often placed in the hot spots of current events. One of the exceptions to that was the beautiful Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards—a book that is featured here at Love of Reading. Yet, even that book was based on a real-life event, though it was the author who infused that event with the moral and ethical questions raised in her novel.

At other times, on the top-seller list seemed to report on spiritual and ideological warfare, with theological arguments battling for attention. Even the fiction got into the game with such books as Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code breaking all sorts of records and C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia making a comeback. This year, Philip Pullman’s Golden Compass is climbing back on, throwing yet another voice into the mix.

Looking at the list today, it seems we’ve made a sharp turn into New Age spirituality, a spirituality that lets us hold onto our obsessions about our body and physical health. The top five books are all about improving one’s soul, life, health, and diet. It’s not until you get to #6 that Khaled Hosseini makes a bid for fiction’s place on the list with his A Thousand Splendid Suns. Such a bid is quickly shoved aside by Stephen Colbert, the as-yet unreleased “An Inconvenient Book”, a dog story, and numerous other self-help and guide books. Even James Patterson can only make #14 with his latest Alex Cross book.

What does all this mean? Are we looking inward more? Do we think this is a time for improvement and a new form of escapism? Are we trying to meet ourselves in the pages of other people’s books?

Who knows!

But I do know that I'll continue to read the list and wonder why we're reading what we're reading and what it means for our future. For somewhere in the pages of what we read, we discover and renew our passions. While my passions may not be the same as my neighbors, the better I can understand theirs, the more likely we are to find common ground and to connect with each other in a healthy, joyful manner.

Is it any wonder that so many of us have a Love of Reading?

The Golden Compass

2007-11-07T14:30:00.001-08:00

My e-mail box was recently the recipient of a barrage of e-mails about an upcoming children's movie that should be avoided at all costs. I glanced at the first few, not really worrying about it because I so rarely get to the movies that it was unlikely I'd have to go out of my way to avoid seeing this one.

Then I got one that went into more detail. It said that while the movie would likely be innocuous enough, it was intended to draw people into the books and the books were an atheist's attempt to kill God. The mention of the books sparked my interest. I read further and discovered they were talking about Phillip Pullman and the "His Dark Materials" trilogy.

Possessing the contrary soul that I do, I immediately went out and bought the trilogy, prepared to feel the same frustration that I did when people called for the banning of Harry Potter books. The outcry over Harry Potter I considered to be sheer idiocy and the result of intellectual laziness.

After reading The Golden Compass, the winner of a Carnegie Medal, I can at least understand where the critics are coming from. Yes, this book does point out the abuse of the church. However, I'm still not convinced that this is a bad thing nor that there is anything in this book that I would consider harmful.

This is the response that I have drafted, but not yet sent to those who forwarded me the e-mail along with (in some cases) their outraged commentary:

I would encourage everyone to read this interview:

http://www.thirdway.org.uk/past/showpage.asp?page=3949

before making a final judgment on the movie or the book. The Third Way is a Christian magazine that describes itself as a "virtual home of rigorous Christian thinking on politics, society and culture. Third Way is a magazine for people who haven't lost faith in God or lost touch with the world." It is a rather intense interview with the author that deals specifically with his viewpoint on Christianity and how that is manifested in the books.

As a result of these e-mails I did go out and buy the trilogy because I'm always wary when someone starts a campaign that preys on our fears. I've now read the first book and would certainly agree with the assessment that this is not a pro-Christian book (of course, neither are the majority of shows we watch on television). It does, though, raise interesting questions that we as Christians ought to be prepared to respond to and frankly, consider. He does address abuses of the Church throughout history, abuses that we should be aware of if we wish to prevent them from being repeated. Knowing that the Church has done evil things in the past does not mean acknowledging that the Church is an evil entity. It means acknowledging that we must understand the cultural forces that led to those acts so that we can be vigilant about not falling into the same errors. If we pretend that they did not exist, then we provide fuel to our enemies who know otherwise and will (and do) use those things against us.

These books are only dangerous to children who believe everything that they read or are told. As Christians, we raise our children to have spirits of discernment, to not believe everything that they read. We raise them to be able to listen to an idea and then compare it to God's teachings. If we don't let them read or see things as children which are contrary to Christian beliefs, then we risk them being swayed or shattered by the first eloquent argument they meet as an adult. Haven't you met the adults who left their Christian faith because they came across a single fact that seemed to contradict what they had been taught as a child? Rather than be able to meet the seeming contradiction with a spirit of inquiry, secure that God has the answers and that we can search for them, they throw everything away.

Yes, Pullman dislikes Narnia. Personally, I adore Lewis' work but I also recognize that he proposes a pretty unconventional theology (do you know that in the Narnia books he says anyone who does good does it onto God even if that person is serving another religion by a different name? That people do not need to be Christian in name in order to achieve heaven so long as while practicing the other religion they act in a way consistent with Christianity?). For that matter, fellow Christian theologian J.R.R. Tolkein didn't like the Narnia series. Pullman has some valid criticisms of the series, but while he didn't like the series, neither did he set out to write the opposite.

I won't encourage my son to read Pullman's trilogy, but neither will I forbid it. Rather, I will be vigilant so that if he does read it, I'll ensure that we can discuss the ideas and where I think they are flawed. If he reads it, it will be an opportunity to talk to him about Christian theology and how the misreading of it can lead to the errors that were committed historically and how we can avoid it now. I will teach him also, how our God is so strong that he is not weakened by the searchings of those who have not yet found him nor by their outrage at what they see as the wrongs of those who serve Him. By teaching him that God is stronger than doubt, I hope that I will teach him that God will love him through the inevitable doubt that his faith will suffer.

Please forgive the length of this e-mail. I think literature and storytelling is important--it was Jesus' favorite way of teaching. I get nervous whenever there is a call for censorship. I would far rather we be called upon to read and engage with things that we disagree with than to call for it to be banned or ignored. Every time we have done the latter, the sales of the targeted book or movie go through the roof as its defenders rally around it. Wouldn't it be more effective to arm ourselves with God's grace and wisdom rather than with our anger and indignation? Couldn't we use this movie as an opportunity to engage people on the ideas set forth? Because we won't silence the ideas even if we refuse to participate in the debate. We serve a mighty God. Perhaps we ought to look at this movie as an opportunity to bring about greater things for Him by speaking up to dispel some of the myths or even to ask forgiveness for those things of which we are guilty. Perhaps there is a message that Christians might take from this movie and these books that can be used to strengthen our faith.

Terry Goodkind and the Sword of Truth

2007-11-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

I really have no objection to authors making money. Nor do I mind them returning to characters again and again or continually returning to a world that they've created.

What does sour me on an author is when they constantly return to a world even though they no longer have a story to tell and they're simply rehashing the same one over and over again. For some reason, fantasy authors fall prey to this more than any other genre--except perhaps romance novels.

One of the biggest offenders in my book is Terry Goodkind whose 11th book in the Sword of Truth series (Confessor) comes out next Tuesday. It claims to be the last one, but I'm afraid I won't believe that until at least five years have passed without another one coming out.

It's a series that started out wonderful. Wizard's First Rule was engaging and compelling and if there was a little too much bdsm kink in it, it was forgivable because the story was so well told. Even the next few books carried on some of the promise. However, they were saturated with the same heavy-handed themes. It got to the point where I could only envision Goodkind wearing leather and carrying a whip that he brandished over readers he expected to be ever-more submissive and willing to take whatever punishment he wanted to dish out.

I'd lost any sort of submissive tendency by the third book and while I tried to force myself to forge on eventually gave up in utter disgust. I no longer cared about Richard and Kahlan because they were no longer real to me. They constantly made the same mistakes and faced the same decisions. They learned little and grew less.

Even reading the description of what is supposed to be the final book once again brought back the anger that what started out so creatively and sparked such interest became bogged down in such muck.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

2007-11-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

While browsing the bestseller lists, I was surprised to see such names as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Leo Tolstoy pop up. Then I remembered Oprah. I have to confess, I'm please that she's been selecting literary classics for her book clubs. I don't think she could have started with them--people wouldn't have done it. But now that she has built up the trust that she has, it's a perfect move.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera has been on my list to read since last year when I saw a Spanish-language opera based on that book performed at Michigan State University. It was a beautiful opera with a magical story. As I read more about its background and talked to the director, the phrase 'magical realism' kept coming up. In some ways it struck me as a more literary and "acceptable" term than "fantasy," but really it is just a subgenre of fantasy. (Of course, I've always believed that fantasy has the ability to be as literary as any other genre even if some of it is pretty trashy and churned out with little thought to quality.)

It was certainly those magical qualities that made the opera so appealing--that and the three love stories were endearing. I'll be looking for the book and saying yet another thank you to Oprah for making books like this so accessible and popular.

Hello again!

2007-10-30T07:24:00.001-07:00

I've returned to the world of book blogging and hope to have new entries for you at least twice a week. Yes, I'd love to actually show up here with daily blogs, but for now I'm working at being realistic.

Some things to chat about:

Have you seen the new front page interview? It's with Alan Alda. His latest book, Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, is a most satisfying read. He takes a tone of encouragement and optimism, a voice that is sorely needed. In fact, overall, I was impressed with his good sense and his overall life philosophy. We could use more people like Alan Alda in this world--well, more people like him who have a public microphone and a voice that people will listen to.

The next interview on deck is with Jane May. She's recently published her second mainstream fiction book and it was a blast to read. I laughed through the whole novel. However, it was more than just humorous fiction. She's got a literary twist in there that is sure to delight lovers of folklore and fairy tale literature.

Nicholas Spark's latest book is out: The Choice. It's one of those books that I think will drive critics crazy while being the delight of book clubs. In order to have a meaty, in-depth discussion of the book's themes, you'd have to give away a spoiler that is part of what makes the book work so well. I still haven't figured out how I'm going to review it. However, book clubs will love it because once you've read it, there is some great, meaty stuff to delve into.

David Blixt & Master of Verona

2007-08-08T06:17:00.000-07:00

I've spent the past three weeks down in Jackson, Michigan watching the performances of the Michigan Shakespeare Festival. It's the venue that my husband has performed in for the past six out of seven summers. This year he was joined by my 9-year-old son in that Scottish play, Macbeth.

What does this have to do with books? Only that the actor playing Macbeth has recently published a historical fiction novel called The Master of Verona. On the final Sunday of the run, he met with me for a half hour before getting ready for a show and we talked about the series, the history, and what's to come in the next book. Look for that interview soon on Book Help Web.

Still no spoilers--but very satisfied

2007-07-23T11:35:00.001-07:00

After being disappointed in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I'll admit I was a little worried about the final book. Sure, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was a solid book that I enjoyed, but there were a lot of loose ends to wrap up. Would Rowling sacrifice pace just to get in all the details that were left open?

I'm pleased to say that I was not in the least disappointed in this book. The pacing was incredible and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is easily the best book in the series. It's a fitting ending and I'll confess to being highly satisfied.

First off, the experience of reading the book was a good one--as in the others, I laughed aloud several times. However, I also cried several times throughout the book, sometimes for grief, sometimes for joy, and sometimes because the satisfaction and thrill was so great. It was, overall, a very emotional read.

It also did a wonderful job of finishing the story. It's over and I'm not left longing for more or wondering about open-ended storylines. It's done, it was wonderful, and now it is time for another story in another world.

No spoilers here

2007-07-20T07:45:00.001-07:00

I couldn't call myself a book blogger and not write about one of the biggest book events of the decade: the release of the final Harry Potter book.

I've read with ambivalence the outcry over the early review published in a New York paper. On one hand, I understand the journalistic urge. It really is a coup to be able to publish the first Harry Potter review--something that a newspaper can't do unless it gets an advance copy. For them, it's a triumph.

However, there is really no way to review this book without including spoilers. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a book that doesn't need reviews. People already know it is coming, know its exact release time and know whether or not they want to read it.

What readers can use are critiques--but those won't be useful to readers until after they've already read the book. It is after they read that they're going to be looking to engage in discussion and they're going to want the vocabulary to have a discussion that goes beyond "I really liked it" or "I hated it."

Ultimately, that is the job of a good critic and a good artist. The artist provides the art that engages people. The critic helps people to understand why it engaged them and to help them enter into a deeper connection with the art.

So while it was a journalistic coup, I'm not sure the New York Times paper did themselves any favors by publishing an article that people are going to purposely avoid until after they've had time to read the book themselves.

In the mean time...13 more hours and 10 minutes.

J.K. Rowling Book Tour

2007-06-15T07:35:00.001-07:00

I know, Harry Potter is all over the news, but at risk of oversaturation, I have to write that I was charmed by this bit of news. J.K. Rowling is one of those authors who doesn't have to tour. Her books are going to sell without her doing any publicity whatsoever.

The fact that she is choosing to go on tour--and that she is coming to the U.S. to do so (for the first time in seven years)--really does show a love for her audience and a commitment to the children that she writes for. I also think it was brilliant of Scholastic to not sell tickets but to choose them from schools. It's a great way to go that will allow some people access who probably would not have been able to had the tickets been for sale. It almost hints of the Golden Ticket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Stan Lee

2007-06-13T07:17:00.000-07:00

There are many who scoff at comic books as a form of literature (though you won't catch me doing it here). However, I think there are few people who wouldn't love being in Stan Lee's shoes.

Stan Lee is the man who created such superhero icons as Spider Man and the X-Men. This week he signed a multiyear deal with Disney. They'll have first refusal rights at any film, TV show, books, or video games that he makes.

It's nice to have a publisher firmly in your pocket--especially when you're 84 years old like Lee is. It frees one's time to create--something he and his POW! Entertainment company does quite well.

Harry Potter Theme Park

2007-06-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

Universal Studios is opening a theme park in 2009 based on the Harry Potter series. It will, according to the Associated Press, have a Hogwarts, a Forbidden Forest, and a Hogsmeade Village.

I want to go.

I'd like to say that I'm thrilled that there is going to be a literary theme park, however, I'm sure that if there hadn't been the movies, there wouldn't be a theme park. However, I am pleased to see that J.K. Rowling is being closely consulted so that it will reflect closely the world that she created.

As much as she is eager for a break, I think she may find it more difficult than she expects to walk away from the series. She's almost become a captive the way the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle became a captive of Sherlock Holmes.

Michael Connelly

2007-05-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

How time flies!

It seems like it was just weeks ago that I interviewed Michael Connelly for Book Help Web about Echo Park. Yet, he's already come out with another Henry Bosch book, The Overlook.

His official Web site is filled with all sorts of fun goodies for fans of the book: a trivia game, a bonus chapter, a video, and an interactive map. He's devoted a lot of creativity and ingenunity to this series and his Web site.

Master of Verona

2007-05-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

With so few minutes for reading this week, I've gotten only a few chapters into David Blixt's Master of Verona.

However, an early observation is that it is quickly apparent that Blixt is intimately familiar with medieval costumes and fabrics. Chalk it up to his being an actor and familiar with how to wear and move in the garb of the day. The result is that his descriptions are very vivid and detailed and make for interesting reading.

More from the L.A. Times

2007-05-23T07:49:00.000-07:00

As a follow-up to yesterday, here is the link to the L.A. Times writer who has such contempt for blogging. Part of what he touches upon is the difference between a critic and a reviewer--but even then he seems to dismiss out of hand all blogging as simply nattering.

But I'll let him speak for himself:

Let me put this bluntly, in language even a busy blogger can understand: Criticism — and its humble cousin, reviewing — is not a democratic activity. It is, or should be, an elite enterprise, ideally undertaken by individuals who bring something to the party beyond their hasty, instinctive opinions of a book (or any other cultural object). It is work that requires disciplined taste, historical and theoretical knowledge and a fairly deep sense of the author's (or filmmaker's or painter's) entire body of work, among other qualities.

Opinion — thumbs up, thumbs down — is the least important aspect of reviewing. Very often, in the best reviews, opinion is conveyed without a judgmental word being spoken, because the review's highest business is to initiate intelligent dialogue about the work in question, beginning a discussion that, in some cases, will persist down the years, even down the centuries.

Who has the right to review?

