A 'Constant' Reader's Reads

Star Wars Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber (GRADE: C)

2012-02-14T18:20:00.000-05:00

I didn't like this so much. It didn't have much of the 'star wars' feel that I like with the other star wars books. It did have it's moments and it picks up towards the end but I had a hard time getting through this book; it didn't keep my interest. Sorry. :(

Wizard and Glass by Stephen King (GRADE: A)

2012-02-14T18:17:00.000-05:00

This is my second read of the book and it is still good. Maybe a little better because I'm able to see all the connections from the beginning and I'm able to catch a lot of the little things that I missed before. This is the story of Roland as a kid and how he lost Susan, the love of his life and how his obsession for the tower began. Good stuff. I recommend.

Star Wars Darth Bane Path of Destruction by Drew Karpyshyn (Grade: B)

2012-02-14T18:14:00.000-05:00

I'm a big nerd. I admit it. I like Star Wars. This book was good. I enjoyed reading it and it very much kept my interest. Some parts were cheesy but I didn't mind. I grade this book a B. :)

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (GRADE: C)

2012-02-14T18:11:00.000-05:00

I hate to do this to a classic but I didn't like reading this so much. ...that's all I'll say. Sorry. :(

Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (GRADE: A)

2012-02-14T18:08:00.000-05:00

I don't know how many times I've read this book but I love it every time. I read it on the kindle this time. OUTSTANDING. :)

The Waste Lands by Stephen King (GRADE: A)

2012-02-14T18:06:00.000-05:00

I loved that Roland and company were "going off the rails on a crazy train". This is my second reading and it was still very enjoyable. I give this book a grade of an A. :)

Star Wars LEGACY, Volumes 1-4 (GRADE: B+)

2012-02-14T18:03:00.000-05:00

I was very impressed with these. I read four volumes of this series and (more or less), I liked every volume. I like the new characters and the new villain. The art was very good and the story kept my interest. I would recommend to any star wars fans out there.

Star Wars Omnibus Quinlan Vos (GRADE: B)

2012-02-14T17:59:00.000-05:00

It's been very busy and I have not been able to keep up with this blog. In the meantime, I am just going to post a pic and a one or two sentence summary so here we go:

Star Wars Omnibus Quinlan Vos.

Pretty good. I enjoyed it. Some parts were weak but others were very strong. I would recommend it if you just want a fun read but you are not expecting anything super substantial.

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King (GRADE: A)

2011-11-25T15:06:00.000-05:00

I just finished BOOK 2 of the Dark Tower Series, The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King. I grade it an A.

This is my second reading of this book and I loved it even more the second time.

Stephen King wanted to write his version of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy; he wanted to write an epic tale. What he came up with is very different from J.R.R Tolkein's masterpiece but it is good none the less. The big difference is that the Dark Tower series very much follows over the shoulder of one character, Roland, but it does not diminish the scope of the story.

This second book is about how Roland loses parts of himself to gain the Prisoner and the Lady of Shadows. You'll have to read the book to find out what this means.

It was a fun and interesting read. I highly recommend it.

The Gunslinger by Stephen King (GRADE: A)

2011-11-25T15:00:00.000-05:00

I recently finished The Gunslinger by Stephen King. Anything that I feel compelled to read more than once automatically gets an A-something grade. When I had finished Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee, I just wanted something fun to read and so I picked this book up again.

It was better the second time through than the first time through. How many books can boast that?

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy/horror/old west/adventure. It was really fun to read. It may even get a third reading from me in the future...

Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee (GRADE B-)

2011-11-25T14:52:00.000-05:00

I recently finished Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee.

This book is about a Korean American New Yorker who works as a kind of spy for a company that digs up dirt about prominent people in society. The main character, Henry Park, spies on an up-and-coming korean politician by being a member of his political team. In the meantime, Henry is estranged from his non-korean american wife.

This book is not plot-driven. It is more about the character of Henry Park. If you like Henry's character and care for Henry's character, you will probably like the book but if you do not, you probably will not. I, unfortunately, did not like Henry as a character; even though I, myself, am a korean american, Henry's character and struggles did not resonate with me.

I don't think that anyone can deny that Chang-Rae Lee is a talented writer; his prose was beautiful.

The pacing of the book was rather slow. It was too slow for me and I feel that I have a great patience for slow moving stories. It is probably because I didn't really like the character of Henry Park.

Overall, the writing was excellent but the character and the story was lacking to me. (But I can see why other people would love love love this book; sadly, I was not one of them.) I found this book to be a chore to read and get through. Sorry. I grade this book a B--.

Under the Dome by Stephen King (GRADE: B)

2011-09-02T15:34:00.000-04:00

I recently finished reading Under the Dome by Stephen King. I enjoyed reading this book; it was an incredible page turner. I grade this book a B.

The book opens in Chester's Mill, a small town in Maine. An invisible, almost impenetrable, glass-like dome sudden appears and encapsulates the town of Chester's Mill. The origin of the dome is a mystery. The book is about the people of this town--including a corrupt town selectman, the selectman's son (a homicidal maniac), a physician's assistant and his wife and two kids, a short order-ex-military cook, a small town reporter and etc. (the list of characters in this book is extensive)--and how they deal with being cut off from the rest of the world and the problems the introduction of the dome affords the townspeople.

Like most of Stephen King's books, Under the Dome is a page turner. Under the Dome may be one of King's most engaging books to read (as you are reading it). I ended up reading this book in about 10 days, which is pretty fast for me but I just couldn't put the book down once I got to know the characters.

Selectman Big Jim Rennie may the one of King's most heinous villain that King has every imagined. The thing that makes Big Jim Rennie so scary is that his motives and his methods are familiar to many of us in the real world and we can relate to the feelings of helplessness when we find ourselves in the way of someone like this man.

There was very little 'horror' in this book. I felt that it read more like a suspense novel.

The writing was very good (well, at least I thought so). I like King's non-chalant unaffected tone when he writes. I feel that his writing is very accessible.

The pacing was neck-breakingly fast. Very good pacing.

I felt like King was trying to communicate that we (in the real world) are all under a dome. Our dome just happens to be the size of a planet but it is a dome none-the-less. We cannot leave this planet to live anywhere else in the same way that the characters could not leave chester's mill.

I don't think that it was important to King WHAT CAUSED the dome to appear but rather how people react to a situation like this and how people react to panic in particular. King made it clear that, with the exception of the liquid propane, the riots occurred when there wasn't even a shortage.

I felt the ending was a bit sudden but I was satisfied with the ending. It is just something that comes with reading books by King; some endings are fantastic and some endings are not-so-fantastic but that's okay. The meat of the book, the journey itself is what is more important to me as a reader, especially character development. And I think King always does a fantastic job on character development.

Overall, I felt the book was fun to read. It was a bit long but I didn't mind; it was about 1100 pages. The character development was outstanding but the ending was a bit abrupt. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a fun (but long) book to read. I grade this book a B.

Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson (GRADE: A+)

2011-08-28T12:48:00.001-04:00

I have recently finished Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson. Overall, it was an outstanding book. I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in history. This is historical writing at its finest! I grade this book an A+.

This is a one volume summary of the American Civil War including a description of many aspects (political, economic, etc) of America during this era.

The first third of the book, about the first 300 pages, described the causes of the American Civil war. I found this part of the book very interesting. It seemed like there was a perfect storm brewing in the mid 19th century in America for the Civil War to occur.

The last 2/3rds of this book describe the American Civil War from the first battle to the concluding surrender of Lee to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9th, 1865. McPherson describes many aspects of America during this time; its politics, economic, moral of the soldiers, moral of the people and much more.

The writing is first class. I had to read this book with a dictionary but I didn't mind. This book stretched me as a reader and I was glad for it.

The pacing of the book was very fast. McPherson breaks up each topic into approximately 30 page chapters. Each chapter took me about 2 hours to read which was good for me for a day's worth of reading; and I got to read about a full topic in one sitting.

Overall, I highly highly highly recommend this to anyone. I think that this should be required reading for any person interested in the American Civil War. I grade this book an A+.

A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick (GRADE: Hard to say)

2011-07-12T13:30:00.000-04:00

I just finished A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick. It is hard to evaluate this novel. Part of it, the beginning part, was very confusing and part of it, the ending, was very engaging. I would say the beginning was a C and the ending was an A. When I finished this book, I was very tempted to flip the book around and start it over again because I felt like I missed the whole beginning because of my lack of understanding. So, I guess, overall, I would grade this book a B.

The book is about a undercover cop named Bob Arctor. While he is undercover, he becomes addicted to Substance D or Slow Death. He also falls in love with a girl, one of the dealers, Donna. The first half of the book are mostly filled with snapshot scenes of the drug user/dealer world. The second half of the book is about Arctor/Fred(his police identity name) as the police discover that he is addicted to Substance D and has a type of brain damage.

The writing is a bit confusing to me. The writing reminded me of Asimov or Huxley. (NOTE: Okay, anyone who has read Dicks, Asimov or Huxley will say they are nothing alike. I'm not saying that they are the same but just that they remind me of each other. There is minimal transition or scene setting. There is mostly just interaction between characters.) At times, the writing is very fluid, especially towards the end, which I very much enjoyed.

The pacing was weird too. I thought it dragged in the beginning, mostly due to my confusion. But it was very fast towards the end.

The character development was good. I felt like I really got to know and feel sympathy for Bob Arctor and the choices he had to make. I liked Donna as a character and even the strangely intelligent drug user Barris. The characters were original and memorable.

A Scanner Darkly is...original. Can I say that? Is anything truly original? Well, it felt original to me. I don't think I have ever read anything like this. I don't feel like he ever fell into cliches or wrote anything about the drug world that wasn't honest. I liked the grit and baseness of the world that he created (and was glad that I don't have any first hand knowledge of this world).

Overall, I would recommend this book. It is not like most New York Times best sellers. It is gritty and at times, a bit confusing. But overall, it was provocative and, I feel, worthy of the time spent reading it. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read something that is off the beaten path. I grade this book a B (...a C for the beginning and an A for the end). I am tempted to read this book again, which I guess really makes this book an A book.

IT by Stephen King (GRADE: B)

2011-06-17T14:42:00.000-04:00

I just recently finished IT by Stephen King. Overall, I liked it. Even though IT is a long book (my copy had about 1100 pages), the fast pacing made it feel like a much shorter book. I grade this book a B.

IT is about seven children who were terrorized by an inter-dimensional alien that feed (I think) off of the fear of people. This alien frequently takes the form of a clown named Pennywise. The story is told in two time periods: (1) a before time period when the children, about 12 years of age, first meet IT and first confront IT and (2) a later time, about 27 years later, when these kids, now grown up, reunite to attempt to confront IT again.

The writing is good. I enjoy reading Stephen King (well, most of the time--some of his stuff is disturbing) because I feel that it is both literary enough to be worth the time reading and accessible enough so that I don't feel exhausted after reading 10 pages.

The pacing is fast. I was amazed at how fast this book read.

The story itself was written in an interesting way. Half of the book is set in 1957 when the 7 children are 12 years old. The other half of the book is set in 1984, when they are adults. The scenes between present and past are shuffled together; in other words, he switches back and forth between present and past. I really liked this. Both resolutions to the story, both the past story and the present story resolve at the end of the book.

I especially like the very ending of the book. I liked the bit with the bike. That's all I'll say.

Stephen King is very good with character development. I think that this is his strongest writing attribute. At the ends of his books, I feel like I know the characters and I always feel a little sad at the end of his long books because I feel like I have to say goodbye to an old friend at the book's end.

A weakness in this book is (1) his use of Tom Rogan. I just thought there would be more to him with respect to the climax at the end. And (2) I really really really didn't like the discovery about Bev as they began remember more and more of what happened in the past. I just thought it was too much. I just didn't think it added much to the story and it tainted Bev as a character...actually, I think it tainted all of them as characters. You'll have to read it to know what I'm talking about. I hate reading spoilers in other people's reviews and so I won't include them in this one.

Overall, the book was well written, the story was very good and the pacing was neck-breaking. I liked this book. There were some weakness but I felt the good outweighed the bad. I grade this book a B.

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers (Grade: B)

2011-05-18T16:00:00.002-04:00

I've finished Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. It was an uneven read for me; some parts were really engaging and some parts were paper thin. It is an unapologetic Christian romance novel and if you read it as such, I think you may enjoy it. I grade this book a B.

Redeeming Love is about a young lady, Angel, in California in the 1850s, who was sold into prostitution as a little girl. She tries to run away from her life of prostitution but is ultimately unable to by herself. A young man, Michael Hosea, sees her as she is taking a walk on the streets and he hears God tell him to go and marry her and so he tries to take Angel away from her life of prostitution to marry her. This is the story of Angel and Michael Hosea and how Angel finds freedom from her past and herself.

This is a Christian romance novel. If you read this book with any other expectation you may find it disappointing.

Rivers is a competent writer. I think she knows her writing strengths and what her audience wants. She does not try to write above her ability and she gives a satisfying story with a strong ending.

Rivers does have weakness as a writer such as her character development--her characters are essentially one dimensional. Also, the reasons why her characters do things or don't do things are far-fetched at best at times.

So yes, there are times where the story and writing is less than great. But there are also times, where the story is very engaging. Rivers seems to understand how to write a page turner. I found myself reading a hundred pages in one sitting more than once.

Also, as I've said before, the ending is very story, which seems to have ameliorated me to the book as a whole.

There is the issue of content. There is a bit of suggestive content in this story but none of it is explicit. I guess the reservation on the content of this book come from how frequent sex is mentioned (not described) or referred to in this book. There are some deliberate shocking revelations in the book too. So if you are used to, let's say, Stephen King, the content is negligible but you are expecting the book to be as clean as Randy Alcorn, you may be in for a surprise.

Overall, the book was a fun read (but you must remember that it is a romance novel) with a strong ending. I would recommend this book more for ladies than for men. I grade this book a B.

Spike Shadow Puppets by Lynch and Urru (GRADE: C+)

2011-05-18T11:21:00.000-04:00

I've finished Spike: Shadow Puppets by Brian Lynch and Franco Urru. I grade this a C+.

I loved the Angel TV show. And I like Spike as a character. What I liked most about the show was the character development. And I wanted some more of that in these comics but alas, I was disappointed.

This comic is about Spike trying to thwart the plans of a group of demon puppets. The puppets were first introduced in Angel Season 5, episode 'Smile Time'. NOTE: Smile Time may be one of my favorite episodes in the Buffyverse.

Overall, the story was interesting enough but silly and campy at times (and not in a good way). I didn't mind reading it (it was pretty short), but I was hoping for something better. I grade this book a C+. Average/nothing special and at times entertaining.

The Second Book Of Go by Richard Bozulich (GRADE: A-)

2011-05-18T11:19:00.000-04:00

I've finished The Second Book Of Go by Richard Bozulich. This took me well over a month to finish. It is about 150 pages long. I ended up reading many of the pages two or even three times over before I continued. I thought this was a great primer for players who don't want to play 'RANDOM' GO anymore. I rate this book an A-.

This book is broken up into two main sections, strategy and tactics.

The strategy section is about the beginning moves, capturing and maintaining ownership of the corners and sides.

The tactics section is about josekis and tesujis, counting liberties and ko fights.

Personally, I don't mind losing GO games. What I do mind is losing GO games and not knowing why. This book has help me to understand the game at deeper level than playing stones randomly.

I really liked this book. Each section is only a few pages long, providing enough information to wet one's appetite for that part of the game without begin so long that one starts losing interest. For example, Life and Death was only covered in about 5 pages in this book. It provided a brief overview of each time of Life and Death solution types. Now, if I read a whole book on Life and Death problems, I'll have the tools to be able to understand the intermediate books a little better.

Overall, I thought the book was easy to understand and very accessible. I plan to read it again in a few months; there were things that were mentioned that I am already forgetting. I recommend this book to anyone who doesn't want to play RANDOM Go anymore. This is a great intermediate book between a beginners book explaining the game and the intermediate books that cover each aspect of the game. I grade this book an A-. The A grade is only reserved for book that I plan to read again.

Good times.

1421 by Gavin Menzies (GRADE: F)

2011-04-16T17:46:00.000-04:00

A student of mine recommended (and lent me) this book. And so I read it. Many hours later, here I am wondering if I'll ever take another recommendation for a book from a student again. (NOTE: I probably will but I may be more judicious in the future instead of accepting book recommendations haphazardly.) I grade this book an F!

I feel like this book stole many hours of my life from me. I know, I know. I could have stopped the book at any time but I didn't. Maybe I should reconsider my conviction to finish every book that I start...

So that I don't contribute much more time to the time that this book, I will just quote some things that I read on wikipedia concerning this book that reflects how I feel:

Criticism of 1421

Within the academic world, the book (and Menzies "1421 hypothesis") is dismissed by sinologists and professional historians.^[23]^[24]^[25] In 2004, historian Robert Finlay severely criticized Menzies in the Journal of World History for his "reckless manner of dealing with evidence" that led him to propose hypotheses "without a shred of proof".^[6] Finlay wrote:

Unfortunately, this reckless manner of dealing with evidence is typical of 1421, vitiating all its extraordinary claims: the voyages it describes never took place, Chinese information never reached Prince Henry and Columbus, and there is no evidence of the Ming fleets in newly discovered lands. The fundamental assumption of the book—that Zhu Di dispatched the Ming fleets because he had a "grand plan", a vision of charting the world and creating a maritime empire spanning the oceans—is simply asserted by Menzies without a shred of proof ... The reasoning of 1421 is inexorably circular, its evidence spurious, its research derisory, its borrowings unacknowledged, its citations slipshod, and its assertions preposterous ... Examination of the book's central claims reveals they are uniformly without substance.^[26]

A group of scholars and navigators, Su Ming Yang of the United States, Jin Guo-Ping of Portugal, Philip Rivers of Malaysia, Malhão Pereira and Geoff Wade of Singapore questioned Menzies' methods and findings in a joint message:^[21]

His book 1421: The Year China Discovered the World, is a work of sheer fiction presented as revisionist history. Not a single document or artifact has been found to support his new claims on the supposed Ming naval expeditions beyond Africa...Menzies' numerous claims and the hundreds of pieces of "evidence" he has assembled have been thoroughly and entirely discredited by historians, maritime experts and oceanographers from China, the U.S., Europe and elsewhere.^[21]

It has also been pointed out that Menzies has no academic training and no command of the Chinese language, which would prevent him from understanding original source material relevant to his thesis.^[27]

In conclusion, I do NOT recommend this book to anyone! I feel damaged by this book. Now, I have all this misinformation floating around in my head! UGG! I grade this book an F.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (GRADE: D)

2011-04-10T10:52:00.000-04:00

I've just finished Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. This is the third installment of the 'Hunger Games' trilogy. I grade this book a D.

The first book, The Hunger Games, was good.

The second book, Catching Fire, overall was still good even though there were weaknesses in character development and plausibility.

The third book, Mockingjay, was not good. I did not enjoy reading this book.

In summary, Mockingjay starts where Catching Fire leaves off. Katniss is taken from the Hunger Games to District 13, which has actually survived after all these years. Half of the book is about Katniss living in District 13 and the other half of the book is about how the rebels try to overthrow the Capitol.

One thing that is important about fiction is that it has to feel REAL. Note: History does not have to deal with this problem. History merely has to have occurred. Fiction is harder, I feel. In fiction, even in fantastic situations, the characters in the contrived situations have to act and feel REAL. History does not; history just has to have occurred that way in that past.

Collins characters in Mockingjay, did not feel real. They seemed like caricatures. There were many dramatic moments but I don't feel like she spent enough time in character development earning those moments and so when they happened, they felt cheap, like a cheesy TV sitcom where all problems are solved in half an hour.

