Off John's Shelf

Not quite....

2007-09-10T22:35:00.000-04:00

[Employees from are eating at a table before the dinner rush.]

Girl: Hey, I have a cyst.
Guy: (With a mouthful of shrimp) Is that like herpes?

-Restaurant

My iTunes....very nice....

2007-08-12T15:57:00.000-04:00

Summer Reading Time!

2007-06-01T14:59:00.000-04:00

Well, readers. I have abandoned you for too long, and I apologize. School has this way of taking over one's life, and leaving little time for more. There are several big book news items to talk about.

Khaled Housseni's newest book, A Thousand Splendid Suns. I picked it up a few days ago, but I have had trouble getting into it, as the start of summer has brought its own set of duties. The first 50 pages have been good. It has yet to catch my attention, and never let go quite like the Kite Runner did. That will be one review to come later.
AP English Reading Lists - I have to read a few books for my AP English class, so I think I will have a bit of a 'return to classics' this summer. Vonnegut, Faulkner, and I am rereading All the King's Men (a lovely book).
Environmentalism Takes Hold - For my AP Environmental Science Class, I have to read a book by Stephen Meyer, called The End of the Wild. It is a quick read, only about 90 pages, and shouldn't be too bad.

I have been busy with all of this, as I just got a HUGE shipment of books in from Amazon (YEAH!!!) and have started working through them all. Happy summer, and read on!

Water for Elephants - - Sara Gruen

2007-03-15T15:53:00.000-04:00

Okay....I have FINALLY gotten all caught up with everything, and gotten back to reading. Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen was my latest selection. This book follows the life of Jacob Jankowski, a first generation American from a Polish immigrant family. It simultaneously reviews the first ninety, or ninety-three (the character himself it not sure how old he is) years of his life, as well as his current life, in a large 'assisted living' complex.

When Jacob was young, he went to Cornell Vet School. The week before his finals, ready to go home to join the family practice, he receives news that both of his parents were killed in a car accident. When he goes to settle their estate, he finds that his parents had kept the fact that they remortgaged their house to afford his Ivy-League education from him, and that they had no money. His father could not bear to see animals getting neglected when people could not afford vet bills in the Great Depression, and had been accepting primitive payments of nuts and garden vegetables when money ran short. So, Jacob was left with no parents, or relatives, with a week left in his education, and absolutely no money. As to not give everything away, i am going to skip a bit here, but he runs away with the small circus, that calls itself the 'most spectacular show on earth.' The owner is a stingy man obsessed with the competition: Ringling Brothers.

All sorts of problems follow Jacob, from having to room with a cranky dwarf to falling in love with his mental boss's wife, to being in charge of an elephant that is 'dumb.' The story cuts back and forth to the nursing home, where the widower is sitting by a window, watching a circus set up in the lot next door. He is promised that when 'his people' come to visit on Sunday, he will get to go. Before, he has a fight with another guest who boasts of having carried all of the water for the elephants when HE worked in a circus. Jacob knows that that is a lie, and gives the newbie a piece of his mind.

This book really gets into a lot of things. It details love, loss, growing old, being young, and not knowing just where you stand, or if you are even on your feet. I really enjoyed it.

Water for Elephants...Coming Soon....

2007-03-08T15:54:00.000-05:00

Okay...I recently bought a copy of Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen. I am starting it today, and so by Friday night, I should have a review ready. I can, however recommend something to read, or NOT to read. I got into the new Baldacci book, the Collectors. It was alright, but it didn't quite grip me like the Camel Club did. I am going to give it about 50 more pages before I give up, but we shall see. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy is also on the shelf. I have a lot to do...better get started....

Deathly Hallows - Coming Soon

2007-02-03T12:59:00.000-05:00

Ok - there has been a release date set for the final installment of the Harry Potter Series...Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The date is....July 21! That is only a week after the premier of the Order of the Pheonix movie. There are thoughts that this will split the Harry Potter market, hurting both book and ticket sales. I disagree. I think that everyone will go see the movie, then read the book. If the book came first it would be an issue, but this way I don't think it will. Let the countdown begin!

Just Remembered....

2007-01-21T12:29:00.000-05:00

I just remembered, I do have a blog.... Just kidding. I have been very busy through the holidays, and things are just now starting to slow down. I haven't done a whole lot of reading recently....I really should get back to it. I have several books that I have either started, and need to finish, or bought with some Christmas money that I haven't started. Here are a few that are coming.....