2007-05-22T07:37:00.000-07:00

I was reading an interesting blog called the Emerging Writers Network this morning. In it, the blogger addressed the new traffic that had been flocking to his site because of an L.A. Times writer. There was an op-ed piece in which the writer scornfully referred to the blogger as an "auto parts guy" who was slapping book reviews up on a blog. From the sounds of it, he seemed to think Web reviewers were of a lower class who didn't have the critical knowledge to truly review books.

Having attended a critics conference earlier this year, I understand on a certain level where the frustration of the professional critic is coming from. He's lashing out because his job is threatened and there is great danger that he's going to become extinct. Unfortunately, responding with arrogance is not a good answer either. That feeds into the belief that professional critics are often out of touch with their readers and with what people want.

Ultimately, there is value in both types of reviews and neither have to replace each other. There is the value in the knowledgeable professional who brings expertise to a review. This is the person who has studied the craft, who understands the breadth of work, and who immerses himself/herself in the profession. There is also value to the everyman voice who can share the initial impression experience. When the "non-expert" is erudite, he or she is able to share things that the more detatched, professional critic can not.

Another thing worthy of pointing out is that there are many outstanding reviewers out there who don't happen to work for the L.A. Times or the N.Y. Times. Nor is there any shame to having worked a blue collar job. It is a very coastal point-of-view to assume that the color of one's collar says anything at all about one's intelligence. The rest of the country knows better.

Finding time to read

2007-05-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

Reading in my life seems to come in spurts.

There are glorious months in which I read a book or two a day and then it hits a dry spell. Lately, I've been in a dry spell where I can barely read a book or two in a week. This is usually a sign that I need to slow down a little and take time for the quieter things in life.

In an effort to do that, I've recently started reading two books. One is a classic that I've never read before: the children's book Redwall.

The other is a St. Martin's book that comes out in July: The Master of Verona by David Blixt. Blixt is a Shakespearean actor who will be performing the title role in Macbeth and Pistol in Henry V in this summer's Michigan Shakespeare Festival. I'll be meeting with him in June and publishing the interview on Book Help Web. The book itself is an epic historical novel featuring Dante's son and tracing the roots of the famous conflict between the Montagues and Capulets from Romeo and Juliet.

Book Excerpt: How clean are your hands?

2007-05-17T08:26:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey Anderson from FSB Publishing had this book excerpt to share on an almost alarming topic:

On Washing Hands

By Atul Gawande
Author of Better

One ordinary December day, I took a tour of my hospital with Deborah Yokoe, an infectious disease specialist, and Susan Marino, a microbiologist. They work in our hospital's infection-control unit. Their full-time job, and that of three others in the unit, is to stop the spread of infection in the hospital. This is not flashy work, and they are not flashy people. Yokoe is forty-five years old, gentle voiced, and dimpled. She wears sneakers at work. Marino is in her fifties and reserved by nature. But they have coped with influenza epidemics, Legionnaires' disease, fatal bacterial meningitis, and, just a few months before, a case that, according to the patient's brain-biopsy results, might have been Creutzfeld-Jakob disease -- a nightmare, not only because it is incurable and fatal but also because the infectious agent that causes it, known as a prion, cannot be killed by usual heat-sterilization procedures. By the time the results came back, the neurosurgeon's brain-biopsy instruments might have transferred the disease to other patients, but infection-control team members tracked the instruments down in time and had them chemically sterilized. Yokoe and Marino have seen measles, the plague, and rabbit fever (which is caused by a bacterium that is extraordinarily contagious in hospital laboratories and feared as a bioterrorist weapon). They once instigated a nationwide recall of frozen strawberries, having traced a hepatitis A outbreak to a batch served at an ice cream social. Recently at large in the hospital, they told me, have been a rotavirus, a Norwalk virus, several strains of Pseudomonas bacteria, a superresistant Klebsiella, and the ubiquitous scourges of modern hospitals -- resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis, which are a frequent cause of pneumonias, wound infections, and bloodstream infections.

Each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, two million Americans acquire an infection while they are in the hospital. Ninety thousand die of that infection. The hardest part of the infection-control team's job, Yokoe says, is not coping with the variety of contagions they encounter or the panic that sometimes occurs among patients and staff. Instead, their greatest difficulty is getting clinicians like me to do the one thing that consistently halts the spread of infections: wash our hands.

There isn't much they haven't tried. Walking about the surgical floors where I admit my patients, Yokoe and Marino showed me the admonishing signs they have posted, the sinks they have repositioned, the new ones they have installed. They have made some sinks automated. They have bought special five-thousand-dollar "precaution carts" that store everything for washing up, gloving, and gowning in one ergonomic, portable, and aesthetically pleasing package. They have given away free movie tickets to the hospital units with the best compliance. They have issued hygiene report cards. Yet still, we have not mended our ways. Our hospital's statistics show what studies everywhere else have shown -- that we doctors and nurses wash our hands one-third to one-half as often as we are supposed to. Having shaken hands with a sniffling patient, pulled a sticky dressing off someone's wound, pressed a stethoscope against a sweating chest, most of us do little more than wipe our hands on our white coats and move on -- to see the next patient, to scribble a note in the chart, to grab some lunch.

This is, embarrassingly, nothing new: In 1847, at the age of twenty-eight, the Viennese obstetrician Ignac Semmelweis famously deduced that, by not washing their hands consistently or well enough, doctors were themselves to blame for childbed fever. Childbed fever, also known as puerperal fever, was the leading cause of maternal death in childbirth in the era before antibiotics (and before the recognition that germs are the agents of infectious disease). It is a bacterial infection -- most commonly caused by Streptococcus, the same bacteria that causes strep throat -- that ascends through the vagina to the uterus after childbirth. Out of three thousand mothers who delivered babies at the hospital where Semmelweis worked, six hundred or more died of the disease each year -- a horrifying 20 percent maternal death rate. Of mothers delivering at home, only 1 percent died. Semmelweis concluded that doctors themselves were carrying the disease between patients, and he mandated that every doctor and nurse on his ward scrub with a nail brush and chlorine between patients. The puerperal death rate immediately fell to 1 percent -- incontrovertible proof, it would seem, that he was right. Yet elsewhere, doctors' practices did not change. Some colleagues were even offended by his claims; it was impossible to them that doctors could be killing their patients. Far from being hailed, Semmelweis was ultimately dismissed from his job.

Semmelweis's story has come down to us as Exhibit A in the case for the obstinacy and blindness of physicians. But the story was more complicated. The trouble was partly that nineteenth-century physicians faced multiple, seemingly equally powerful explanations for puerperal fever. There was, for example, a strong belief that miasmas of the air in hospitals were the cause. And Semmelweis strangely refused to either publish an explanation of the logic behind his theory or prove it with a convincing experiment in animals. Instead, he took the calls for proof as a personal insult and attacked his detractors viciously.

"You, Herr Professor, have been a partner in this massacre," he wrote to one University of Vienna obstetrician who questioned his theory. To a colleague in Wurzburg he wrote, "Should you, Herr Hofrath, without having disproved my doctrine, continue to teach your pupils [against it], I declare before God and the world that you are a murderer and the 'History of Childbed Fever' would not be unjust to you if it memorialized you as a medical Nero." His own staff turned against him. In Pest, where he relocated after losing his post in Vienna, he would stand next to the sink and berate anyone who forgot to scrub his or her hands. People began to purposely evade, sometimes even sabotage, his hand-washing regimen. Semmelweis was a genius, but he was also a lunatic, and that made him a failed genius. It was another twenty years before Joseph Lister offered his clearer, more persuasive, and more respectful plea for antisepsis in surgery in the British medical journal Lancet.

One hundred and forty years of doctors' plagues later, however, you have to wonder whether what's needed to stop them is precisely a lunatic. Consider what Yokoe and Marino are up against. No part of human skin is spared from bacteria. Bacterial counts on the hands range from five thousand to five million colony-forming units per square centimeter. The hair, underarms, and groin harbor greater concentrations. On the hands, deep skin crevices trap 10 to 20 percent of the flora, making removal difficult, even with scrubbing, and sterilization impossible. The worst place is under the fingernails. Hence the recent CDC guidelines requiring hospital personnel to keep their nails trimmed to less than a quarter of an inch and to remove artificial nails.

Plain soaps do, at best, a middling job of disinfecting. Their detergents remove loose dirt and grime, but fifteen seconds of washing reduces bacterial counts by only about an order of magnitude. Semmelweis recognized that ordinary soap was not enough and used a chlorine solution to achieve disinfection. Today's antibacterial soaps contain chemicals such as chlorhexidine to disrupt microbial membranes and proteins. Even with the right soap, however, proper hand washing requires a strict procedure. First, you must remove your watch, rings, and other jewelry (which are notorious for trapping bacteria). Next, you wet your hands in warm tap water. Dispense the soap and lather all surfaces, including the lower one-third of the arms, for the full duration recommended by the manufacturer (usually fifteen to thirty seconds). Rinse off for thirty full seconds. Dry completely with a clean, disposable towel. Then use the towel to turn the tap of. Repeat after any new contact with a patient.

Almost no one adheres to this procedure. It seems impossible. On morning rounds, our residents check in on twenty patients in an hour. The nurses in our intensive care units typically have a similar number of contacts with patients requiring hand washing in between. Even if you get the whole cleansing process down to a minute per patient, that's still a third of staff time spent just washing hands. Such frequent hand washing can also irritate the skin, which can produce a dermatitis, which itself increases bacterial counts.

Less irritating than soap, alcohol rinses and gels have been in use in Europe for almost two decades but for some reason only recently caught on in the United States. They take far less time to use -- only about fifteen seconds or so to rub a gel over the hands and fingers and let it air-dry. Dispensers can be put at the bedside more easily than a sink. And at alcohol concentrations of 50 to 95 percent, they are more effective at killing organisms, too. (Interestingly, pure alcohol is not as effective -- at least some water is required to denature microbial proteins.)

Still, it took Yokoe over a year to get our staff to accept the 60 percent alcohol gel we have recently adopted. Its introduction was first blocked because of the staff's fears that it would produce noxious building air. (It didn't.) Next came worries that, despite evidence to the contrary, it would be more irritating to the skin. So a product with aloe was brought in. People complained about the smell. So the aloe was taken out. Then some of the nursing staff refused to use the gel after rumors spread that it would reduce fertility. The rumors died only after the infection-control unit circulated evidence that the alcohol is not systemically absorbed and a hospital fertility specialist endorsed the use of the gel.

With the gel finally in wide use, the compliance rates for proper hand hygiene improved substantially: from around 40 percent to 70 percent. But -- and this is the troubling finding -- hospital infection rates did not drop one iota. Our 70 percent compliance just wasn't good enough. If 30 percent of the time people didn't wash their hands, that still left plenty of opportunity to keep transmitting infections. Indeed, the rates of resistant Staphylococcus and Enterococcus infections continued to rise. Yokoe receives the daily tabulations. I checked with her one day not long ago, and sixty-three of our seven hundred hospital patients were colonized or infected with MRSA (the shorthand for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and another twenty-two had acquired VRE (vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus) -- unfortunately, typical rates of infection for American hospitals.

Rising infection rates from superresistant bacteria have become the norm around the world. The first outbreak of VRE did not occur until 1988, when a renal dialysis unit in England became infested. By 1990, the bacteria had been carried abroad, and four in one thousand American ICU patients had become infected. By 1997, a stunning 23 percent of ICU patients were infected. When the virus for SARS -- severe acute respiratory syndrome -- appeared in China in 2003 and spread within weeks to almost ten thousand people in two dozen countries across the world (10 percent of whom were killed), the primary vector for transmission was the hands of health care workers. What will happen if (or rather, when) an even more dangerous organism appears -- avian flu, say, or a new, more virulent bacteria? "It will be a disaster," Yokoe says.

Atul Gawande, a 2006 MacArthur Fellow, is a general surgeon at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, a staff writer for The New Yorker, and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. His first book, Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science, was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the 2002 National Book Award. Gawande lives with his wife and three children in Newton, Massachusetts. Visit www.gawande.com for information.

Book trivia

2007-05-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

Trivia question of the day: What biographer recently released a book about Ralph Ellison and has, in the past, written biographies of W.E.B. Du Bois, Jackie Robinson, Langston Hughes, and Arthur Ashe?

Summer book reading

2007-05-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe summer is almost here.

There has been all sorts of book buzz going on--with, of course, the final Harry Potter book topping the list.

However, before summer arrives, the month of May marks prom season. I recently received a delightful compilation of prom night stories from Harper Collins: Prom Nights from Hell. I'm not normally a big fan of the paranormal genre, but I did thoroughly enjoy this handful of tales. It helps that it had some of the top writers for teenagers as authors. They included the beloved Meg Cabot, Lauren Myracle, Kim Harrison, Stephenie Meyer and Michele Jaffe.

Here's a snippet from my review:

It doesn't matter whether horror is your genre or not. Anyone who has been through high school will smile at the title and theme of this collection of novellas from HarperTeen: Prom Nights from Hell.

Add to the mix that the contributors are Meg Cabot, Lauren Myracle, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe, and Stephenie Meyer and it's obvious someone at Harper Teen is having a lot of fun. Nor does it hurt that most of the paranormal prom stories are pretty entertaining reads.

Overall, the collection of novellas showcase wonderful writing of creepy tales. Each author is able to capture their own distinct style in the five stories as well as inject them with very different moods. Granted, some work better than others.

Kurt Vonnegut

2007-04-12T06:25:00.000-07:00

The top headline in my home page's news feed this morning was the death of Kurt Vonnegut at age 84. Specifically, the headline read, "Kurt Vonnegut, Novelist Who Caught the Imagination of His Age, is Dead at 84."

How true that epitaph is.

I remember discovering Vonnegut in high school. His works were like nothing else I had read before. I immediately checked all of his books out of the library and gorged on them for weeks. It was one of the first times that I visually associated reading with feasting. I devoured and was sated. No, I was more than sated. I was stuffed full to bursting and exhausted with the knowledge that my brain would never be the same again.

His works spoke directly to me in ways that few other novels up to that point had. He wasn't simply picking up the conventions of storytelling to stand upon a platform and orate at me. He was dancing in frantic circles around me, his ideas screaming urgently for attention. He was a champion of kindness who knew nothing of preaching.

His writing also opened the idea that writing was an intrinsically creative endeavor and that the rules of grammar and writing were tools, not the actual materials with which the house was made. They were meant to serve the writing and when they didn't serve, they shouldn't be used.

I haven't read Vonnegut since my teenage years, but I can still clearly remember the thrill of discovery and, far more importantly, the connection forged with those pages. Vonnegut is one of the reasons that reading is a passion to me, and not simply a means of collecting information.

Oprah pick

2007-03-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

Lots of people have been talking books for the past couple days.

First, the cover for the new Harry Potter book has been revealed. It's gold and red cover is one more step in the hype leading up to the release of the final book. It's an attractive enough cover, though I doubt at this point the franchise needs the cover to sell books. At this point, they can indulge in choosing what they want for artistic reasons alone.

Second, Oprah has made her next book pick. This time she went with an apocolyptic novel, bringing a new diversity to her already diverse selections. The author? 73-year-old Cormac McCarthy. He'll be giving Oprah his first-ever television interview.

Robert Dugoni

2007-03-23T09:47:00.000-07:00

Legal thrillers continue to grown in stature as a sub-genre, which makes writers such as Robert Dugoni particularly welcome. Hailed as a writer in the style of John Grishmam, Dugoni became a novelist after 12 years practicing law.

Not surprisgly, his characters are also lawyer and tend to have a jaded, almost burned-out attitude toward the law. His second legal thriller, Damage Control, was release recently and features a female attorney being battered by tragedy after tragedy. The book takes her and several others on a journey from abuse to empowerment.

Speaking of legal thrillers, I don't think I ever mentioned that we also have a review of Grisham's A Painted House on the site now too. Written by the Help Web family's intrepid leader, it is filled with tantalizing detail about the book. Here, may I tempt you with an excerpt?