I think that a world view that Collins was trying to push was, "To thine own self be true", which is a great and very TRUE adage. But the way that it comes off in Mockingjay is stupid and at time insulting. Katniss goes against the grain and does what she wants to do but then when it is reveal to the others what she is doing, it turns out miraculously that everyone knew and they went along with her plans anyway. If that happens once or twice, I would have felt okay with that happening in the story but when it happened over and over again, it was distracting. I found it annoying.

Also, Katniss is SELFISH. She was not a hero. She was not a good character to follow and after all those pages of complaining and whining, I wanted to slap her. (JK. I actually didn't but I just wrote that for dramatic effect). SELFISHNESS can be manifest in false humility which is the way that it comes off for Katniss. SELFISHNESS merely means that one's focus is on one's self instead of others and Katniss only thinks about herself and how things effect her. Her reactions may seem selfless but if you look at her reactions a second time, they are all centered around her and therefore SELFISH. Even at the end when she wanted to commit suicide...COME ON!!!

The story was not so good either. All I'll say is that it seemed like a Frankenstein of a story where, she took things that felt unconnected and just strung them together. UGG. Did not like the story development.

I did like how Coin and Snow parallel each other. I did like Coin/Snow's ending. But aside from that I was not happy with how things ended. The end just seemed to fizzle out.

And when people died, people of significance, the narrative has to stop to describe how it affects the main character but the main characters felt like throw away no name characters. I felt like she was pretty casual and careless about their deaths.

The writing was not so good.

The plot was not so good.

The pacing was not so good.

The character development was awful!

Overall, I would not recommend this book. But there is the RUB! If you read the first two books, I guess you have to read this one. Maybe you can just skim this one. I grade this book a D.

The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking (GRADE: C)

2011-03-26T15:29:00.000-04:00

I just finished The Grand Design by Hawking and Mlodinow. I grade this book a C.

The purpose of the book is to describe what some current physicists believe about the answers to the following questions:

1. Why is there something rather than nothing?

2. Why do we exist?

3. Why this particular set of laws and not some other?

This book is broken up essentially in three parts: (1) what people in the past thought about these questions and their answers--this part essential gave a little history lesson about science from the ancient Greeks to Einstein (2) the current theory of physics such as supersymmetry and M-theory and (3) how the current theories of physics answers the questions postulated above.

This book was short. I wish it were longer because I don't feel that it did a very good job in convincing me about the validity of the conclusions of modern physics. There was a grand total of about one page of the proof that the universe can be created from nothing, that the universe essentially created itself. I read that part several times. I was un-convinced.

I didn't like the comedic tone that some of the sentences in the book had. I think that those 'jokes' were meant to make the material more accessible to the reader but I just found them irritating.

I really liked A Brief History of Time. I really like the Universe in a Nutshell. But this book, not so much.

Overall, I would not recommend this book. I liked Hawking's other books (the ones I mentioned about) and I really liked the Elegant Universe by Brian Greene. I did not find the arguments in this book very convincing or convincing at all when it came to the questions that I really wanted an answer to and therefore I grade this book a C. It wasn't horrible but it didn't fulfill the purpose of giving me a satisfying answer (with respect to giving a persuasive argument). Until next time...

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (GRADE: B-)

2011-03-26T15:13:00.000-04:00

I recently finished Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Catching Fire is the 2nd book of the Hunger Games Trilogy. I grade this book a B-.

This book spans the next year after BOOK 1: The Hunger Games leaves off. (I don't know how to describe this book without ruining the first book and so I shall simply say...) Catching Fire is about the 75th Hunger Games, the year after Katniss and Peeta were tributes. There are uprising in the various districts and Katniss, the mockingjay is seen as a symbol of hope against the tyranny of the capitol. The Hunger Games in this book is President Snow's attempt to squash the uprising and in turn their symbol, Katniss.

The writing is very much the same as in the previous book. (See previous review for Hunger Games).

The pacing is great. She is very strong in creating suspense and engaging the reader.

But I find that her weakness as a writer is more apparent in this book. I don't like Katniss. The more I read this book, the more I found her irritating. And I really didn't like how the author used what Katniss believes as a mislead for the reader. I like Peeta as a character but after a while, I began to ask myself, "Why is he so self-sacrificing? What are his motives? Is it because he has a high school crush on Katniss that he is willing to sacrifice his life for her? (This seems to be a pretty thin reason.) Is there something about Katniss that draws out the best in people? (I don't think there is.)" And so I found even, Peeta, who I like, and his motivations to be thin and lacking. I know that this is not supposed to be a great piece of literature to be studied in universities in years to come. But if I am to get excited about a book, the story and the characters, I feel that the characters should have more substance. (I am sure that many many people would disagree with me. Many people love Katniss's character and this series of books but this is just what I think.)

Overall, I would still recommend this book. It is still a page turner and I was still entertained. It has kept my interest enough for me to pick up the third book, Mockingjay, which I am going to start tomorrow. I grade this book a B-. (B+ for it's suspense and how it is able to engage the reader but a C in character development).

The Last Command by Timothy Zahn (GRADE: B)

2011-03-22T16:30:00.000-04:00

I just finished The Last Command by Timothy Zahn. Overall, I thought it was a fun read. I grade this book a B.

This is the third book in a trilogy that is commonly known as the Thrawn Trilogy. The first two books are (1) Heir to the Empire and (2) Dark Force Rising.

I found this book to be the best of the three. But I did find the ending a bit sudden.

I liked Thrawn as a character and well as Pellaeon.

The character I liked the most was Mara. I liked her arc as a character and her transformation from being singled minded about killing skywalker to...well, you'll just have to read and see what becomes of her.

I don't know why, but I find myself drawn to young adult fiction. Maybe because it is easier to read than, let's say, Dostoevsky. But I still critique it like it is a masterpiece of literature. So let me be a little be generous starting...now.

The Last Command, as well as the entire trilogy, is a good fun book. It kept the flavor of the Star Wars, Empire and Return of the Jedi. I felt like these three books could very well have been episodes VII, VIII and IX.

If you are a fan of Star Wars or just want a fun read, I would recommend these books to you. These books are not high literature; they are young adult beach reads. But for what they are, I thought they were pretty good. I grade this book and the entire series a B.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (GRADE: B)

2011-03-22T16:00:00.001-04:00

I recently finished The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. My friend MM (soon to be MS) recommended this book to me. Soon afterwards, another friend EA also recommended the book to me. When two independent sources enthusiastically recommend the same book, I must take notice and so I did. I grade the book a B- (but it was a B+ with respect to it being a page-turner). It was a fun read.

The Hunger Games takes place in a post-apocalyptic America called Panem. There is a capitol and 12 surrounding poorer districts. Every year, two children (or tributes) between the ages of 12 to 18 years old are chosen by lottery from each of the 12 districts, 24 children in all. They are taken to an arena where each tribute must fight the others to the death until there is only one remaining.

Katniss Everdeen from District 12, the coal mining district, volunteers to take the place of her younger sister, Primrose, who is chosen to be a tribute. The story is about Katniss's fight for survival in the Hunger Games and her uncertain relationship with Peeta, the other tribute from District 12. More than who lives and dies, the result of this year's games may have great consequences for all of Panem.

The writing is interesting. It is written in the first person present, probably so the reader gets the sense of immediacy as the action happens to Katniss. In addition, the reader doesn't know if the narrator survives because of the way it is written. I had a hard time adjusting to this style. Some people loved it; I did not at first but I eventually got used to it. At times, Collins falls into using too many words, especially adverbs. Her writing is strong enough, her scenes are written well enough that the reader doesn't need the adverbs to help complete the picture. In fact, some of her additional descriptions were, at times, distracting.

The real strength of this book was its neck-breaking pace once Katniss entered the arena. The story was engaging and suspenseful.

I enjoyed the world that Collins built especially the personality of each district.

There were a few things that I didn't like. Katniss was fickle and pessimistic. Her flavor as a character was more like a suburban school girl than a hardened hunter from District 12. I felt like her POV was meant to distract the reader. What she believes will happen or her thinks is a person's motivation usually turns out to be wrong.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I don't think that I was the primary audience that Collins had in mind when she wrote the book; I think that the audience was probably a 14 year old girl. But the book can be enjoyed by anyone at any age as long as they keep in mind that the primary audience is young adult. Character development was a weakness in the book. At times, I found Katniss's character annoying (and not in a good way as some caustic characters in other books are). But the book was very engaging. So overall, I would give the book a B-. It was a fun read and I would recommend this book especially if you want a book that you can read on the beach. :) It was a cold and snowy winter this year; I look forward to the days of sand and surf. Soon...soon.

Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother by Amy Chua (GRADE: A-)

2011-03-16T16:55:00.001-04:00

I've just recently finished a surprising good book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua (pronounced Chew-uh). I grade this book an A- (at the end of this book, I was tempted to read it again).

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is a memoir about a Chinese-American woman's thoughts and experiences as she attempts to raise her two daughters, Sophia and Lulu, the 'Chinese Way'. Raising Sophia the 'Chinese Way' is easy; Sophia is compliant to her mother's wishes. But Lulu, the younger of the two, has an independant and, later on, rebellious side to her.

I thought Amy Chua captured the voice of many Asian parents as she shared her thoughts, desires and vision for her children. I found myself laughing out loud as I read this book because of how much her voice sounded like my own mother and even my own views.

If I were to describe this book in one word, I would say that it was 'honest'. She does not describe herself as the perfect mother. She has a desire to rasie her kids a certain way, what she calls the 'Chinese Way', and she describes when it works and when it doesn't and the struggles that she undergoes as she tries to follow her vision for her kids.

The writing was good. It flowed and it was not distracting. And the pacing was very good. I found her story very engaging.

Tiger Mother is a coming-of-age story. Amy Chua begins the story confident that the Chinese way is the correct way, not only to raise her kids but perhaps all kids. She has some brief critisisms of Western parenting thoughout the book. But as she raises her kids, she describes how her kids, in a way, humble her. The end of the memoir was satisfying; there was a change in the moterh with respect to how she relates to her daughters, confident of the Chinese way at first but eventually reaching an equilibrium with her daughter's desires.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book, especially if you are an asian reader. For the Western reader, I think that this book will give you an honest picture of how some asian parents think. The operative word is HONEST. She describes plainly her convictions and vision and, in some cases, the contradictions in her thinking. I grade this book an A-; I did want to re-read this book as soon as I finished it and I may in the near future. Good times.

NOTE: I especially liked the accounts at the end of teh book about how she wrote this book with her husband and daughters together. Each account had to have the blessing of the people in the account to keep the integrity of the scene.

There has been a lot of talk about this book in the parenting community. I don't think that it reads like a parenting manual but rather, the thoughts and emotions of a mother as she tries to fulfill a vision for her kids. Not commenting on the vision itself but I admire that she HAS a vision for her kids.

At times I felt that she was courageous and at other times, crazy. But doesn't that describe us all...

The Art Of The Checkmate by Renaud and Kahn (GRADE: A+)

2011-02-22T12:48:00.000-05:00

I finished The Art Of The Checkmate by Renaud and Kahn. I would grade this book an A+. It is definitely worth reading several times over. In fact, I'm going through the book a second time right now.

Essentially, the book is organized in this way:
1. Introduces, bare bones, a type of checkmate.
2. It shows some slight variations on that type of checkmate.
3. Then, this is the best part, it gives you the entire game from first move to checkmate for the type of checkmate described. There may only be one example of a game or just an end game position. But most have several games showing the checkmate described.

I absolutely enjoyed going through the games in the is book and I think this may be the single most helpful book on check that I've encoutered so far. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their game. I think this book is for intermediate players. You should know basic tactics and stategies. You should know algebraic notation.

The Shining by Stephen King (GRADE: B+)

2011-02-22T12:38:00.000-05:00

I just finished the Shining by Stephen King this month. I enjoyed reading this book. I grade this book a B+, which is about the highest grade that I would give to a book that I don't plan on re-reading or studying.

I don't know why but I find myself reading a lot of Stephen King books. I think it is because he is both literary and accessible. When I read some books that academics would consider high literature, I feel exhausted after reading a few pages. When I read some books that I would call a supermarket novel or a beach read, I feel like I haven't read anything significant. Stephen King is a good mixture of both. His books are relatively easy to read, they keep my attention and I feel that they are literary. Anyhoo, moving on...

SUMMARY:
The Shining is about a man, Jack Torrance, who takes a job as the caretaker for a hotel over the winter. He stays at the hotel with his wife, Wendy Torrance, and son Danny Torrance (the 5-year old kid). Because of the severity of the winter snow, no cars can get to the hotel over the winter months. The hotel has had a sorted past full of violence and murders. Danny, the 5 year old son, has psychic abilities of unusual strength and his psychic abilities gives the hotel enough energy to enter the real world in some form. This is really the story of Danny and how the hotel wants Danny and will do whatever it take to get him.

This is the third novel that Stephen King has written. The first is Carrie, the second is Salem's Lot and The Shining is the third.

I like the rawness of King's earlier works. When something works in these early novels, they really work well! I think that King's later books are more even and consistent; I find King's earlier books full of raw energy.

The writing was very good. I like how King interjects the voices in the character's head or their thoughts with the actual dialogue heard by the characters. It is a mystery to me how King prevents his books from becoming campy. They are not campy. They are compelling and gripping and at times, scary. This book is especially scary for me because the violent ravings of a drunk man is something that I can picture happening in the real world.

The pacing was great. Slow and steady in the beginning and ending in a great climax. King is great at keeping a good pacing with appropriate highs and lows throughout most of his books.

I saw Kubricks's version of this story first. I was very confused by the movie. Nothing was really explained. I am glad that King spends time explaining the nuances of the hotel and what power the hotel actually has. I liked the book much better than the movie. But, throughout the entire book, I was looking forward to getting to the part where Wendy, the wife, finds the words, All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. But it is only in the movie; it is not found in the book. The creepy dead twins at the end of the hallway is only in the movie also.

Overall, I thought The Shining was a great read. I really enjoyed it. The writing was good. The pacing was good. And I thought the character development was really good. I last appearance of Jack Torrance's real face was especially poignant for me. I was moved. I grade this a B+. Great read but I don't think that I'll be re-reading this anytime soon...or then again, I may. Good times.

Angel, After the Fall by Joss Whedon (GRADE: C-)

2011-01-30T17:11:00.000-05:00

I finished Angel, After the Fall, Volume 3 this month.

This will be a short review.

I didn't like it very much. Most of the story was not-so-good.

It moved from the grade of a D to a C- because I liked the cliff-hanger ending.

This will be the last of the ANGEL graphic novels that I will be reading.

Christine by Stephen King (GRADE: B+)

2011-01-30T17:09:00.000-05:00

I finished Christine by Stephen King this month. I really liked this book. I like how Stephen King takes ordinary things and makes them extra-ordinary, in this case, a classic car. I grade this book a B+.

This book is about a teenage boy, Arnie Cunningham. Arnie sees a car for sale on the side of the road as he's driving with his best friend Dennis Guilder. Arnie falls in love with this battered old car and wants to buy it. As Arnie works on the car, it starts to change him. Arnie starts to take on the characteristics of the previous owner, a nasty old man named Roland LeBay.

Dennis does not like the car and is suspicious of the car because of how it seems to be changing his best friend, Arnie, changing him into a stranger.

Arnie eventually falls in love with a great girl named Leigh Cabot. Leigh does not like the car and after some drama, Leigh wants Arnie to choose between the car, Christine and her.

The writing is great!

The pacing is great! So much so, that I am tempted to sit down and study this book to try to figure out how Stephen King did it.

The theme of obsession is a big part of this book and how the object of the obsession will eventually change you. This seems to be the message of Stephen King's book.

Overall, I really liked this book. B+ is pretty much the highest grade I'll give shy of the "RE-READ". I would recommend this book. I was initially intrigued about how Stephen King can turn a not-so-scary thing like a car into the subject of a horror novel. But I think that King was very successful in doing that. Good times.

Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn (GRADE: B)

2011-01-30T16:56:00.000-05:00

I finished Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn this month. This is the second book in the Thrawn Trilogy. I enjoyed the book. I grade this book a B, it was an enjoyable and fun read but I don't think that I'll re-read this book in the future.

Grand Admiral Thrawn needs ships. There is a fleet of ships lost in space from before the Clone Wars. The fleet may have been found and both the Empire and the Republic want the ships; there is a race to find these ships.

Luke is called by Joruus C'baoth and Luke goes to find him. When found, C'baoth is not the Jedi that Luke had expected.

Leia goes to the Noghri home plant to try to convince them to leave the Empire and follow the Republic.

And the backstory of Mara Jade is revealed.

The pacing of the story was good.

The writing was good.

I enjoyed reading this story.

Overall, I would recommend this book. I grade it a B instead of an A because, even though it was a fun and good read and I would recommend it, I didn't feel the urge to re-read the book when I finished it. Good times.

Angel, After The Fall, Volume 2 by Joss Whedon (Grade: C-)

2010-12-31T11:55:00.000-05:00

I just finished Angel, After The Fall, Volume 2.

This volume is a collection of short stories by different writers and artists. Each story is centered on what happened to each character between Angel Season 5's season finale and Angel, After The Fall, Volume 1.

This graphic novel was uneven, as is common with most short story collections. None of the stories were developed enough to engage me as a reader.

None of them every horribly bad but none of the stories were particularly good either. Nothing really happened in each of the shorts.

The art was uneven also. Some of the stories had good artwork but some of the art was not very good at all.

Overall, I felt the stories were weak and the art was uneven. It wasn't overtly bad but it was close. I'm going to try one more volume of Angel to see if it redeems itself but I am not holding my breath. I grade this a C-.

Triathlete Magazine's Guide To Finishing Your First Triathlon by T. J. Murphy (GRADE: B+)

2010-12-30T14:42:00.000-05:00

I just finished Triathlete Magazine's Guide To Finishing Your First Triathlon by T. J. Murphy.

This book is for beginners, which is good because I am a beginner.

The book is essentially broken up into five parts:
(1) Introduction. The gist of this section is this: YAY! YOU CAN DO IT. I liked reading this part. It got me really excited about doing a TRI.
(2) The Equipment. This section gives you a good overview of what you need to buy or have in order to do a SPRINT Triathlon.
(3) Nutrition. I liked this section because it gave practical information as well as technical information. Such as a guy should eat about 3000 Calories a day during training and this is an example of a typical meal, etc.
(4) Technique. I really liked the section on swimming which is my weakest leg of the TRI. The running and the cycling parts were fine but the information was basic.
(5) Thoughts and advice on the actual race itself. I liked this section because it gave a good idea of race day and the common errors people make. Hopefully, I won't make the same errors because I have the information in this book.

The book has thick glossy pages. It is fully of great pictures. It is written well. This is the kind of book that a person will actually read cover to cover. It has great information and it doesn't assume that a person knows anything about TRIATHLONS.

I have also bought some other technical books on TRIs. I thought that this book was good to have because the writing is inspirational and the text doesn't assume that you know anything about the sport. It was actually fun to read.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is trying out TRIs for the first time. I thought it was a great book. I grade this book a B+. It would be an A if it had everything that I wanted in a TRI book but it did not. I had to supplement the information in this book with other TRI books. This book lacked a lot of the technical aspect of the sport but my guess is the author deliberately left that stuff out to make the book more accessible to beginners. But overall, a great book.

Heir To The Empire by Timothy Zahn (GRADE: B)

2010-12-30T14:27:00.000-05:00

I just finished Heir To The Empire by Timothy Zahn, a Hugo Award-Winner author. This is the first book of a trilogy. It was a fun read but I can't picture myself reading this book again. I grade this book a B. The story was good, the pacing was good and the writing was good.

Heir To The Empire is set about 5 years after return of the Jedi. The Empire (the side the the Emperor and Darth Vader controlled) still exists and the Alliance (the side with Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, etc) have gained much power and control of the galaxy after the Battle of Endor.

