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2013: #10 – Under the Streets of Nice (Ken Follett)

0 comments By Jaime Filed in non-fiction, true crime; Tagged with ; March 12th, 2013
nice

Title: Under the Streets of Nice
Author: Ken Follett
Format: Paperback
Pages:  216
Release Date: 1978
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Follett’s engaging Streets of Nice tells the true story of Albert Spaggiari, the man who engineered the European crime of the century. Intriguingly, he accomplished his 1976 bank heist “without guns, without violence, without hate.” Here is the breathtakingly compelling story of Spaggiari, his “sewer gang,” and the most daring, outrageous theft of the century.

My thoughts:

This has been sitting on my bookshelf for quite a while, and until I picked it up to read, I never realized it was non-fiction.

I can’t say that the book is particularly exciting, and I’m not sure how much of that is actually attributable to Follett. I believe much of the story is translated from an earlier French work (see his take on it here — he even tried to prevent it from being published!). But though the storytelling isn’t very compelling, I found that the circumstances of the robbery were. It really was quite an ingenious plan, and if everyone involved was as smart as Spaggiari, they probably would have gotten away with it completely.

Available from:  WorldCat (book is not widely available for purchase)

2012: #55 – Everybody into the Pool (Beth Lisick)

2 comments By Jaime Filed in memoir, non-fiction; Tagged with ; December 7th, 2012
intothepool

Title: Everybody Into The Pool: True Tales
Author: Beth Lisick
Format: Paperback
Pages:  240
Release Date: 2005
Publisher: Avon
Source: personal copy

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

Beth Lisick started out as a homecoming princess with a Crisco-aided tan and a bad perm. And then everything changed. Plunging headlong into America’s deepest subcultures, while keeping both feet firmly planted in her parents’ Leave It to Beaver values, Lisick makes her adult home on the fringe of mainstream culture and finds it rich with paradox and humor. On the one hand, she lives in “Brokeley” with drug dealers and street gangs; on the other, she drives a station wagon with a baby seat in the back, makes her own chicken stock, and attends ladies’ luncheons. How exactly did this suburban girl-next-door end up as one of San Francisco’s foremost chroniclers of alternative culture? Lisick explains it all in her hilarious, irreverent, bestselling memoir, Everybody into the Pool.

Fans of David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell will relish Lisick’s scathingly funny, smart, very real take on the effluvia of daily living. No matter what community she’s exposing to the light, Lisick always hits the right chord.

My thoughts:

This book goes solidly into the “not for me” pile. I didn’t find Lisick’s alternative lifestyle interesting, or humorous, or in the least bit respectable or necessary. I’m sure it would appeal to some, hence the two stars instead of just one, but in my case, I’m just glad it’s off of my to-be-read shelf.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “Lisick tackles topics such as adolescence, sexuality, race, and socio-economic class with ease, wit, and a sparkling sense of humor.” — Bookslut
  • “While I would hardly call the book a must-read or anything near great literature, Everybody into the Pool did live up to its name and make good poolside reading.” — Reading for Robin

2012: #14 – Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut (Jill Kargman)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in comedy, featured reviews, memoir, non-fiction; Tagged with ; April 11th, 2012

Title: Sometimes I Feel Like A Nut: Essays And Observations
Author: Jill Kargman
Format: Hardback
Pages: 192 (2012 total – 3,619)
Approx. Word Count: 38,400 (2012 total – 984,225)
Release Date: January 24, 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Categories: humor, memoir
Source: Publisher
Rating: 3 out of 5

Back of the book:

Jill Kargman is a mother, wife, and writer living the life in New York City . . . a life that includes camping out in a one-bedroom apartment with some unfortunate (and furry) roommates, battling the Momzillas of Manhattan, and coming to terms with her desire for gay men. In this entertaining collection of observations, Kargman offers her unique, wickedly funny perspective as she zips around Manhattan with three kids in tow.

Kargman tackles issues big and small with sharp wit and laugh-out-loud humor: her love of the smell of gasoline, her new names for nail polishes, her adventures in New York City real estate, and her fear of mimes, clowns, and other haunting things. Whether it’s surviving a family road trip or why she can’t stand Cirque du So Lame, living with a mommy vagina the size of the Holland Tunnel or surviving the hell that was her first job out of college, Kargman’s nutty self-triumphs, thanks to a wonderfully wise outlook and sense of fun that makes the best of everything that gets thrown her way. And if that’s not enough, Kargman illustrates her reflections with doodles that capture her refreshing voice.

My thoughts:

I didn’t particularly care for this, but it was short so it wasn’t too painful. It’s more a collection of essays than a memoir, but that’s not really its problem either. I think the tone was just a little too rough for me. Crudeness and profanity really don’t bother me, but this just felt like she was looking for attention. I wasn’t familiar with Kargman before this, so perhaps it’s not the best introduction to her voice. The book definitely had its funny moments, but the other stuff just overshadows it.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “I enjoyed Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut and it made me curious to go back and read Kargman’s previous novels.” — S. Krishna’s Books
  • “Kargman has had an interesting life and is a great writer, but her essays were peppered with profanity and slang and I found both off-putting after a while.” — Bermudaonion’s Weblog
  • “I don’t know what I found more amusing: the stories, or the little doodles that accompanied them.” — Luxury Reading

Past reviews:

2011: Diavolino (Steve Emmett)
2010: The Kitchen House (Kathleen Grissom)
2009: A Fistful of Charms (Kim Harrison)
2008: Sick Puppy (Carl Hiaasen)
2007: Judge & Jury (James Patterson)
2006: The Killing Dance (Laurell K. Hamilton)
2005: Rosemary’s Baby (Ira Levin)

2012: #10 – Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir (Jennette Fulda)

3 comments By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, memoir, non-fiction; Tagged with ; March 18th, 2012

Title: Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir
Author: Jennette Fulda
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 250 (2012 total – 2,720)
Approx. Word Count: 75,000 (2012 total – 770,504)
Release Date: May 10, 2008
Publisher: Seal Press
Categories: memoir
Source: personal copy
Rating: 5 out of 5

Back of the book:

After undergoing gall bladder surgery at age twenty-three, Jennette Fulda decided it was time to lose some weight. Actually, more like half her weight. At the time, Jennette weighed 372 pounds.