I really need to finish All the King's Men.....
I have also gotten 1/2 way through The Innocent Man....I should really get to it.....
I bought The Road, by Cormac McCarthy last week. When I saw it at the store, I couldn't place his name, but when I got home I went through my shelves and found something else by him: Blood Meridian. I never really got into that book....I guess I am going to give him a second chance.
In the Historical Department I got Common Sense, and Other Writings by Thomas Paine. I really like Paine as a historical figure. I think his writings, many of which have ties to those of John Locke, shaped this nation....

So, there you have it....a list of what is to come....you should know, however, that there is a chance that I will get distracted by yet another book. I also has several John Grisham novels that I haven't read yet. I probably won't blog them, however, because I do a lot on Grisham as it is.

My Deathly Hallows Analysis

2006-12-22T20:07:00.000-05:00

I have a couple thoughts. I think that we need to remeber that JK is from Britian. In their dictionary, hallow is: hal·low (hl)
tr.v. hal·lowed, hal·low·ing, hal·lows
1. To make or set apart as holy.
2. To respect or honor greatly; revere.
I think this brings a new thought into mind. Could this be talking about some type of sacred type of right of passage Harry or others will have to pass? The ideas are flowing. A couple that I have read and thought were interesting shall follow in the next few days.

Harry Potter Book 7

2006-12-21T22:27:00.000-05:00

The title of the seventh Harry Potter has been released!! The title is going to be Harry Potter and the.....you already knew that part......Deathly Hallows. This was our Christmas present from JK. There has been no word on when the book will be released. There are several rumors around. I tend to think that it will be released around Christmas of next year. Others think 7-7-07. I think that that is too close to the premiere of the 5th movie. Sometime in the fall is also likely. No one knows....well, maybe someone does, and they just aren't telling. Now, on to Deathly Hallows. I have a few questions:

Do they say deadly in England, or do they say Deathly?
Hallows....like ghosts?
Why not an easier to interpret title?!?!?!?!?!

One Hundred Years of Solitude -- Gabriel Garcia Marquez

2006-11-29T12:56:00.000-05:00

One Hundred Years of Solitude (Un Cien Anos de Solidad) is a novel about a imaginary town named Macondo. Garcia Marquez follows the town, and the Buendia family through a century. The book starts with Colonel Aureliano Buendia facing a firing squad, and reminiscing about the time he first discovered ice. The book goes on from there, all the while with the Colonel facing the firing squad, remembering the past, tracing the history of the town of Macondo. You are introduced to the complete lineage of several families. (I would most definetly reccomend buying a copy that has the family trees in the front, as they are desperately needed to follow the characters without an eidetic memory.) Jose Arcadio Buendia and his family ore the center of the book, as they founded the town. There are his sons: José Arcadio and Aureliano, grandsons: Aureliano José, Aureliano Segundo, and José Arcadio Segundo. Then there are the wonderfully charismatic women--the Úrsulas, a few Remedios, Fernanda, and my personal favorite, Pilar. This book was really good. It is one where you need to just stick with it. I actually had to take a break from it for several weeks, and then resume my reading with fresh eyes. It was worth it. This book is really different from any American literature you see, and opens your eyes to a completely different world.

Angels and Demons....the MOVIE!!!

2006-11-20T16:12:00.000-05:00

For all of you who have bought the Da Vinci Code movie, you know that Angels and Demons the movie is coming out. That is all we are told, but IMDb gives the year of the movie as 2008. Anyone who is a prime member can find out more, and if you do, please tell me!!

Secondly, Patsie Trollinger will be at the Hub tomorrow, and give a discussion at 6. Good times!!!

The Da Vinci Code {DVD} Release

2006-11-16T18:53:00.000-05:00

The Da Vinci Code DVD {based on the superbest seller by Dan Brown, and starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tatou} came out on the 14th. There is also a very cool special edition boxed set. It contains and real working cryptex, and a Robert Langdon journal. It is very exciting, and would make a great Christmas gift for and Dan Brown enthusiast. It is $80 shelf price, but Amazon has it half off now. Thanks for the great comments! I am looking into several of the books you have reccomended. I must say I have been busy reading the Innocent Man, and All the King's Men, and some Poe short stories. On top of all of that, I have been putting all of my music onto my new iPod {30G Video}. Very exciting!!! I went to Joseph-Beth with a group the other day, and we had a very nice tour there, given by the PR lady. If anyone has a group that they are in charge of entertaining, I would reccomend that you look into a similiar tour. Plus, you get a 10% discount!