The characters in A Painted House are John Grisham's strongest ever. Fully developed and interacting in plausible ways, Luke and his family are the centerpiece of a small Ozark region town decades ago. Wonder and innocence tangle with awe and weariness as the book's real conflict beyond the plot. These strong characters and their development allow Grisham to concentrate on basic, but also strong plots, blazing a path through time that allows the reader to luxuriate in the setting.

Recognizing book creators

2007-02-23T11:29:00.000-08:00

During the NEA Journalism Institute I attended, one of the things that we often heard is that a theater review doesn't have to be completist. There's no need to mention every single actor, technician, and administrator involved in bringing a play to stage.

It's a necessary statement because theater critics often feel obligated to mention every performer and performers often feel that if they weren't mentioned, it was because the reviewer hated them.

It got me thinking about book reviews, in part because book reviewers never have that issue. In fac, we're almost on the opposite end of the spectrum. Rare is the review that mentions anyone other than the author. Occasionally an illustrator will get a nod, but (excepting the recent O.J. flap) you'll never read the name of an editor and rarely that of the publisher, marketer, printer, or anyone else that helps to create a book.

Nor, for that matter, do many book reviewers ever feel the need to list all the characters in a book. It would be considered absurd most of the time.

Perhaps it is just that editors, publishers, printers, publicists, etc. have been trained to not expect recognition.

When a book is really, really bad

2007-02-20T07:26:00.000-08:00

As an editor, I have always tried to accord dignity and respect to the writers I work with. We're collaborators, both committed to the same end goal.

There is an anecdote I heard somewhere early in my career that I frequently share with writers--especially when I'm about to turn over a work bleeding with edit marks. I tell them that they should be encouraged by the presence of the red pen--it shows that the editor was excited about the work and passionate about taking it to the next level. The time when they need to worry is when there are almost no marks at all--that means the editor has written the work off as hopeless and beyond repair.

I'm currently reading a book that falls into the helpless category. It's an initial offering from a new publisher. Normally, I'm a fan of small press work and an advocate of the culture of abundance created by greater access to the means of production and distribution. Such a shift has allowed works of small commercial but great artistic value to be produced. It has increased the availability of niche books.

Unfortunately, it has also allowed some absolute crap to be produced. As I read this book, it becomes transparent that this was a book rejected by many publishers. Most likely, it was rejected with a form letter simply because it is so wretched that there would be little to suggest by way of improvement. It's the proverbial empty page that an editor has given up hope on.

More books and theater

2007-02-15T14:48:00.000-08:00

While in L.A., one of our evenings was spent listening to lecture about Sondheim that was interspersed with performances of his numbers.

One of the songs that caught my attention was one I had been previously unfamiliar with. It was sung by Fosca in the musical Passion. She sings:

I do not read to think.

I do not read to learn.
I do not read to search for truth,
I know the truth,

The truth is hardly what I need.
I read to dream.

I read to live

In other people's lives.
I read about the joys
The world
Dispenses to the fortunate,
And listen for the echoes.
(Fiercly)
I read to live,
To get away from life!

Brain Haig: Fact or fiction?

2007-02-14T07:15:00.000-08:00

Sometimes its hard to tell fact from fiction.

That's a truism that Brian Haig has been playing with for years as his Army lawyer, Sean Drummond, investigates cases that sound like they've been ripped from today's headlines. In fact, his publisher has even created an online game to see whether you can tell the difference between a Haig plot and a true-to-life current event.

It's a thriving book market

2007-02-13T09:09:00.000-08:00

I'm just back from two weeks in Los Angeles, two weeks spent at a National Endowment for the Arts University of Southern California Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater.

What does that have to do with books? Well, other than that it was an institute for arts critics, there was also a lot of discussion about our country's cultural affairs. One of the sessions was with Doug McLennan of artsjournal.com. McLennan addressed the cultural landscape and the health of arts culture versus commercial culture.

He pointed out that while commercial culture--defined as movies, television, radio, and the like--has been experiencing audience and financial losses in the range of 20 percent to 40 percent, arts culture has been losing at the rate of only 1 percent to 4 percent. He quoted Chris Anderson's The Long Tail in saying that our culture is moving from a mass culture mindset to a niche culture mindset.

One of the supporting details he brought up was book publishing. In 2005 there were 195,000 titles published. That's up 72% from the previous year and sets a new record. Of those, however, only 250 will sell more than 100,000 copies.

It's a shift in thinking. We're not all reading the same books anymore. Even the topsellers aren't selling as much as they used to. However, we're also reading more than ever before. We've entered, as Ben Cameron, program director at Doris Duke Charitable Foundation would say days later, a new culture of abundance.

Trouble by Jesse Kellerman

2007-01-18T08:30:00.000-08:00

Jesse Kellerman, playwright and novelist, released his second novel today.

Trouble follows a Good Samaritan in New York who quickly finds out that no good deed goes unpunished. He saves a woman from being murdered, but accidently kills her attacker. The police find this suspicious, the man's family wants revenge, and his employers aren't very happy about all the attention he's suddenly getting.

Kellerman is a talented writer with a flair for quirky characters and situations. I was quite taken earlier this year with his 3m1w--a collection of short plays I'd very much like to see on stage. I was also fascinated with Sunstroke, an intense novel that takes several unexpected turns.

In an interview with Book Help Web, Kellerman said:

I tend to believe that an individual's personality is more compelling than his or her culture. Which is not to say that culture is irrelevant; merely that I think we overvalue it. And since I'm most often interested in characters who stand out, who are exceptional, rather than a predictable product of their social machinery, it's precisely the salient features of their personality that obsess me as a writer — not what defines them on a census form.

It will be interesting to see how that philosophy carries over in Trouble.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-11T08:14:00.000-08:00

Happy New ... oh, it's a little late, isn't it?

Come to think of it, I haven't said much here for a while. That's about to change again as the new year is under way and I'm actually going to start having time to read and write again. Just before several pressing deadlines hit in November and December I had a pile of really interesting books that I'd just finished reading and am still eager to review and share with you.

So here's a teaser:

Miss Understanding
Dan Simmons' Terror
Brian Haig's Man in the Middle
The Intellectual Devotional
The Crimson Portrait

David McCullough brings history to life

2006-11-29T06:12:00.000-08:00

There are people of each generation who stand out amongst their peers and who will be remembered long after they are gone.

One such man of this generation is David McCullough and he will be remembered because he has helped to treat America's amnesia and remind us of what has come before us and from whence we came. As a historian, he has dug deep and revealed to us the very compelling nature of our stories. He's reminded us that history is not a stale academic study, but a vibrant pursuit that sets the foundation for our character.

He's also a genuinely charming and fascinating person. Earlier this year, David McCullough was on a lecture tour and came through my neck of the woods, launching the World View Lecture Series at East Lansing, Michigan's Wharton Center. He spoke to a packed audience in the same great hall that stages such performances as Lion King and Phantom of the Opera. On a Saturday afternoon before that lecture, we spoke by phone for nearly an hour. He's a passionate and intelligent man and I'm pleased to be able to share that conversation with you in a Book Help Web exclusive interview.

And if you haven't already, treat yourself to one of his books--for they are just that, a treat. Let his passion for history start a flame in you as well.

Watch this space soon for an additional article on his lecture as well as future reviews of his Pulitzer Prize-winning works.

Ken Jennings & Brainiac

2006-11-16T09:49:00.000-08:00

Last month, I thoroughly enjoyed Ken Jennings' Brainiac. I saw him only a few times when he was making his winning Jeopardy! streak as I don't have a television, but I definitely remembered the sensation he made.

What I loved about the book was his wry sense of humor. I found myself frequently laughing aloud and forcing those around me to listen to me read passages. So it was with great delight that I was able to interview him for Book Help Web shortly after reading the book. He showed the same delightful humor in his interview as he did in his book.

Here's an excerpt from the interview:

Book Help Web: I described your book as one that is annoying to anyone who happens to be near the reader. This is because it simply begs to have portions read aloud and because I was constantly bursting into laughter at your delightful, wry humor. Did you consciously choose a humorous tone for this book or is it something that happened naturally?

Ken Jennings: This was my thought process: it's going to be an uphill battle anyway, convincing America that a book about trivia culture is going to be interesting or accessible. If unsuspecting readers are going to pay $24.95 for a nerdy topic like that, the least I can do to show my gratitude is throw them some jokes.
Read more...

On another note, Ken Jennings' wife, Mindy, (who took the photo you see on the interview) gave birth to their second child this week, a gorgeous baby girl named Caitlin Elizabeth whom you can see on Ken Jennings' blog. What did he read while waiting in the hospital? A book you've seen featured here: Brian Wilson's biography, Catch a Wave by Peter Ames Carlin.

Nicholas Sparks and Dear John

2006-11-15T07:37:00.000-08:00

Nicholas Sparks' latest book was released last week and immediately debuted as #1 on The New York Times' and The Book Standard's bestseller list.

It's certainly a book that deserves such sales. It's a sweet and moving book that has an underlying optimism. It's filled with characters who, although flawed, are committed to doing the right thing. Dear John was the first time I had read Nicholas Sparks and I was immediately captivated. Here's what I wrote in my review:

There are some books that draw their magic solely from the alchemy of words. The author takes those everyday metals of the English language, melts them together, and then subjects them to a purifying fire.

Nicholas Sparks in Dear John proves himself to be one such alchemist. The language would appear to be commonplace. The story, told in a heart-breaking first-person narrative isn't decorative or embellished with Baroque turns of phrase. It's the story of a soldier who has fought for and found honor and glory in the battlefield of the heart.

John Tyree begins the book by telling us that he ended the relationship he had with Savannah, a woman he clearly and passionately loves. He questions us on what love is and tells us that once Savannah would have said that it was living happily together fulfilling those simple dreams of home and family. John, though, discovers that sometimes love can call for greater sacrifices. Read more....

Incidentally, #5 on the NYT Bestseller list was David Baldacci's The Collectors, a book the author talked about here.

Intellectual Devotional: Day 3

2006-11-15T07:33:00.000-08:00

Here's another entry from The Intellectual Devotional by David Kidder and Noah Oppenheim (content provided by FSB Associates):

Visual Arts

Wednesday, Day 3

Lascaux Cave Paintings

The cave paintings at Lascaux are among the earliest known works of art. They were discovered in 1940 near the village of Montignac in central France when four boys stumbled into a cave. Inside they found a series of rooms with nearly 1,500 paintings of animals that were between 15,000 and 17,000 years old.

There are several theories regarding the function of the paintings. A natural feature of the cave may have suggested the shape of an animal to a prehistoric observer who then added highlights to relay his vision to others. Since many of the paintings are located in inaccessible parts of the cave, they may have been used for magical practices. Possibly, prehistoric people believed that the act of drawing animals, especially with a high degree of accuracy, would bring the beasts under their control or increase their numbers in times of scarcity.

The animals are outlined or portrayed in silhouette. They are often shown in what is called twisted perspective, that is, with their heads in profile but their horns facing front. Many of the images include dots, linear patterns, and other designs that may carry symbolic meaning.

The most magnificent chamber of the cave, known as the Great Hall of the Bulls, contains a painted narrative. From left to right, the pictures depict the chase and capture of a bison herd.

As soon as the paintings had been examined and identified as Paleolithic, the caves were opened to the public in 1948. By 1955, however, it became increasingly evident that exposure to as many as 1,200 visitors per day was taking its toll on the works inside. Although protective measures were taken, the site closed in 1963. In order to satisfy public demand, a life-sized replica of the cave was completed in 1983, only 200 meters from the original.

Additional Facts

1. The cave painters were conscious of visual perspective; they painted figures high on the wall, styled so that they would not appear distorted to the viewer below.

2. The only human figure depicted in the cave appears in the Shaft of the Dead Man. The fact that it is drawn more crudely than the animals suggest that they did not think it was endowed with magical properties.

The Intellectual Devotional

2006-11-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

It's been a crazy couple of weeks over here, resulting in very few book blog entries.

That said, the good folks over at FSB Associates have recently shared a new book: The Intellectual Devotional. I've been taking the one page a day approach that it recommends, so my review is a little slow in coming. But I figured in the meantime I'd share with you the excerpts (or at least the Monday and Tuesday entries. I'll save the others for later in the week) that they so kindly provided:

The Intellectual Devotional
Week 1
By David Kidder and Noah Oppenheim

Daily Devotionals have long been a favored tool of those looking for a regular dose of spiritual growth. Bedside volumes, read upon waking in the morning or before retiring at night, Devotionals consist of 365 exercises in learning and reflection. One easily digestible entry is tackled each day.

The Intellectual Devotional is a secular compendium in the same tradition. It is one year's worth of daily readings that will refresh your spirit, stimulate your mind, and help complete your education. Each entry is drawn from a different field of knowledge: History, Literature, Visual Arts, Science, Music, Philosophy, and Religion. Read one passage a day and you will explore each subject once a week.

These readings offer the kind of regular exercise the brain requires to stay fresh, especially as we age. They represent an escape from the day-to-day grind into the rarefied realm of human wisdom. And, they will open new horizons of intellectual discovery.
A brief summary of the journey ahead . . .

Monday -- History
A survey of people and events that shaped the development of Western civilization.

Tuesday -- Literature
A look at great writers and a synopsis of their most important works -- poems and novels that continue to inspire readers today.

Wednesday -- Visual Arts
An introduction to the artists and artistic movements that yielded the world's most influential paintings, sculptures, and works of architecture.

Thursday -- Science
From the origin of black holes to a description of how batteries work, the wonders of science are simplified and revealed.

Friday -- Music
What inspired our greatest composers, how to read a sheet of notes, and why Mozart is so revered -- a comprehensive review of our musical heritage.

Saturday -- Philosophy
From ancient Greece to the twentieth century, the efforts of mankind's greatest thinkers to explain the meaning of life and the universe.

Sunday -- Religion
An overview of the world's major religions and their beliefs.

We hope your progress through this collection of knowledge inspires your curiosity and opens new areas of exploration in your life.
--David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim

Week 1

History
Monday, Day 1
The Alphabet
In circa 2000 BC, the Egyptian pharaohs realized they had a problem. With each military victory over their neighbors, they captured and enslaved more prisoners of war. But the Egyptians could not pass down written orders to these slaves as they could not read hieroglyphics.

Early writing systems, such as Egyptian hieroglyphics, were extremely cumbersome and difficult to learn. These systems had thousands of characters, with each symbol representing an idea or word. Memorizing them could take years. Only a handful of Egyptians could actually read and write their complicated script.

Linguists believe that almost all modern alphabets are derived from the simplified version of hieroglyphics devised by the Egyptians four thousand years ago to communicate with their slaves. The development of an alphabet, the writing system used throughout the Western world, changed the way the ancients communicated.

In the simplified version, each character represented only a sound. This innovation cut back the number of characters from a few thousand to a few dozen, making it far easier to learn and use the characters. The complicated hieroglyphic language was eventually forgotten, and scholars were not able to translate the characters until the discovery of the Rosetta stone in 1799.

The alphabet was extremely successful. When the Egyptian slaves eventually migrated back to their home countries, they took the writing system with them. The alphabet spread across the Near East, becoming the foundation for many writing systems in the area, including Hebrew and Arabic. The Phoenicians, an ancient civilization of seaborne traders, spread the alphabet to the tribes they encountered along the Mediterranean coast. The Greek and Roman alphabets, in turn, were based on the ancient Phoenician script. Today most Western languages, including English, use the Roman alphabet.

Additional Facts
1. Several letters in modern-day English are direct descendents of ancient Egyptian characters. For instance, the letter B derives from the Egyptian character for the word house.

2. The most recent edition of the Oxford English Dictionary contains 171,476 words in current usage, among the most of any language.

Literature
Tuesday, Day 2
Ulysses
James Joyce's Ulysses (1922) is widely regarded as the greatest novel written in English in the twentieth century. It retells Homer's Odyssey in the context of a single day -- June 16, 1904 -- in Dublin, Ireland, recasting Homer's great hero Odysseus in the unlikely guise of Leopold Bloom, an aging, cuckolded ad salesman who spends the day running errands and making various business appointments before he returns home at long last.