Jennette was not born fat. But, by fifth grade, her response to a school questionnaire asking “what would you change about your appearance” was “I would be thinner.” Sound familiar?

Half-Assed is the captivating and incredibly honest story of Jennette’s journey to get in shape, lose weight, and change her life. From the beginning—dusting off her never-used treadmill and steering clear of the donut shop—to the end with her goal weight in sight, Jennette wows readers with her determined persistence to shed pounds and the ability to maintain her ever-present sense of self.

My thoughts:

I have been following Jennette’s blog for years, which makes it even more ridiculous that this book sat on my shelf for at least two years before I picked it up and read it. I think I started reading her blog (it was pastaqueen.com back then) when she was roughly 3/4 of the way through her journey. I was immediately drawn to her dry wit and sarcasm, a welcome attribute in the world of weight-loss bloggers, which is overwhelmed by nauseatingly positive people.

As someone who has struggled with her weight since puberty, I can’t tell you how many times I nodded my head and dog-eared a page while reading this book. She is often blunt and to the point, and it just makes you say “Yes! It is just like that.”

“And even if I had been the laziest, weakest-willed person on the planet, being fat did not make me a bad person. Fat wasn’t good or bad. It wasn’t a scarlet F of shame written on my elbow. It was just fat. I deserved as much respect as any thin person and I shouldn’t have to live under a cloud of shame.”

But don’t pick up this book and expect a blue-print for success. Jennette isn’t very specific about what she eats (even on her blog), but if you read between the lines you can tell it was South Beach or something quite similar. I think she doesn’t specifically promote it because she’s smart enough to realize that just because that particular plan worked for her, it doesn’t mean it will work for everyone. She does talk about her exercise, and one thing she did a lot of is running. I am envious, because running is the easiest thing to do, but I hate it with the fire of a thousand suns.

I find Jennette’s story to be inspiring, even if it doesn’t have the fairytale happy ending. She doesn’t lose all her weight and then magically fall in love with Prince Charming and move into a house with a white picket fence and have babies. But I believe that reaching this one (giant) goal has given her the confidence to reach other goals in her life, specifically moving out of state and starting her own freelance business. I continue to follow Jennette at her new website, http://www.jennettefulda.com. She has written a second book, which is (unfortunately) about her search for relief from a persistent headache. It’s already on my Kindle and waiting for me.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “Fulda’s memoir is light-hearted, funny, and truly inspiring.” — Story Circle Book Reviews
  • “Whether or not you have struggled with your weight, Fulda’s writing will give you a picture of a successful weight loss journey.” — Malisa Price
  • “Another great thing about the book is that it’s not just a chronicle of weight loss; it’s about Jen’s changing attitudes as well.” — Novel News

Past reviews:

2011: Deeper Than The Dead (Tami Hoag)
2010: What to Expect Before You’re Expecting (Heidi Murkoff)
2009: Claus: A Christmas Incarnation: Vol I (C. John Coombes)
2008: Dead Aim (Iris Johansen)
2007: Maisie Dobbs (Jacqueline Winspear)
2006: K is for Killer (Sue Grafton)
2005: Immortal in Death (J.D. Robb)

2012: #7 – Cruising Attitude (Heather Poole)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, memoir, non-fiction; Tagged with ; March 7th, 2012

Title: Cruising Attitude
Author: Heather Poole
Format: Kindle
Pages: 272 (2012 total – 1,856)
Approx. Word Count: 68,000 (2012 total – 542,004)
Release Date: March 06, 2012
Publisher: Avon
Categories: memoir
Source: ARC from Publisher
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Back of the book:

Flying the not-so-friendly skies…

In her more than fifteen years as an airline flight attendant, Heather Poole has seen it all. She’s witnessed all manner of bad behavior at 35,000 feet and knows what it takes for a traveler to become the most hated passenger onboard. She’s slept in flight attendant crashpads in “Crew Gardens,” Queens—sharing small bedrooms crammed with bunk beds with a parade of attractive women who come and go at all hours, prompting suspicious neighbors to jump to the very worst conclusions. She’s watched passengers and coworkers alike escorted off the planes by police. She can tell you why it’s a bad idea to fall for a pilot but can be a very good one (in her case) to date a business-class passenger. Heather knows everything about flying in a post-9/11 world—and she knows what goes on behind the scenes, things the passengers would never dream.

Heather’s true stories in Cruising Attitude are surprising, hilarious, sometimes outrageously incredible—the very juiciest of “galley gossip” delightfully intermingled with the eye-opening, unforgettable chronicle of her fascinating life in the sky.

My thoughts:

For someone who “doesn’t read memoirs”, I’ve picked up more than a few this year. This one drew my eye because I enjoy flying, and had absolutely no idea what a flight attendant’s job was like.

After finishing the book, I’m fairly certain that I would never want to be a flight attendant. I never would have imagined a super-strict book camp, or the fact that for a long time, an attendant makes so little money they are lucky if they can afford to rent a room of their own, let alone an entire apartment. And we’re not talking about the 70s or the 80s here — when Poole became a flight attendant in 1995 she made $18,000. That number is even lower now, because attendants took a pay cut following 9/11.

And it was the lifestyle that I found most intriguing about this book. We also get plenty of stories of crazy behavior, by both passengers and crew, but most of them are nothing we haven’t already imagined for ourselves. The real meat is the life of the flight attendant. She does a pretty good job of explaining the system, but I’m still not sure I completely understand it. The concept of being “on reserve” is ridiculously complicated. Being a commuting flight attendant also seems a bit complex.

Overall, I found this to be not only interesting but very entertaining. Poole has a nice easy tone, and she seems like someone who would be fun to hang out with.  The one pick I have about the book is that I think it could have been a little better organized. She goes off on a lot of tangents. Entertaining as they are, I think sometimes the reader can lose the theme of the chapter.