Thomas Friedman Interview

2006-11-07T10:50:00.000-05:00

Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat, had an interesting Q&A session. The topics ranged from Withdrawal from Iraq to Education in the US. I would show it, but I don't want to get sued. You have to be a member of the NY Times online paper to get access to all the goodies. If you are a member, the article is in the @Times section of your email. If you are not a member, I would reccomend it, you get an electronic newspaper every day, and lots of other weekly journals, for example, I get the Book Review. As I have mentioned previosly, I am working on a video blog about All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren. I have been gathering information and reading the book for about a month now. I have been working on this ever since the idea hit me when I posted my video from Alaska. You can expect that by next weekend. It should be good.

Widow of the South -- Robert Hicks

2006-10-28T23:31:00.000-04:00

I promised a review of this book a while back, but I have been quite busy, so it has taken me this long to deliver. So, on to the review....

Widow of the South was written by Robert Hicks last fall. I had a chance to go see him - that is to say I had tickets - but there was an ice storm the night before, and the roads were really slick so I couldn't make it.

Hicks obviously has a great passion for history, illustrated in this book. Loosely based on a true story, it is about a lady name Carrie McGavock, and jumps back and forth between her present life, and her life during the Civil War. The book starts in the McGavock graveyard - a place that is very dear to the elderly Carrie. Long ago, she allowed her house to be used as a field hospital in the Battle of Fredricksburg. She now, in the setting of the book, spends her days walking the rows of her cemetery, keeping diligent records with the help of her also aging former slave. In the opening pages of the book, an unexpected old man arrives during Carrie's daily walk through the graves. He brings back memories from long ago - thirty years ago - memories of a wounded soldier who left the makeshift hospital carrying a little more that he came with - carrying a piece of Carrie's heart. He asks for only one thing: a place in the cemetary, next to his fallen comrades.

This book captures the feeling of the post Civil War era within its pages. It is definitley worth reading. It just came out in paperback. There is also a very nice website dedicated to the book, with a lot of information about the factitious basis of the book.

The Innocent Man Release

2006-10-13T12:49:00.000-04:00

Jonh Grisham's newest book is now on the shelves at your favo[u]rite bookstore. If you aren't sure that non-fiction is quite what you want from Grisham, you may want to listen to this 7 minute excerpt from the book. It is pretty good, and sounds as if it was written like a novel. While you are at Grisham's site to get the excerpt, you can also enter a drawing to win a free copy. The next review will be on All the King's Men. I may make another video, and I may also interview a relative who got to go to the premier of the movie, starring Sean Penn.

Video Attempt

2006-10-06T21:17:00.000-04:00

This is a video I shot while in Alaska this summer on vacation.

Site Additions

2006-09-30T19:00:00.000-04:00

There are many new site additions to this blog. I hope everyone will VOTE in the new poll, and come back to vote in the polls to come. There is now a chat box, where readers can get on and discuss their views of books. Any suggestions for a book to read would be greatly appreciated, but I have a list I go by. Enjoy the additions!!

Banned Books Week

2006-09-27T18:46:00.000-04:00

This week, as the last week of September always is, is Banned Books Week. I was apalled to see some of the books on the list, including The Invisible Man, Harry Potter, and one book recently made into a motion picture, How to Eat Fried Worms. James and the Giant Peach is one of the banned books too. Coming in at number 56, its reason for being banned -- James goes against the will of his guardians (officially, the listed reason is 'anti-family').

This list contains 100 books, many of which I have read, and that should never have been banned. Go to the American Library Association's site for more, or here for the list of the top 100 books banned between 1990 and 2000. The list is repopulated every 10 years, but as for the moment (there is a top 10 list done every year), the Harry Potter Series has taken the lead. I am sure the next time the list is made, our friend Dan Brown will also be included.

Innocent Man Cover

2006-09-24T18:55:00.000-04:00

This is the cover I found to John Grisham's upcoming book. {See Previous Post} This photo was on Amazon, and they are taking preorders now. More as I know it.