Though Bloom seems unassuming and ordinary, he emerges as a heroic figure, displaying compassion, forgiveness, and generosity toward virtually everyone in the odd cast of characters he meets. In his mundane and often unnoticed deeds, he practices an everyday heroism that is perhaps the only heroism possible in the modern world. And despite the fact that he always feels like an outsider -- he is a Jew in overwhelmingly Catholic Ireland -- Bloom remains optimistic and dismisses his insecurities.

Ulysses is celebrated for its incredibly rich portraits of characters, its mind-boggling array of allusions to other literary and cultural works, and its many innovations with language. Throughout the course of the novel, Joyce flirts with literary genres and forms ranging from drama to advertising copy to Old English. The novel is perhaps most famous for its extensive use of stream-of-consciousness narrative -- Joyce's attempt to render the inner thoughts of his characters exactly as they occur, with no effort to impose order or organization. This technique became a hallmark of modernist literature and influenced countless other writers, such as Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner, who also experimented with it in their works.

Not surprisingly, Ulysses poses a difficult journey for the reader, especially its famous last chapter, which recounts the thoughts of Bloom's wife, Molly. Molly's reverie goes on for more than 24,000 words yet is divided into only eight mammoth sentences. Despite the challenge it poses, the chapter shows Joyce at his most lyrical, especially in the final lines, which reaffirm Molly's love for her husband despite her infidelity:

and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.

Additional Fact
1. Ulysses was banned for obscenity in the United States for nearly twelve years because of its (mostly indirect) sexual imagery.

George R.R. Martin and The Ice Dragon

2006-11-06T14:03:00.000-08:00

While fans of George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series await A Dance With Dragons, they can content themselves with a children's book set in the same world. This very short book is based on a novella written several years ago that George R. R. Martin (whom I interviewed earlier this year) has updated and recast to be appropriate for a young audience.

The Ice Dragon is still a melancholy tale, but it is also one that contains a great deal of beauty and symbolism:

As a chapter book, it is shorter and a quicker read than a Lemony Snicket book, but longer than Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Treehouse books. My son was instantly engrossed in it, though once he put it down, he was slow to return to it. I can't say that I was particularly moved one way or another by the story. I appreciated its style and some of the ideas expressed, but it wasn't one that I found nearly as compelling as the adult novels. However, I am not the book's audience.

The story is beautifully illustrated with pencil drawings by Yvonne Gilbert. The pictures manage to capture the somber tone and help to further bring Adara and her family to life.

Given the plethora of dragons present in the novel, this is a story that takes place either many years before the Song of Ice and Fire series or long after where the story currently is. It's not something that matters much as it isn't a story of kings or great battles. It is the story of a small girl and of a family that is determined to live on the land to which it belongs. Read more.

Sharyn McCrumb & The Songcatcher

2006-11-03T08:42:00.000-08:00

I've adored everything I've ever read by Sharyn McCrumb, which is admittedly only a small amount when compared to all the works she's created.

My first encounter with her was when I read two of her satire novels: Bimbos of the Death Sun and Zombies of the Gene Pool. To this day, the memory of the first book makes me laugh out loud while the second one fills me with a certain wistful melancholy.

I then read a book of hers with a hilariously memorable title: If I'd Killed Him When I'd Met Him, I'd Be Out of Jail By Now. It was a book that convinced me of McCrumb's ability to write about serious, heavy topics with a light, entertaining touch.

In a recent review posted at Book Help Web, Cyndi Allison talks about how McCrumb has a lyrical touch in the admittedly more prosaically titled novel, The Songcatcher:

In terms of the writing, the feel is simply lyrical. I could sink right into this book like a well-worn couch on the porch. I would be soaking up the story, and then...BAM. Suddenly, I was in another time and place. That would catch me off guard. Then I would drift into the new story. Just as things would get interesting...BAM. I jump from Boston where Malcolm has settled in as a gentleman lawyer to the mountains of North Carolina where he started his second family to Lark stranded in a downed plane in the mountains. All of the story lines were fascinating, but the book has that constant feel of not quite catching a buzz. Just when you get comfortable, the cops bang on the door — figuratively and literally.

To complicate all these jumps in time and place, the characters pass on the family names. Now, that is common in the mountains. In a book, it gets pretty confusing. Which Malcolm am I reading about this time? Which John is this? Even the girls hand down names, which is not as common. Malcolm fell in love with Elizabeth who died, so Malcolm married Rachel — the older and not-so-fun sister. They named a daughter Elizabeth. Both Elizabeth's died young, so I didn't have to keep up with them much anyway. But, that's one of the problems with the book. I need a chart to keep up with the names, and then the chart isn't much help when the names are the same.

In some ways, this book is a masterpiece. The author does tell wonderful stories with a ring of truth. I can catch most of the links and the way history does repeat as well as the family themes and names. My brothers are both named after family members, and three of my four maternal aunts are married to Bobs. Even when names don't come into play, I can see both physical and personality traits that crop up time and time again. I know where I got my big feet, and I know that I'm prone to be cranky if I don't get enough sleep.

On the other hand, a novel containing too many plot lines and too many identical names can be so confusing that the story gets lost just like the lost song central to the book. While some books sink in and stay with me, I'm not so sure about this one. I think I'll retain an echo of the story, but in a day or two, I'm pretty sure the details will all run together and be lost. Read more.

David Baldacci & The Collectors

2006-11-02T09:16:00.000-08:00

In our final author feature for the month of October, Book Help Web had a delightful interview with the charming and intelligent David Baldacci. He shared delightful insights into his research for The Collectors, including such tidbits as:

I read a lot, talked to lots of people and with that knowledge I put myself in the role of a con and came up with some of my own scams. It was great fun figuring ways to score big at the expense of others, which probably doesn't say much about my underlying character, but there you are. The key with the con characters, particularly Annabelle, is to humanize them. You show their fears, frailties and you make the motivation for the scam one which many law-abiding types could understand. I made Annabelle a real person who happens to be a criminal. Yet she doesn't physically hurt anyone and her targets are not sympathetic ones.

He's a fascinating personality who is committed to such causes as literacy, cystic fibrosis, cancer research, and multiple sclerosis. In the interview, he talks about why literacy is so important to him as an issue--for reasons that are far more altruistic than a desire to sell more books:

Illiteracy is the greatest challenge we face as a nation. Democracies are totally dependent on a literate, well-informed electorate. Our three greatest rights as Americans are grounded in words: freedom of speech, freedom of press, exercise of religious freedom. Take away one and we're no longer a democracy; take away two and we're clearly a dictatorship. An illiterate, uninformed population is a population that is easily manipulated. History has shown us hundreds of examples of what happens to such a people. And all of them are bad.

Tune in during November for interviews with Ken Jennings and David McCullough.

Rick Bragg

2006-10-30T07:50:00.000-08:00

Cyndi Allison, one of the Book Help Web contributors and the publisher of Cooking Help Web, tells me her favorite author is Rick Bragg. She's a huge fan of his books and met him once at a book signing where she was able to send him home with a spate more food than what he was served at the luncheon.

Rick Bragg is a former New York Times reporter who has written a series of books. I'm pleased to be able to share several reviews of those books with you.

All Over But the Shoutin is a memoir that tells Bragg's own story:

If you really want a glimpse across the poverty line, then pick up Rick Bragg's All Over but the Shoutin'. This is one of the few books to come out of the "poor white trash" community, and it is raw, honest, and full of beautiful anecdotes, descriptions, and human feelings.

Though many books have been written and printed from the socially deprived black community standpoint, "white poverty" tends to be pushed to the back stove eye and basically considered to be a oxymoronic combination of words (white and poor). Now, certainly the black community is hit hardest with poverty in the U.S. in terms of percentages, but the raw numbers with a dominant white population group (close 80 percent) put persons-of-non-color at the top of the welfare roles as far as overall dependence on the system. I have a hard time convincing my students that the average welfare mom is white, but that is how it goes.
...
This is one of the all-time best books I've read and especially coming from an author out of the south and from a poor background. While it may not ring true with some readers, those would be readers from other areas of the country. It might be hard to picture the things that Bragg talks about, but I could feel every word of this book. If you are southern and particularly from the lower side of the poverty line, then I would say that you really need to read this book and celebrate the expression of a culture that has long been silent. If we don't give "voice" to all, then we don't really grow as a country. Even if you can't imagine this lifestyle, read the book and consider that some people in the US life very different from the TV world that we are sold on Time-Warner. It would be nice to think that poverty is just not having the latest Nike tennis shoes, but it does go much deeper and it cuts across all color lines.

His next book, Ava's Man, tells the story of his grandparents:

Rick Bragg can spin a tale. He makes you see the fleas on a coonhound and feel itchy to boot. Although he's not old enough to be sitting on the front porch with all the kids gathered round, he is the master when it comes to weaving a story that will keep you begging for more.

Bragg grew up dirt poor, and then went on to write for major US newspapers and won a Pulitzer Prize for his story about the black lady who saved all her money and then donated it for a scholarship. He also covered the Susan Smith news when she drowned her kids in a car and said a black man did it.

Ava's Man is Bragg's second family book. The first is All Over But the Shoutin' which is the story of Bragg's life growing up with his mom and brothers. Ava's Man drops back and picks up the grandparents on his mothers side. Since his dad was pretty much trash, the mom side of the family has more impact. If you grew up in a single parent household where one family provided the support, then you'll know that the bonding goes the way of the family there and weathering the good and bad times.

Ava's Man is about Charlie who is Bragg's grandfather. Of course, Ava is the grandmother. She does get a lot of talk time in the book, but she plays second fiddle to Charlie who died before Rick Bragg was born. This is not really unusual in southern lore. The men are what legends are made of while the women pretty much made sure everyone ate and got raised up.

Our final Rick Bragg review is a memoir--but not of his family. He tells the story of Jessica Lynch in I am a Soldier Too:

Rick Bragg wrote I Am a Soldier, Too — The Jessica Lynch Story. He is one of my favorite writers of all times, and he comes from a rural background similar to Jessica's. I can't think of anyone more suited to dig in and find out the heart of a story and especially one with small town roots. It wouldn't have mattered what project Bragg worked on, I would have bought the book, but I was excited that he selected this story to tell.

This story is not just a war tale. It drops back and let's the reader see Jessica as the rather prissy kid who loved to paint her nails and who made County Fair Queen. It talks about her dream to become a kindergarten teacher and talks about how she saw the military as a way to earn money to get a chance to do more than marry and raise kids. This is the reality for lots of rural boys and girls, and the book talks about the area and about the people who end up in the armed forces, because that's really the only way they can get out and travel and get some education.

Jessica did not sign up to be a Green Beret. She was a clerk and would hand out supplies like toilet paper and pens. Going to a war zone was a "stretch" for an 18-year-old who weighed 100 pounds. But, she shouldn't have seen any hand-to-hand combat. The person in charge missed a turn and landed the group in the middle of hostile territory where this group of behind-the-scenes personnel were faced with bullets flying and enemy soldiers stomping them to death. Very few made it out alive. Jessica is one who did live to tell the story, and the media loved the way she looked and sounded in print and on the little screen. She became the voice of this moment in history.

Courage and Michael Weisskopf

2006-10-27T23:30:00.000-07:00

Like all good journalists, Michael Weisskopf far prefers to report on a story than be the story. This is a truth that comes across in his book Blood Brothers, where he would far rather tell the story of other people in his situation than to have the focus be on himself.

And yet, Weisskopf has rightly been hailed as a hero. A reporter for Time Magazine, Weisskopf was sent to Iraq to report on the Person of the Year award, which was slated to be the U.S. soldier. He was riding in a humvee with several soldiers and a Time photographer. A live grenade was thrown at them. Immediately, Weisskopf grabbed the grenade and threw it from the humvee, saving himself and everyone else on board. However, it cost him his right hand.

He was one of the few civilians ever to be placed in a military ward where he underwent rehabilitation along with others who had also lost limbs. This is the story that he tells in Blood Brothers.

Here is an excerpt from the new review at Book Help Web:

This is a story told plainly and simply without fanfare, movie score or parade. This is not a book about agenda or commentary on war, but instead a simple, compelling and heartwrenching tale of four men struggling and surviving. This isn't a war story, it's a human story.

Mr. Weisskopf had given us a difficult, but beautiful gift.

Stephen King

2006-10-27T07:30:00.000-07:00

One of the wonderful things about having several contributors to Book Help Web is that it really helps the diversity of book reviews found here. For example, what general book site in its right mind doesn't talk about Stephen King? But while I've researched the man enough to write a profile on him, I've never read so much as a short story by him. If I were the only contributor here, Book Help Web would be woefully lacking in its coverage.

Thankfully, I'm not and I've had several contributors give the site Stephen King reviews. Yesterday, we posted a few more from C. Allison, the Cooking Help Web publisher.

The first is of Hearts in Atlantis, a book she was very disappointed in:

I'm starting to think that Stephen King must be on drugs. I just finished reading Hearts in Atlantis and feel like I took a trip without ever leaving my recliner chair. The book is kind of a cross between King's traditional horror writing and his very odd Gunslinger days published initially in pieces as mini books. The very best I can figure is that he took a heap of his short stories, put them in time order, and tossed Carol in several stories to get some sense of continuity.

Her other review is of Songs from a Buick 8, which she isn't much more pleased with. In fact, it's pretty safe to say she thought it was worse:

I haven't decided whether I'm a pickier reader now than back when Stephen King first blew me away with his first novel, Carrie, or whether King has become so famous that he knows he can dump off a lousy book on the reading public without damaging his reputation much. You'd think that a good writer would get better over time and would produce stronger rather than weaker books. In fact, King did pen some gems after his runaway first book — books like The Shining, Pet Sematary, and Cujo. He also got caught up in his Gunslinger which I find terribly annoying (in part due to the work being put out in series form) and turned his hand at non-fiction with the academic themed Dance Macabre (dull as an economic textbook).

From a Buick 8 rides on King's coattails and highlights his shortcomings as a writer (which can easily be overlooked if his story is strong). Had this book been written under another name, it would likely have never been printed and surely would have gone belly up in the bookstores. It really is THAT BAD.

Alex Flinn and Diva

2006-10-24T22:58:00.000-07:00

Being on tour can be a thankless task for most authors. The events can be difficult for even the most savvy bookstores to publicize and its often only the really big names that can draw crowds.

Yet, book signings are also wonderful events for those who do attend them. You get to put an actual face to the author and learn far more about the book than you do just from reading its pages. If you've never read the author before, book signings are an opportunity to hear the person talk about his or her books and decide whether they are something you want to read.

Such was the case for a recent book signing that I attended. It was there I had the opportunity to meet Alex Flinn who was stopping by in Lansing after doing a number of presentations at libraries in Midland. She read from the first chapter of her latest book, Diva, and then talked for a while about how she became a writer, her own experiences in a performing arts high school, and about Diva and her other books, most notably Breathing Underwater.

Diva is "a companion novel to Breathing Underwater but it's a lot different in tone," Flinn said. It's humorous with a sharp edge. It's a book for young girls, letting them know there is something beyond boyfriends and being pretty."

While it has been a long time since I was a teenager and I was never someone who was bothered one way or another about my weight or dating, I did enjoy the novel and can easily see why Flinn is so appealing to teenagers.

Here's an excerpt from my Diva review:

Diva explores many issues that are of relevance to teenagers, foremost among them the obsessions with dating and weight. It takes Caitlin a long time to figure out that 115 pounds is not fat nor is it any reason to panic. She keeps a daily record of her weight in an online journal and obsesses over every bite she consumes. It's hard to blame her, though, when she is surrounded by voices that make her feel like a "fatgirl." Flinn takes a pretty realistic look at the pressures a teenager can get that distort self-image completely out of proportion.

At a book signing, Alex Flinn says she hopes that girls who read Diva will take from it that there is something more to life than boyfriends. It's a lesson that Caitlin seems a little slow to learn at first, showing a willingness to bypass incredible opportunities on the chance that she'll have more time to spend with a particular guy. However, life continues to throw her curves which make her realize that there are other things in life than just dating, a lesson she learns even before her mother does.