If you like humorous memoirs, this is definitely one to pick up. I know I’ll never look at a flight attendant quite the same way again.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

Past reviews:

2011: Vows, Vendettas & a Little Black Dress (Kyra Davis)
2010: Pacific Vortex (Clive Cussler)
2009: Plum Spooky (Janet Evanovich)
2008: Gone (Lisa Gardner)
2007: The Dark Tower (Stephen King)
2006: Whiteout (Ken Follett)
2005: Twisted (Jonathan Kellerman)

2012: #5 – Stitches (David Small)

2 comments By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, memoir, non-fiction, young adult; Tagged with ; February 29th, 2012

Title: Stitches
Author: David Small
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 336 (2012 total – 1,600)
Release Date: September 8, 2009
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
Categories: memoir, graphic novel, young adult
Source: personal copy
Rating: 4 out of 5

Back of the book:

Finalist for the 2009 National Book Award and finalist for two 2010 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards: the prize-winning children’s author depicts a childhood from hell in this searing yet redemptive graphic memoir.

One day David Small awoke from a supposedly harmless operation to discover that he had been transformed into a virtual mute. A vocal cord removed, his throat slashed and stitched together like a bloody boot, the fourteen-year-old boy had not been told that he had cancer and was expected to die.

In Stitches, Small, the award-winning children’s illustrator and author, re-creates this terrifying event in a life story that might have been imagined by Kafka. As the images painfully tumble out, one by one, we gain a ringside seat at a gothic family drama where David—a highly anxious yet supremely talented child—all too often became the unwitting object of his parents’ buried frustration and rage.

Believing that they were trying to do their best, David’s parents did just the reverse. Edward Small, a Detroit physician, who vented his own anger by hitting a punching bag, was convinced that he could cure his young son’s respiratory problems with heavy doses of radiation, possibly causing David’s cancer. Elizabeth, David’s mother, tyrannically stingy and excessively scolding, ran the Small household under a cone of silence where emotions, especially her own, were hidden.

Depicting this coming-of-age story with dazzling, kaleidoscopic images that turn nightmare into fairy tale, Small tells us of his journey from sickly child to cancer patient, to the troubled teen whose risky decision to run away from home at sixteen—with nothing more than the dream of becoming an artist—will resonate as the ultimate survival statement.

A silent movie masquerading as a book, Stitches renders a broken world suddenly seamless and beautiful again. Finalist for the 2009 National Book Award (Young Adult); finalist for two 2010 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards (Best Writer/Artist: Nonfiction; Best Reality-Based Work).

My thoughts:

I’ve been meaning to read this for a long time, and finally got around to it a few weeks ago. We were traveling, and it was a good book to read start-to-finish in the car — only took me about an hour. David Small’s story is rather sad. The second child of a pair of emotionally and physically distant parents, he spent much of his childhood entertaining himself and learning how to best maneuver with the least upset to anyone. When he develops a tumor on his neck, it becomes just one more thing to deal with silently. His parents seem barely concerned, leaving it for several years before finally having it removed when David is 14. Even then they don’t tell him what is going on, just that he’s having surgery. He wakes up with a giant scar and no voice with absolutely no preparation. It’s hard to tell which is worse, the physical scar or the mental one.

The pain that David remembers is evident in his artwork. Black and white and stark, he’s able to not only portray reality as he remembers it, through the eyes of a child, but his fantasies as well. The story may come off as a bit one-sided, but it is a memoir, after all, and is told through the point of view of himself as a child. There is an afterword of sorts, where he addresses his mother’s behavior with the wisdom of age and experience. He may even have managed to forgive his parents. I’m not sure I could.

Some may say they did the best they knew how, but sometimes your best just isn’t good enough.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

Past reviews:

2011: Bolt (Dick Francis)
2010: Bird by Bird (Anne Lamott)
2009: Five on a Treasure Island (Enid Blyton)
2008: I Heard That Song Before (Mary Higgins Clark)
2007: Up Island (Anne Rivers Siddons)
2006: The Big Love (Sarah Dunn)
2005: The Reptile Room (Lemony Snicket)

2011: #78 – The Nerdist Way (Chris Hardwick)

0 comments By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, non-fiction, self-help; Tagged with ; December 28th, 2011

nerdist Book #78 was The Nerdist Way: How to Reach the Next Level (In Real Life) by Chris Hardwick. The back of the book reads:

Nerd superstar Chris Hardwick offers his fellow "creative obsessives" crucial information needed to come out on top in the current Nerd uprising.

As a lifelong member of "The Nerd Herd," as he calls it, Chris Hardwick has learned all there is to know about Nerds. Developing a system, blog, and podcasts, Hardwick shares hard-earned wisdom about turning seeming weakness into world-dominating strengths in the hilarious self-help book, The Nerdist Way.

From keeping their heart rate below hummingbird levels to managing the avalanche of sadness that is their in-boxes; from becoming evil geniuses to attracting wealth by turning down work, Hardwick reveals the secrets that can help readers achieve their goals by tapping into their true nerdtastic selves.

Here Nerds will learn how to:

  • Become their own time cop
  • Tell panic attacks to go suck it
  • Use incremental fitness to ward off predators

A Nerd’s brain is a laser-it’s time they learn to point and fire!

I generally don’t read self-help books (evidenced by the fact that I had to create a "self-help" category on the blog for this), but I picked this up because I am a fan of Chris Hardwick. Hardwick, who some may recognize as being one of the hosts of MTV’s Singled Out way back in the 90s, spent much of his 20s partying, drinking, and generally ruining his life. What happened when he hit 30 is best expressed in his own words:

"Then, when I hit thirty, I began to look around at my life: I was consuming a baby elephant’s weight in alcohol EVERY DAY. I lived in a shitty apartment near UCLA … my place was always a mess, I had ruined my credit, and I had no real work prospects. I had become a thing I had always feared–the fat, drunk guy who used to be on television."

Hardwick quit drinking in 2003 and started trying to improve his life. Now he has multiple projects on the go, including a successful (and extremely entertaining) podcast, a new podcast network, and several TV gigs.

The secrets to Hardwick’s success aren’t anything new. Basically, he was able to harness his innate nature (his nerdiness, so to speak) and use it to his advantage. And that’s what this book is about.