New Grisham Book

2006-09-21T09:15:00.000-04:00

The Innocent Man, scheduled to be released on October 10, is going to be Grisham's first nonfiction piece. It is going to be about small town justice that went terribly wrong. You can read a synopsis on Grisham's official site here. More to come as I find out.

Lies My Teacher Told Me -- James Loewen

2006-09-10T09:53:00.000-04:00

OK -- Hold on, this one is strange.... I really enjoyed this book. It is about some of the things that American History textbooks get wrong, and there was a lot of material with which James Loewen could work. Loewen surveyed 12 leading American History textbooks and pointed out several of their glaring misconceptions. The 1st chapter, Handicapped by History, discusses the missing information about Helen Keller, and others who were (and are) associated with great reforms, and social revolutions, but who also did some very radical things that might cast a different light upon them if they were well known. Loewen goes on to cover Columbus, all the way up to the Vietnam War. I would recommend this book to any history lover, or even the casual historian who wants to gain a deeper understanding of what -- and who -- formed the nation in which we are living....

UPDATE: Loewen has published a new book since this one called Lies Across America: What America's Historic Sites Got Wrong. I think it looks pretty good, but I haven't read it. You can read about it here.

RIP Pluto

2006-08-25T20:29:00.000-04:00

Well, it is official. Pluto, known previously as the smallest planet has now had its planetary status rebuked. For those of you wondering why this has happened, the reason is that the definition a planet was changed. Pluto doesn't revolve principally around the sun, but revolves around the planet Neptune (which the last time I checked IS still a planet). Now, in reference to the ex-farthest planet, we have been instructed to use the politically correct term ICY DWARF.

~~~

UPDATE: Pluto's new name is No. 134340. Not very personable....

The Summons -- John Grisham

2006-08-13T10:29:00.000-04:00

I absolutely love John Grisham's work. I haven't read a single book of his that I haven't liked. The only one I have found that didn't interest me was Bleachers, but it strayed from his normal genre, and I didn't read it.

This book is about a law professor at a Virginia college who goes home when his father, a small town judge, summons him to talk about what is to happen with his estate. When Ray Atlee (the professor, but there is no Mary Ann) returns, he finds his father lying dead on the couch in the study of his dilapidated old house. There is a will on the Judge's desk, that quite simply states that the estate is to be split between the judge's 2 sons, Ray, and his younger, drug infested reprobate brother. Ray is the executioner of the will, and takes care to get funeral arrangements underway. Separating the estate would be simple - sell the house, and split it, along with the $6000 in the Judge's only checking account. The judge had given most of his money to charity over the years. When Ray was in the study, he moved the couch, revealing a cabinet -- a cabinet containing 3 million dollars in cash. Immediately, he moved it out, but it was too late. Someone else knew about the cash.

I really enjoyed this book. It was not so much the typical Grisham -- lawyers and court battles, which I also enjoy, but this was a good change of pace. There is a link to Grisham's website on the right side of the screen, and you can read more about his books from there. I also found a site, SquareBooks, that sells signed Grisham books for reasonable fees.

The Hard Way -- Lee Child

2006-08-02T11:49:00.000-04:00

This book was interesting -- not in a thought provoking, brain filling way, but in an 'I want to read a mindless thriller type book, because I am bored' type way. I liked it pretty well, though. It was a mystery about a man named Jack Reacher. Lee Child writes novels with this same man as her protagonist everytime. This is the first of them I have read, but there are 10 predecessors. The basic plotline was that a mercenary's wife and child had been kidnapped, and he hired Reacher to do find her. As Reacher digs into the man's past, though, he finds that it is possible that this might not be a kidnapping of the man's wife and stepdaughter, but a plot, much like the one that had rid Lane (the mercenary) of his previous wife a few years before....

Next Up...

2006-07-12T13:36:00.000-04:00

The next selection that I will post on will be.... (drumroll please.....) Widow of the South, by Robert Hicks. This book is about a lady who had several of her children die, and keeps their rooms untuoched, exactly how they were. Then, her house is chosen as a field hospital in the Civil War. It keeps jumping back and forth between different unconnected stories, all around the time of the battle. As of 70 pages in, that is my short synopsis.