Diva is an easy-to-read book with a streak of breathy humor running throughout it. It's peppered with online journal entries (which I kept expecting someone else in the novel to stumble across). Those entries are written in the annoying, but realistic, Internet-speak that constantly replaces "to" with 2.

Alex Flinn does an excellent job of writing an entertaining story that gives teenagers something to think and talk about without lecturing or talking down to them.

Norman Juster and The Phantom Tollbooth

2006-10-23T23:58:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite books of all times is Norman Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth. It captured my imagination when I was a child and it continued to be just as readable and enjoyable as an adult. In fact, there were even more things I appreciated about it as I grew older.

There are no other books that I've purchased as many times as The Phantom Tollbooth as I'm constantly buying it and giving it away. I've never been able to keep it in my house for longer than a few months. I recently purchased it again, because my son has become a reader. However, this was a book that I didn't want him to read alone, so we've been reading it aloud every night and having a blast. We're currently deep in the Mountains of Ignorance with Milo, Tock, and the Humbug fighting off such demons as the Everpresent Wordsnatcher, the Terrible Trivium, and the Demon of Insincerity.

So I had to smile when I came across this piece at Kirkus Reviews today. Milo has turned 45. The author of the piece, Gregory McNamee, captures much of what I feel about this absolutely delightful book.

Talking with Jesse Kellerman

2006-10-23T07:48:00.000-07:00

While I try to keep my reading list as diverse as possible, sampling books in many different genres and forms, I must confess an especially close affinity for two particular types of literature: young adult fiction and play scripts.

The latter I attribute to an especially good English teacher in high school who nursed us on Greek dramatists and then fed us more plays from every era in history forward. Even before I became involved in the theater, I found myself in love with scripts. They were almost the perfect medium because they wasted little time with description, allowing my imagination to visualize the characters and actions. And unless you were talking about an epic like the Kentucky Cycle or Lazarus Laughed, they tended to be tightly written and incredibly focused.

So I must confess that I had more than a little delight at the opportunity to interview Jesse Kellerman. Yes, yes, he wrote a novel. It's even a good novel. But he also wrote plays! Last week I blogged about how delightful 3m1w is. Soon, I'll get reviews up of Sunstroke (the aforementioned novel) and his full-length play Beyond Our Control.

The man's a very good playwright. In fact, I very much want to see his work performed locally and have been putting bugs in several people's ears.

He was also a delight to interview. Jesse Kellerman is erudite and witty. Here's a teaser from the interview:

Drama without comedy is melodrama, and comedy without any trace of gravitas is silly. (If forced to choose, of course, I'd rather have silly. At least that's entertaining.)
A instructive story: once, during rehearsal, we decided to see what would happen if we slowed down one of the comedies in 3m1w — the play Whatever, Whenever. Running it at half speed turned some of the funniest moments in the play into crushing tragedies. It was horrible to watch, just horrible. A man loses his job, his marriage, and his will to live — not very chuckleworthy stuff.

Until you speed it up, that is. And then it becomes a riot, because your brain isn't given time to appreciate the depth of the horror — only the surprise it brings with it. One of my professors in college once defined comedy as tragedy sped up to 100 MPH. I tend to agree.

I try to drive at right around 50, where the line blurs a bit. Things Beyond Our Control could be called either one, I think. And I've tried to inject some humor into my novels, as well — although, because they're more realistic in feel, I haven't been able to go whole-hog with my sense of the surreal. I hope to, someday.

I invite you to read the interview and hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

Anna Quindlen and One True Thing

2006-10-23T00:11:00.000-07:00

I have to chuckle sometimes at the manner in which I stumble upon authors to read. Two years ago, I was trying to make sure we had an author profile at Book Help Web for every letter of the alphabet. When I got to Q, I discovered Anna Quindlen.

Within a week, I came across one of her books, Black and Blue, at a used book sale. Remembering all the raves about her books that I read while researching her, I bought the book. It was immediately engrossing and highly suspenseful. Since then, she has been on my list to read more of (and perhaps even to get around to reviewing Black and Blue one of these days).

In the mean time, one of Book Help Web's contributors (and also the publisher of Cooking Help Web) gave BHW a review on one of Quindlen's other books: One True Thing. She praises Quindlen's writing, but reported that she found it far too dark to enjoy:

Anna Quindlen is a great writer. I read her book Black and Blue and thought that was a good piece concerning spouse abuse. In One True Thing, I think she takes it too far in looking at the dark side of the world, thought the writing is still top notch. Perhaps it was just too soon after losing my Grandma. But, I don't think I'd ever want to read the book, and I can't imagine anyone I'd pass this along to. I feel tense just trying to write the review. I'd call the book very troubling and while some folks call that art, I should have just called it quits when I figured out the story (but I kept hoping right up to the end for some ray of hope).

In late August, Quindlen released her latest novel, Rise and Shine. It's a book that enjoyed time on the bestseller lists, but has received mixed reviews. For myself, I think I'll try to catch some of her previous novels before reading her latest.

Picked up from another blog

2006-10-20T23:53:00.000-07:00

A game for you to play with your friends:

1. One book that changed your life:

2. One book you've read more than once:

3. One book you would want on a desert island:

4. One book that made you laugh:

5. One book that made you cry:

6. One book you wish had been written:

7. One book you wish had never been written:

8. One book you are currently reading:

9. One book you have been meaning to read:

Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys

2006-10-20T07:54:00.000-07:00

I may be one of the few readers left in America who hasn't read Dave Barry. I'm definitely the only one left in my household as the man has become my son's latest favorite author. He recently read Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's Peter and the Starcatchers and Peter and the Shadow Thieves, falling in love with each of them.

I have to admit that I was a little hesitant when I first saw the titles as neither of those authors were particularly known as children's writers. Rather, Dave Barry was someone I associated with humor writing.

I'd already read about Dave Barry Slept Here from one of the Book Help Web contributors. She made a strong case for getting this book:

Dave Barry Slept Here is a comic Cliff Notes to American history that takes a lot of liberties with our glorious past - and has a great time doing it. High schoolers, please do NOT read this book until your classes are over. Otherwise you'll go into helpless fits of giggling every time your teacher mentions the Hawley-Smoot Tariff, Sir Walter Raleigh's lost colony, and other (formerly) serious topics.
The Miami Herald columnist (whom I read religiously every week) has organized his book like a typical high school tome - in chronological order, proceeding from one era to another. England Starts Some Fun Colonies segues into The Colonies Develop a Life-style, followed two chapters later by Kicking Some British Butt. He has also attached hilariously irrelevant discussion questions to the end of each section, and has included equally useful footnotes and a very selective index. (Among the entries: "Celtics, Boston," "Louis the Somethingth," and "Vader, Darth.")
Barry, who's earned a Pulitzer for his humorous commentary, is in fine form here. No historical fact is safe from satire; in one section, he provides his own wacky version of the Bill of Rights:

Then we had another contributor ring in with her endorsement of Barry's The Complete Guide to Guys. While it has some dated references to it that Barry would probably just as soon were removed:

"I saw Ed test-fire one of those babies once, and I can tell you that if those radical Muslin fundamentalist terrorists had had Ed on their team in 1992, the World Trade Center would now be referred to as the World Trade Pit."

Of course, that was written in 1995 before the events of 9-11. For the most part, the book is a light look at the difference between men and guys:

The premise in this 1995 New York Times bestseller is that the bearded gender can be divided into two categories — men and guys. Barry does not really try to define the term "guy." He does note, however, that: "One of the main characteristics of guyhood is that we guys do not spend a lot of time pondering our deep innermost feelings." He also offers example charts to help readers distinguish the difference. Here is one of the examples he lists in "Stimulus-Response Comparison Chart: Women vs. Men vs. Guys:"

Stimulus: A child who is sent home from school for being disruptive in class.

Typical Woman Response: Talk to the child in an effort to determine the cause.

Typical Man Response: Threaten to send the child to a military academy.

Typical Guy Response: Teach the child how to make armpit farts.

For anyone still confused, Barry offers the "Are you a Guy?" quiz. This is a chapter with various questions and multiple choice answers. This is similar to Cosmo quizzes (for any of the girl readers out there). The required scoring is provided at the end of the chapter.

When October Comes

2006-10-20T07:26:00.002-07:00

I had a friend who insisted that when Barry Manilow crooned, "When October Comes" that he was bemoaning the end of the baseball season. We were both Detroit Tigers fans, so most of the time when October came, there were no more games. Every so often, though, like this year, the Tigers would surprise us and make it to the playoffs.

Nowadays I live a tad too far away to see the Tigers play much, though my 8-year-old son made it to a game with his grandpa this year. I'm much more likely to catch a minor league game or simply read about it in the newspaper.

One of our Book Help Web contributors is a far more avid fan than I (though not of the the Tigers) and is known to read the baseball tome or two. Most recently, he submitted a review of a Lee Gruenfeld (aka Troon McAllister) book. It somehow seems appropriate that Gruenfeld wrote a book about a savant given that he himself was somewhat of a child prodigy. He won his first music scholarship at age 6. Since then he has excelled in every career he has turned his hand to whether it be music, information technology, systems development, or writing.

As Troon McAllister, he writes sports novels, including The Boy Who Batted 1.000. Here's an excerpt from our review:

Adapted and updated from an old story, The Kid Who Batted 1.000 is rich in baseball lore, tradition and fan love. The mix of anecdotes from all levels of baseball is sufficient to please the player who never went beyond junior high as well as someone who played in the minors. That is a wide range to fill.

But make no mistakes. This is not the children's book from the 1950s. Youngsters will need to be steered clear of language and other adult issues, well into their junior high school years. Others may not see the magic in the moonlight Doc Graham called upon in Field of Dreams, but baseball fans will enjoy the ride.

The Plot In Exactly One Hundred Words

Marvin is a college geek with a special gift. With a savant's uncanny knowledge of geometry and physics, he can make contact with any pitched ball. The balls all go foul since Marvin isn't an athlete, but he wears pitchers down. The smart ones give him an intentional walk when he starts playing for a bad Des Moines professional team. Others throw pitch after pitch, only tiring themselves. Baseball is only an exercise for Marvin, something he does for fun before heading to MIT, and despite a magical future for him as a professional, Marvin stays true to his dream.

Jesse Kellerman

2006-10-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

While searching for some scripts a few months ago, I came across a name that was both familiar and unfamiliar. The last name was a jolt of instant recognition: Kellerman. I've been a huge fan of Faye Kellerman for years and through her, became aware of her somewhat more famous husband, Jonathan.

However, the script I was looking at was by neither Faye nor Jonathan, but their eldest and only son, Jesse. I was immediately intrigued, especially when I learned he had also recently written a novel.

Now, I have to admit that I feel more than a little guilty mentioning his parents in a post about Jesse Kellerman, for he is definitely a writer with his own distinct style and voice. Nor am I of the belief that we are necessarily the product of our parents (even though I myself followed in my father's career footsteps and it truly isn't that unusual no matter what the occupation). However, his parentage is something that provides us with context and I know that if I didn't mention it, I would leave many readers thinking, 'Hey, I wonder if he's related to...'

Plays, Inc. recently published Jesse Kellerman's collection of six short plays that can be presented together as 3m1w or Very Small Things. They are a collection of plays that were performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (a locale that is also the site of Kate Atkinson's latest book, One Good Turn, but more on that next week).

I was immediately enchanted by these plays and have been busy ever since pushing them on theater folks I know because I would very much like to see them on a stage. They're modern, absurdist shows that are highly entertaining and often poignant.

From my review posted this week at Book Help Web:

It's a collection of comedies that mock science, bureaucracy, poker, room service, literature/academia, and fashion. They're all meant to be fun sketches, ones that put together run between 100 minutes and 2 hours.

In the tradition of modern theater, it makes liberal use of explicit language — in part because the characters are explicit and true to the language they would speak. Jesse Kellerman provides a fair amount of stage direction that encourages directors to keep the play flowing. There are pauses in his plays, but more importantly, there is overlapping speech that characterizes high-energy productions.

It is also possible to do all of these sketches one right after another with minimal set requirements.

3m1w is a great exhibition piece for actors with some delightful and challenging lines to dig their teeth into. All six of the sketches are intelligent affairs that trust the audience to keep up on a madcap journey. For the most part, the one woman in each sketch has some of the least interesting roles.

The End by Lemony Snicket

2006-10-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, I was able to indulge in Lemony Snicket's The End.

It truly was a fitting end to the series. Thematically, the book ranks as my favorite. Daniel Handler explores the issue about whether parents are supposed to protect their children or prepare them to handle the treacheries of the world. He illustrated that those who wish to live in a totally safe environment may have to do so at the cost of their individuality and at the price of those passions which make life interesting.

Not all of the questions raised in the series are answered. The fate of the Quagmire triplets is somewhat unsatisfying, though Handler makes the point that we don't always know the fate of those who walk through our lives.

Here's an excerpt from the review:

The Baudelaire orphans have finally found a place in which they can be truly safe and live lives uncomplicated by treachery. It is a place that comes with a price, for if they want to possess this safety, they'll have to give up their individuality. Violet will have to sacrifice her inventing, Klaus will no longer be allowed to read, and Sunny while still being allowed to cook must stick with a pre-ordained, bland diet.

After the lives they've lived since The Bad Beginning the choice is not as obvious as it might seem. Here they've finally found people who can see through Count Olaf's lies and who are willing to protect them. Is giving up a few of one's passions really such a horrible thing to ask in exchange for kindness and safety?

In asking this question, Snicket brings to a close this chronicle with what may be the best book yet in the series. Yes, there are some familiar pieces in this book. The orphans are plopped down in a situation against their will and must adapt to a community that is different than all the others they've met so far. The community has its own catch phrase — as have most of the communities they've encountered thus far. This time it is "I won't force you, but..." and "I suggest..." and "Don't rock the boat."

David Baldacci and The Collectors

2006-10-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

David Baldacci is one of the giants in the thriller genre and has managed to attain that status without resorting to series writing.

At least, not until now. On the heels of the bestselling paperback release of The Camel Club, David Baldacci is returning to the cast of quirky characters he created with next Tuesday's release of The Collectors.

This novel was my introduction to David Baldacci's work, though Book Help Web has had several other contributors weigh in on such novels of his as Saving Faith, Wish You Well, and Split Second. So far of the reviews we have, I seem to be the one who enjoyed Baldacci the most--though George insists that he really likes Baldacci--just not so much the ones that he's reviewed.

As for what I thought of The Collectors, you can find out here:

David Baldacci takes his readers on a tour of the Library of Congress throughout the book, introducing them to how the library works, its treasures, and the people who populate it. He even provides an interview with an architect who is lovingly able to explain some of the recent reconstructions.

Overall, one of the strengths of the book is in the loving attention to detail and the fascinating tidbits of information that are constantly being thrown out. Another strength is that the characters are not high-powered spies with the resources of powerful organizations behind them. Rather they are the disenfranchised "little guys" of society who are fighting against something bigger and more powerful than themselves.

In all, The Collectors is an entertaining read that adds its own quirks and characters to the genre.
Read more...

It's the End

2006-10-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

Today is Friday the 13th, which means we've come to The End.

Today is the day we'll finally find out what happens to the Baudelaire orphans and the quirky cast of characters surrounding them. Will it be an unhappy ending as Lemony Snicket promised us? Or will there finally be a little bit of hope for the Baudelaires.

The answers are now all within reach.

In related news, the book that I thought was one of the weaker ones in the series--The Penultimate Peril--won a Quill Award this week.

T.D. Jakes and Not Easily Broken

2006-10-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

Christian fiction can be a difficult thing to write. There are few authors throughout history who have done it well. C.S. Lewis is perhaps the most prominent example of a writer who managed to write great fiction that was strongly theological in purpose. There has also been such writings as Marlowe's Faustus, Dante's Divine Comedy, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, and Dostoyvesky's Crime and Punishment.