His techniques aren’t going to appeal to everyone, but if you enjoy the quantitative over the qualitative, you may find some ideas here. In general, he is advocating identifying your goals and developing a way to track your progress in a visible way. He also talks a lot about how to deal with the generally obsessive "nerdist" brain, something which I could relate to. It’s nice to know that you’re not the only one who thinks the way you do. In the final section, he talks a lot about his diet and fitness, even providing a starter fitness plan that is modeled after what he has done with his trainer.

One thing you can’t forget is that Hardwick is a comedian. The tone of the book is funny and descriptive, even during the more serious parts.

All-in-all, I enjoyed the book, even if I won’t adopt some of the more time-consuming tracking techniques. However, there is one big ding against it. Hardwick spends a fair amount of time on the development of a "character tome" that is the heart of his goal-tracking technique. He sends readers to a web site for sample templates, but that website is not functional. We’re now almost 3 months after the release of the book, and that’s really not acceptable.

Good thing it’s hard to be mad at Hardwick for long.

Other reviews:

Poisoned Rationality: Book Review: The Nerdist Way
The Nerdist Way – Living With a Nerd
Mike’s Best Blog Ever: Book Review: The Nerdist Way

Page count: 304 (’11 total: 21,503) | Approximate word count:  83,600 (’11 total: 7,629,662)

2010: Catering to Nobody (Diane Mott Davidson)
2009: A Man for Amanda (Nora Roberts)
2008: Considering SomeplacElse (B.L. Lindstrom)
2007: Shroud for a Nightingale (P.D. James)
2006: Voyager (Diana Gabaldon)

2011: #63 – Outcasts United (Warren St. John)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, non-fiction; Tagged with ; October 23rd, 2011

outcasts Book #63 was Outcasts United by Warren St. John. The back of the book reads:

The extraordinary tale of a refugee youth soccer team and the transformation of a small American town.

Clarkston, Georgia, was a typical Southern town until it was designated a refugee settlement center in the 1990s, becoming the first American home for scores of families in flight from the world’s war zones—from Liberia and Sudan to Iraq and Afghanistan. Suddenly Clarkston’s streets were filled with women wearing the hijab, the smells of cumin and curry, and kids of all colors playing soccer in any open space they could find. The town also became home to Luma Mufleh, an American-educated Jordanian woman who founded a youth soccer team to unify Clarkston’s refugee children and keep them off the streets. These kids named themselves the Fugees.

Set against the backdrop of an American town that without its consent had become a vast social experiment, Outcasts United follows a pivotal season in the life of the Fugees and their charismatic coach. Warren St. John documents the lives of a diverse group of young people as they miraculously coalesce into a band of brothers, while also drawing a fascinating portrait of a fading American town struggling to accommodate its new arrivals. At the center of the story is fiery Coach Luma, who relentlessly drives her players to success on the soccer field while holding together their lives—and the lives of their families—in the face of a series of daunting challenges.

This fast-paced chronicle of a single season is a complex and inspiring tale of a small town becoming a global community—and an account of the ingenious and complicated ways we create a home in a changing world.

I read this for my book club, and as part of this year’s Roanoke Valley Reads program. The program is designed to increase reading and foster a sense of community, and is supplemented with several discussion programs across the valley. This book was a particularly good pick, because like Clarkston, Roanoke is a refugee resettlement community. I had no idea until I read this book.

Overall, I thought this book was interesting and well-done. St. John shares with us a variety of refugee experiences, ranging from African civil and tribal wars to the war in Bosnia. Along the way, we learn a little about what started these conflicts, and how the refugees ended up that way. We also learn about a side of small-town politics that I’m sure the town of Clarkston wishes they didn’t have.

But it’s not all about taking the side of the refugees over the "natives" of Clarkston. It’s obvious that the refugee resettlement program has a lot of problems, and many of the problems in Clarkston could have been eliminated if the program was better managed. Other problems are cultural, and are harder to overcome.

There’s a lot of soccer talk in the book, but it’s easy to understand even for the uninitiated. Several of the people in the book club who didn’t know anything about soccer said they had no problem following what was going on.

The only thing I thought the book was missing was a more well-rounded depiction of Luma. We get a good idea of her background, but eventually she becomes rather one-dimensional. She’s just "Coach". I can’t pinpoint exactly what else I would have liked to know, just that there was something missing.

Several blog posts about this book and the Roanoke Valley Reads events can be found on the Roanoke Valley Reads web site.

Other reviews:

Review: Outcasts United « Book Addiction
Book Review: Outcasts United by Warren St. John
Mary of Many Colors: Book Review: Outcasts United
Outcasts United | Book reviews for children and adults | 5 Minutes For Books
In Laurie’s Mind: Review: Outcasts United

Page count: 336 (’11 total: 17,486) | Approximate word count: 100,800 (’11 total: 6,186,192)

2010: Dead and Gone (Charlaine Harris)
2009: Bad Things (Michael Marshall)
2008: Key of Light (Nora Roberts)
2007: Born in Death (J.D. Robb)
2006: Dark Angel (Karen Harper)
2005: Godplayer (Robin Cook)

2011: #35 – Packing for Mars (Mary Roach)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, non-fiction; Tagged with ; June 8th, 2011

packingmars Book #35 was Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach. The back of the book reads:

Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations. As Mary Roach discovers, it’s possible to preview space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA’s new space capsule (cadaver filling in for astronaut), Roach takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth.

I’ve yet to read one of Mary Roach’s books and not find her entertaining. This book was more about the history of space exploration in general than Mars in particular, but it’s important to understand the history before we can jump into a mission that major. I learned a lot that I didn’t know, especially about the sort of "middle ages" of space exploration, between the first moon landing and the Challenger explosion. Sadly, I didn’t know a whole lot about that time period. For instance, I didn’t realize that the Soviets were launching space stations all the way back in the 70s, or that Mir was launched in 1986 — I’d always thought of space stations as more modern constructs. I also didn’t realize just how many animals were actually launched into space. Roach’s ever-present sense of humor is here, and that’s what makes her non-fiction so readable and easy to identify with. My only complaint is that it seemed like every time I read while eating lunch, I’d hit a chapter involving some sort of bodily waste. I guess this really isn’t meal-time reading!