There were 12 Grand Admirals during the time of the Emperor in the Empire. After the fall of the Emperor, all the Grand Admirals were thought to have been dealt with but one has escaped the notice of the Alliance, Grand Admiral Thrawn, a alien with blue skin and red eyes that is unusually intelligent. With Thrawn leading, the Empire has started to gain victories over the Alliance.

In the midst of this, an insane Jedi is found, Master C'Baoth; a young lady, Mara Jade, who has joined the successor to Jabba the Hut, is determined to find and kill Luke Skywalker; and there is political strife in the newly established Alliance.

The writing is good (but on the simple side). My guess is because the book's target demographic is high school aged boys.

The pacing is good. Each scene is relatively short and no scene is over 20 pages long. This is both a strength and a weakness. It is a strength because it keeps the reader's attention but it is a weakness because it limits character development.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book. It was only a part of a story--it is the first book in a trilogy (I am currently reading the second book in the series, Dark Force Rising)--so the actual judgment of the full story must wait until all three books are read. The writing and the pacing were both good and the book definitely kept my interest. So if you liked the Star Wars movies, I would highly recommend you check out this book (or the whole trilogy if they turn out to be good). I would grade this book a B.

The Pale Of Settlement by Margot Singer (GRADE: A)

2010-11-28T09:16:00.000-05:00

I just finished The Pale Of Settlement by Margot Singer. The Pale of Settlement was the 2006 winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, a very prestigious award. I grade this collection of short stories an A.

The Pale of Settlement is a collection of 9 short stories about a family of Jewish people, some American Jews and some Israeli Jews. The stories can be read independently but in another way, all the stories are like puzzle pieces that make up a whole picture of this family. In this way, it reminded me of the Joy Luck Club (which I also liked very much, see previous entry).

The writing is probably some of the best I've ever read. In fact, at times, I felt really stupid reading this book. Frequently, as I read the book, I would get the feeling that I was reading something symbolic or that the story itself is a metaphor or that there are mirrors and juxtapositions but I couldn't wrap my non-literature mind around it. The writing was a mix between poetry and prose; it was truly beautiful.

As a Korean-American, I could very much relate to the feeling of displacement that Susan, one of the characters in the family in the Pale of Settlement, felt; she neither felt fully American nor fully Jewish. She was both and neither at the same time and in the same way. A contradiction. But a contradiction that every foreign born american feels (I'm guessing).

The stories were very much character driven. At times, plot helps in driving the story but this collection of short stories was more about diving deep into the characters and not so much about defeating an enemy or overcoming an obstacle. The resolutions were subtle as was pretty much everything in this book.

Overall, this book was great! At times it was a little difficult to read--she doesn't stick with conventional prose writing but I assure you, that it is worth the time and effort. I grade this an A. It would have been an A+ if I were smarter but I felt like I missed a lot of the things the author tried to do. At the end of this book, I was very tempted to flip the book around and begin reading it again. Good times.

ANGEL, After the Fall, Volume 1 by Joss Whedon (GRADE: B+)

2010-11-28T08:58:00.000-05:00

I just finished ANGEL, After the Fall, Volume 1 by Joss Whedon. I would grade this a B+.

ANGEL, After the Fall is essentially season 6 (FOX had canceled Angel after 5 seasons). After the Fall picks up where Season 5 leaves off, well, almost. There are some things that are revealed during this graphic novel that communicate what happens in the interim between S5 and S6.

Overall, I thought the story was engaging. I liked the faster pace of the graphic novel. I thought the art was outstanding. And the flavor of the comic was the same as the TV show which I liked. I grade this a B+. Fun to read but it was not profound or provocative, just fun. Good times.

ROBOTECH, Doomsday by Jack McKinney (GRADE: B+)

2010-11-28T08:53:00.000-05:00

I just finished ROBOTECH Doomsday by Jack McKinney. Doomsday is parts 4, 5, and 6 of a SIX part series based on the ROBOTECH animated series, which was aired in the United States in 1985. OVERALL, I thought Doomsday was a fun read and I would grade it a B+.

There are SIX books that chronicle the MACROSS series, the first 36 episodes, describing the first ROBOTECH war. The first three books were compiled in the book compilation called BATTLECRY (see previous entry), including the books (1) Genesis, (2) Battlecry, and (3) Homecoming. DOOMSDAY is a compilation of (4) Battlehymn, (5) Force of Arms and (6) Doomsday. DOOMSDAY picks up where BATTLECRY leaves off. The SDF-1 has made it back to earth but earth does not want the SDF-1 to remain, the military wants the SDF-1 to leave earth in hopes that the Zentraedi will follow the SDF-1 and leave earth alone.

The tone of the books, all the books, is a little campy at times and very serious at other times.

The pacing of the book is good. The writer doesn't stay in one particular scene for very long and things that don't translate well from the animated series to the book, the author quickly mentions it in the book and then moves on.

The character development is uneven: some of the characters are well developed while others are not. Some of the changes in the characters are very sudden and a little jarring.

The love triangle between Minmei, Rick and Lisa is a major element of the drama in the series. Some of it is very well done and some of the resolutions are jarring.

I thought that Jack McKinney's version of the ROBOTECH MACROSS series was better than the animated series itself. McKinney attempts to explain in the text the things that were sudden (and some things that were silly). I liked McKinney vision of Robotech. I grade this book a B+. It was a fun, light read. It was a little too campy at time but the campy-ness was definitely redeemed by the cool dogfights and action in the book. Plus, McKinney adds scenes in the book that are helpful in understanding the story and, in places where the animated series simply doesn't make much sense, McKinney changes it in the book to something that is more plausible and sometimes clever.

Overall, I thought it was a fun read. I grade this book a B+. It wasn't high literature but I don't think it was meant to be. Good times. :)

Night Shift by Stephen King (GRADE: B)

2010-10-31T15:46:00.000-04:00

I just finished Night Shift by Stephen King this morning. Night Shift is an early collection of short stories, published in 1978. NOTE: I'm kind of into short stories now. This collection includes Children of the Corn which was made into a movie of the same name; Trucks which was also turned into a movie, directed by Stephen King, and titled Maximum Overdrive; and The Lawnmower Man, which was also made into a movie, which had almost nothing to do with the short story; some of these stories were made into short movies, the collection of short movies was released under the name Cat's Eye.

How does one review a collection of short stories? Well, one way is to review each story one at a time but that seems a little tedious to write and, I'm imagining, tedious to read. So I will choose three that I liked and write about them. Why three? WHY NOT! Anyhoo.

BATTLEGROUND is about a hit-man named Renshaw who is hired to kill a toy maker. A box is mailed to him and it is full of tiny army men and equipment. The one inch army men are functional and so is the equipment. Their bullets feel like bee stings and the propellers of the helicopters slices Renshaw's hands to the bone. This story is about Renshaw and his encounter with the little army men. I liked this story. As a kid, I've imaged my toys coming to life but in my imagination, the toys were my friends. What if the toys were not your friends? Well, that is what this story is about.

THE LEDGE is about a tennis pro, Stan Norris, who is sleeping with a dangerous powerful crime lord's wife. The crime lord, Cressner, says that he will let Norris go and give him money and let his wife go with Norris, if Norris is willing to do one thing, walk along a 6 inch ledge around the outside of his apartment building; Cressner is expecting Norris to fall and thus exact revenge on him. This is Stan Norris's story about the walk around the building. I liked this story also. This is a great example of a simple story that is plot/suspense driven. Well done, Mr. King

THE LAST RUNG ON THE LADDER. All I'll say about this story is that it made me cry. Good times.

Overall, most of the stories were very good. King's stories are mostly plot driven instead of 'slice-of-life'. I liked most of the stories but, as is common with most collections, even if all the stories are by the same author, some stories in Night Shift were strong while others are not as strong. But an enjoyable read for the most part. I rate this book a B. Some stories were As and most were Bs and maybe one was a C. Good times.

The Bigness of the World by Lori Ostlund (GRADE: B)

2010-10-30T09:33:00.003-04:00

I just finished The Bigness of the World by Lori Ostlund a couple of days ago. It is a Flannery O'Conner Award for Short Fiction, a very prestigious award for short story writers. My feelings are mixed about this book. Essentially, the writing is excellent; she is a master of writing short fiction. But many of the short stories didn't resonate with me, partially because the stories are more character driven than plot driven and, in a lot of ways, her worldview is really different than my own.

It is hard to write a review of this book/collection of short stories in a coherent manner. If I may, I would like to just give a few random thoughts:

1. Ostlund is a brilliant writer. She uses words like a painter uses a brush.
2. Some of the characters were teachers. Her insights about education and students were provocative and the education aspect of her stories did resonate with me. I especially like her passing comment on how the main character did not know when teachers became the keepers of students' self-esteem.
3. Some of the stories were just bizarre like The Children Beneath the Seat. I just couldn't get over the image of vomit rolling on the floor of the bus as the children were positioned on the floor under the seat.
4. Minnesota was mentioned often and many of the characters came from Minnesota, but the stories were seldom set there.
5. The story, The Bigness of the World, was set apart from the others, both in flavor and writing. I thought this story was outstanding and very accessible. In my opinion, this story by itself is worth the cost of the book. I have seldom read a character as rich as Ilsa Maria Lumpkin, the nanny in this story.
6. I really liked the quirky idiosyncrasies that she gave each character. And the idiosyncrasies are, not only well thought out, but memorable. She was very good at character development.

Overall, Ostlund is a brilliant writer. Most of the stories didn't resonate with me as I was reading them; it was only in discussion with a friend, after I had finished the book, that I realized the writing was outstanding. The stories are on the melancholic side (but, then again, most modern short stories are). I grade this book a B, (an A for the writing but a C for the stories being engaging to me--but of course, that has more to do with me as a reader than her as a writer--averaging to a B).

Cell by Stephen King (GRADE: B)

2010-10-29T15:42:00.000-04:00

I finished Cell by Stephen King a couple of weeks ago. Before I even picked up this book, I heard all sorts of bad reviews for Cell. After reading it, I can say that most of the bad reviews are greatly exaggerated. I liked the book. It wasn't his greatest masterpiece but it was an enjoyable read. I grade Cell by Stephen King a 'B'.

Summary of Cell:
In Boston, Clayton Riddell, a graphic comic artist, observes people on cell phones simultaneously transform into violent, mindless 'zombies' that physically assault and try to kill each other. Clay has an estranged wife and son and he wonders if they have been affected. In the book, Clay, along with with Tom McCourt, a middle aged man, and Alice Maxwell, a teenage girl, travel to Kent Pond, Vermont, to find the status of his wife and son. Along the way, the trio meet others: a professor and a boy at a school, some punks traveling fast in a car through ruined streets, and others.

I thought the writing was pretty good. The action started immediately at the beginning of the book. The only characters that were really developed were Clay, Tom and Alice. I especially liked the character of Alice; her development was enjoyable (and at times really sad).

Stephen King's view of man as intrinsically bad is interesting. It reminded me of John Calvin's view of total depravity, a man, deep down inside, is essentially evil and selfish; there are good parts of man but there are no parts of man that is untouched by sin.

I can see why people didn't like the story. It doesn't answer the questions that similar novel will answer (usually tritely). This book is novel length but it feels more like a short story, more of a slice of life story. There can be much more to the novel, all the questions can be answered but the story essentially is complete where King ends it. I didn't mind the ending. I thought that it was melancholically appropriate.

The pacing the book was faster in this book than most Stephen King books. He got right to the action.

The writing I thought was good.

The characters that were developed where developed well but there were a lot of characters that came and went.

I love the personality pictures that King creates. I especially liked the picture of the professor and the boy surviving on their own at the school surrounded by killer zombies.

Overall, I thought the book was good. I enjoyed reading it. It wasn't a masterpiece like the Stand but I don't think that it was meant to be. I think that King wanted to write a medium to short length novel about zombies that was interesting to read and I think that he achieved his goal.

I grade this book a B. :)

The Pen/O. Henry Prize Stories 2009 edited by Laura Furman (GRADE: B)

2010-10-01T22:15:00.000-04:00

I just finished The Pen/O. Henry Prize Stories 2009 edited by Laura Furman. It is a collection of 20 short stories, the prize winners for the year 2009, written by a variety of writers of all ages and ethnicity. This collection has both the strength and weakness of most short story collection, it is uneven; it has a few duds as well as a few gems. I grade this collection a B.

Thousands of stories are entered in for every year for this prize and these are the 20 winners. It is one of the most prestigious short story awards around today. (The other one that I am familiar with is the Flannery O'Conner Award for Short Fiction but this award publishes, usually, 10 short stories by the same author, instead of a collection of authors.)

I've been reading a lot of short stories lately. I like that I can read one in its entirety in one sitting, over one cup of coffee or hot chocolate or whatever specialty drink is available at Starbucks (I think I read one over a pumpkin latte. Hmmmm, pumpkin latte.)

This collection, like most collection, is uneven. Some stories don't resonate with me and I have a hard time getting through them. Some stories are really really good. I guess that is why I read collections so I can find these gems that I would not be able to find otherwise. Overall, most of the stories were pretty good.

Three that caught my attention are the following:

I really really liked Twenty-two Stoires by Paul Theroux. It is his version of a long story, short. Each story is about a page long. I was amazed as how much I got into one of these short stories in such a short amount of time. It was also a great study for me on the essential elements of story.

I really liked Kind by L. E. Miller. It is a story about forgiveness and regret and tying up loose ends. The architecture of this story was great and I like how there was great mirroring via specific words in this story.

I also liked The House Behind a Weeping Cherry by Ha Jin. I guess it is what the movie Pretty Woman would have been like if it wasn't far-fetched. This is a pulpable and gritty love story about a prostitute and a man that discovers that he's in love and tries to save her.

Overall, I liked this collection. There were more good stories than bad. I grade this a B.

Anathem by Neal Stephenson (GRADE: C)

2010-09-30T16:26:00.001-04:00

I just finished Anathem by Neal Stephenson. It was recommended to me by my esteemed colleague AB. I wanted to like this book but at the end of it, there were too many weaknesses in the narrative. This book gets a grade of C.

I found the following review:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090402460.html

It pretty much sums up the way I feel about the book. Check it out if you want a more thorough review of the book (and a better written review).

The story is essentially this: This earth-like world is divided in two ways: saeculars and the avout (or monks). The monks in this world don't worship God but worship mathematics and science. The main character is a young avout named Erasmus. A space ship is seen in the sky with telescopes and is seen to be a possible threat to the world. The book is about the discovery of the space ship, elucidating information about the space ship and eventually confronting the spaceship.

The main weakness of this book was the exposition. There was simply too much of it.

The writing was good but the pacing was very poor. At times, the story was engaging but frequently, the story or plot would be halted by philosophical talk about multiple universes or philosophy.

The book could have been about 300 pages and very good but instead it was 900 pages and relatively boring.

Don't get me wrong. Stephenson's book is very intelligent and even clever at time and I can imagine that it was very hard to write but he forgot the first rule of storytelling. You always have to serve the plot! You always have to serve the story! I feel he got enamored by the world that he created and spent too much time on things that didn't serve the plot.

Overall, I do not recommend the book. At times it was engaging but the pace for most of the book was slow and it dragged, a lot! I grade this book a C. I really wanted to like it but I just couldn't get past the poor pacing. Sorry Mr. Stephenson. And sorry AB, my recommender.

Plot by Ansen Dibell (4 stars of 5)

2010-09-18T07:25:00.000-04:00

I just finished Plot by Ansen Dibell.

Plot is a non-fiction book for aspiring writers who want to learn the basics of the mechanics of plot. The book was good; I learned a lot. It didn't have any secrets about writing that I couldn't figure out myself by reading a lot of books. But what the book did do was help me put a name and organize the concepts that I subconsciously recognized in reading other people's book. There were a lot of A-HA or YES I RECOGNIZE THAT IN BOOKS THAT I'VE READ moments as I read.

I was a little confused about some of her choices for examples of good plot but then I realized that she wasn't picking the choices for creative genius but rather for accessibility to the reader. She talked about EMPIRE STRIKES BACK a lot and I mean a lot. I thought initially that she did this because she thought it was a work of profound PLOT genius but then, after further thought, she probably picked this story because most people are familiar with the story. Another story she mentions a lot was LORD OF THE FLIES and REBECCA.

As I'm reading about learning how to be a better writer, I'm actually becoming a better reader. As I read through short stories, novels and even movies and tv shows, I'm realizing all the mirror and patterns and juxtapositions that are commonly used that I never noticed before.

Overall, this book was good. It definitely delivered on what it promised. I learned about plot, the beginning, the middle and the end. There was less HOW TO and more DESCRIPTION of ELEMENTS OF PLOT but I appreciated the writing and the few tips that she gave. She also describes common pitfalls which was helpful. I liked how she gave a lot of examples from books/stories/movies that I was familiar with. I rate this a 4 out of 5, minus one star because I was hoping for some secrets or things that I would not have noticed on my own but didn't get.

The Green Mile by Stephen King (5 stars of 5)

2010-09-04T01:49:00.000-04:00

I just finished The Green Mile by Stephen King a couple of days ago. I thought it was a really good book. It was well written and the story was engaging and satisfying. I give it 5 stars out of 5.

The Green Mile is told as a first person narrative from the perspective of Paul Edgecomb about his time as a prison guard in the Green Mile, where they execute prisoners by electricity until dead. It is set in the 1930s during the great depression in the United States. John Coffey, a gentle but very large, black man is brought into the prison for killing two girls and he is to stay at the Green Mile until his date of execution. This story how John Coffey changed Paul Edgecomb's life.

Stephen King wrote this as a serial. In other words, he wrote this in monthly installments. The first 90 pages came out in March 1996 and about 30 days later, the next installment came out. Stephen King wants to keep his writing fresh and he keeps on trying new things to achieve that goal. In this case, he tried to write a serial novel to keep his writing fresh. King says that it was a good experience but he would not do it again. He liked and didn't like the pressure of having 90 pages complete in one month; he liked the excitement of keeping the story going but he said that it was hard to write that much in such a short time. Also, he said that he does like that the critics get a chance to lambaste him 6 times (one for each installment) instead of just once.

I think this is a great story for character study. John Coffey = J. C. = Jesus Christ, perhaps. Percy Wetmore, a bad man out of incarceration compared to Wild Bill Wharton, a bad man that is incarcerated. Eduard "Del" Delacroix is portrayed as a person who is a victim of Percy's malice; I found it interesting that I frequently forgot that he murdered six people. This book is full of character gems.

The story, as with all of King's novels, has it's own pace, some slow (in a good way) and some really fast. I really like the pacing of Mr. King's books. This one was on the quicker side because the book was about 400 pages, slim for a King novel.

The story itself was very engaging, brilliant at times.

I really liked the character of John Coffey. You'll have to read the book or watch the movie to find out what is so interesting about him.

Wild Bill Wharton was a bad, bad man. King writes the best bad guys, I think.

NOTE about the movie. The movie, which I saw tonight, was very good. At one point, I found myself tearing. I thought the movie was true to the book, flavor and all. The casting was particularly impressive.

Overall, I thought The Green Mile was a well written and engaging story with very interesting characters. I would highly recommend this book. I rate it 5 out of 5 stars. :) Until the next time...

The Theory of Light and Matter by Andrew Porter (5 stars of 5)

2010-08-30T09:07:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading The Theory of Light and Matter by Andrew Porter a few days ago. This book won the Flannery O'Conner award for short fiction in 2007. I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. If I could, I would rate this 6 stars! But that would be silly, like a coach yelling to his players, "Give me one hundred and ten percent!" We all know that all we can give is one hundred percent; that is all we have. Anyhoo...

The Theory of Light and Matter is a collection of ten short stories. Each story is about relationship in suburbia. None of the main characters are super rich or super poor. Porter is writing about the middle class and the struggle they have with relationship and dissatisfaction with life.

What struck me the most about Porter was his writing. He is an OUTSTANDING and BRILLIANT writer. The writing is fluid and effortless. If I may say, Porter is to short stories and Federer is to tennis or Beethoven is to music. I was so impressed with Porter's writing.