Generally speaking, though, Christian fiction, especially Christian popular fiction falls prey to stereotypes and shallowness. Characters become moral lessons rather than real people. Situations are manipulated to fit a sermon rather than occurring naturally with the themes subtly woven in.

That said, there have been modern Christian authors that I've enjoyed. I grew up reading Catherine Marshall whose novels were tinged with autobiographical memoirs and history. For a long time, I enjoyed Grace Livingston Hill, though eventually all her books started to sound the same and they were rather dated. In His Steps by Charles Sheldon was another book that I treasured.

In more recent years, I've been charmed by the writings of my former journalism professor, Joseph Bentz, in particular his science fiction novel. I was also blown away by Alan David Justice's The Final Bow.

For a long while, though, I've been soured on most Christian fiction writing because it has felt so lifeless or polemic. I won't go near the Left Behind series for reasons theological that are better discussed on a different sort of blog.

Last month I decided to make another foray into Christian fiction with a book written by a minister prominent in both spiritual and political realms. Bishop T.D. Jakes is one of those talented men who when he does something, he does it well. He's a singer who has been nominated for a Grammy, a bestselling novelist, and the minister of a large and growing church. A highly intelligent and educated man, he began college at age 15 and eventually earned a bachelor's, masters, and a doctorate.

His novel, Not Easily Broken, was an enjoyable read. It's not something that will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the greats mentioned in the first paragraph of this entry, but it was entertaining and explored issues that face married couples. While it is in no way a life-changing book, neither would I hesitate to pick up another one of Jakes' books.

Here is an excerpt from the review at Book Help Web:

T.D. Jakes is a man who knows his audience and writes directly and unapologetically for them. His latest book, Not Easily Broken, is a novel sure to appeal to Promise Keepers, Dobson devotees, and evangelical Christians everywhere.

Would that more books written for that audience could be done with the skill and sensitivity that T.D. Jakes shows.

Not Easily Broken is the story of a marriage. When the book opens, the marriage is 15 years old and Clarisse and Dave aren't exactly in a cozy, comfortable place. Neither, though, are they in a terrible place. Rather, they have failed to nurture their marriage and find themselves increasingly at odds with one another. Clarisse wants Dave to be more ambitious and supportive of her career; Dave wants Clarisse to understand him better and to let him protect her and help her the way he wants to. Dave wants kids; Clarisse is certain it's a trick to destroy her career.

Amidst this uneasy tension, they are in a car accident which leaves Clarisse's leg badly broken. She drops deep into depression and pushes away all of Dave's attempts to help her. He grows increasingly frustrated and then gives up trying. Matters compound when he connects with a single mom, Julie, Clarisse's physical therapist. What starts out as a mentoring relationship with her son grows into an attraction.

Not Easily Broken takes a tender look at a marriage and the difficulties a marriage can have. Jakes takes the readers through detailed sessions with both the physical therapist and the family therapist, accurately capturing the emotions and reservations that the characters feel. He's also able to communicate some important truths about relationships and interdependence without sounding preachy.

Michael Connelly and Echo Park

2006-10-11T05:46:00.000-07:00

This past Monday saw the release of Michael Connelly's latest Harry Bosch book, Echo Park. It's currently sitting in the top 10 bestsellers over at Amazon--a feat that fiction has had a difficult time doing for the past several months. In fact, as far as fiction goes at Amazon, it's second only to John Grisham's The Innocent Man. The New York Times list won't measure it until next week, but Connelly's paperback release of The Lincoln Lawyer is the #1 paperback bestseller at the Times.

All in all, a pretty good week for Connelly and his hardboiled Los Angeles detective.

He also took some time to participate in an interview with Book Help Web in which he talks about Echo Park and Harry Bosch.

Here's an excerpt:

The intentional theme to the whole series is the exploration of the equation of darkness. By that I mean the idea that if you go into darkness to carry out your mission, then some of that darkness is going to get into you. So the question is, what do you do with it? How do you keep yourself safe?

Whether you're new to the series or have been a fan since day 1, Echo Park is a good read and a great addition to the police detective genre.

Hamlet

2006-10-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

Hamlet was the first Shakespeare play I ever saw performed. My high school literature class took a trip to Ann Arbor where we saw the play. I don't recall now whether it was the university performing it or some local group coming through.

I do remember that I was rather bored by it.

In fact, despite plays being my favorite form of literature even in high school, I didn't start out as a fan of Shakespeare. I didn't have the patience to read him slowly or out loud. It wasn't until years later when my husband began to read Shakespeare to me and then to perform in his plays that I realized how incredible the Master Dramatist really was. Since then, I've fallen completely in love with his works and try to see as much of it as I can.

It helps that my husband regularly performs in the state Shakespeare festival and that as a local theater reviewer, I get to attend many performances.

So while I typically see anywhere from three to five productions of Shakepeare each year, I hadn't seen Hamlet since that first production twenty years ago. That is, not until last year.

The 2005-2006 theater season was definitely my year for Hamlet. Through the course of the season, I saw four different productions of Hamlet, some of them more than once. Each production had its own interpretations, underscoring what very rich text this best of all Shakespearean tragedies is.

It began last fall when a colleague of my husband invited us out to see him perform the title role at Grand Valley State University. It was a stunning production, one accompanied by chamber music and that included everything—including Polonius’ spy and all of the Fortinbras material.

A month later, my husband and I headed out to Kalamazoo to see the identical twin of that same colleague perform the same role. The play was cut differently and performed in a more intimate setting, but it was an incredible experience to see two such excellent performances so close together and by people who looked so much alike.

Then, partly inspired by a visit from the colleague mentioned above, the fifth and sixth grade Montessori students that my husband teaches begged to be allowed to do Hamlet for their end-of-year production. Who is going to turn down a request like that? So they performed Hambits—Scenes from Hamlet.

Finally, this summer my husband performed in a production of Hamlet for the Michigan Shakespeare Festival, playing the roles of Bernardo, Player Queen, and various others. We brought our Montessori students to see the show in a one-day camp experience.

Unlike my first experience which left me listless, each of these performances were stunning and each one brought the text alive to me in some new way. I understand now why Hamlet is considered Shakespeare's best work and I hope that it will continue to be a part of my life throughout the years.

If you haven't read it or seen it since high school (assuming you've already left those hallowed halls), consider taking another turn through it. It might surprise you how it improves with age (yours, not its).

Marina Lewycka's history is more of the heart than of tractors

2006-10-05T09:46:00.000-07:00

When Marina Lewycka's novel first came out, it was apparently miscategorized in some bookstores and placed in the agricultural section. A somewhat understandable mistake given the unusual title of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. Now, granted, the final word should have been a title as it isn't a foreign language book, but grammatical errors have been known to sneak into titles before.

I read this book over the summer on the recommendation of FSB Associates, the folks who are hosting the Love of Reading Online Book Fair that ends today (you have gone to visit there, haven't you?). It was a wonderful recommendation and both my husband and I got a great deal of enjoyment out of the way this book was written. My full review is now posted at Book Help Web. Here's a teaser for you:

There may be tractors in Marina Lewycka's book, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, but it isn't a book about tractors. And even though the book does, in fact, give the history of tractors, it isn't a history book.

Rather, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian is a story about family. The history of tractors is a parallel story to that of Nadezhda, Vera, and their elderly father, Kolya.

At first glance, it seems nothing more than the most mundane of themes. What could possibly be exciting about tractors? How could the story of an old man falling for a pretty, young, blonde, gold digger be anything but stereotypical and trite?

Yet both these stories hold surprises and hidden appeal. They take unexpected turns that make it worthwhile to look beyond the surface. No, things aren't always as they appear. More importantly, even when things are as they appear, they aren't always motivated by what we assume is the motivator.

Love of Reading

2006-10-04T05:35:00.000-07:00

Like most parents, I was eager for my son to learn to read. Ringing in my head were the stories from both my parents and my in-laws about the age at which myself and my husband had learned to read. My sister-in-law regaled us with tales about how her daughter--only a year older than our son--had taken to reading like a cat to catnip.

Our son, however, was holding out. He insisted that he wasn't going to learn to read until he was seven. Given that the lad is as strong-willed as both his parents put together, there didn't seem much that we could do about this and we didn't want to turn reading into a source of argument or heartache.

So we did what parents do. We read to him nightly, we let him see us reading, and we filled his room with books that matched his interests.

But while we said nothing further to him, I still worried. What would happen if our son didn't like to read? What would life be like without reading as a primary source of entertainment? How would our son learn about the world around him if he couldn't read or veiwed it as an arduous chore? How would he stretch his imagination and learn to empathize with others?

It was beyond my ability to imagine life without reading. I can't remember ever not being able to read and books were often my best friends throughout childhood. When I go back now and read the books of my youth, it is like being reunited with an old friend--a friend who has memories of me as well as my having memories of it.

Growing up, I remember wondering whether it would be possible to find a career in which I could do nothing but read. In that way, I have indeed been richly blessed. Working as a copy editor on a busy daily news desk, it was part of my duty to read everything that came across the wire and determine whether it was important enough to get into the paper. Later, as an editor, I got to read every day and try to make what I was reading more useful for other readers. In a way, it's been a dream of a career.

Now, for the past six years, I've been a book reviewer, once again taking deep pleasure in devouring books of all sorts. If left to my own devices, I'm likely to be curled up with a historical mystery, juvenile fiction, or fantasy novels. Thankfully, I've not been left to my own devices and instead I am reading a wide variety of books in order to review them. This past summer brought some particularly delicious reads. Kim Edwards' The Memory Keeper's Daughter was completely stunning. I was almost too in awe of her to interview her for Book Help Web. Then Kevin Clash's My Life as a Furry Red Monster was a delightfully optimistic read--one that bolstered my spirits while opening a window onto a segment of the performing arts world that I knew only a little about. Then I ended the summer with the wry, humorous work of Ken Jennings: Brainiac, a memoir that was far funnier than I was expecting it to be. (And if you check back later this month, we'll be running an interview with him as well.)

Nearly 16 years ago, I decided I didn't want nor need a television. It's not that I thought television was evil or that I didn't enjoy much of the programming on it. But I saw it as a time robber--something that took time away from playing games with friends, spending precious moments with my husband, or curling up with my beloved books.

My husband is as avid a reader as I am, indeed, he reads books much faster than I do and I can polish off a novel in a single evening's reading if the novel is compelling enough (certainly once I started, I wasn't able to put down either The Memory Keeper's Daughter or Michael Connelly's Echo Park until I'd turned the last page).

So how was it that our son could resist reading?

Well, I needn't have worried. He was true to his word and started reading after he turned seven. A year and a half later, he's polishing off Harry Potter and Peter and the Star Catchers novels and begging for more. He was even able to read to me from Macbeth and Twelfth Night.

And so I'm at ease, knowing that whatever else happens in his life, he'll always have the companionship of books to act as a compass and a friend.

Books: Do they isolate or connect us?

2006-10-03T18:26:00.000-07:00

Several years ago, I was working on a writing project with a colleague in another state and staying at her home. I remember feeling shocked when she told me she hadn't read a book for pleasure in nearly 15 years. I'm one of those people who get grumpy if I haven't read for a couple of days. I think I'd be impossible to live with if I tried to go a week without a book.

My friend went on to express concerns about her daughter who, she felt, was reading too much. I had to ask for clarification on this statement, because I didn't understand how someone, especially a 13-year-old girl, could read too much. I felt almost as though I had entered the Twilight Zone. She went on to say that the punishment she used most frequently with her daughter was to take away her leisure reading time.

While I'm not one to interfere or criticize another person's parenting techniques I had to question this. Why was reading a problem?

The answer was that she said reading was escapism and isolated her daughter from other people. It robbed her of social opportunities that she ought to be taking advantage of.

It was a different perspective and one I spent the next couple years thinking about. Was there something wrong with me because I had spent my whole childhood reading? Would I be a healthier person had I not read so much as a teenager?

During this past year, I realized very firmly what my answers were to those questions. For you see, I don't think that reading is a solitary pasttime. Certainly, you're alone when you do it. However, reading is something that helps us connect with other people. They help us to understand each other and the world around us. They let us explore ways of communicating with each other and let us peek into the thought processes of people who are different from ourselves.

Also, the more we read, the more likely we are to be able to connect with people who have read the same things that we have. I sat and listened to a group of my friends banter the other night. We're a fairly well-read group, and the pop culture references that were being bandied about were far more often from books than from television or movies. The things that we've read form a bond between us that molds our language and spices our conversation.

Even those books that we don't have in common provide fertile ground for discussions as we share with each other new ideas we've encountered or particular styles that tickle our fancy.

If we didn't read, we'd have far less in common with each other.

Now, with the Internet, books are connecting us even more. Book lovers from around the globe are able to connect with each other over their favorite books. Then can analyze in detail books in a series and share each other's guesses about what comes next. We meet on bulletin boards, in online book clubs, and at each other's blogs. We visit book sites and review sites and glean all the information we can so that when we meet, we have even more to talk about.

It's one of the reasons why I've been excited about the Love of Reading Online Book Fair that's running this week. It's yet another way that book lovers are connecting with each other and proving once again that books don't isolate us and rob us of golden opportunities. Instead, they bring us together and make our connections with our fellow human beings all the stronger.

Banned Book Week is over

2006-10-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

Last week was banned book week.

It's something I thought about blogging, but never really resolved my ambiguous feelings about it. I tend to be of the opinion that it's more complex than the sound bites sometimes make it out to be.

First, what does it really mean to ban a book? From what I've seen, a book can make it on the banned list for being removed from an elementary school library. Yet, there are some books that don't belong in an elementary school library. If a young child is really ready for the heavier stuff, he or she can get it from the public library. However, who would really want D.H. Lawerence on a fourth grade reading list?

Now granted, I think we often underestimate young readers. Or worse yet, we try to protect them from things that they shouldn't be protected from. One of the valuable functions of art--whether it is literature, drama, music, or paintings, is that it lets people experience unsafe things in a safe setting. It provides people the opportunity to explore consequences of actions without actually having to experience those consequences. It's why I cringe when I hear parents say they don't want their junior high children reading anything violent. Whyever not? Isn't it better they explore violence in the context of black ink on white pages than to have to experience it with no foreknowledge?

That said, I think it wise to consider carefully what we offer in our classrooms even while allowing people of all ages absolute freedom in what they read outside of the classroom. There are times I'd like to ban some of the horrid Disney books that are riddled with grammatical errors, but I'll limit myself to refusing to buy them or read them aloud. That said, if one of them were being offered as curriculum in a local school, I might find myself objecting.

There is a difference between censorship and gatekeeping. Gatekeeping is something that ought to be done more often so that we can encourage high quality reading experiences.

Sheila Williams and Communicating Online

2006-10-02T07:57:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the most frequent question I get here at Book Help Web is how to contact an author. Most of the time, I don't have contact information that I can give out. I can only recommend that the person contact the author's publisher or send an e-mail through his or her Website.

It's one of the reasons it is encouraging to have more and more authors who are communicating with their readers through e-mails and online communication. Sheila Williams talks about her love for e-mails and her online readers at the Love of Reading book fair.

I found it interesting that though she gets hundreds of e-mails, she's received only three letters through the mail in the past five years. We just don't write letters as often as we used to. We're far more spontaneous and think nothing of taking two minutes to write an author just to tell him or her how much we liked (or didn't) what we read.

I'm not terribly suprised that Sheila Williams is so open to e-mail. I read her book Girls Most Likely earlier this year. It was a book that demonstrated what a warm and personable person its author was. She has a beautiful writing style that was warm and engaging. Here's what I had to say earlier this year:

Sheila Williams' Girls Most Likely demands an immediate adjective. Something like elegant or compelling or soulful. Perhaps gripping or mesmerizing or enthralling. But while all of those adjectives would work, they must be rejected as inadequate.

Girls Most Likely is, indeed, something special. Perhaps that is because it appears to be one thing while slowly revealing itself to be something more. On one level, it is a perfectly ordinary book. It tells the story of four women, four friends, from when they meet in fifth grade to their 30th high school reunion. They maintain a fast friendship, albeit with some pretty major fissures, protecting each other and each other's secrets.