Overall, I’m still quite the fan of Mary Roach, and I look forward to seeing what topic she attacks next.

"In retrospect, it was silly to think that the experience of traveling in space could be approximated by a repurposed walk-in freezer. To find out what would happen to a man alone in the cosmos, at some point you just had to lob one up there."

This book was a review copy.

Other reviews:

Book Review: PACKING FOR MARS by Mary Roach | The Book Lady’s Blog
S. Krishna’s Books: Book Review: Packing for Mars – Mary Roach
eclectic / eccentric: Book Review: Packing for Mars
Mary Roach – Packing for Mars « Fyrefly’s Book Blog
Packing for Mars | Fizzy Thoughts

Page count: 336 (’11 total: 9,305) | Approximate word count: 100,800 (’11 total: 3,405,160)

2010: Murder at the Vicarage (Agatha Christie)
2009: The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
2008: A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini)
2007: Iceberg (Clive Cussler)
2006: Seeing a Large Cat (Elizabeth Peters)
2005: A Secret Splendor (Sandra Brown)

Used in these Challenges: ARC Reading Challenge 2011; Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge 2011; Four Month Challenge – Part 6;

2011: #24 – The Devil in the White City (Erik Larson)

3 comments By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, non-fiction; Tagged with ; April 13th, 2011

whitecity Book #24 was The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson. The back of the book reads:

Bringing Chicago circa 1893 to vivid life, Erik Larson’s spellbinding bestseller intertwines the true tale of two men–the brilliant architect behind the legendary 1893 World’s Fair, striving to secure America’s place in the world; and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death. Combining meticulous research with nail-biting storytelling, Erik Larson has crafted a narrative with all the wonder of newly discovered history and the thrills of the best fiction.

What first interested me in this book was H.H. Holmes. I’m a sucker for a serial killer, and what’s more interesting than the man who was one of America’s first? Holmes was an extremely smart and clever man, able to pull off con after con for years to not only acquire victims, but money and property. He built his own house of horrors under the nose of other people who not only worked in the building, but lived there. By the time the authorities caught up with him, mostly by luck, he had killed 27 people that they knew about. The real number could be hundreds.

But Holmes isn’t the real star of this book, and that was the biggest surprise. I ended up being much more enthralled by the story of the World’s Fair than in Holmes story. The book follows the fair from it’s earliest planning stages to the bitter end. It’s really amazing the things that became popular because of this fair. It was a big reason why Tesla’s A.C. won out over Edison’s D.C.. The Ferris Wheel was invented. The largest buildings of the time were built. It’s when the term "midway" was coined. Food products like Cracker Jack, Juicy Fruit, and Shredded Wheat were introduced. And there was so much more; it really was an amazing event for the country.

Unfortunately, because the book is straight non-fiction, rather than creative non-fiction, it can get a little dry in places. There’s really only so many times you need to tell me that the landscape designer (who, by the way, also designed Central Park and the grounds of the Biltmore), was extremely particular. Beyond that, I found it to be a very interesting piece of history.

Other reviews:

Review: The Devil in the White City « The Literary Omnivore
Erik Larson – The Devil in the White City « Fyrefly’s Book Blog
fashion_piranha: Review: The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
So Many BooksSo Little Time: The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Bending Bookshelf: Erik Larson – The Devil in the White City

Page count: 447 (’11 total: 6,409) | Approximate word count: 111,750 (’11 total: 2,283,602)

2010: Shakespeare’s Landlord (Charlaine Harris)
2009: The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears (Dinaw Mengestu)
2008: The Death of Vishnu (Manil Suri)
2007: Mistral’s Kiss (Laurell K. Hamilton)
2006: Micah (Laurell K. Hamilton)
2005: The Vile Village (Lemony Snicket)

Used in these Challenges: Countdown Challenge 2011; 2011 TBR Pile Challenge; New Author Challenge 2011; Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge 2011; Four Month Challenge – Part 6

2011: #18 – Rocket Surgery Made Easy (Steve Krug)

0 comments By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, non-fiction; Tagged with ; March 16th, 2011

rocketsurgery Book #18 was Rocket Surgery Made Easy by Steve Krug.  The back of the book reads:

It’s been known for years that usability testing can dramatically improve products. But with a typical price tag of $5,000 to $10,000 for a usability consultant to conduct each round of tests, it rarely happens.

In this how-to companion to Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, Steve Krug spells out an approach to usability testing that anyone can easily apply to their own web site, application, or other product. (As he said in Don’t Make Me Think, "It’s not rocket surgery".)

In this new book, Steve explains how to:

  • Test any design, from a sketch on a napkin to a fully-functioning web site or application
  • Keep your focus on finding the most important problems (because no one has the time or resources to fix them all)
  • Fix the problems that you find, using his "The least you can do" approach

By paring the process of testing and fixing products down to its essentials (A morning a month, that’s all we ask ), Rocket Surgery makes it realistic for teams to test early and often, catching problems while it’s still easy to fix them. Rocket Surgery Made Easy adds demonstration videos to the proven mix of clear writing, before-and-after examples, witty illustrations, and practical advice that made Don’t Make Me Think so popular.

I read this for work, but I read it so it counts!

In a past life (or, about 3 jobs ago) I read Don’t Make Me Think, and I loved its casual and humorous style. So when I needed to read up on usability testing, I knew Steve Krug wouldn’t let me down. Rocket Surgery has that same easy-going tone, and he breaks down usability testing into easy steps. Also very helpful are the demo and sample scripts available on the companion web site. Before I started, I was daunted by the thought of usability testing, and was fairly sure I would screw it up (or at least, the results wouldn’t be useful at all). Now, I feel a lot more comfortable about conducting my own initial tests in a couple of weeks. I won’t be following Krug’s path exactly, but he’s given me some good landmarks.