I've tried to read short stories in the past and, for me, they have been very difficult. The hardest part about reading short stories was the conclusion; I would get to the conclusion or resolution and I just wouldn't 'get it'. Porter's stories are different. As I got to the end of his stories, I would get lost in his word's and descriptions; I would get caught up in his characters; and when I got to the end, it would feel like a real resolution (unlike the confusing shorts that I've read in the past). The interesting part for me was I didn't know why the endings were so satisfying. This gave me a lot to think about and I think fiction that provokes thought is a very good thing.

At the beginning of some of the shorts, I felt a little tentative because I thought that it would become corny and cliche because of the subject matter. Porter never went to the cliche. He always wrote to develop character and story.

So, overall, the writing was brilliant and the pacing was perfect. His characters, his stories...outstanding. I couldn't recommend this book highly enough. I rate this book a 5 stars out of 5. Until the next time, keep reading Constant Reader...

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (5 stars of 5)

2010-08-26T11:21:00.000-04:00

I just finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling. This is my second time through this series of books and Goblet of Fire is still good on its second reading. I rate this 5 stars out of 5.

In Goblet of Fire, Harry is mysteriously chosen to be a school champion, representing Hogwarts, in a Tri-wizard tournament. Each trial in the tournament is dangerous, even life-threatening. Harry must uncover the mystery of who and why his name was submitted for the tournament as well as successfully complete each of the trials without losing his life.

Out of the seven books in this series, all of which are good, I think this one may be my favorite.

I think the writing is good (except I think that she uses too many adverbs). I liked how she tried to break out of her plot formula that she developed and used and reused in her previous three installments. I also liked that she expanded the Wizarding world internationally. I enjoyed the german and french wizarding students in this school.

I thought the pace of the book was very good, which is significant because this is the largest of the first four books; usually longer books are vulnerable to pacing issues. But this book definitely kept my interest; I did not find myself wondering, "hey, I wonder what is on tv." as I was reading.

I thought this book was pivotal in the series; she seems to be writing for an older audience at this point. I would not consider this a children's book; there are elements of action/suspence and violence that I would have have reservations about for young kids. But because of the more-adult nature of this book, she is able to delve deeper into Harry's character (which is a good thing).

I really like Victor Crumb's character, a superstar but vulnerable (as seen when talking to Harry about a particular young lady).

I think J K Rowling hates the press as shown by her depiction of Rita Skeeter. She was a character that I loved to dislike.

Overall, I thought this was a great book. I really enjoyed reading it. I rate it 5 stars out of 5 stars.

Anthem by Ayn Rand (4 stars of 5)

2010-08-19T13:26:00.001-04:00

I just finished Anthem by Ayn Rand. This work by Rand is a smart and thought provoking novella. If you are interested in exploring Ayn Rand's philosophy but feel intimidated by the massive size of The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged, this may be the book for you. I give Anthem by Ayn Rand 4 stars out of 5.

Anthem is about a future socialist, collectivist society. This society is similar to the idea of government that the Soviet Union tried to implement during mid to late 20th century. Equality 7-2521 is the main character of the story and the book is written through the perspective of Equality 7-2521 via his journal. In this society, it is unknown to use the word "I". Because all men are equal and community is the end-all, everyone refers to themselves as "we". Equality 7-2521 is restless and starts to find the collectivist society lacking, though he cannot put words or even thoughts to his feelings. He notices a girl (but falling in love is forbidden in this society because it is selfish). He discovers something that may help society very much but the leaders of this society may not see things in the same way.

I find Ayn Rand's writing very appealing. I think that she is a very good writer. She is clear and coherent. The book and its story is easy to read and very accessible (even though her philosophy may be a little more difficult to understand).

I find her philosophy strangely appealing and romantic in my heart but I know in my head that it is fundamentally wrong. I think that she puts her hope too much in man and if one has total faith in man, they are bound to be disappointed.

The pacing of the story was very fast.

I may be wrong for calling this novella a story. To me, it actually wasn't a story because it has no real resolution. When you read it, you'll see what I mean. It seems to me just a context set to communicate her philosophy of the virtue of selfishness and humanism.

The only negative I can think of is this. I find her characters a little flat. I didn't like that the Golden One blindly followed Equality 7-2521; she didn't seem to be her own person with her own desires; she seemed to be just an extension of Equality 7-2521. And I don't like how Ayn Rand makes the heroes really strong and good looking and smart and all the bad people sniveling and weak. (She does the same thing in The Fountainhead).

Overall, I thought the book was provacative and well worth the time to read, especially because it is so short. I give Anthem by Ayn Rand 4 stars of 5, minus one for flatness of character and lack of resolution in the story.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (5 stars of 5)

2010-08-18T00:21:00.002-04:00

I just finished Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I thought this was an outstanding book. It was both very entertaining to read and thought provoking. I rate this 5 stars out of 5 stars.

Fahrenheit 451 is about an alternate future where firemen create fires to burn books (instead of putting fires out). In this alternate future, people are addicted to mindless television and most books, such as the Bible or books of poetry, are banned. If one owns an illegal book, the firemen are called to pour kerosine onto the books and light them on fire. One fireman, Guy Montag, meets a teenage girl who is different than anyone that Montag has ever met. He finds the girl irritating because of her questions and because of her incredible power of identification (Montag feels like she can read the heart of a person). He is both repulsed and attracted to her. Meeting this girl begins to open Montags eyes about the world, everything is not as it should be. He starts to feel like his life is meaningless and he suspects that the answers to his questions are found in books, the very books that he is burning.

I'm really glad that I read this after Something Wicked This Way Comes. Because if I read it before, I don't think that I would have enjoyed Something Wicked as much. The two books are written similarly but I feel like Bradbury's emotive writing style really worked for Fahrenheit but didn't work as well for Something Wicked.

I was really affected by this book. Bradbury's writing was very good. I don't want to give anything away but at one point Montag finds himself alone and I very much sympathized with him, resonated with him, imported feelings from my own life into his situation and vice versa. Outstanding Bradbury, outstanding. And in this book, I felt like Bradbury's emotive writing was effective.

The pacing of the book was slightly slow in the beginning but when it picks up, it's a non-stop rollercoaster until the end.

There are robot dogs in this book. Robot dogs! Awesome!

Even though she is only in part of the book, I really really really liked the character of Clarisse. I wanted her more in the story but I guess this is evidence of Bradbury's success. He created a character that I wanted to get to know more. :)

Overall, I thought this book was a masterpiece. I give it 5 stars out of 5 stars. Great book!

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (4 stars of 5)

2010-08-16T18:54:00.003-04:00

I just finished Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. I liked the story but I found the writing difficult to understand at times. I would rate this 4 stars out of 5.

Something Wicked This Way Comes is about two thirteen year old boys, Jim and Will, who discover a secret about a carnival that comes to town. The Carnival, run by Mr. Cooger and Mr. Dark (the Illustrated Man), is not what it seems to be. Jim and Will need to stop Mr. Dark from carrying out his plans concerning the people in this small town. But Mr. Dark is also after the boys because he knows that they, the boys, know the carnival's secret.

I did not like Bradbury's emotive, poetic writing in this book. I know, I know. Bradbury is a genius. But I, for me, I found his writing in this book confusing. I got to the end of some chapters and I had no idea what had just happened in the story. I know that a lot of people like Bradbury's style of writing in this book but I was not one of them. It wasn't all bad for me. There were several parts where Bradbury sustained great suspense and I thoroughly enjoyed these parts. But all in all, I had to read this book very slowly (which affected the pace of the story for me) because I found myself confused.

The story is classic. Young boys. Evil Carnival. Evil Mastermind covered in tattoos. Help in places unlooked. I liked the story very much (even though parts of it were a little campy).

Mr. Dark, the illustrated man was particularly creepy. I'm guessing that this character was the inspiration for a lot of future storytellers, such as Steven King or Clive Barker. I was especially creeped out when Mr. Dark showed his palms and on his palms were tattoos of the boys, one in each hand.

In a literary sense, this book was brilliant. The themes of 'bad things happening to good people' and 'how should a person deal with suffering and unhappiness?' and 'are people really happy when they get what they want?' were treated very well. It comes as no surprise to me that this book is studied by young people in high schools and some colleges.

Overall, I give this 4 out of 5 stars. Minus one star because, for me, I found his poetic prose confusing. (sorry, mr. bradbury...)

The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis (recommended)

2010-08-15T10:38:00.000-04:00

I just finished The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis. I liked this book but because of one thing towards the end of the book, I will give this a 'recommended' instead of 'highly recommended'.

I am listening to Dream Theater and sitting at Starbucks as I recall this book to review. NOTE: I am glad that Starbucks is now offering free Wi-Fi so I can write at a Starbucks using my Apple Macbook, listening to my Ipod. I wish I had an iphone to complete the picture.

In the Last Battle, a false Aslan is abroad. The Narnian obey this false Aslan who speaks via a talking ape, Shift, but are confused because his orders don't seem to be in accord with Aslan of old. King Tirian, along with his good friend, Jewel the Unicorn, discover the deception of the false Aslan and calling upon the children that helped the previous kings and queens in the history of Narnia, try to make right the wrong caused by this false Aslan and the ape.

The writing is good as is all of C. S. Lewis's writings.

The pacing is good also.

Two things caught my attention in reading this book:

(1) Why isn't Susan included in the friends of Narnia? As she got older, she didn't believe in Narnia anymore and was only interested in girly things. What does this mean in terms of the metaphor of the Christian life with respect to salvation? Would she be considered a nominal Christian?

(2) Why was a Calormene, who clearly worship Tash and not Aslan, included in the new Narnia (aka Heavean)? Is sincerity enough to get to new Narnia? Is this Lewis's commentary about sincere people in other religions and their standing before God? Is this something that Lewis believed or did he just want to make a happy ending in a great series of books for children?

Overall, the book was outstandingly written and paced. It was a pleasure to read this book as well as the whole series. Good times. :)

The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis (highly recommended)

2010-08-12T22:15:00.000-04:00

I just finished The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis.

The Magician's Nephew is about two children, Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer. They are sent to another world by Digory's evil uncle. Digory and Polly, as they were searching other worlds, mistakenly awakens the witch Jadis. This is the story of the beginning of Narnia and how Jadis is introduced into that world.

The Magician's Nephew is essentially, C. S. Lewis's creation story for Narnia. A lot of it parallels the Genesis account.

"All get what they want; they do not always like it." This was said by Aslan about Jadis. I found this interesting. I wonder if this is a commentary about hell by Lewis. Anyhoo...

Overall, I thought that this book was great. It was well paced, generous with action and, as always, well written. I especially found it satisfying how Lewis connected the dots between this book and the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I highly recommend this book. :)

The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis (recommended)

2010-08-12T21:52:00.001-04:00

I just finished The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis. I would recommend this book.

The Silver Chair is about Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb is instructed by Aslan to find the lost prince Rilian. Jill and Eustace are given 4 instructions from Aslan but Jill and Eustace, for one reason or another, begin to fail in following them. Jill and Eustace find a guide in a Marsh-wiggle, Puddleglum, and the three of them travel to the land of the giants to try to find Rilian. Within the story, there is an evil witch, a green serpent, earthdwelling gnomes, giants, a mysterious man in black armor and, of course, a silver chair.

In my humble opinion, the whole series, the Chronicles of Narnia, is outstanding. Every book is very good. In light of this, I thought that The Silver Chair was the weakest of the series for two reasons: (1) it was painful to read about Jill Pole forgetting Aslan's instructions and (2) I found the Marsh-wiggle Puddleglum's negative disposition tiresome. Even so, this book was still well written and the story's pace was good.

Something in the story that resonated with me was Aslan's instructions; it must be memorized daily or else it will be forgotten. Jill did not memorize them as she was instructed. And so, when the important moments came, she failed. Similarly, we must memorize Scripture daily; it is not enough to have known it once, a long time ago. We must memorize it daily so that when the important moments come, we hope that we may not fail. :)

Overall, I thought the writing was good and the pacing was good also. I would recommend this book for everyone.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis (highly recommended)

2010-08-09T22:37:00.000-04:00

I just finished The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis. It was a good adventure story. I would highly recommend this to readers of any age.

This is essentially the Lewis's version of the odyssey. King Caspian, joined by Edmund and Lucy and their annoying cousin Eustace, travel from island to island trying to find the seven lost Lords that left Narnia when the evil Miraz ruled. Caspian and company travel through the seas and find different trials with every island that they find. And eventually, they travel to the world's end.

I especially like Reepicheep's character in this story; I was affected by his bravery and desire to always seek adventure.

Eustace's transformation both figuratively, little by little, throughout the book and literally, was a favorite part of book for me. :)

As always, C. S. Lewis's writing is outstanding and the story is well paced and engaging. I would highly recommend this for all readers. :)

Bag of Bones by Stephen King (highly recommended)

2010-08-09T22:09:00.000-04:00

I just finished Bag of Bones by Stephen King. This is the most 'literary' book that I've read by him. It won the British Fantasy Award in 1999. If you like suspense novels, I recommend Bag of Bones by Stephen King.

Bag of Bones is about a writer, Michael Noonan in Maine who loses his wife to an aneurysm. The death of his wife brings about a long season of writer's block. Four years later, Michael Noonan begins to experience nightmare set at his summer house in TR-90 in Maine. The house is named Sara Laughs after an old blues singer. Micheal meets Kyra and her mom Mattie, a widow, who is about 20 years younger than Michael who is around 40 years old at this point in the story. He becomes fond of Mattie and Kyra. Mattie's father-in-law, Max Devore, is a powerful and evil man who wants to take Kyra away from Mattie, to take legal custody of Kyra. Max Devore is described as mad (crazy) and obsessive about the things that he wants. Michael decides to help Mattie keep Kyra.

This book seems to be divided into several sections: (1) a man grieving his dead wife, (2) a legal battle between Michael Noonan and Max Devore and (3) a ghost story.

I liked that this book kept on surprising me. I couldn't anticipate where the story would lead me and I liked that. I really, really liked the introduction of Kyra and Mattie. I thought this entire chapter was the bee's knees. :)

I really like the way Stephen King writes. I especially liked the little insights that he gives the reader about the life and idiosyncrasies of what it is like to be a writer.

The pacing of the book is...well...Stephen King. He has his own rhythm which I like. Overall, the story unfolds at a leisurely pace but when it does pick up, I couldn't get through the pages fast enough.

The book does has profanity and violence. There is a significant scene of violence in the end of the book (you should be able to figure out when it is coming up). You can skip or skim this whole scene without losing any part of the story.

Overall, I really liked this book. This book is less horror and more suspense and a lot of the times, it's just character development. The story is outstanding at times. And the ending was a big surprise for me. During the middle of the book, the main conflict seemed to have been resolved but there was a significant amount of the book left; I couldn't figure out what he could possibly write about in those pages. Stephen King is an organic writer; he does not plan out the entire book before he starts writing and I really like that. I think that he excels at organic writing (i.e. the stories seems not to follow a formula but seems to go where ever it may--in a good way...most of the time). (NOTE: a problem with organic writing is bag endings which Stephen King has been known to have but Bag of Bones had a satisfying ending for me.) Bag of Bones is a great example of his organic writing style. I would highly recommend this to those that like suspense novels. Until the next time...

Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis (highly recommended)

2010-07-29T23:19:00.001-04:00

I just finished Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis. This is book four in the Chronicles of Narnia series. The writing and the story are both good. I would highly recommend this.

Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are called back to Narnia. Possibly, hundreds of years have passed in Narnia since the last time they were there. Time travels differently in Narnia than it does in the real world. A bad man, King Miraz rules the land but his step son, Prince Caspian, is the true king of Narnia. The story is about how Caspian, helped by Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, (and Aslan, of course) tries to defeat Miraz.

Reepicheep really caught my attention in this story. I liked that a mouse of such small stature has such a large heart of courage. Reepicheep takes honor very seriously and that kinda inspired me. Good times. (I also had a hard time pronouncing his name. I had to say his name out loud every time I read it to practice getting his name right. Even now, I tried to say it fast and what came out was Reechipeach; I guess I need more practice.)

Something that really affected me about the story is Edmund. In the Lion, the witch and the wardrobe, especially in the beginning, Edmund is nasty to Lucy but in this book, Edmund supports Lucy. Lucy sees Aslan when the others cannot. Edmund doesn't see Aslan either but he supports Lucy. I love it. I love how Edmund grows from book to book.

Overall, I thought this book had a fantastic story and was very well written. I would highly recommend this. :)

The Horse And His Boy by C. S. Lewis (highly recommended)

2010-07-25T01:14:00.000-04:00

I just finished The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis. I thought it was a great story. I would highly recommend it to kids and adults alike.

The title of the book is interesting. Why isn't it The Boy and His Horse? Doesn't the horse belong to the boy? In this story, the answer is no. The Horse, Bree, is a free Narnian Horse that has the ability to talk. The title shows that it would be just as appropriate to assume that the boy belongs to the horse as the horse to the boy. Interesting? I think so.

The Horse and His Boy is a story about a young man named Shasta. He runs away from his guardian (who is not such a nice man) with a talking Horse, Bree. They are trying to get to Narnia, the nation located north of Shasta's home. During his journey, they meet a young lady, Avaris and another Narnian, Hwin. They discover a plan to attack Archenland (the lands neighboring Narnia) and Narnia itself. The companions must hurry to Archenland to warn them of the coming attack.

A theme in the story that edified me was the theme of providence. Aslan directs and protects each characters in the story. The powerful part of this theme is the characters are frequently unaware of Aslan's direction and protection. It reminds me of God's providence in my own life and it reminds me to trust in God's plans. God is directing and God is protecting each and every one of us. Our lives may seem like it's spinning on its own merit but it is being carefully directed by God. Amen.

Overall, the story was outstanding, the writing was fantastic and the pace was perfect. I would highly recommend this book to any kid or adult.

It has come to my attention that there is some criticism about Lewis being a sexist. Quite frankly, I don't really sense that. Lewis did not have our modern 'enlightened' values (for those that didn't catch it, I put ENLIGHTENED in sarcastic quotes). I think that Lewis' view of gender roles were fine for the time that he lived.

Well, until the next time... :)

The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis (highly recommended)

2010-07-23T13:20:00.000-04:00

I just finished The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. This is the 2nd book in the Chronicles of Narnia series. I've read this book many times before; I can't remember how many times. It is always a joy to read. I would highly recommend this book.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is about four children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. They enter new world, Narnia, via a wardrobe in the old professor's house. Something is wrong in Narnia. The White Witch has caused it to be winter for many years. The four children entering Narnia may fulfill a prophecy bringing the end of the White Witch's rule. And it brings about the return of Aslan, a mighty lion.

The story is an allegory for the story of Christ and his sacrifice for those that have sinned.

The thing that struck me the most reading it this time was this: C. S. Lewis is a very good writer. Every sentence is important and communicates much information. I was struck by Lewis's storytelling ability. Outstanding.

Overall, I think the writing and pacing is great. I think the story is fantastic. I highly recommend this book to everyone. :)

Church History in Plain Language by Bruce L. Shelley (highly recommended)

2010-07-22T01:19:00.000-04:00

I just finished Church History in Plain Language by Bruce L. Shelley. The title, Church History in Plain Language (CHPL), is a great way to describe the book. It is about church history from the time of Jesus to the end of the 20th century AND it is easy to read (i.e. in plain language). I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in history and to any and all Christians.

The writing is the most appealing part of this book. Church History can frequently seem daunting because of all the names and events; and many books are written so academically that the information is not readily accessible to beginners (such as myself) to Church History. This book is a remedy to that ailment. The book is easy to read and, at the same time, I didn't feel like the material was diluted.