On another level, it's a richly lyrical and metaphorical book which looks with great affection upon four decades in the lives of four archetypical examples of womanly success. It's a book of ideas and of relationships. It's a book about our definitions of success and how we hollow ourselves out in pursuit of those elusive pictures.

If you haven't had the chance, I'd encourage you to check out Sheila Williams, either at the book fair or in her pages--or better yet, at both.

More Unfortunate Events

2006-10-02T07:33:00.000-07:00

Only 11 more days until The End. Are you ready?

We're almost ready here at Book Help Web. Take a look for yourself:

The Wide Window
Book the Third, The Wide Window, continues the traditions of the first two books and begins to reveal that there is more to the series than previously thought.
The Ersatz Elevator

It's hard not to love a children's book which uses "ersatz" in the title and then proceeds to very clearly define exactly what it means. Not that it is coldly defined in Webster-ese. Rather it is defined Lemony Snicket style, with humor and repeated plot illustrations making Book the Sixth in A Series of Unfortunate Events an incredibly fun vocabulary lesson.

The Vile Village

No one is safe from the wicked satire of Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket). Every one of the 12 books thus far in the Series of Unfortunate Events turns a satiric spotlight on some institution, person, or organization. In The Vile Village, it's Hillary Clinton's turn on the hot seat.

The Hostile Hospital

While hospitals are meant to be places of healing and aid, it's not unusual for their patients to come out feeling somewhat hostile. This is especially true for people who arrive at the hospital in a van filled with interminably cheerful and useless volunteers while fleeing from a Vile Village of crow devotees who want to execute you on trumped-up murder charges. You might feel even more hostile if you were drafted into a filing job in which you were forbidden to read anything (even the file on you) and then an actor disguised your siblings as surgeons and tried to force them to saw your head off.

The Carnivorous Carnival

Despite the very serious themes and the pessimistic outlook, it is a well-plotted, well-written book that continues to pose challenging questions while staying highly entertaining.

The Slippery Slope

The Slippery Slope is one of the better books in the series. It has a quick moving plot, lots of quirkiness, and explores difficult questions of ethics and morality. In all, it's a winner.

And there will be more to come this week and next!

Peter Ames Carlin and Catch a Wave

2006-09-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

Peter Ames Carlin is a reporter who is devoted to his subject.

Carlin has been a journalist for many years and is currently a television critic for The Oregonian newspaper. He's also freelanced for many major publications.

His passion, though, is for music, particularly if it is music being performed by Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. He's the biographer for Brian Wilson and has recently published Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall & Redemption of Brian Wilson. It's a biography that weaves song lyrics throughout.

Our reviewer's bottom line take on the book?

Go for it. Brian Wilson is important, and Peter Ames Carlin has probably written the definitive account of his life to date. Just remember to check for the hints of biographer bias that sometimes creep through.

But he has lots more good stuff to say about it. Go check it out for yourself.

Reading for a Year

2006-09-29T07:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I mentioned the upcoming Book Fair.

Today, I want to talk about one of the giveaways that they're doing: Namely, a giveaway in which you can win "reading for a year"--that is, if you read only one book a month. They'll be giving away a set of 12 books to three winners during the three days. The winners will get to choose 12 books out of a list of 36.

There are some great titles on that list too. Books such as Frank Rich's The Greatest Story Ever Sold and Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale are both dominating the bestseller lists right now. Mitch Albom's latest book is on the list as is Dean Koontz' The Husband.

Books that you have read about here at Book Help Web include Kevin Clash's My Life as a Furry Red Monster and Kim Edwards' The Memory Keeper's Daughter.

But don't take my word for it, go check the books out for yourself and enter the contest on Oct. 3.

Book Fair

2006-09-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

Did you save the date? Because the online book fair is getting closer.

If you'd like a preview of some of the things going on, check out www.loveofreading.com

Book Help Web is exited to a sponsor of this event. In the past we've often worked with the incredible folks over at FSB Associates, the organizers and hosts of the book fair. They're quite the experts in online book publicity and are responsible for many of the author Web sites you can find around the Web. They also provide book excerpts that sites can use from new and upcoming books.

The book fair will run from Oct. 3-5 and will include hourly book raffles, giveaways for a years wroth of reading, and giveaways for book clubs. It will also feature blogs, author interviews, and articles contributed by authors.

All around it looks like it's going to be a blast.

Don't miss it!

Ken Jennings: Brainiac

2006-09-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

Ken Jennings achieved pop culture cult status after his 75-show run on Jeopardy! He was quickly labeled as the smartest man in America and such places as ESPN revised him as the nerd you wanted to punch out.

This month, he published his Jeopardy! memoirs and an in-depth look at the sociology of trivia in our society. Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs turned out to be a fascinating book written by a very funny, self-effacing and humble man. Ken Jennings as a person is imminently likeable. His writing style is equally engaging and entertaining.

You can read more about both Ken Jennings and his new book by following the links above. Also, watch this spot in the next couple of weeks for an exclusive interview with the trivia master who is currently touring the U.S. promoting his book.

The Bad Beginning

2006-09-25T06:58:00.000-07:00

Part of the fun of The Series of Unfortunate Events is the disingenuousness of the narrator and the titles he chooses.

Yes, what happens in The Bad Beginning is unfortunate for the orphans. But it is far from a bad beginning for the readers. Instead, this gothic-toned tale is one that inspires laughter and intense appreciation. Daniel Handler, in the person of Lemony Snicket, has created a wonderful series that deserves every ounce of popularity it has gained.

It's a series which turns its back on commercially popular books for children. It doesn't go for cute or harmless. It doesn't refuse to include violence. It doesn't suggest that children can read only small words and fluffy stories. Rather, it trusts its young readers while gently poking fun at other happier types of books.

Handler also litters the books with fun references both literary and scientific. There are little hidden gems that make the books fun to read again and again.

In October, on Friday the 13th to be exact, The End will be released. Leading up to that time, we'll be posting reviews on Book Help Web of the series up to this point. Stay tuned and enjoy!

Daniel Silva: "There is evil in the world. We have a cynical, barbaric enemy who loves death."

2006-09-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago now, I attended a book signing by Daniel Silva. He was touring to promote his latest book The Messenger.

It was a fascinating discussion to attend as I was previously unfamiliar with his work and knew only that his novel had quickly shot up the bestseller list (though it also disappeared pretty quickly). I purchased the book at the store that day and settled in to listen to his lecture.

From my previous research into him, I knew that he had been a television journalist, achieving fairly lofty statuses as a foreign correspondent for CNN and political correspondent for UPI. He later wrote news for many of the major CNN news and talk shows. At the signing he talked about how that experience laid the foundation for novel writing and in particular espionage writing.

It was also a fascinating introduction to a character and a world that gave me a wonderful background before I sat down and read The Messenger. It even made me a little more forgiving of a choice he makes about his wife as it was one that fans of the series were very supportive of and encouraging him to do. It made me willing to suspend disbelief that perhaps it wasn't as callous as it seemed at first read.

If you'd like to read more about what Daniel Silva had to say about his writing, his characters, and his books, you can read my write-up of the book signing here.

I was fascinated enough that I not only quickly read The Messenger, but also picked up a couple more of books from earlier in the series.

My Life as a Furry Red Monster

2006-09-21T15:32:00.000-07:00

One of my summer reads that was wonderfully refreshing was Kevin Clash's memoir of his life as the creator of Elmo.

Here was a memoir that was free of gossip, bitterness, and maliciousness. Clash has no axes to grind--or if he does, he kept them well-hidden. Instead, he shares with readers his pure joy and deep gratitude for the opportunity he's had to live his dream.

The book, My Life as a Furry Red Monster, is also a fun look inside the career of puppeteering and life on Sesame Street.

Kevin Clash has spent the past 30 years with Sesame Street. He's won three Emmys for performances and six Emmys as the co-executive producer of Elmo's World.

Inkheart and Inkspell

2006-09-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

I'm always a little disappointed when I read a book that I'm really expecting to like and then I don't.

Even worse is when a book starts out really intriguing and then just sort of falls apart. Cornelia Funke's Inkheart was that way. I started out really enjoying it as my son and I listened to it on an audio recording during a cross-country drive we were making. The reading was done extremely well and I was fascinated by the premise and by the characters.

But it just couldn't hold itself up. The characters kept doing incredibly stupid things and the only reason seemed to be that the plot was demanding it. There was no explanation given for why these otherwise intelligent people would act the way that they did.

Yet, my disappointment with Inkheart didn't stop me from buying Inkspell--and in hardcover no less.

I'm mostly glad that I did. The sophomore offering in the series was far better than the first even though it ended on a cliffhanger that will launch the next book. It still had a lot of the same flaws as the first, but it also had all of the charm and the characters did start to become a little better motivated.

I'll have a review up sometime soon for those interested in reading it.

Rowling and airliner

2006-09-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

New airline security has been saying no books on flights. This caused a bit of difficulty for a famous author recently.

J.K. Rowling was visiting the States for a fund-raiser with Stephen King and John Irving. On her way home, she was stopped by airline security who told her she'd have to part with the manuscript she was so closely guarding. The only problem was that this was the manuscript to the final Harry Potter book--one that she had been working on longhand during her U.S. stay and had no backup copies of.

Thankfully, another security guard recognized her and came to her and the manuscript's rescue.

Daniel Handler on Book Help Web

2006-09-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

Now that I've sent you over to the Book Standard, let me welcome you back and point you in the direction of our Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) profile. While we have one review up right now, the recently released Beatrice Letters, I'm working with the ever-laboring Webmaster to try to get reviews of the first 12 books up before The End comes out on Friday, Oct. 13.

So stay tuned for The End.

Daniel Handler with The Book Standard

2006-09-15T11:36:00.000-07:00

All right, usually I like to direct you to interviews at Book Help Web, not elsewhere on the Web. However, I read one today that was so much fun that I just have to share it.

Daniel Handler is proving to be as witty and wry in interviews as he is in his writing. The Book Standard interviewed him this week. The full interview is here:

http://www.bookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/author/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003122506

Enjoy!

Free downloads of out-of-print books

2006-09-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

Google is taking a step forward in its massive online literature project. Its Google Book Search once limited users to reading texts online. Now all public domain books can be downloaded and printed--a huge step forward to anyone wanting to teach these works, study them, or perform them.

This is also likely to be a huge boon for students and researchers who can now find lots of old, out-of-copyright works and easily print out sections to file away for research purposes. It's also especially appealing because you can use Google search within the books to find particular passages or information. It's better than even the best index.

Save the date

2006-09-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

If you're a book lover, you're going to want to set aside some time to be online from Oct. 3-5.

FSB Associates, one of the premier book Web publicists in the industry, is holding an online book fair. It looks to be the first event of its kind and they've spent months preparing it. The fair will include hourly book giveaways, podcasts with authors, book club giveaways, a reading for a year promotion, and excerpts from books.

They've also recruited such authors as Sue Grafton to do a reading from her book and other authors to share their favorite reading. And, like any good book fair, they'll have an exhibit hall of books.

Watch this space for more information as the book fair gets closer.

Talking to Kim Edwards

2006-09-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, you may remember me raving about Kim Edwards and The Memory Keeper's Daughter.

I'm fortunate to get the opportunity to read a lot of good books. The Memory Keeper's Daughter continues to stand out as the best among many good books that I read this summer. It was truly stunning and I know that every time I go back and re-read it, I'll have more to think about and analyze.

Given the incredible experience I had reading the book, it was even more of a blessing to be able to interview Kim Edwards for Book Help Web. In it she talks about how important the sound of her writing is to her and that, "There's a constant interplay between the intuitive moments of inspiration and the more analytical shaping; writing involves both creative aspects."

She was as delightful to interview as her book was to read. I hope that you will now enjoy her words and if you haven't already--do buy and read her book. You'll be glad that you did.

Everybody dies

2006-09-08T07:32:00.000-07:00

It must be the new thing in children's literature. First, J.K. Rowling warns us to expect two deaths in the final installment of the Harry Potter series.

Now, Lemony Snicket--who has had no shortage of deaths in his Series of Unfortunate Events so far--is warning us in a Newsweek article that there will be two deaths in his The End, coming out on Oct. 13.

No one need worry about young readers being overprotected. Nor am I going to start raving about "the good ol' days" as I still have a well-worn copy of Bridge to Terabithia.

Vote for Quill Awards

2006-09-07T19:39:00.000-07:00

Last year, a new organization emerged to award outstanding books and generate excitement about reading. The organization was called The Quills Literary Foundation and they began giving out annual awards. It was founded by Reed Business Information (the company that owns Publishers Weekly) and NBC.

The awards were chosen through reader polls--with the news being spread by such organizations as Parade Magazine, Borders, Barnes & Noble, and the American Booksellers Association.

For the first year, awards were given to:

Book of the Year
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Debut Author of the Year
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Audiobook
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America by Jon Stewart

Children's Illustrated Book
Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook by Shel Silverstein

Children's Chapter Book/Middle Grade
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Young Adult/Teen
Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares

General Fiction
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

Graphic Novel
Marvel 1602 Volume 1 by Neil Gaiman

Mystery/Suspense Thriller
Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich

Poetry
Let America be America Again by Langston Hughes

Romance
44 Cranberry Point by Debbie Macomber

Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror
The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Story of Christmas Terror by Christopher Moore

Religion/Spirituality
Peace is the Way: Bringing War and Violence to an End by Deepak Chopra

Biography/Memoir
Chronicles: Volume 1 by Bob Dylan

Business
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

Cooking
Rachel Ray's 30-minute Get Real Meals: Eat Healthy Without Going to Extremes by Rachel Ray

Health/Self-Improvement
He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo

History/Current Events/Politics
1776 by David McCullough

Humor
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America by Jon Stewart

Sports
Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season by Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King

Now year two of the Quill Awards is coming up. Would you like to have your say in what books were best this year? If so, go ahead and cast your vote right here.

Many of the nominees are books that we've talked about either here in this blog or have posted profiles and reviews of at Book Help Web. Many of you might remember us discussing such nominees as:

John Grogan's Marley and Me
Carl Hiassen's Flush
Cornelia Funke's Inkspell (actually, we haven't posted that review yet, but it's in the queue and will be up any day now)
Janet Evanovich's Twelve Sharp
George R.R. Martin's A Feast For Crows
Anderson Cooper's Dispatches from the Edge
Bill Buford's Heat
Julia Child's My Life in France
Tim Russert's Wisdom of Our Fathers
Al Gore
Maya Angelou
Elizabeth Peters
Arthur Conan Doyle
Stephen King

Books for Adult Women

2006-09-05T07:51:00.000-07:00

Chick lit can be a fun, wonderful thing. But not all female readers are in their early 20s and obsessing over issues of dating and weight loss.

Hyperion has created a new publishing line for mature women called Voice. And no, they're not using "mature" as a euphemism for "over 65". Rather, they're looking to publish books that appeal to women who are in the middle or late stages of their life. Women with concerns that go beyond the initial falling in love and launching a career.

Launched by Hyperion publisher Ellen Archer and the former Viking executive Pamela Dorman (an editor on such projects as Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees and Kim Edwards' The Memory Keeper's Daughter), their first five books are due out this month and all are intended to appeal to women over 30. They're books that are about such things as balancing career and family and modern feminism.

Some of the first books will include:

The Feminine Mistake by Leslie Bennetts
Life's a Beach by Claire Cook
The Empty Nest, edited by Karen Stabiner

Peter Pan

2006-09-05T07:24:00.000-07:00

Peter Pan is the boy who never grew up and it appears that he's also the story who will never die.

J.M. Barrie wrote Peter Pan as a stage play in the early part of the 20th century. It was later made into a Disney classic that was 20 years in the making.

In recent years, Finding Neverland was released as a major motion picture and Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson wrote two prequels--Peter and the Starcatchers and Peter and the Shadow Theives. The latter two books both shot up to bestseller ranks immediately upon release.