Page count: 168 (’11 total: 4,452) | Approximate word count: 42,000 (’11 total: 1,654,552)

2010: Anthem (Ayn Rand)
2009: China Lake (Meg Gardiner)
2008: Triptych (Karin Slaughter)
2007: Fool Moon (Jim Butcher)
2006: Incubus Dreams (Laurell K. Hamilton)
2005: The Big Bad Wolf (James Patterson)

Used in these Challenges: Countdown Challenge 2011; Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge 2011;

2010: #104 – At Home (Bill Bryson)

2 comments By Jaime Filed in audio, featured reviews, non-fiction; Tagged with ; December 23rd, 2010

athome Book #104 was At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson.  The back of the book reads:

“Houses aren’t refuges from history. They are where history ends up.”

Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped. Yet one day, he began to consider how very little he knew about the ordinary things of life as he found it in that comfortable home. To remedy this, he formed the idea of journeying about his house from room to room to “write a history of the world without leaving home.” The bathroom provides the occasion for a history of hygiene; the bedroom, sex, death, and sleep; the kitchen, nutrition and the spice trade; and so on, as Bryson shows how each has fig­ured in the evolution of private life. Whatever happens in the world, he demonstrates, ends up in our house, in the paint and the pipes and the pillows and every item of furniture.

Bill Bryson has one of the liveliest, most inquisitive minds on the planet, and he is a master at turning the seemingly isolated or mundane fact into an occasion for the most diverting exposi­tion imaginable. His wit and sheer prose fluency make At Home one of the most entertaining books ever written about private life.

This is one of those books that fills all the empty spaces in my brain that used to hold phone numbers. Some parts are more dry than others, but I learned a lot of things.  I think there’s a little bit of something here for everyone.  If furniture and clothing aren’t your thing, maybe architecture and gardens are. Did you know that the color of your wallpaper used to be a sign of how well-off you were?  And that some of those colors could then make you sick? Or why Chippendale furniture is so special? Or why brick has gone in and out of fashion as a building material? And why do we eat the meals we do at the time of day we eat them? Maybe I’m a nerd, but I find a lot of this stuff is really interesting. This isn’t as humorous as some of Bryson’s other books, but you still know it’s him.

Other reviews:

A Bookworm’s World: At Home – Bill Bryson – Review and Giveaway
BookSpin: Guest Review – At Home by Bill Bryson reviewed by KC Martin
Bill Bryson – At Home « Fyrefly’s Book Blog
Review: At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson

Audiobook length: 16 hrs 38 min | Approximate word count: 153,600

2009: Hunter’s Moon (C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp)
2008: Skipping Christmas (John Grisham)
2007: Crocodile on the Sandbank (Elizabeth Peters)
2006: A Stroke of Midnight (Laurell K. Hamilton)

Used in these Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Audiobook Challenge; Countdown Challenge 2011;

2010: #99 – How to Write Killer Fiction (Carolyn Wheat)

0 comments By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, non-fiction, writing; Tagged with ; December 8th, 2010

killerfictionBook #99 was How to Write Killer Fiction: The Funhouse of Mystery & the Roller Coaster of Suspense by Carolyn Wheat.  The back of the book reads:

Writing is all about creating an experience for the reader. Whether you’re giving them a brain-teasing puzzle or an adrenaline-soaked emotional roller coaster-ride, this book helps you shape your fiction to create maximum enjoyment for your readers. Now you can learn the craft directly from one of the most respected contemporary writers in the field, Carolyn What, winner of multitudinous awards and nominations. What knows what editors want, and shows you how to achieve your writing an publishing goals. How To Write Killer Fiction is a handbook that no writer of mystery or suspense can afford to be without.

I didn’t exactly read this cover to cover, but it gave me a lot to think about when it comes to mystery and suspense and the differences between them.  It contained some of the best explanation and examples of different genres that I’ve seen.  I’m always on the lookout for some sort of definitive list of genres to use as categories on my blog, and this gave me a good place to start. (By the way, if anyone has a list of genres that *they* use, please share!)  It also helped me narrow down what exactly I’m trying to write.  This was a good Kindle purchase, and I’m sure I will use it as a reference in years to come.

Page count: 191 | Approximate word count: 47,750

2009: The Girl Who Played With Fire (Stieg Larsson)
2008: Like Glass (Matthew Cory)
2007: Night Embrace (Sherrilyn Kenyon)
2006: The English Assassin (Daniel Silva)

Used in these Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Pages Read Challenge Season 2; Countdown Challenge 2011;

2010: #65 – See Jane Write (Sarah Mlynowski & Farrin Jacobs)

3 comments By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, non-fiction; Tagged with , ; July 14th, 2010

seejanewrite Book #65 was See Jane Write: a Girl’s Guide to Writing Chick Lit by Sarah Mlynowski & Farrin Jacobs.  The back of the book reads:

With chick lit novels popping up on every bestseller list, millions of readers are all thinking the same thing: I could write this stuff and never go back to the office again! And here’s the guide that will show you how. Bestselling novelist Sarah Mlynowski and veteran chick lit editor Farrin Jacobs cover every stage of developing and selling your novel, with chapters on:

  • Developing an idea
  • Deciding on a point of view
  • Making your characters likable
  • Learning the basics of plotting, pacing, and conflict
  • Finding an agent

This book also features humorous tips and advice from scores of established writers (including Meg Cabot, Melissa Senate, and Sophie Kinsella). If you’ve got stories to tell, See Jane Write will take care of the rest!

I picked this up because my current work-in-progress is ending up to be somewhere between chick lit and a cozy mystery.  Cozy chick lit? I thought this was a fun and informative read, especially since I don’t read a ton of chick lit. When it comes to the actual mechanics of writing, there’s not much here that you won’t get in any other guide, but the tone makes it a super fast read. I especially appreciated the section on clichés, because I was in danger of falling face-first into one. I also liked the "it happened to me" vignettes provided by the authors, and the use of actual examples from published novels. This is definitely a book that will remain on my writing shelf.

Other reviews:

Writing the Chick Lit Novel « The Dark Phantom Review

Page count: 191 | Word count: 40,964

2009: Kitty and the Midnight Hour (Carrie Vaughn)
2008: The Secret History of the Pink Carnation (Lauren Willig)
2007: Blood Sport (Dick Francis)
2006: Danse Macabre (Laurell K. Hamilton)
2005: Silent Partner (Jonathan Kellerman)

Used in these Challenges: The Four Month Challenge – Part 4; 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; 2010 Reading From My Shelves Project; Pages Read Challenge Season 2;

2010: #54 – Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint (Nancy Kress)

0 comments By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, non-fiction; Tagged with ; June 13th, 2010

characters Book #54 was Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Dynamic Characters and Effective Viewpoints by Nancy Kress. The back of the book reads:

How do you create a main character readers won’t forget? How do you write a book in multiple-third-person point of view without confusing your readers (or yourself)? How do you plant essential information about a character’s past into a story?