The book is written from a Protestant perspective but that was okay with me; I just happen to be a Protestant. :)

Each chapter is about 10 to 15 pages long. The chapters are organized loosely by chronology. They are organized more by topic within a time period within church history. Where Shelley could, he writes an anecdote about person and then describes the context of that person within that time. This method was great because it drew me into the story of each time period and it personalized the period allowing me to see it through the eyes of an individual.

There were a lot of things (especially between the time of ACTS up to the REFORMATION) that I just never learned. For example, I did not know that Atilla the Hun came from Mongolia right up to the walls of Rome. I did not know why the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church split or even what the difference between the two were. Etc.

A perspective that CHPL helped me gain was this: the problems that are plaguing the church today, the heresies that Christians have to deal with today, none of it is new. Looking through CHPL, the problems we have today are just theme-and-variations of problems that we've had in the past. So for anyone who needs to problem solve, a study of church history may be invaluable.

Overall, this book was outstanding. The information is essential (I believe) for all Christians. The book is written well and the written in such a way that the information is easily accessible. The book is engaging and the drama and stories of each age are highlighted. It is not too long (for a history book that covers 2000 years); it is about 500 pages long. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in history or any Christian. :) Well, until the next time...

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (highly recommended)

2010-07-17T10:45:00.001-04:00

I just finished Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It is my second reading. I still liked it the second time. I would recommend this book, as well as the entire series, to anyone who likes a good story.

At this point, I think everyone knows about Harry Potter and this series of books. So instead of a review, I've decided to ask five trivia questions:

1. What are the nicknames of James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin?

2. How many points do you get for catching the Snitch?

3. Who is the seeker for Ravenclaw?

4. Who created the patronus that saved Harry from the dementors?

5. What food helps temper the effects of a dementor?

Overall, the writing was good, the story was well paced and the story was engaging. I highly recommend this book and this series to all muggles. :)

Why don't protestant Christians include the Apocrypha as Scripture?

2010-07-05T18:09:00.000-04:00

I remember having a conversation sitting around a chiminea about the inclusion of the Apocrypha in Scripture? At the time, I only vaguely remembered the answer to the question, "Why don't protestants Christians include the Apocrypha as Scripture?"

To edify those that have this question, I have found a short excerpt from Church History in Plain Language, 2nd edition by Bruce Shelley, page 60, that addresses this question:

"The question is extremely complicated, but the debate centers around the fact the Jews in Palestine in the early years of Christianity had a canon corresponding to the thirty-nine books of the Protestant Old Testament. Jesus referred to this list when he spoke of the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms (Luke 24:44). The evidence seems to indicate that neither Jesus nor his apostles ever quoted from the Apocrypha as Scripture.

Beyond Palestine, however, Jews were more inclined to consider as Scripture writings not included in this list of books. The Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint was especially influential in making known certain books of the Apocrypha because it included these books along with the Old Testament books accepted in Palestine.

Early Christians also differed, then, over the question of the Apocrypha. Believers in the eastern portion of the Roman Empire, nearest Palestine, tended to agree with the Jews in that area. In the West, however, Christians under the influence of Augustine, the well-known bishop of Hippo, usually received the Apocrypha as part of the canon of Scripture. During the sixteenth-century Reformation most Protestants accepted the view of early eastern Christians and rejected the Apocrypha as canonical. The Roman Catholic church, following Augustine, accepted the books. And that is how the churches differ to this day."

I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist by Geisler and Turek (highly recommended)

2010-07-03T22:07:00.000-04:00

I just finished I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek. This book was lent to me by my esteemed colleague LM. Thanks for lending and recommending this book to me. This book is 1) a proof for the existence of God and his character and 2) a proof that Jesus is God and 3) the reliability of Scripture. I thought the book was good. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Christian apologetic.

The book is organized as follows: 1) truth, 2) creation vs naturalism, 3) debunking macro-evolution, 4) morality, 5) miracles, 6) the historical Jesus, 7) the reliability of Scripture, 8) Jesus' claims to be God and 9) the gospel presentation. There are three Appendix articles (I didn't really like the Appendix articles. Even, though I agree with the Christian perspective, I felt like they were straw-man presentations).

I enjoyed reading this book for the most part. The writing was very simple and easy to follow. There is a bit of philosophy and science in the book but it has been presented in a very accessible way. Anyone who can read at a middle school reading level (or greater) should be able to read this book.

I thought the arguments were pretty sound. I did feel that a few parts were weak and I would have liked it if more was written about that topic in this book. I really liked the progressive presentation of the arguments; it was like an elegant math proof. At times, I would read something and think of an atheist's rebuttal and then sudden remember that rebuttal was already covered in a previous chapter.

The purpose of the book was NOT to present an ironclad argument for Christianity but rather, to argue that the atheistic view is NOT ironclad, that the atheistic view is much weaker than the Christian view. I believe that this book was successful in winning that argument. At the very least, this book should communicate that Christians have not committed intellectual suicide by becoming Christians but rather, that Christianity is a plausible and sound thing (and may I dare to say, the most logical thing) to believe.

The only complaint is that, at times, the writer comes off as a little snide. For example, there are times when the author will say that the atheist view is ridiculous. I would have preferred when the atheist perspective was presented and that I had had the opportunity to decide for myself if it was ridiculous without being told by the author.

In the end, I still have some questions. I still have to think about some of the stuff that I've read. There were some things that didn't sit well with me and I'm going to have to work them out.

Overall, I think this is a great book. I think that every Christian and non-Christian should read it. The question, "Does God exist and if he does, what would he have me do?" should be incessantly on our minds. The only SURE thing in our lives is our end; one day we will all be food for worms. The answer to what happens when we die is very important. I think that this book should help people who genuinely have questions about God and apologetic for both Christians and non-Christians alike. I would recommend this book to anyone who has eyes to read.

Well, until the next time...

The Essential Calvin And Hobbes by Bill Watterson (highly recommended)

2010-06-27T22:18:00.000-04:00

I just finished the Essential Calvin And Hobbes by Bill Watterson. This is a collection of Calvin And Hobbes comics. There are both whole page Sunday color stories and 4-panel shorts (from weekday newspaper comics). I would highly recommend this to anyone. It was a joy to read.

Calvin is a 6 year old boy. Hobbes is a stuffed tiger. From Calvin's perspective, the tiger is a real tiger who can walk and talk but from any non-calvin perspective, Hobbes is just a stuff animal. We never really know if Hobbes is real or not but I guess that just adds to the mystery.

Calvin is interesting. He is both rude and selfish and a nightmare to his parents but at the same time, he is charismatic, charming and naive. But somehow, he always comes across to the reader as cordial and our hearts are endeared towards him.

Calvin doesn't understanding the world that he lives in. (OR he understands it very plainly and it is us who are blinded by the culture that we live in.) My times, Calvin asks candid question about his observations of the world that are quite provocative. Watterson never gives an answer though but the questions themselves, especially since Calvin asks encourages us to consider the question again, maybe through the eyes of a 6 year old.

Calvin is named after the theologian John Calvin and Hobbes is named after the political philosopher Thomas Hobbes. The characters really have nothing to do with the people that they are named after.

Something that I really like about Calvin and Hobbes is their friendship. Regardless of what Hobbes or Calvin says to each other, they are loyal. They are friends through thick and thin. Many times in my life, I wish I had a Hobbes. A more serious example of this kind of friendship is Jonathan and King David from the Bible. Their friendship is truly beautiful. I think that Calvin and Hobbes, in its own way reflects strong friendships like Jonathan and David and I think, especially in our culture, that loyal and devoted friends are few and far between and innately, internally, we long for those kinds of friendships.

...or maybe I am reading too much into Calvin and Hobbes.

Anyways, some of the comics were okay, some were tender, and show were laugh out loud funny.

Overall, this comic collection was excellent, I laughed and smiled a lot throughout the book. I would highly recommend this to anyone and at age at anytime during any season. Outstanding. I may put another Calvin and Hobbes Collection in my summer reading queue this very night. Until the next time...

Mythology by Edith Hamilton (recommended)

2010-06-24T21:44:00.002-04:00

I just finished Mythology by Edith Hamilton. The book gives a reader's digest version of each story from Greek/Roman mythology. It also has a few pages on Norse Mythology. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in these classic stories.

This is one of those books that a lot of high school students have read. I have not read it. One of the reasons is that I didn't read much of anything that was assigned to me in high school. I didn't even bother reading the Cliff's Notes; that is how lazy I was.

Anyway, Mythology by Edith Hamilton was good. I liked it. It was a bit dry but aside from that, I thought that old stories were engaging and interesting.

I think that everyone should know these stories to some extent because the stories are reference frequently in modern literature and even in everyday conversation (at times). This book is a great way to get familiar with the stories without having to spend too much time reading the old classics like the Iliad (which I remember to be a pretty difficult read). Even the plays of Sophocles are summarized in this book.

The writing was dry but I think that was her goal, to write an academic version of these stories. I feel like she achieved her goal. The stories are academic and also accessible.

Overall, I think that we should all know these stories to some extent, stories about Hercules (was he really a hero?), Theseus, Odysessus, etc., mostly because the stories are frequently referenced in many contexts and perhaps, make up a great deal of western culture and the western psyche. This book is a great place to become familiar with the stories without having to spend too much time reading the difficult original versions of these stories. So I recommend this to...everyone. The only reason I don't highly recommend it was the stories were written a little too dryly for my tastes. But with a little bit of patience, the dryness of the text can be easily overcome.

Until the next time...

Rescuing Ambition by Dave Harvey (highly recommended)

2010-06-20T23:12:00.005-04:00

I just finished Rescuing Ambition by Dave Harvey. Rescuing Ambition is about godly ambition (and what godly ambition is not). This book has greatly served and edified me. I highly recommend this book to...everyone. :)

Most christian books can be placed on a gradient: conversational books on one end and purely academic theology books on the other end. I would place this book somewhere in between, with a slight lean towards conversational. Rescuing Ambition is essentially a book on the theology of ambition with anecdotes. I've heard Dave Harvey speak many times and the writing is consistent with his preaching. The conversational style is very accessible and easy to read.

This book is essentially a book about the gospel of Jesus Christ through the lens of ambition. It provides a clear view of ambition and provides real-life examples of godly ambition.

This book is special to me because, during the time that I was reading this book, I was struggling with a particular thing in my life. This book has made me realize that my paradigm of Christian living has drifted and it helped get me back on the right course. It has also renewed my zeal for the Church. I still struggle (with the thing mentioned beforehand) but at least now, I know that I am facing the right direction.

If I may be so bold, I believe that ambition in general and especially godly ambition is sadly lacking in our culture. People are more concerned about their own comfort than for greatness. Even Christians. (This is just a gross generalization of course but it seems that way to me in my limited experience). I thank God for Dave Harvey and his book. Hopefully, this book with inspire people to have ambition for the glory of God so that the church will not miss any good thing that God has for us, for his Church.

Overall, Rescuing Ambition is about the gospel through the lens of ambition. It is a book that is needed to help people understand godly ambition, something that has been poorly understood in recent times. It is an easy read and very accessible. I would highly recommend this book to any Christian; I believe ambition is important for all Christians to understand and study (even if it is not through Dave Harvey's book) if we are going to avoid insipidness and homogeneous Christian living. Good times. :) Well, until the next time...

Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King (Uneven, some good/some not-so-good)

2010-06-14T09:35:00.009-04:00

I recently finished Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King. It is a collection of twenty four short stories and novellas. Some are horror. Some are suspense/pulp. One is an essay on little league baseball. And one is a poem. As is common in most collections, the book as a whole was uneven. Some of the stories were very good and some were not so good. I would actually skip this one if you want to read a book cover to cover.

These are the stories that I liked (there were a lot of them and I read this book over several months so my memory is shaky):

Dolan's Cadillac is about an ordinary man seeking to avenge his murdered wife against a powerful mob boss. I really liked this one. It was probably the best in the lot.
The End of the Whole Mess is about a drug that people create to enhance humans but in the end, it ends up destroying them. This one was pretty good.
Suffer the Little Children is about a school teacher that is convinced her students are aliens.
Popsy is about a child-kidnapper that takes the wrong kid.
Chattery Teeth is about a toy set of metal teeth that saves the main character's life.
The Moving Finger is about a finger that comes out of the toilet.
You Know They Got A Hell Of A Band is about a couple that find a town with a surprise.
Rainy Season is about a couple that arrives at a small town during the rainy season to find that water is not what falls from the sky.
The Ten O'Clock People is about a group of people that are trying to quit smoking. But the specific amount of nicotine in their bodies allow them to see what others cannot, people in powerful positions are actually monsters.
The House on Maple Street is about an abusive step-dad and the transformation of a house.
Umney's Last Case is about an author entering the book world trying to take over one of his character's lives.
Head Down is an essay on little league baseball. This essay was fantastic!

If I were only to read three, it would probably be Dolan's Cadillac (Suspense), Umney's Last Case (Fantasy/Pulp) and Head Down (Essay).

There is a lot of content in Stephen King's writing so if content affects you, please skip this book.

Overall, the writing is pretty good but King tends to be a wordy (but I kind of like that about him). About half of the stories were good, the other half were okay. The pacing is different with each story; some are fast paced and other took their time. I would recommend with reservation Nightmares and Dreamscapes, mostly because of the unevenness of the collection of stories. Until next time...

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (recommended)

2010-05-29T12:56:00.003-04:00

I just finished And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. It is a murder mystery/suspense book. I enjoyed reading the book, especially the end; I thought the end was very satisfying. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a short, fun and enjoyable read.

In the book, ten people are invited to come to an island. Each person has a hidden past, a wrong unaccounted for. One by one, each person is murdered in the manner described by an old nursery poem. The murderer is one of the ten. The remaining people try to figure out which one of them is the murderer as they try to protect themselves.

The book is short (only about 275 pages). It read very quickly. The writing is simple and easy to read. The pace was good. The only weakness that I noticed was the predictability of the murders but this weakness didn't detract from the enjoyment of the book.

NOTE: If read carefully (and if you are smart enough), you can figure out which one of the ten is the murderer before the crime is explained at the end of the book. I was not smart enough but esta bien. :)

I would recommend And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. I thought it was a short, fun and enjoyable book. Good times.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (highly recommended)

2010-05-17T20:42:00.003-04:00

I just finished The Joy Luck Club written by Amy Tan. In comparison to the last book I finished, The Godfather written by Mario Puzo, The Joy Luck Club felt like a breath of fresh air. The Godfather was written like a supermarket novel and The Joy Luck Club is, if I may be so bold, literature. I really enjoyed reading this book. I would highly recommend it.

SUMMARY:
The Joy Luck Club is something in between a novel or a collection of short stories. It is a collection sixteen short stories or vignettes each told from the perspective of one of the eight main characters: four Chinese mothers and their respective daughters. The shorts stories are loosely connected together; the characters are reoccurring in each others stories and sometimes, the same event is described in separate stories. This gives the book a pseudo feeling of a novel.

CONTENT:
The book is clean. I can't remember anything in this book that would be inappropriate for a junior high school student.

PACING:
Amy Tan's writing is superb! She has an incredible economy of words. The pacing of the book was very fast especially for the subject matter, relationships.

WRITING:
Amy Tan's is an outstanding writer. Some of her stories brought me to tears. Most of the stories has a melancholic feeling but in a good way. Some of the stories were written beautifully. I would classify her writing as literature, worthy to be studied. (NOTE: But I might more affected than normal because the last book I finished was The Godfather which was written poorly. It was essentially a supermarket novel on par with Nicholas Sparks or Stephanie Meyer.)

OVERALL:
This book affected me. The Chinese-mother/American-daughter dynamics described resonated strongly with me. It reminded me that my mother is indeed a real person with real feelings and at one point in time, she was a real young lady with her own hopes and dreams. It is good to be reminded of this from time to time. The book is written well. The stories are endearing and engaging. I very much enjoyed reading this book and I plan to read this again. I would highly recommend this book. Good times.

The Godfather by Mario Puzo (not recommended)

2010-04-25T00:10:00.003-04:00

I just finished the Godfather by Mario Puzo. The story itself was good but the writing was poor. It read like a supermarket novel.

It took me over a month to finish this book, mostly because every time I picked up the book to read, I wanted to put it back down again. Also, it didn't help that the weather was beautiful over the last few weeks and I wanted to be outside enjoying the spring weather.

I love the movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola. I must have watched it dozens of times already and as I am typing this review, I have a desire to watch it again.

The story of the movie and the book are very similar to each other. The book includes the back story of Vito Corleone; this was told in Godfather II. And the story of Johnny Fontiane, how he lost his voice and got it back; this story was cut from the film. The story itself was good but Puzo's writing is not-so-good. I really can't put my finger on why I didn't like the writing; I think it is because he told me instead of showed me through context and dialogue. Puzo would frequently write stuff like, "He was angry". There is nothing wrong with the sentence itself but shouldn't I get how the person feels from the context or dialogue. Also, the dialogue was flat. The richness of the dialogue in the movie was brought about by the actors and director of the movie; in the book, even though the lines were similar, everyone in the book essentially had the same voice, they all sounded alike and not in a good way.

Overall, I don't recommend this book--just stick to the movie. The story was good but the writing was not good (or at least it was that way for me). Not recommended. :(

What The Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell (highly recommended)

2010-03-21T23:31:00.003-04:00

I just finished What The Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. I thought that it was excellent. I would highly recommend it.

It is a collection of 19 essays by Gladwell. The essays were organized into three categories: Part 1-Obsessives, Pioneers and Other Varieties of Minor Genius (I really liked the Ketchup Conundrum, True Colors and What the Dog Saw from this section), Part 2-Theories, Predictions, and Diagnoses (I liked Million-Dollar Murray--this article in particular was fascinating--, Something Borrowed and The Art Of Failure), and Part 3-Personality, Character and Intelligence (I liked How Do We Hire When We Can't Tell Who's Right For The Job and What Pit Bulls Can Teach Us About Crime).

Collections have both strengths and weakness. A strength is the bite-sized length of the articles. Because of each article's brevity, it kept my interest and didn't try my patience. A weakness is the unevenness. Some articles are great and I wanted them to go on but others were not so great. A good thing about Gladwell's book is most of the articles are very interesting. I think I only thought 2 or 3 of the 19 articles were not-so-good.

Gladwell's writing style is great. I like how he starts with specific case studies to catch our attention and then he moves on to generalizations afterward. I find similar books to be abrasive but Gladwell's tone is respectful and even and I feel that he respects the reader.

Overall, I thought this book/collection was great. It was very provocative. I had a discussion about this book with a friend and it provided context and fuel for a very lively and dynamic discussion. The book was well written, well paced and very interesting. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes nonfiction/current events. Fantastic. :)

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (highly recommended)

2010-02-28T13:13:00.004-05:00

I just finished Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. I loved this book. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy action-adventure. It is not as serious as the Lord of The Rings or Dune but it is not as campy as most fantasy novels. It is a great mix of fun and gravity.

Summary:
Mistborn is about a girl named Vin. She is a special girl with unusual abilities. She is only vaguely aware of her powers at the beginning of the book. She meets a man named Kelsier who mentors hers and teaches her how to use her powers. Kelsier, along with his band of brothers, plans to defeat the Lord Ruler, an evil lord, who has ruled the Empire for a millennium. Mistborn is set in a faux-18th century context, during a time of nobles and aristocrats and plebians (called skaa).

Content:
If this book was a movie, it would have been rated PG. There were a number of action-violence scenes. There were a few short scenes of graphic violence. But overall, it was pretty clean.

Pacing:
The pacing was great. Once the book's momentum started to pick-up speed, it never looked back. The pacing was fast and great from beginning to end. It kept my interest for the entirety of the book.

Writing:
The writing was first rate. The writing was fantastic. The writing was simple and straightforward. I enjoyed read Sanderson's writing style.