But now comes the first official sequel, a sequel chosen by the children's hospital which holds the rights to the Peter Pan charcters. There's a fascinating story in the New York Times that tells the story of how this sequel came to be. Despite the publisher locking down prepublication copies so that the story can't get out ahead of time, the Times managed to get a copy of the manuscript and share some tidbits from it.

Given the worthy cause that the royalties go to, here's hoping the new Peter Pan, Peter Pan in Scarlet, enjoys success similar to the original.

Mid-term Elections

2006-09-05T07:12:00.000-07:00

I wonder whether politicians (or the people they hire to manage their campaigns) ever look at bestseller lists.

It was an idle thought that came to mind as I perused Amazon's list of topselling books. It was telling to me that six of the top seven all had political or economic overtones. They seemed like almost a laundry list of things that people appear to care about:

Lawerence Wright's The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century
Thomas Ricks' Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq
North American Business Islamic Directory
Steven Levitt's Freakonomics
Patrick Buchanan's State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America

Granted, the lists are fickle enough that it would be difficult for anyone to develop any sort of hardfast theories about what message is going to sell with the public, but it does appear that at least the reading public are interested in educating themselves on important issues.

Labor Day Reading

2006-09-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

It was a quiet day in the Redman household today. In between making turkey leftover dishes for the week (mostly turkey soup and a casserole) and playing family games (Dread Pirate was the day's favorite), we all curled up with different books.

My husband re-read a book by a mutual favorite author of ours, Stephen Saylor. It was one of the more recent titles, Last Seen in Massilia. It's one of the more heart-breaking ones in the series.

My son got to the mid-way point on his first encounter with J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

As for myself, I finished up two new books: Kevin Clash's My Life as a Furry Red Monster and Jesse Kellerman's 3m1w. I'll have more to say about both of those in the days to come. Jesse Kellerman, son to novelists Jonathan and Faye Kellerman, will be featured in an exclusive interview at Book Help Web in the upcoming weeks. Given how entertaining his play was, I have high expectations for the interview.

I hope you also had a good weekend.

Labor Day Weekend

2006-09-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

Here we are in September and I never got to an "August is..." posting last month.

Nor will I be doing September today as there is an eager line for the computer standing behind me.
Labor Day often marks the unofficial start of fall though. I've already noticed an increase in the number of people visiting pages of books that are often assigned in school. Makes me wonder whether there is a sudden rash of kids cramming in their summer reading at the last minute.

Me, I always spent my entire summers reading. My parents have pictures of me lying out at the beach reading a Nancy Drew or a Judy Blume book. Later as a teenager, I'd have a journal where I'd be writing in it or letters to the penpals with whom I'd exchange stories.

Summer was always the time for reading--reading books that I wanted to read and that became my friends, my entertainment, and my window to exciting new worlds. Not a whole lot has changed even though I don't get a summer vacation anymore. I still find myself reading more in the summer than I'm able to through the rest of the year.

This was the summer that I discovered new authors in genres that I rarely read (most of whom I've already blogged here). Currently, I'm reading a memoir by Kevin Clash, the puppetteer who created Elmo and it's a wonderful, uplifting read. Sitting on my table are several other books that I don't seem to be able to get to with the same speed that I devoured books for most of the summer.

Pity, too, because they look just as luscious.

Back to School with Alexandra Robbins

2006-08-29T06:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my son's first day back at school. He's entering third grade which means it is the start of his sixth year at the Montessori school. It's a school that I've been thrilled with for many reasons--one of which is their de-emphasis on academics and their sharp focus on helping children to be well-rounded members of their community.

I've been especially thrilled with the lack of standardized testing done at the school. Even the ones that they are mandated to take are given with minimal fuss. They don't devote class periods to test preparation and they don't talk about the scores afterward. The testing requirement is fulfilled and then the children get back to the business of learning.

So it is with this philosophy that I began reading Alexandra Robbins' The Overachievers: The Secret Life of Driven Kids. Released this month, Robbins explores the overachievement culture that has been fueled by college admissions frenzy. But this is not some dry text filled with academic analysis of one statistic after another. Robbins begins by following nine students (whom we later learn is only eight) through three semesters of school. They range in age from juniors in high school to a freshman at Harvard.

These are all highly articulate, interesting students who are very open with their experiences. In between anecdotes about their lives, Robbins explores various issues affecting kids across our society. It's a riveting story that weaves together many strands that have been in the news to show a tapestry with a rather alarming picture on it.

I was a fairly active high school student. I took college prep courses, got good grades, scored well on standardized tests, and was involved in a wealth of extracurricular activities through school, the community, and my church. I worked up to four jobs at any one time and tested out of a year of college. The kids in this book make me look like I was a slacker. They carry incredibly heavy loads of activities and classwork. The one student took 19 AP courses and never earned less than an unweighted 4.0. There are star athletes and students who devote a large amount of time to charity work. Their SAT scores are extremely high and when they're not, they retake them. Despite all this, one is told that she shouldn't even bother applying to Stanford and others find themselves waitlisted for the schools of their choice.

The Overachievers was a book that I couldn't get enough of. I found myself constantly reading passages aloud to my husband and other friends. I wanted everyone I knew who had a child or was involved in education to read it because there was simply too much stuff in it to be able to summarize in a single conversation--or even several.

It's a book that I'll be giving as gifts to several people I know, including the administrator at my son's school. Thankfully for my family, though, she isn't someone who "needs" the book. She already runs her school in a way that avoids many of the dangers found in this book. I think she'll find herself cheering Robbins on chapter after chapter. But I'm going to give it to her anyway because I think she meets lots of people for whom this book will be an eye-opener and perhaps even life-changing. I want her to be able to recommend it as well.

My interview with Alexandra Robbins was posted on Book Help Web yesterday. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did and that if you are a parent or an educator, that I might inspire you to take a look at this book.

2006-08-28T11:49:00.000-07:00

It's been interesting of late to watch the bestseller lists and what shows up on them.

Of course, there isn't a single bestseller list. Everyone seems to pull data from different places, so you get different results from The New York Times, USA Today, The Book Standard, etc. I also enjoy comparing those to the Amazon lists.

This has been an interesting summer as non-fiction books have dominated all the lists. There hasn't been a huge crop of summer blockbusters, though there have been a few. The Book Standard announced last week that Kim Edwards was back on top of the list with her The Memory Keeper's Daughter. That one doesn't surprise me much. It was perhaps the best read I had this summer and I read a lot of good books this summer.

I was also pleased to read that news this morning as I'd just completed an interview with Kim Edwards that will be up on Book Help Web in a couple weeks.

Another book that debuted on the lists last week was Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People. Pilkey is a favorite around our house with my 8-year-old son.

However, it's definitely been a summer for non-fiction. Coming up later this week, we have an interview with Alexandra Robbins, an investigative reporter who wrote one of this summer's non-fiction offerings.. I'll write more about that in the next day or so.

Mary Higgins Clark

2006-08-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

Mary Higgins Clark is one of those writers that for the longest time I'd managed to miss. I knew the name, but hadn't read anything other than the occasional short story by her. I set out to rectify that earlier this year and started in on a pile of her books.

One of the first ones I read was quite good even though it was somewhat dated. A Cry in the Night was chilling and an enjoyable read. I also really enjoyed reading All Around the Town. Both were excellent examples of the suspense novel. The main character in both novels found herself in frightening situations in which there seemed no way out.

Mary Higgins Clark also seems to explore different themes or twists in each book. A Cry in the Night talks about a woman who gets cut off from help by a husband who has convinced everyone that she's dangerous and going mad. In All Around the Town, the main character is suffering from split personalities because of trauma she experienced as a child.

Reviews of both those books are now posted at Book Help Web.

Cultural literacy

2006-08-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

I got into an interesting discussion with some friends over the weekend.

There are always those folks (such as Howard Bloom) who insist that in order to be culturally literate you have to have read all the books on a particular list.We determined that the relevance of cultural literacy is much more narrow than that. Cultural literacy is most relevant in the circles where you interact. Among friends, what provides the common language and common culture?

So we set out to try to come up with a list (or at least a few titles) of the books that all of us had read cover to cover. It was an amusing exercise and there were definitely books that would be irrelevant to people outside our cultural subgroup while others are probably pretty common.

For us, the list included:

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King
C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman
Arthur Miller, All My Sons
Joseph Kesserling, Arsenic and Old Lace
TSR, Player's Handbook, 2nd ed.
Christopher Marlowe, Faustus
Most of the Dr. Seuss canon
Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer
Frederick Gipson, Old Yeller
Joseph Heller, Catch-22
The U.S. Constitution

Most of us had read The Canterbury Tales but two of us couldn't sworn we'd read it cover to cover, though we knew we'd read most of it. We couldn't claim the complete works of William Shakespeare, but all of us had read all the tragedies, romances, comedies, and sonnets. Some of us hadn't read all of the histories yet.

Then, of course, there were a lot of books where all but one of us had read it. There were also a couple of divisions that went along gender or age lines. Likewise, most couples had a far longer common reading list than those they shared with the rest in the group. Regionalisms didn't seem to matter a whole lot, though most of us in the group were from the upper Midwest.

What about you? Think about your group of friends. Do you think there are books that all of you have read? What happens when you take out books read in school? Are there books that are in your circle that are probably uncommon elsewhere?

Book Help Web updates

2006-08-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

We've had all sorts of new content put up on Book Help Web over the past few days. Normally, I like to blog each one of them separately, but the list is starting to get a little lengthy.

Ron Suskind is the author of the current bestseller, The One Percent Doctrine. He's a Pulitizer Prize winner who is also a Dartmouth scholar.

Laurell K. Hamilton hardly needs any introduction by me, given her popularity and prolifity (is that a word?). She owns the horror genre and is constantly putting out books that are gobbled up by her fans. One of these days, we'll get some reviews up of her books to go with the new profile.

Lincoln Child and his writing partner, Douglas Preston, both have wonderfully droll sense of humor, a trait that has served them well in the book publishing arena. I was greatly amused by the Rogue's Gallery on their site where they responded to bad reviews.

Matt Ruff is a writer who ignores the "book a year" mantra that many of his fellow professionals chant. Nor is he one to stick with a single genre. Instead, he puts out books every couple years, each one in a different genre. In addition to his Book Help Web profile, you can also read a review of Fool on the Hill.

On a more literary note, there is Mario Vargas Llosa, a writer from Bolivia who has written numerous novels, essays, plays, and literary criticism.

You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again

2006-08-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

Several years ago, I was the judge for a book contest that recognized the efforts of small and self-publishers. There were two large boxes of books that had to be read and they covered a whole spectrum of quality.

One of the books that I particularly enjoyed and ended up recommending to several other people was a book called You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again by Suzanne Hansen. She was a nanny who had a negative nannying experience with a big-time Hollywood producer, followed by some pleasant ones with such actors as the DeVitos.

I didn't really see much of the book again until today. Turns out it was picked up by Crown Publisher in December 2005. Today, The Book Standard announced that Fox Network bought the rights for it and plan to turn it into a sitcom with Marty Adelstein as the producer.

Hansen won't be getting rich on the deal, though it certainly is a nice bonus. Reports are that she was paid somewhere between $50,000 and $90,000, according to Publisher's Marketplace.

New Interview: Cornelia Read & A Field of Darkness

2006-08-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

Back in early 2000, I stumbled across a site called Epinions.com. They were a site that was looking for reviews on a huge range of products. After writing a couple of toy reviews, I settled quite contentedly into the books category and have rarely strayed from there in the ensuing six years.

Part of the attraction to the books category--aside from the fact that there are book reviews there--was the people whom you met while writing and reading reviews. There were a huge diversity of people from all walks of life, many of whom were outstanding writers.

One of those erudite and personable writers spent a few years there and then moved on. I didn't hear of her again until earlier this year when she published a book through Mysterious Press called A Field of Darkness, a book that met with immediate critical acclaim. Author Lee Child declared it one of the best debut novels he'd read and invited its author, Cornelia Read, to go on a book tour with him. Kirkus Reviews called it one of the top ten mysteries of the season. It was favorably reviewed in the New York Times. Not bad for a first novel.

After reading the book myself and being duly impressed, I asked Cornelia whether she'd be interviewed for Book Help Web. She agreed and we've put her comments up on our home page and the interview page. I hope you enjoy them both!

Daniel Silva & The Messenger

2006-08-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to a discussion and book signing featuring Daniel Silva. He was promoting his latest book, The Messenger, a book that debuted this week in the #3 spot on the New York Times bestseller list.

It was the first time I'd ever been to a book signing for as much as I love books, I'm not a collector and tend to be pretty hard on the books that I do own.

However, I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and plan to make it to more book discussions/signings in the future.

Also, though I've not yet ever read a book by Silva (though I now have The Messenger tucked away in my car for reading this weekend), I was fascinated by the talk and the things he had to say. It helps, of course, that what he's writing about has extreme relevance to current events. He writes about counter-terrorism intelligence, specifically in Israel. He spoke with great affection about his main protagonist and it was obvious that those who had come to the signing shared that affection.

As a former journalist and international correspondent, he is also well-versed in what is happening in the Middle East. He shared many stories about his experiences while stationed there, including one time being roughed up by Islam extremists who threw him and his companion down the stairs before deciding they weren't spies and agreeing to be interviewed.

I took copious notes and will probably write more about him in this space in the future. But first, I'll read The Messenger.

Chris Anderson's Long Tail

2006-08-10T07:18:00.000-07:00

Chris Anderson has penned a book that everyone is talking about.

Understandably so, because if his theories are correct, it will change the way businesses operate. If he's wrong and people operate based on his theory, they stand to lose a lot of money and a lot of business.

In his book, The Long Tail: Why The Future of Business is Selling Less of More, he says that our flattened world and increased technology are diluting the effect of bestsellers and big names. Rather, businesses are making more money for niche markets--in other words, that businesses are going to start making more by selling 5,000 of 12 different kinds of widgets than they would selling 20,000 of one kind of widget.

He's met with a lot of skepticism ever since he first proposed the idea in Wired magazine, of which he is editor-in-chief. However, there are as many devotees as there are skeptics and Anderson has recently found himself in high demand as a speaker and consultant.

For those of us not given to reading or purchasing only the bestselling product, his theory bodes well. It might become easier to purchase those niche items. We'll have to wait and see.

John Kennedy Toole

2006-08-07T10:12:00.000-07:00

I first heard about John Kennedy Toole from a friend of mine. More specifically, I heard about his one successful novel, A Confederacy of Dunces. She hailed it as the funniest book she had ever read. My husband soon read it and similarly praised it.

For myself, I never started it. They both said it could be incredibly cruel and that is was the mocking that made it so funny. That's not a humor that I typically enjoy much, so I chose to pass on it.

After reading a bit about Toole's life, it's a little easier to understand why he might write in the absurdist cruel style. He's not someone whom life treated very kindly. He had a smothering mother who wouldn't let him play with other children because she didn't want them to taint his genius. When he couldn't get his book published, he eventually committed suicide.

I do pity the man, but I think I shall still pass on A Confederacy of Dunces.

Anne Holt

2006-08-05T07:06:00.000-07:00

While I'm a fan of mysteries and thrillers, they've been rather sparse on my reading list of late. So it was a pleasure to receive and read two thrillers last month. One, Cornelia Read's Field of Darkness, I'll talk about more in a week or so as Book Help Web is going to be running an interview with her.

The other was a thick tome titled What is Mine by an author I'd not heard of before, Anne Holt. Turns out that Anne Holt is a highly popular, bestselling author of thrillers--in Norway and Europe. What is Mine, published by Hatchette International, is the first of her novels to be translated into English and released in the United States.

It's a wonderfully suspenseful tale with some deeply drawn characters. It takes place in Norway where two children have disappeared and the second is delivered to the parent with a note "Now you've got what you deserved" pinned to the child's chest. Then more children disappear.

The crimes would be heart-wrenching anywhere, but in this small country that lacks experience with serial murders, it is especially panic-inducing.

Despite it being a serial killer novel, it could almost classify as a cozy as Holt manages to avoid gore and many of the more hard core passages found in much of the modern thriller genre.

It's easy to see why she is popular overseas. She'll now have the opportunity to gain similar popularity on this side of the pond.