Write Great Fiction: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint by award-winning author Nancy Kress answers all of these questions and more! This accessible book is filled with interactive exercises and valuable advice that teaches you how to: Choose and execute the best point of view for your story, Create three-dimensional and believable characters, Develop your characters’ emotions, Create realistic love, fight, and death scenes, Use frustration to motivate your characters and drive your story. With dozens of excerpts from some of today’s most popular writers, Write Great Fiction: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint provides you with the techniques you need to create characters and stories sure to linger in the hearts and minds of agents, editors, and readers long after they’ve finished your book.

This book was more textbook-like than most of the writing books I have, but I found it quite useful, even if it was slow reading (But not dry! The writing was entertaining.). The parts I found most useful were about using humor and emotion, and the differences between types of point of view. I often get confused between the various types of third person and omniscient, so it was nice to have it explained and see some examples.  There are also writing exercises at the end of each section.  I haven’t done any of them yet, but I like to know that they’re there in case I need some review in the future.

Page count: 231 | Word count: 78,853

2009: The Black Tower (Louis Bayard)
2008: Plum Lucky (Janet Evanovich)
2007: Grave Peril (Jim Butcher)
2006: Twelve Sharp (Janet Evanovich)
2005: Hot Six (Janet Evanovich)

Used in these Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Pages Read Challenge Season 2; TwentyTen Challenge;

2010: #29 – Food Rules: An Eater's Manual (Michael Pollan)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, non-fiction; Tagged with ; April 8th, 2010

foodrules Book #29 was Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual by Michael Pollan.  The back of the book reads:

A pocket compendium of food wisdom-from the author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food

Michael Pollan, our nation’s most trusted resource for food-related issues, offers this indispensible guide for anyone concerned about health and food. Simple, sensible, and easy to use, Food Rules is a set of memorable rules for eating wisely, many drawn from a variety of ethnic or cultural traditions. Whether at the supermarket or an all-you-can-eat-buffet, this handy, pocket-size resource is the perfect guide for anyone who would like to become more mindful of the food we eat.

In my understanding, Food Rules is basically a pocket-version of one of Pollan’s other books, In Defense of Food.  So if you’re read that one, you might not want to bother with this one.  I hadn’t read either, and decided to download this on my Kindle after seeing Pollan on Oprah. Pollan’s rules really boil down to three simple concepts: eat food, not chemicals; eat mostly plants; and don’t eat too much. His 64 food rules are basically ways to help us do this. I’m not sure why there are 64; they probably could have been cut down to 50, because a few of them say the same thing with different words.  Regardless, I’m in favor of Pollan’s philosophy.  I agree that we should focus our eating more on real food and less on whatever has the largest "low-fat", "low-calorie", or "low-sugar" label. Pollan’s rules are definitely something I’ll keep in mind as I’m shopping in the future.

I am reading a surprising amount of non-fiction this year.  So unlike me!

Other reviews:

Devourer of Books » Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual – Book Review

Page count: 112 | Approximate word count: 20,000

2009: Can You Keep a Secret? (Sophie Kinsella)
2008: The Friday Night Knitting Club (Kate Jacobs)
2007: From Potter’s Field (Patricia Cornwell)
2006: Divided in Death (J.D. Robb)
2005: Abandoned Prayers (Gregg Olsen)

Used in these Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; E-Book Reading Challenge; New Author Challenge 2010; Pages Read Challenge Season 2; TwentyTen Challenge;

2010: #26 – What Do We Do Now? (Keith Malley & Chemda)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in comedy, featured reviews, non-fiction; Tagged with ; April 5th, 2010

katg Book #26 was What Do We Do Now?: Keith and The Girl’s Smart Answers to your Stupid Relationship Questions by Keith Malley and Chemda. The back of the book reads:

Finally, a modern relationship book for the modern relationship.

What Do We Do Now? is an R-rated, utterly honest Q&A book culled from the best and funniest questions posed by Keith and the Girl devotees, including:

  • My boyfriend joined the military and is being shipped off for an unknown amount of time. I’m young and I want to move on. Am I a bad person?
  • Why does my boyfriend always adjust himself in public?
  • My wife dresses like a slut. How do I make her stop?
  • My boyfriend’s number one friend on MySpace is his ex. Should I be concerned?

With he-said, she-said advice that is both raw and honest, What Do We Do Now? is sure to appeal to the podcast’s legion of fans, and attract a brand-new audience tired of the tried-and-not-so-true relationship manuals.

I’m not gonna lie.  If you are easily offended or the slightest bit prudish, don’t read this book.  But if you can look at life with a sense of humor and aren’t afraid of some cuss words and frank talk about sex and relationships, then you should pick up this book. I’ve been listening to Keith and the Girl’s podcasts for almost a year and the chemistry that makes them so good in audio and on-screen makes them just as good on paper. They tackle topics that range from handling money and household issues to inner and outer beauty to sex and kink to marriage, in-laws, and kids. There’s no conventional wisdom here, just straight talk, simple answers, and plenty of laughs.