Overall:
It has been a long time since I've read a new fantasy book that I've like a lot and I do like this book a lot. I would put it up there with Lord of the Rings and Dune. I thought thought the pacing and writing and action were top notch. It was a very enjoyable read. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes action-adventures. Good times.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (highly recommended)

2010-02-18T09:51:00.003-05:00

I just finished The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. It is a Gothic mystery novel about a mysterious author, Vida Winter who finally shares her real childhood story. The book had a very satisfying ending; when was the last time you read a book where you felt satisfied at the end. It is a rare thing indeed. I really liked this book and I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes murder-mysteries in the style of Agatha Christie.

Summary:

Vida Winters is a very popular and successful writer but no one knows about her past. One day, Margaret Lea, a bookstore owner's daughter gets a letter from Vida Winters. Ms. Winters wants Margaret Lea to write her biography, her real biography. In the past, Ms. Winters has only told interviewers made-up fictional accounts of her childhood. The rest of the book is about Vida Winter's story and how it relates to the event in the present, with a satisfying reveal at the end.

Content:

There was no profanity that I can remember.

If the book were a film, it would be rated PG.

There was violence but it wasn't described in detail, it was only hinted at.

Pacing:

The beginning of the book was a little slow for my tastes. It took me a while to get into the characters and the story. But, in the middle of the book, the story really took shape and the momentum of the story took me to the end, which I really liked.

Writing:

In a few places, I thought her analogies were a little campy but overall, her writing was very good. The reading level was easy; I didn't have to go to the dictionary too many times. The writing very much flowed; it was an easy read.

I liked her theme of twins and 'what completes a person' and ghosts throughout the book.

I didn't like Aurelius as a character. He seemed superfluous.

Things to Note:

This book was published in 2006.

This book is Diane Setterfield's first novel.

A week after its release, it become a number one New York Times best seller (which may be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what you think of the NY Times best seller's list).

Overall:

Overall, I thought the book was very good. The slow pacing in the beginning of the book is the only real criticism. The book was an easy and fun read. I would highly recommend this to anyone that likes a good (but not too intense) murder-mystery. Good times.

The Shack by William Paul Young (NOT recommended)

2010-01-10T09:12:00.004-05:00

I just finished The Shack by William P Young. I did not like the book. I do not recommend this book to anyone.

The Shack is about a man, Mackensie Allen Phillips, whose lost his daughter, Missy, to a violent murder. He calls the loss of his daughter The Great Sadness. One day, he gets a mysterious note; the note asks him to meet at the shack, the place where Missy was killed. At the shack, he meets god and god communes with Mack. (I am not capitalizing god because the god in this book is not God from the Bible.)

The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 is about the Great Sadness; it accounts Missy's murder. Part 2 is about Mack's time with god.

The book is not well written. The characters are flat. And the story is told insipidly. The murder makes it engaging but it is a cheap way to engage Constant Reader's attention. (NOTE: another cheap way to get a reader's attention is conspiracy, e.g. The DaVinci Code.) The story is told without any depth or complexity.

The theology that is pontificated by 'papa, jesus and sarayu', the god-trinity from the shack, throughout part 2, is trite. The problems introduced in this book are very serious and important. Essentially, it is the problem of pain. It is the problem of genuine forgiveness. Unfortunately, the answers put forth from this book are cheap bumper sticker answers which fall into a number of logical fallacies including, but not limited to, equivocation and the straw man fallacy.

The Shack is to literature like Thomas Kinkade is to painting.

The Shack is to literature like bumperstickers are to the philosophy.

The Shack is to literature like McDonald's is to gourmet cooking. People's hunger is real; people genuinely struggle with the problem of pain. When people read this book, they are getting filled but they are getting filled with food that does not have any real nutritional value. In fact, this book may do a great deal of theological harm.

This book is extremely popular. A lot of people were affected by this book. The main reason why I read this book is to figure out why people like it so much. This is my best answer to my question. People are looking for answers. This book seems to give answers. Unfortunately, the answers are both shallow and wrong. It also paints a picture of God that is simply not true. Perhaps people are intimidated by serious treatments to the problem of pain. Perhaps serious treatments are not accessible to people so people turn to something, this book, that they can relate to.

Overall, this book made me a little angry and very sad, not because of the story but because of the misinformation that this book proliferates. The book is poorly written and its content is shallow. I do not recommend this book. I do not recommend this book. I do not recommend this book.

Robotech Battle Cry by Jack McKinney (Recommended)

2009-12-30T22:42:00.006-05:00

I just finished Robotech Battle Cry by Jack McKinney. I read it in high school when I was a teenager and I loved it. I just finished it tonight and I loved it again, probably not as much as I did when I was in high school but it was good nonetheless. There were some parts of this book that were truly excellent. I loved the part when Max meets Miriya at the end of the book.

There are a lot of things that may be confusing about Robotech so let me clarify.

Robotech was originally a cartoon. I think it was called Macross when it came out in Japan and renamed Robotech when it came out in the United States.

The author, Jack McKinney, is a pen name for not one author but a writing duo, James Luceno and Brian Daley.

Jack McKinney wrote six books that are based off of the first generation TV series. They are as follows:

Book 1: Genesis

Book 2: Battle Cry

Book 3: Homecoming

Book 4: Battle Hymn

Book 5: Force Of Arms

Book 6: Doomsday

The book I just read is a compilation of the first three books: Genesis, Battle Cry and Homecoming. What makes this confusing is that the compilation of these three books is also called Battle Cry. Books 4 through 6 are published as a one book compilation also. This compilation is called Doomsday.

So what is this story about? In short, it is about planes that turn into robots.

A ship crash lands on earth, the SDF-1. Earth agrees to global peace to figure out this alien ship. They rebuild it. The Zentraedi, the war obsessed aliens that lost this ship, want it back. It is a very important ship to them. The story is about the people on the SDF-1 trying to survive as they are attacked by the Zentraedi.

The pacing of the book is very fast. I enjoyed the pacing.

The story is campy but I think in a good way.

The writing is actually pretty good and easy to read. The reading level is not difficult.

There are some parts of the story that are truly excellent. I believe that these excellent parts are the reason why this story/cartoon has survived and gained a loyal fan-base over the years.

Overall, I liked the book a lot. It is a fun book. Don't expect any deep philosophy. So, if you are looking for a good, fun action/adventure book, look no further. This is the book for you. I recommend this book. It is not a masterpiece but it is fun.

FIFTEEN by Taylor Swift (my thoughts)

2009-12-29T07:44:00.004-05:00

I was listening to this song and I had a few thoughts.

There are three people in this song, the SINGER, ABIGAIL and an unnamed person referred to as YOU.

VERSE 1 is about YOU as YOU walks through her first day of school in her freshman year. It describes YOU’s insecurities on that day. NOTE: Most freshman are 14 years old. I wonder why the characters in this song are fifteen. Did they fail a previous grade? Are they simply old for their year?

Chorus 1 is about some future event after the first day of school mentioned in VERSE 1 when a naïve girl believes the insincere words of a boy. This is where the song becomes confusing to me. Who is the SINGER talking to? Is ‘you’ a general reference to people (i.e. ‘Cause when a person in general is fifteen, they are going to naively believe when a boy tells her that he loves her) or is it to the YOU in the song (the person referenced in verse 1). At this point in the song we still don’t know.

Verse 2 communicates when YOU meets a girl named ABIGAIL and they become best friends. The second half of verse 2 is about YOU’s first date. She is swept away with the excitement of being infatuated with a boy. It is insinuated that the mom disapproves and doesn’t like the choices being made by the simple phrase “mamma’s waiting up”. This brings up a thought. It is insinuated that the fifteen-year-old girl in this song is a victim of a senior boy’s selfishness and lies. But isn’t there a mother that disapproved of the relationship? Assuming the mother was doing what mother’s are supposed to do, why didn’t the girl listen to the counsel of her mother? Is the fifteen-year-old girl in this story really a victim of the boy’s selfishness or is she merely reaping the consequences for poor decisions?

The second half of chorus 2 connects the chorus to the YOU character. YOU’s experience with the boy is further elaborated. There is a kiss, maybe during the first date mentioned in verse 2 or maybe subsequent to that date. And the boy is on the football team. It is also insinuated that dating a boy on a football team is a trite and meaningless thing.

Verse 3 is confusing. It introduces the SINGER, “I”, into the song. Who is SINGER and where was she for the first two verses and the first two choruses. Why does SINGER cry with ABIGAIL? I thought that YOU was bests friends with ABIGAIL?

I like this song. I really do, regardless of its perspective problems. Why didn’t a producer listen to these lyrics and think, “Hmm, the lyrics should be fixed. They don’t really make sense.”

This is my resolution to the perspective problems. The SINGER and YOU are the same person. Perhaps, the SINGER is singing in front of a mirror, singing to a reflection of herself. And when an emotionally powerful part of the song comes, SINGER is unable to continue singing about it in the second person and she is forced, by the swell of emotion, to include herself in the first person, therefore introducing the “I”. How do you like my resolution to the perspective problem? With my resolution, there are only two people, the SINGER/YOU is one person and ABIGAIL is the second.

Another assumption is that ABIGAIL’s story and SINGER/YOU’s story parallel each other with the exception that SINGER/YOU didn’t give everything she had to a boy; ABIGAIL did. So in the chorus, when it is stated, “Cause when your fifteen, somebody tells you they love you, your gonna believe them”, it, at least, refers to SINGER/YOU and ABIGAIL.

Below, I’ve included the lyrics and the guitar chords for easy reference.

Fifteen by Taylor Swift

(G C Em C)

(Verse 1)

You take a deep breath and you walk through the doors

It’s the morning of your very first day (G C Em C)

You say hi to your friends you ain’t seen in a while

Try and stay out of everybody’s way (G C Em C)

It’s your freshman year and you’re gonna be here

For the next four years in this town (G C Em C)

Hoping one of those senior boys will wink at you and say

You know I haven’t you seen you around before (G C Em C)

(Chorus 1)

‘Cause when you’re fifteen

Somebody tells you they love you

You’re gonna believe them (G Em D C)

And when you’re fifteen feeling like

There’s nothing to figure out but (G D Em C)

Count to ten, take it in

This is life before you know who you’re gonna be (Em D G D C D)

Fifteen

(Verse 2)

You sit in class next to a redhead named Abigail

And soon enough you’re best friends (G C Em C)

Laughing at the other girls who think they’re so cool

We’ll be out of here as soon as we can (G C Em C)

And then you’re on you’re on your very first date

And he’s got a car and you’re feeling like flying (G C Em C)

And you’re mamma’s waiting up and you’re thinking he’s the one

And you’re dancing ‘round your room when the night ends

When the night ends (G C Em C)

(Chorus 2)

‘Cause when you’re fifteen

Somebody tells you they love you

You’re gonna believe them (G Em D C)

And when you’re fifteen and your first kiss

Makes your head spin round but (G D Em C)

In your life you’ll do things greater than

Dating the boy on the football team

But I didn’t know it at fifteen (Em D G D C D)

(Solo)

(Bridge)

When all you wanted was to be wanted

Wish you could go back

And tell yourself what you know now (C Em D G D C D)

(Verse 3)

Back then I swore I was gonna marry him someday

But I realized some bigger dreams of mine (G C Em C)

And Abigail gave everything she had to a boy who changed his mind

And we both cried (G C Em C)

(Chorus 3)

‘Cause when you’re fifteen

Somebody tells you they love you

You’re gonna believe them (G Em D C)

And when you’re fifteen

Don’t forget to look before you fall (G D Em C)

I’ve found time can heal most anything

And you just might find who you’re supposed to be (Em D G D C)

I didn’t know who I was supposed to be

At fifteen (Em D C D)

La la la la la la (G C Em C)

Your very first day

Take a deep breath girl

Take a deep breath as you walk through the doors

A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (Recommended)

2009-12-25T20:53:00.004-05:00

I just finished A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

I had the following conversation with a student:

"Mr. Lee, what are you reading?"

I turned the book to its cover so the student can read the title.

"Mr. Lee, that's cool. I read that book when I was in elementary school?"

I thought, "Really? I'm reading it now and I don't understand a lot of what is written. How could you have possibly understood it when you were in elementary school?"

At that point, I felt stupid. But that's okay. I shouldn't compare myself to others anyway. My reading strength is what it is. AND, by reading Dickens, I am flexing my reading muscle so, maybe one day, I'll be a stronger reader. Maybe one day, I can say, "Yeah, Dickens is an easy read." But until that day, I will struggle with reading Dickens.

This brings me to my first point: the book is hard to read. The reading level, I thought, was high. Dickens is into word play and puns but these puns are dated and archaic. I didn't understand a lot of it.

The pacing a very different than a modern novel. There are little cliffhangers throughout the book in regular intervals. I think this was a product of it being a serial novel. The novel was released in parts on a weekly basis. The end of each installment ended on a cliffhanger to get the reader to eagerly anticipate the next installment.

The book was broken up into three smaller books. The third book's pacing was very different than the first two. The third book's pacing was much faster and much more exciting.

Dickens is a brilliant writer. He writes at so many different levels. Some of the imagery that he uses is powerful. Very powerful. There are few writers today that can rival Dickens imagery. One image is when peasants drink wine that has spilled cask from the cobblestones to show how poor and desperate peasants at that time were and another is how the marquis throws coins to placate a grieving father after he has run the peasant's son over with his horse and cart to show how the aristocracy thought the peasants were worthless. His themes are also intricately interconnected.

The writing style are usage is archaic making it difficult to read for me. But I'm sure that if I continued to read Dickens novels (which I plan to do), it will get easier to read.

One character to note is Sydney Carton. The book is full of two dimensional characters; most of the characters seem to feel only one emotion or seem to have only one motive. I think that this is common for books from this period in time. But Sydney Carton is different. He is initially introduced as a drunk but later on in the book, because of his love for a woman, he does some truly heroic things. His motives are complicated and his feelings are complicated. I enjoyed him as a character. His character seems anachronistic; he seems to be from a modern novel with mixed morally ambiguous motives stuck in an old book where this type of character is unheard of.

Overall, the book was brilliant.

I found it hard to read but, in the end, it was definitely worth reading.

The writing was archaic.

The pacing was archaic.

The images were brilliant.

The character of Sydney Carton was outstanding.

I recommend this book. It is not highly recommended because I of my own lack of reading skills; it was hard for me to read.

Good times.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Dragons Of Spring Dawning by Weis And Hickman (highly recommended)

2009-11-27T18:24:00.003-05:00

I just finished Dragons Of Spring Dawning by Weis and Hickman again. I think this is my third (maybe even fourth) reading of this trilogy. It's not a masterpiece but it has a special place in my heart. I really enjoyed reading it again. Especially reading the end of this book, i felt like a kid again; the things that I felt back then, the wonder and the naivety, I felt again.

This is the third and concluding book in the Dragonlance Chronicles series. The books in this trilogy are as follows:

1. Dragons of Autumn Twilight

2. Dragons of Winter Night

3. Dragons of Spring Dawning

These books follow the rules of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons; it follows them but not strictly.

The trilogy is about a groups of campaigners that set off to try to defeat the forces of evil, the armies of Takhsis, the Dark Queen. Dragons are introduced into this world; most people thought they were stuff of fairy tales. This is a story of how a group of motley adventurers make a difference in this dragon war where the stakes are the world itself. The campaigners themselves each represent a certain worldview and each character matures and grows by the end of the book with the exception of one.

It is hard to review just the third book in a series of books. I don't want to give anything away. All I can say is that I really liked this series. (NOTE: And I also like the next series, Dragonlance Legends.)

Overall, I thought the book (and the trilogy) was good. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy adventure books. The pacing was quick and good. The writing was well done (but some parts I now realize were a little corny but that's okay). The story, in my mind, is a classic. So if you can get over the fact that your are reading a book about dragons, which may seem a little childish if you are my age, I recommend that you pick these books up. Good times. :)

The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck (highly recommended)

2009-11-26T07:55:00.002-05:00

I just finished The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that has the patience to read it. The pacing was slow, which made it hard to read. Some authors may tell better stories BUT, I believe, no one tells a story better than Steinbeck! Paraphrasing a famous and well-known author, "When I read The Grapes of Wrath, it makes me want to stop writing; in comparison, my work is junk compared to Steinbeck. The Grapes of Wrath is a book written by a brilliant author at the height of his powers."

The Grapes of Wrath follows the story of the Joad family during the Great Depression of America in the 1930s (NOTE: the Great Depression began in 1929). Every other chapter (although not strictly followed) describes vignettes of America in general during that time; these are usually the odd numbered chapters. The even numbered chapters follow Tom Joad and eventually the Joad family. Writing the novel in this way allowed Steinbeck to describe the general economic and social climate of America and, in the same novel, follow the story of one specific family, the Joads. In addition, the two writing styles between the odd and even chapters are juxtaposed; the general descriptions of America tend to be more poetically written.

This is the story with respect to the Joads. The Joads are poor. They are forced to leave their own land. They decided to move to California to make their fortune but California is not all that it is promised to be.

It is interesting to me that Steinbeck doesn't make the rich people the villians. The only villian described is the bank, a nameless and faceless institution whose only motive is to make more money.

There are a handful of interesting things about this book (including but not limited to the following):

1. Tom Joad has killed a man in his past BUT throughout the book, he is portrayed as a loyal and moral man.

2. Tom also seems not to be confused with his way in life. His life and his worldview is purposeful.

3. Jim Casy is a former preacher that has a strong sense of morality BUT he has rejected God because of his inability to stop fornicating with young women from his congregation.

4. Casy believes that staying together and supporting each other trumps any practical issues, i.e. everything will be alright as long as we stay together. This is juxtaposed to people in the Joad's story that simply abandon the family because it is too hard to stay.

5. The family seems to be led and held together by the mother.

6. Each character seems to represent a certain worldview or mentality.

7. Poor people seem to care for each other out of their poverty. This a very powerful image and theme that is littered throughout this book, especially in the final scene that brought tears to my eyes.

8. Hardships bring out strength (and weaknesses) in people that would not be shown otherwise, such as mama Joad staying with grandma knowing what she knew about grandmother's condition. (I know this is a vague description but you need to read the book to find out what this condition is.)

9. I found myself wondering if Steinbeck was a Christian or not. (I don't think he was.) His portrayal of Christianity was not favorable. Casy the preacher renounced God. The woman at the government camp was uber-self-righteous. The worldview that Tom Joad adopts, that our souls are only a piece of a very large soul, is essentially pantheism; I am god, you are god, everything is god.

This book is rich in themes. A PhD thesis could be written about this book alone.

I did think the pacing of the book was slow which made it hard to read.

Overall, I think the book was outstanding. The only reservation I had was the pacing. The storying telling was outstanding (of course, it's Steinbeck), the themes were brilliantly executed and, for me, it gave me a great appreciation for the thing that I have and a great appreciation for my job and income. I would highly recommend this to anyone. It is a hard book but it is a worthwhile read. Definitely.

A Quest For More by Paul David Tripp (highly recommended)

2009-11-14T09:07:00.003-05:00

I just finished A Quest For More by Paul David Tripp. In short, I think that everyone that I know should read this book. I highly recommend it.

The book is Paul Tripp's version of the question, "What is the chief end of man?" and the means to achieve this end. Nothing is really new in the book but it is presented in an incredibly clear and lucid way.

I was greatly affected by the content. I did not realize how much my worldview had drifted and this book helped to readjust my worldview. For example, I thought that I was a five out of ten with respect to my Christian walk; there were certainly Christian that were much more godly that me but I was more godly than others. As I read the diagnostic questions to identify selfish, worldly Christians, I realized that I was much lower than a five and that I had a lot of work in my pursuit of holiness and my practice of godliness than I was aware. Praise God for this book.

The book is written in a conversational/didactic style. Each chapter begins with a vignette which is followed by teaching. The book is easy to read but the content is weighty.

I would recommend that you read the entire book in one or two sittings. It takes about 5 to 6 hours to read the book from cover to cover. The reason why you should read the book in one or two sittings is because it takes time for a reader to become acclimated to think in terms of the gospel and to see the world through the lens of the gospel. Once you are acclimated to gospel thinking, the teachings in this book will affect you more powerfully. For example, if you only watch a movie in 5 minute chunks a day, after five days, you will no longer care about the movie. A big part of every story or teaching is momentum. The same is true of this book. Paul Tripp builds an outstanding Christian world-view and a large part of this book, I believe, is the book's momentum.

Overall, everyone I know should read this book. I write this so emphatically that I am going to write it again; everyone I know should read this book. It was a great blessing to me. I highly recommend this book.

Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (recommended)

2009-11-09T20:06:00.005-05:00

I just finished Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll.

Through the Looking Glass (TTLG) is the sequel to Alice in Wonderland (AIW).

Playing cards were a major motif in AIW. In the same way, chess was a major motif of TTLG.

Alice needs to move through the 'chessboard' of the countryside. Her goal is to reach the 8th square where she will be promoted from a pawn to a queen. Along the way, Alice meets Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Humpty Dumpty, The Lion and the Unicorn and many other characters.

The chess theme permeates throughout the book. Even at the end, Alice captures the Red Queen, thus checking the Red King. This is never explicitly said but it is implied. Also, the Red Knight threatens Alice and she is rescued by the White Knight.

Both AIW and TTLG were good but between the two, I liked AIW better.

Something that really caught my attention in TTLG was the idea of an alternate world where the rules are different from our own world. To move forward, Alice had to move backwards. To cut a cake, Alice had to distribute the pieces first.

The idea of alternate worlds are a major motif in many fantasy and horror novel. Many of Stephen King books play on the idea of alternate worlds: the Talisman, the Dark Tower series, and the Shining.

An interesting story told by Tweetledumb and Tweetledee is the story of The Walrus and The Carpenter. In this story, the Walrus and the Carpenter trick oysters to follow them. The Walrus and the Carpenter promise them a treat. But at the end of the journey, there is no treat; the Walrus and the Carpenter eats the oysters. I wonder if this Lewis Carroll's commentary on Christianity, especially with the character of the carpenter (Jesus is known as a carpenter.)

Something that I would have liked to hear more about was the Jabberwocky. I think that it would have been an interesting monster. Maybe the Jabberwocky could have chased Alice as she was going through the chessboard creating a lot of confusion with double talk and nonsense talk. But, alas, it was only mentioned in the poem.

Overall, I liked the book. There were lots of great ideas (although, I would have like this book to have been longer and the ideas expanded). I love chess and I loved the allusions this book made to the game that I love so much.

The pacing was quick.

The writing was good.

And the story is outstanding; a classic for a reason.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes Alice in Wonderland (I would recommend this, even if you didn't like Alice in Wonderland).

Deep Jungle by Fred Pearce (not recommended)

2009-11-06T21:49:00.003-05:00

I just finished Deep Jungle by Fred Pearce.

Deep Jungle is a non-fiction book about the history and conservation of the rainforest.

I wish this book discussed the biology of rainforest flora and fauna more. Deep Jungle did not discuss flora and fauna very much.

The book wasn't completely linear. There were articles included in each chapter that were closely related to the chapter topics. I don't like it when books do this. Peripheral articles give me the impression that I am reading a coffee-table book. I hate coffee-table books. I like books that have a structure and an arc. This book felt very much like a coffee-table book.

I don't really have much to write about the context except that it did not keep my interest.

Overall, I found the book on the boring side. There were some interesting things that I learned about the history of rainforest but it was not interesting enough. I was relieved to be finally finished this book. (Why don't I just stop reading books that I don't like? That is a great question but I have no answer. I feel compelled to finish anything that I start. Fatal flaw or Virtue. I don't know. Maybe a little of both.) I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. I did not think it was well written, both with respect to its content and execution.

Well, until the next time...

Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell (finished)

2009-10-18T07:43:00.006-04:00

I just finished Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell.

Winston Smith works and lives on Airstrip One, formerly Great Britain. Airstrip One is a province of Oceania. There are three nations left on earth after a global atomic war: Oceania, Eurasia and East Asia. All of the nations are ruled by totalitarian regimes, including Oceania. Winston hates Oceania and Big Brother, the face of the Party. The book is about how Winston rebels against the government. Winston meets a girl; relationships not sanctioned by the government are forbidden. Winston is introduced to a rebel group called the Brotherhood, which trying to overthrow the government. And Winston eventually finds himself face to face with the Party itself.

What can I say about this book?

I was supposed to read it when I was in high school. I did not. (I guess, in my own way, I wanted to rebel against Big Brother by not reading I was told to read.)

The book was provocative.

It introduces the concept of the telescreen. Winston watches the telescreen but the telescreen also watches him! Imagine watching TV but the people at the other end of the television are able to see what you do and where you go and what you are interested in and they are able to record all of your actions and keep it archived indefinitely. YIKES, right? I hope that that never happens, right? Too late. We live in a world where this a already a reality. Ladies and Gentlemen, this describes the Internet. The internet is able to keep track of where you go and what you are interested in and has all sorts of our private information. The scary part is that almost anyone can look at this information if they have the initiative. Scarier still, this information may be stolen or altered without our knowledge. Real life may be more frightening than fiction.

The most interesting part of the book for me was probably the part of the book that most people found boring. I liked Orwell's description of socialism as it appeared in Oceania. This was the part when Winston was reading the book to his lady friend in a room found in the Prole section. It was fascinating. This is why I like to read fiction. Sometimes, it provides a context for philosophical ideas to be introduced and explained. This book introduced socialism to me and gave me a context to think about its strengths and weakness. (Similarly, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky introduced me to Nietzsche and his ideas about the superman).

As I was reading the book, I was glad that I did not live in Oceania. But I also began to think about how some things that are presented as shocking and scary are commonplace to us in reality (the telescreens for example). The idea of the government changing the past also struck me. In reality, the things that I was taught about the american revolution just aren't true (similar to how the Oceania changed historical facts to serve their own purpose). The more I read (later in life) about american history, the more I realize that my high school history education was akin to propaganda. If I was alive and a white colonial during the american revolution, I may have been a Tory. Just kidding. Or am I?

The book was academically very interesting.

The pacing was a little slow at times but really picked up at the end.

The story was a masterpiece.

It was a dark story, even the romance in the book was abrasive and stark.

Overall, I recommend this book. It's a book that I think that everyone should read. In a lot of ways, it is Orwell warning to us and I think that the warning is sound. Even though our world, especially the United States, is turning out more like the novel, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Nineteen Eighty Four is still relevant to us today, especially in the light of more and more government control and less and less civil liberties.

Good times.

Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (finished)

2009-10-18T07:40:00.008-04:00

I just finished Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I liked it very much.

Alice sees a rabbit who exclaims that he is late. Alice follows the rabbit into a rabbit hole where she falls for what seems like a very long time. Alice wonders if she will fall clear through the center of the earth. Inside the rabbit hole is a fantasy world where some of the most memorable characters in literature are introduced: such as the white rabbit, the Cheshire cat, the mad hatter (who is never called the mad hatter) and the queen of hearts.

Most people are familiar with the story due to the popularity of the Disney Movie. But most people, I would guess, haven't read the book for themselves. I have not until this month. It was difficult for me to read the book without picturing the Disney movie in my head, which in this case wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I think Disney did a great job with their movie.

The book was very well written. The book's pacing was fast; considering the time that it was written, it must have seemed like the pacing of the book was ridiculously fast.

Something that surprised me was that the long scenes in the movie or cartoon were only a page long in the book. Something else that surprised me was that Tweetledum and Tweetledee, Humpty Dumpty and the Jabberwock were not in this book (they are in Through the Looking Glass, the sequel to Alice in Wonderland, which I am reading right now).

I thought it was interesting that Alice haphazardly eats and drinks anything that she comes across. I didn't think anything of this when I was a kid, but as an adult, this seems really strange to me. If I was walking through West Philadelphia and I came upon a table with a bottle labeled drink me. I don't think I would be tempted, not even just a little bit. It would probably be malted liquor.

I was affected by two things in this book.

(1) Alice finds a door at the bottom of the rabbit hole. Through the door is a beautiful garden. but she can't get to it because she is too big to fit through the door. Later on, after she shrinks to a size where she can fit through the door, she finds that the door is locked and the key is on the top of the table and she is unable to reach it because she is too short. Isn't this always the way? The idea of this garden that I can't get to; looking towards something longingly but unable to get to it. How many times in my life have I felt this way? How many times have I looked at other couples and thought way can't my relationships look like that? How many times have I looked at friends and thought, why can't I have friends like that?

And then I would spend a lot of time trying to shape myself into something that will fit into that mold only to find that the door is locked and the key to me fitting in is still out of reach. Sadness.

(2) Alice is trying to play croquet with the queen but there seems to be no rules. The mallet is a flamingo and the ball is a hedgehog that always seems to move. It is frustrating to pretend that you are playing a game in elite society to find that it is ridiculous, that no one is following the rules, everyone is only pretending to.

I've felt this way a lot. Sometimes in school, I feel like Alice trying to play croquet. The context, the game, i.e. high school seems ridiculous. I'm trying to do something good (teaching) but it seems like no one else is following the rules, people are just pretending to. At times, I feel frustrated, thinking, "Why bother? No one is following the rules anyway! Why should I be the only one to hold students to a standard? Why should I be the only one to take away cell phones? Why am I the only one to enforce the rules?" I know, I know. First of all, I know that I'm not the only one, but it does certainly feel that way. And I know that I can only do what I can do and I need to stick to my convictions. It is hard nonetheless.

Overall, the book was good. It is a classic for a reason. It was very enjoyable.

The pacing was good.

The writing was good.

The story was outstanding.

I highly recommend this book to anyone of any age.

Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl by N. D. Wilson (finished)

2009-10-07T22:13:00.005-04:00

I just finished Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl by N. D. Wilson.

The book is basically his thoughts about the world and how the things of this world relate to God. The book is broken up into topical chapters.

I did not like this book.

I thought that it was written irresponsibly.

It is written in a post-modern conversational style, similar to Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, of which I am not a big fan.

There was a mocking tone in his writing throughout the book. He seems to mock philosophy and science the most.

There was misinformation in the book; he didn't get all his facts right.

He falls into logical fallacy, especially the straw-man fallacy. I do not agree with Fredrick Nietzsche. But Neitzsche is not portrayed fairly in this book. Neitzsche was portrayed as a senile old bitter man. And because he was an old bitter man, his arguments should not be taken seriously. This is another logical fallacy, argumentum ad hominem.

Considering the book after I had finished it, I still couldn't figure out, (1) why he wrote the book, (2) who he was writing to and (3) what exactly he was trying to communicate.

I think the entire book can be summarized by the title of the book. The "Notes from the..." part of the title was taken from Fyodor Dostoevsky's masterpiece Notes From The Underground. "...the Tilt-A-Whirl" part of the title is taken from the ridiculous rides from amusement parks. That, in short, is what this book is; it is a ridiculous and trite treatment of some very serious things. (Sorry, this paragraph sounds really harsh.)

Overall, I do not recommend this book.

The writing usage and execution was good in the post-modern style. It is clear that he is a good writer.

But I thought the treatment of the material was irresponsible.

The pacing of the book was random and haphazard.

In short, the book was bad.

I do not recommend.

ARG!

Carrie By Stephen King (finished)

2009-10-07T20:46:00.004-04:00

I just finished Carrie by Stephen King.

Carrie is Stephen King's first novel.

Carrie is about a high school girl who has telekinesis, the ability to move objects with her mind. Carrie is awkward and she is frequently the butt of everyone's jokes. She tries to fit in at school but she is unable to, particularly because of the malice of a certain mean girl. Carrie ends up going to the prom with Tommy, a boy that she has like for a long time. But at the prom, something goes horribly wrong and Carrie decides that she will not be laughed at ever again.

I think there is a moral to this story. The moral is "Don't mess with people. Don't bully people, even if they are awkward and weak. Because they could have telekinesis and they may decide to kill you." I think it is a good moral. Seriously though, this theme seems to be in many of King's novels. The weak people in the books are not really weak and those that seem strong are not really strong. Interesting.

Because Carrie was King's first novel, there is an almost palpable raw quality to the book. Everything doesn't "work" in the book but it doesn't matter. The parts that do "work", work really well. I would compare this to Metallica's Kill 'Em All (their first album). Kill 'Em All is not Master of Puppets (their third album), which is a masterpiece but it is still good in all it's garage band sensibilities. In comparison, Carrie is not The Stand, King's masterpiece, but it is still good with it's own raw sensibilities.

King seems to intrinsically know what works. He has a sense for it. When he gets the sense that something is good with respect to building tension or for communicating human vulnerability, he just goes for it. And it works well.

There were some holes in the novel. For example, he explains that telekinesis is a recessive gene trait. But if telekinesis is a controversial phenomenon, then how can there be gene data for it. There has to be a significant number of known telekinetics and those people must have telekinetic offspring. Because telekinesis is rare (if any of those cases were acknowledged at all), gene studies could not have been done.

Overall, I like the book.

Pacing was uneven but good overall. (I didn't like reading about the same events through other people's perspectives.)

The writing was uneven but when it was good, it was very good.

The story was uneven but when it was good, it was very good.

I would recommend this book to those that like this genre.

If you read this review, please drop a like or a comment. It makes me happy.

Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets by J. K. Rowling (finished)

2009-10-02T09:52:00.003-04:00

I just finished Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets by J. K. Rowling.

Harry meets a house elf named Dobby who tries to prevent Harry from attending Hogwarts because of some unnamed danger at the school. Harry, eventually, is able to get to Hogwarts. During the school year, kids are mysteriously petrified. There are rumors that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened and an unspeakably dangerous monster has been released into the school and this monster is responsible for the petrifications. Also, a mysterious diary that is able to write back to writer has been found. The diary belonged to Tom Riddle, a former student at Hogwarts. Riddle was a student at Hogwarts when the Chamber of Secrets was last opened. This book describes how Harry and his friends try to solve the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets, the petrifications and the diary.

There is very little that I can add to the discussions (or hubbub or brouhaha) about this book.

I liked it.

I thought it was well written.

I thought the pacing was good.

But something catch my interest as I read this again. (This reading was my second time through the book.) Harry doesn't follow the rules. He lies to his professors. He (and his friends) steal ingredients from Professor Snape for the polyjuice potion. Harry and Ron masquerade as Malfoy's friends to spy on him. And when Dumbledore addresses Harry's actions at the end of the book, Dumbledore congratulates Harry instead of chides him. The message of the book seems to be "Do what you think is right!" (although, this would be fine when it is coupled with wisdom) and "The ends justify the means."

I don't think that Harry is a good role model for young people. If young people felt that they were a Harry-Potter-like character in the story of their own lives, then chaos would insure in every family and school. I think that Harry may be a modern day version of Frederick Nietzsche's superman. In Dostoevsky's masterpiece, Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov thought that he was the superman but Dostoevsky clearly presents him as a person that is driven to madness by assuming the superman role. In Harry Potter, Harry takes on the role of the superman and he is congratulated and esteemed.

Also, why are the adults all naive? And why are the only savvy people the kids?

Interesting.

I think this series of books is more than just simply children's books. There is a reason why the masses have embraced Harry Potter so wholeheartedly. I think that Harry reflect the spirit of our age (zeitgeist). I think that we can learn a lot about society in general by examining the world views that are presented in this series.

Anyway, OVERALL, I liked the book. I would recommend it. I liked the writing, the pacing and the story. Good times.

If you read this review, please drop a like or a comment. It makes me happy.

Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov (finished)

2009-09-28T19:54:00.003-04:00

I just finished Second Foundation by Isaac Asmiov. It was first published in 1953. This is the third book in the Foundation series that I've read. The order of the books are as follows:

Foundation

Foundation and Empire

Second Foundation

These three books comprise the original Foundation trilogy.

Two stories are told in this book. (1) The conclusion of the Mule story and (2) The story of the search for the Second Foundation.

I had a hard time getting through this book. Both stories were good. So why did I have a hard time getting through this short book?

I don't like Asimov's writing style. Now, all you Asimov fans probably want to stone me but wait. Let me explain. His stories are wonderful. I really like his vision of the future and the tension that he creates with his characters. I don't like his execution as a writing. I think that his sentences are awkward. His characters don't have individual voices; they all sound the same. I think that Asimov is popular and respected because of his amazing stories (and I would agree with that) but I don't think that he was technically a very good writer. There, I said it.

Anyway.

Overall, I do recommend this book. In fact, I would recommend the entire trilogy. I thought the stories were outstanding. A huge weakness in his books is his execution. But if you can overlook that or if writing style isn't very important to you, I think that you will be very entertained by these wonderful stories.

PACING: uneven but overall good

WRITING: poor

STORY: outstanding

If you read this, please drop a like or a comment. It makes me happy. Thanks.

Just After Sunset by Stephen King (finished)

2009-09-16T19:24:00.004-04:00

I just finished Just After Sunset by Stephen King.

Just After Sunset is a collection of thirteen short stories. Some of the stories were short (can be read in about half an hour) and some are fairly long (will take about two to three hours to read).

Usually, for the second paragraph, I describe what the book is about but for this collection of short stories, I can't really do that. So I will pick three stories and describe them.

The Gingerbread Girl is about a young lady, a runner, who is kidnapped by a serial killer. The story is about her trying to escape from this guy. I liked how the story hinged on some seemingly minor things such as her strong legs. Strong legs, of course; she's a runner.

N is about a psychologist who has a crazy patient who is convinced that his compulsive behaviors stops a terrible evil from entering this world through a portal. The psychologist becomes concerned when he starts to think and feel his patient's psychosis.

A Very Tight Place was, by far, the grossest story that I have ever read. I wanted to both stop reading and, at the same time, continue because I had to find out what happened. I can't tell you more. You'll just have to check it out for yourself.

I thought the stories were fairly strong. I did not think, "I wonder what's on TV" as I read these shorts. Some were, of course, better than other. But I thought most of the stories were pretty good. Stephen King's earlier shorts where more raw with less refined writing execution; these stories are more refined; King is definitely a better writer after all these years. Part of me liked the raw, young energy of his earlier works but I also very much appreciate and like the more refined writing of this collection.

Overall, I liked Just After Sunset by Stephen King.

The stories were (mostly) good.

The pacing was good.

The writing style was Stephen King, which I think is good (but some would vehemently disagree).

I recommend this collection to those who like suspence and horror. It is definitely more tame than his other collections but it still has a bit of content in it.

Good times.

Please drop a like or a comment if you read this. It makes me happy. :)

Dragons Of Winter Night by Weis and Hickman (finished)

2009-09-07T14:49:00.006-04:00

I just finished Dragons Of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. This is the second book in the Dragonlance Chronicles Trilogy. The three books in the trilogy are Dragons of Autumn Twilight (great book, highly recommended), Dragons of Winter Night (the book that is being review here) and Dragons of Spring Dawning (I'll write about this book in a few weeks).

This story is about a motley group of campaigners including a magic user, some warriors, a thief, nations of elves and dwarves, etc. In the first book, they meet in a city called Solace. They are thrown into an adventure together when a strange old man in a tavern spur them on. The first book introduces chromatic dragons (evil dragons) into this world. Dragons had not been seen in this world, Krynn, in many many years. Many think that dragons are fairy tales. Autumn Twilight introduces Verminaard, an evil fighter/cleric as the main villan. This second book is about the discovery of the ancient dragon orbs and dragonlances. And how the old knights in the times of the Cataclysm defeated the ancient chromatic dragons and it also hints at the existance of good (metallic) dragons. This book introduces a second Dragon Highlord, a highlord that has close ties to the campaigners.

I read these books in high school and I loved them. Recently, I wanted to read them again because I loved the story so much. I expected to find them poorly written but I wanted to read them anyway because of nostalgia. I was surprised to find that they are actually very well written. I have been enjoying going through these gems from the past.