Other reviews:

Ashley’s Library: What Do We Do Now? – Keith and the Girl

Page count: 256 | Approximate word count: 64,000

2009: Soul Catcher (Michael C. White)
2008: Twilight (Stephenie Meyer)
2007: Full House (Janet Evanovich)
2006: Judgement in Death (J.D. Robb)
2005: The Sigma Protocol (Robert Ludlum)

Used in these Challenges: The Four Month Challenge; Countdown Challenge 2010; 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; 2010 Pub Challenge; New Author Challenge 2010; Pages Read Challenge Season 2; TwentyTen Challenge;

2010: #12 – Eat This, Not That (David Zinczenko)

3 comments By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, non-fiction; Tagged with ; February 22nd, 2010

eatthis Book #12 was Eat This, Not That: Thousands of Simple Food Swaps That Can Save You 10, 20, 30 pounds — or more!  by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding.  The back of the book reads:

EAT THIS, NOT THAT! is jam-packed with secrets the restaurant industry doesn’t want you to know. For example: * Burger King doesn’t want you to know that a BK Big Fish® Sandwich and fries have a whopping 1000 calories–nearly half your daily caloric intake! (Fish is usually healthy, but not this kind. Find out why with this book.) * Pizza Hut doesn’t want you to know that a standard pizza in Italy contains 500 to 800 calories, but the same meal at Pizza Hut can top 2,100 calories! (You’d need to ride a stationary bike for more than three hours to burn off this mistake. Instead, eat all the pizza you want by making smart choices. EAT THIS, NOT THAT! shows you how.) * Macaroni Grill doesn’t want you to know that a single serving of their Grilled Teriyaki Salmon has more than three times your daily allowance of sodium! (Cut your risk of high blood pressure by making smart choices at the same restaurant. You’ll find them inside.)

If only you knew the industry secrets, you could eat at any of your favorite restaurants–or chow down on everything from the company vending machine to your kids’ Halloween buckets–and know that every decision you made was smart, healthy, and the best possible choice for you. For example, did you know: * At McDonald’s, an Egg McMuffin® is actually a healthy choice, with just 300 calories. (The Hotcakes pack more than double that amount!) * At Krispy Kreme, all you need to do is order the Very Berry Chiller instead of the Mocha Dream Chiller, and you’ll save 500 calories! (Do that once a week and you’ll drop more than 7 pounds this year–without trying!) * At Chipotle, you can cut 570 calories out of your Chicken Burrito just by ordering it as a bowl (without the tortilla) and asking them to hold the rice. (Same great taste, but with 94 fewer carb grams!) * Choosing a cinnamon roll at Au Bon Pain over Cinnabon will save you 463 calories and 20 grams of fat! * In the freezer section of your local supermarket, a turkey pot pie from Swanson’s has 610 fewer calories than a turkey pot pie from Pepperidge Farms. * In the produce aisle, you’ll get twice the vitamin C–and nine times as much vitamin A–simply by picking red bell peppers over green ones. (Who said eating healthy was difficult?)

This was a short read, but informative! There was a lot I already know, but there were also some things that surprised me, like that Chik-Fil-A has some of the healthiest sandwiches and the ranking of what restaurants are considered healthier than others. I also liked the non-restaurant specific section that covered the best options for different types of cuisine, like Mexican and Chinese.  I don’t know that making these swaps is enough alone for someone to lose 30 pounds, but it is a good starter guide for making better choices.

Page count: 304 | Approximate word count: 30,400

2009: All Night Long (Jayne Ann Krentz)
2008: Nineteen Minutes (Jodi Picoult)
2007: The 5th Horseman (James Patterson)
2006: The Lunatic Cafe (Laurell K. Hamilton)
2005: The Miserable Mill (Lemony Snicket)

Used in these Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Reading From My Shelves Project; Pages Read Challenge Season 2;

2010: #10 – What to Expect Before You're Expecting (Heidi Murkoff)

3 comments By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, non-fiction; Tagged with ; February 12th, 2010

whattoexpect Book #10 was What to Expect Before You’re Expecting by Heidi Murkoff.  The back of the book reads:

More and more couples are planning for conception, not only for financial and lifestyle reasons, but in response to recent recommendations from the medical community. In the same fresh, contemporary voice that has made the 4th edition of What to Expect When You’re Expecting so successful, Heidi Murkoff explains the whys and wherefores of getting your body ready for pregnancy, including pregnancy prep for both moms and dads to be. Before You’re Expecting is filled with information on exercise, diet, pinpointing ovulation, lifestyle, workplace, and insurance changes you’ll want to consider, and how to keep your relationship strong when you’re focused on baby making all the time. There are tips for older couples; when to look for help from a fertility specialist–including the latest on fertility drugs and procedures–plus a complete fertility planner.

This isn’t the type of book I normally review here, but what the heck, I’m branching out!  We’ve been trying to have a baby for a couple of years now, and I thought it was time that I made sure that I was as educated as I thought I was about conception. I definitely learned a few things from this book. This is a book you can skip around in easily, because not all of the topics are going to apply to everyone.  It’s informational without being dry and boring.  There is also information here for the man you are trying to conceive with.  I especially appreciated that the book acknowledged that not everyone can get pregnant at the drop of a hat, and addressed different options that are available.  I’ll definitely be holding on to this to refer to from time to time.

Page count: 275 | Approximate word count: 68,750

2009: Claus: A Christmas Incarnation: Vol I (C. John Coombes)
2008: Dead Aim (Iris Johansen)
2007: Maisie Dobbs (Jacqueline Winspear)
2006: K is for Killer (Sue Grafton)
2005: Immortal in Death (J.D. Robb)

Used in these Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Pages Read Challenge Season 2;

2010: #5 – Bird by Bird (Anne Lamott)

6 comments By Jaime Filed in non-fiction; Tagged with ; January 26th, 2010

bird Book #5 was Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. The back of the book reads:

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’"

Ask anyone who writes what books they would recommend, and this one is sure to be on the list. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I enjoyed On Writing.  I did think there was some good advice — taking things "bird by bird" and looking at the world through a 1-inch picture frame come to mind — and I appreciated her description of what it’s like to be published, but the rest of it just didn’t speak to me like I expected it to. I still would recommend it to those who want to write, and I’ll keep it on my bookshelf, but I don’t think it is a book I will refer back to over and over again.

Other reviews:

Book Review: *Bird by Bird* by Anne Lamott | She Is Too Fond Of Books

Page count: 239 | Word count: 59,933

2009: Five on a Treasure Island (Enid Blyton)
2008: I Heard That Song Before (Mary Higgins Clark)
2007: Up Island (Anne Rivers Siddons)
2006: The Big Love (Sarah Dunn)
2005: The Reptile Room (Lemony Snicket)

Used in these Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Reading From My Shelves Project; Pages Read Challenge Season 2;

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