I don't really want to share more about the story because I think half the fun is discovering the surprises and twists.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. It is fun to read and it is a great adventure story. It may seem to be a copy of the LORD of the RINGS but I assure you, it is not; it is a story in it's own right. I love these old gems from the past.

The writing is good.

The pacing is good.

The story is good.

And it has one of my favorite characters of all time, Raistlin.

I hope you choose this trilogy; it's outstanding.

As always, please drop a like or a comment if you read this. It blesses me.

The Book Of Lost Things by John Connolly (finished)

2009-08-17T22:35:00.004-04:00

I just finished The Book Of Lost Things by John Connolly.

The book is about a boy named David who lives in London during the time of World War II. After the death of his mother, David's father remarries Rose and has a child, Georgie. David misses his mom and has a hard time adjusting to this new life. Meanwhile, the books start to whisper to him and he is lured to another world, the world of fairy tales (kinda) when he falls into a crack in the garden of his new house.

In this new fairy tale world, he finds that all is not well. He meet many new people, some good and some not so good. He is also introduced to the crooked man, a truly evil person, in this new world. The fairy tales stories in this world are a little different than the ones that you are familiar with. The rest of the story is essentially David trying to find his way back home to London.

Strengths:

I thought the book was well written. The voice of the narrator was very much like the voice of Grimm's fairy tales. The story seems to be told in a 'far off' manner.

The pacing was good once you got to the fairy tale world. The first part, when David is in London, seemed to drag.

The retellings of the fairy tales were very interesting. I actually liked the twists.

The character in this story are very memorable and some were truly frightening as fairy tale monsters should be. Leroi, who is half man, half wolf is pretty frightening and a memorable character and so was the crooked man, the trickster.

Weakness:

I'm not quite sure who John Connolly wrote this for. It is essentially a fairy tale but this fairy tale is NOT for kids. It is violent and often a little disturbing. The book reminds me of the movie Pan's Labyrinth; it has the same flavor. I don't know if adults would really want to read this either because it is essentially a fairy tale. My guess is that most adults wouldn't really have a taste for it.

I thought the entire part about snow white and the 7 dwarves was a little out of place. There is a seriousness throughout the entire book except for this one part. It made the flavor of the book a little uneven.

I have no other conspicuous weaknesses that I can think of.

Overall:

I liked the book once it got to the fairy tale world. The book had memorable characters, some brave and some disturbingly frightening. It is essentially a suspense/horror in the context of fairy tales. I thought it was well written. I would recommend this book keeping in mind that it is a little disturbing. Think, Stephen King meets Grimm's fairy tales. Well, I guess just Grimm's fairy tales in itself is pretty disturbing. Good times.

Drop a like or a comment if you read this. It blesses me. :)

Saint Stephen's Green-A Restaurant Review

2009-08-09T17:34:00.006-04:00

This is a review of Saint Stephen's Green, a restaurant in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia (which is a little north of the Art Museum). It is located on 1701 Green Street, Philadelphia PA, 19130. The closest intersection is Green and 17th street.

Saint Stephen's Green is an Irish pub restaurant.

The service was good. The waitress met our dining needs without being distracted. But we were there on a monday night so the place was pretty empty. I don't know how this place would have been if we were there on a weekend, when it is busy.

Both beers that were ordered were very good. I forget the names. Both were lighter beers, one was a wheat beer and the other was a lighter lager (the lager was the one on the beer page, 2nd from the bottom, listed right above the guiness).

The food was very, very good.

This is the Braised Open-Faced Chicken Cheese Steak. The fries were very good! And the Chicken Cheese Steak was OUTSTANDING. Probably the best I've had in the city.

This is the Grilled Curry Spiced Chicken Wrap. This was also very good. I'm a sucker for curry though so this may be biased.

Overall:

1. The service was great

2. The food was great (chicken cheese steak was OUTSTANDING).

3. The atmosphere was good

4. The price was okay (about 10 to 15 bucks)

5. I highly recommend this place; I would definitely go back again.

6. I would rate this a 3.5. (1 is bad, 2 is okay, 3 is good, 4 is very good, 5 is best in the city)

Good times.

If you read this, drop a like or a comment. It blesses me. :)

The Shark Handbook by Dr. Greg Skomal (finished)

2009-08-05T23:04:00.005-04:00

I just finished The Shark Handbook, The Essential Guide For Understanding The Sharks Of The World, by Dr. Greg Skomal.

The book is about, can you guess, sharks.

Part One is about sharks in general, about their anatomy and conservation.

Part Two is about specific species of sharks. There are a couple of pages describing each major specie.

Overall, the book was very accessible and easy to read. This book is a great introduction and reference for sharks. It is jam packed with great pictures. The writing is both simple and engaging; very well done. If you are looking for a more technical book about sharks, you'll have to look somewhere else but if you are a novice, interested in learning more, this book is a great place to begin. I highly recommend this book. Good times.

Little known secret, one of my pastors at church is obsessed with sharks (in a good way). Can you guess who?

If you read this review, drop a 'like' or comment please. It blesses me.

Cuba Libre-A Restaurant Review

2009-08-03T11:11:00.018-04:00

This is a restaurant review of Cuba Libre located in Old City Philadelphia near the intersection of 2nd Street and Market Street.

We went there on a Wednesday night. We drove around for a little while looking for street parking. We figured that i should be pretty easy to find street parking considering it was a wednesday night but not street parking was found. We had to park in a pay-parking lot for about $16 dollars (I think. And this reminds me, I still owe the drive money for parking. I feel like I am perpetually cursed with 20 dollar bills in my wallet--I guess that may be a blessing to some).

We were seated quickly; we had no reservations. I went to the restroom when the others were seated. Why do I mention this? Because I think one can tell a lot about a restaurant by the quality of the bathrooms. The verdict? The bathroom was roomy and clean. Good times.

The service was outstanding. The waitress was readily available without being intrusive--a rare combination. I was instructed by one of my friends to close my menu so that the waitress would know that we were ready to order. I closed by menu and said, "Does that really work?" Within 5 seconds, the waitress was at our table asking if we were ready to order. I laughed. :)

We were initially given flat bread and mango butter. It was okay. The bread was good (not too soft though; I like soft bread) but the mango butter was a little bland (not bad, but I was expecting something a little sweeter with a name like mango butter). This was complimentary.

I don't know the names of the appetizers that we ordered.

One was fried bananas that were sliced thin and, well, fried.

I felt that this was a little bland also. It was fun and novel but ultimately a little too bland for me.

I don't know the name of this appetizer either. It was a spicy patty. But again, this dish was a little too mild for me.

The mojitoes were outstanding (but on the expensive side, about 8 dollars if I remember correctly).

My friend ordered this sandwich. She said it was tasty. Don't know what it was called.

Another friend ordered this. Again I don't know what it was called. I did try some and it was pretty good. Tasted like cajan jambalaya.

I ordered this, plato cuba libre. It's essentially a sampler of all their most popular dishes. It had a small steak, a bisque and salmon. It was outstanding. Some of the best food I've had in a long time. I highly recommend this dish.

Overall, I thought the service was great, the atmosphere was cozy (a little dark though), and the food was hit or miss. My main reservation about this place was that the food seemed overpriced to me for what you were getting. If money is not an issue for you, I would recommend but if you are on a budget or fugal, I would look elsewhere. I moderately recommend the restaurant but I highly recommend the plato cuba libre. Good times, good times.

If you read this review, drop a like or a comment; it blesses me. Thanks.

The Sibley Guide To Bird Life & Behavior (finished)

2009-07-27T15:16:00.005-04:00

I just finished the National Audubon Society's The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior, illustrated by David Allen Sibley, edited by Chris Elphick, John B. Dunning, Jr., and David Allen Sibley. Well, I kind of finished it. I read this for a grad class. I finished part I and selected chapters from part II.

The book was essentially divided into two parts. PART I, the World of Birds, discussed birds in general. The topics were (1) Flight, Form and Function, (2) Origins, Evolution, and Classification, (3) Behavior, (4) Habitats and Distributions and (5) Populations and Conservation. PART II, Bird Families of North America, described Bird Families of North America, e.g. ducks, hawks, hummingbirds, etc.

Each chapter was written by different authors, experts in each respective bird discipline and species.

Within each chapter, the book was broken down into smaller sections. The chapters may be read in pieces to facilitate the interest of the reader.

The book was written in an academic and accessible style. You don't need to any any prior expertise in ornithology to be able to learn from this book.

Overall, if you have an interest in learning more about birds, I would highly recommend this book. It cultivated my interest. I even went bird watching one day...and liked it! I used to make fun of bird-watchers (because of my own ignorance) but I think that I am beginning to understand people's fascination with these beautiful creatures. This book is a great introduction to the world of ornithology. Good times.

And again, if you read this review, drop a comment or a 'like'. It encourages me. :)

Bellini's Grill-A Restaurant Review

2009-07-25T22:26:00.011-04:00

This is a review of the Bellini Grill, an Italian Restaurant in Center City. It is located on 220 S. 16th Street, walking distance from city hall and the Kimmel Center. Street parking is pretty hard to come by in this area so it is probably best to park at a garage. The price is about 15 to 20 dollars a dish.

Bellini is a BYO (and I love BYO's). But I came unprepared for this part of the meal. I know, I know. Shame on me. But I'll know better for the future.

The place was pretty quiet when we first got there. But as the evening continued and more people filled the restaurant, the conversation volume of the room was temperate for the whole evening.

The place is more on the fancy side. Unfortunately, I was wearing shorts and a polo shirt so only half of me was properly dressed. The atmosphere was nice, a semi-casual/fancy.

The service was great. Our dining needs were readily attended. But the waitress didn't smile so much, which was okay; I personally like smiling waitresses. In fact, if there was a category for non-smiling waitresses, she would have gotten the highest marks in that class.

Before any of our ordered food came, we were served bread and a semi-spicy dip. The bread was fresh Italian bread and the dip was very good.

We started with Caesar salad. Apparently, Caesar salads are pseudo-salads; they are not as healthy as regular salads. But they sure are delicious if you're into that sort of thing. Note: if you are a fan of protein foods like I am, you may want to skip the salad and head right into your main course.

The two dishes that were ordered were:

(1) Linguine Bolongese. If you look on the menu, there is no description of this dish. I suppose that this is because the name of the dish tells you everything you need to know. For example:

KYUNG: Excuse me, waitress. What kind of pasta is used in Linguine Bolongese?

WAITRESS: Linguine, sir.

KYUNG: Outstanding. Thank you.

The pasta was fresh and the dish was good. The pasta tended to be on the al dente side. The portions were very generous.

(2) Chicken Parmesana. This dish came with two cut generous cuts of Chicken Parmesana and a side of al dente linguine. It was good also.

We did not get any dessert. :(

Overall, the atmosphere was good (a little on the fancy side; don't wear shorts), the food was good (but not the best italian food i've ever had). The service was very good. I would eat here again. Maybe before an orchestra performance at the Kimmel or before a jazz show at Chris's. The location is great in facilitating a lot of center city activities. I moderately recommend Bellini's Grill. Nothing in the place was bad but nothing really caught my attention as outstanding either. Good times.

NOTE: If you read this, drop a comment or a "like". It encourages me. :) Spanks.

The New Testament Documents by F. F. Bruce (finished)

2009-07-23T14:01:00.007-04:00

I just finished The New Testament Documents, Are They Reliable by F. F. Bruce.

Mark Dever recommended this book, along with Fundamentalism And The Word Of God by J. I. Packer and Christ And The Bible by John Wenham (Wenham's book is out of print but can be easily purchased second hand through amazon), in a message that he gave at New Attitude 2008. (Note: this message was outstanding and if you can find it on the Internet, I would highly recommend it.) Most books I read are due to recommendations and who better to take recommendations from than Mark Dever. I took a chance, bought these books, and began to read.

The New Testament Documents is an introduction to the historical study of the New Testament. The writing is easily accessible but academic; you do not need a linguistic or historic training to benefit from this book.

The following are the chapter names:

1. Does It Matter?--By the way, the answer to this question is 'yes'.

2. The New Testament Documents: Their Date And Attestations--i.e. what year was each book of the New Testament written? Who wrote each book? How close is the original text compared to our modern New Testament?

3. The Cannon Of The New Testament--i.e. how was inclusion of the cannon decided?

4. The Gospel--i.e. how were the books written? Who wrote what first? Why is the gospel according to John different from the other three gospels?

5. The Gospel Miracles--i.e. did the miracles happen? How did people during the time of Jesus interpret the miracles?

6. The Importance of Paul's Evidence--i.e. does Paul's writing agree with the gospels?

7. The Writings of Luke--This chapter elucidates Acts and describes Luke as a historian of exceptional ability and of the highest caliber.

8. More Archeological Evidence--This chapter describes the corresponding archeological evidence with the New Testament.

9. The Evidence Of Early Jewish Writing--i.e. What early Jewish writings mention Christ and the early church? How did the writings view Christ and the early church?

10. The Evidence Of Early Gentile Writing--i.e What early gentile writings mention Christ and the early church? How did the writings view Christ and the early church?

The book is short, about 125 pages.

It is written academically and Bruce writes eloquently. I was stirred by the serious scholarship of the material and its evenhanded and concise presentation.

Personally, I forget that writings exist about Christ and the early church outside of the Bible. I especially loved the last two chapters, which describe how the Jews and gentiles viewed Christ and the church. I was also affected by how early writings all attest Christ as a historical person. No writing denies the miracles.

This review is too long already--many apologies--so I am going to cut it off here.

Overall, I think that every person who wants to study the Bible, even in a cursory way, should read this book. It wasn't a fast read--you should read it slowly--but it was relatively easy. I highly recommend this book. F. F. Bruce, and those that precede him, has done all the work for us. In exchange for a few hours of our time, we can gain many, many hours (maybe years or even lifetimes) of research and scholarship of absolutely invaluable information. That's a bargain if I've ever heard of one.

Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling (finished)

2009-07-19T17:50:00.004-04:00

I just finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling. Actually, I listened to it this time around. I have it on audio book read by Jim Dale.

A young man, Harry Potter, who has struggled with feeling unremarkable his whole life, wakes up one day to discover that he has been invited to Hogwarts school of Wizardry. There, he discovers that he is no ordinary boy, that he is the boy who lived, the boy who survived an attack from the most powerful dark wizard that the world has ever known. And what is more remarkable is that he survived the attack and he survived when he was only an infant. Nobody, including Harry, knows how this happened. The book is about Harry's 1st year--of 6 total years--at Hogwarts school of magic and this book marks the beginning of his magic education and battles with Voldemort.

Strengths:

The book was well written. I think that J. K. Rowling is a very talented writer.

The story was well paced.

Harry was very likable and you ended up rooting for him right from the start.

The cast of characters that Rowling created were outstanding: Ron, Hermione, Snape, Dumbledore, and McGonnagal to name a few. Each character had their own personality and worldview.

I liked the mystery that she incorporates and the revelation (the a-ha moments) at the end of the book, when everything was explained.

The book seemed to have a little bit of everything; it was a mystery book, fantasy book and boarding school novel (in the Dickens tradition) all at the same time. I felt like it was a balanced meal with respect to all the things that she incorporated and tried to balance. I think she balanced these elements very well.

A note on Jim Dale's performance. Jim Dale has to be the most talented audio book reader that I've ever heard. He brought these characters to life, much better than the first Harry Potter movie. Jim Dale's performance was truly outstanding!

Weakness:

I felt that the only weakness was that the beginning of the book was a little too silly. I know that it is supposed to be a book for children but the manner in which the Dursley's tried to stop the letters from getting to Harry was too much for me. But once he got to Diagon Alley, all was well.

Young people should read this with their parents (or rather, parents should read this with their children). Harry ends up doing some questionable things--he always seems to be breaking rules to defeat Voldemort. Parents should discuss Harry's choices with their kids and I think that this book provides a great discussion on the value of rules and why we have them. I have a Harry Potter-Nietzchean Superman theory. If you are curious about this, ask me about it the next time you see me (most likely, I already shared this with you).

Overall, I highly recommend the book. It was very entertaining, even the second time around. The book was well written (only the beginning was a little too silly). The book was a great combination of a number of genres and I think that it was balanced well. Good times.

ESV Holy Bible by God (finished)

2009-07-19T17:46:00.003-04:00

I do not judge the Holy Bible, the Holy Bible judges me. :)

Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince-A Movie Review

2009-07-18T02:29:00.007-04:00

I just saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in the theater tonight. (I also can't sleep so this is a 2:30 am review).

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is the 6th movie in a series of 8 movies (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the 7th book, will be split into two movies). This movie is about Harry's junior year at Hogwarts. Dumbledore takes a lot of initiative to hire a new potions teacher, Horace Slughorn. Slughorn has some invaluable information about Voldemort that he is unwilling to share. In the meantime, Harry finds a potions book filled with hand written notes in the margins by the Half-Blood Prince, a mysterious unknown person from Hogwart's past. The book has valuable information that helps make better potions and it also hold spells that are very dangerous. Harry must help Dumbledore obtain the secret from Slughorn. In the meantime, Draco is chosen by Voldemort to carry out a task that may mean ruin for Dumbledore.

The pacing of the movie was very good; much of the tedium of the book was corrected in this movie.

The entire movie had a bluish-green tint to it that gave me a cold, uneasy feeling. I think that the director did this to try to create a darker mood for the film. I felt that he was successful in creating an appropriate mood for this story.

The actors, especially the ones who play Harry, Ron and Hermione, were very good. They have grown up to be very fine actors. Their charisma really caught and held my attention.

There was a good amount of comedy/jokes in the film. It gave a good juxtaposition for the darkness and seriousness in this movie.

There was a lot of teen romance. This may be the only weakness in the film for me. The romance itself wasn't bad but there was just a little too much of it--but this is a minor point.

The special effects were outstanding.

I really liked Helena Bonham Carter's performance as Bellatrix Lestrange in this movie (she was in Fight Club and Hamlet with Mel Gibson). She just seemed like an especially evil villain.

Snape was my favorite character in this story and in a lot of ways, throughout the entire series. I think that Snape is a complex character. It is not always clear why he does what he does and I like that aspect of him. Alan Rickman did a great job portraying Snape. NOTE: is it only me but every time I see Alan Rickman, I still see the villain from the first Die Hard movie in my head.

Unlike the other films (so I've been told) where you can watch the movie without having seen any of the previous installments, this movie assumes that you are familiar with all the previous movies/books. There was very little introduction of character or story explanation. I liked this aspect because I felt like the director respected me as a viewer and it helped with the pacing of the movie. So one thing you may want to do before you see this film is watch the others (or read the books).

With respect to content, there was no overt sexuality (except an occasional snog) or profanity. There were a few suspenseful scenes which may scare elementary age children.

Overall, a very good film. I highly recommend it. In my highly unqualified personal opinion, I think that film is good for anyone in junior high school or older. The pacing of the movie and the quality of the directing, acting and effects were all very good.

Oh, make sure you turn off your cell phone at the beginning of the movie and if it rings, please don't answer and have a conversation on the phone as the movie is going on. :)

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

2009-07-16T14:25:00.009-04:00

I just read Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult with my esteemed colleague, MB.

Nineteen Minutes was about a Columbine-like high school shooting and the aftermath. The book was written non-chronologically; the book goes back and forth (alternating chapters) between present day and flash-back.

In the book, a 17 year old high school student, Peter Houghton, was bullied by "popular" students ever since he started school. Josie Cormier used to his best friend as a kid but as she got older, she chose popularity over Peter. After another bullying incident (one in which we don't find out about until the end of the book), Peter is driven over the edge and resorts to violence to resolve his bullying problem.

Stengths:

(1) Jodi Picoult is a competent writer with respect to usage.

(2) The beginning was compelling.

Weaknesses:

(1) The book was corny. All the characters were caricatures. I felt like I was seeing this world through the eyes of someone who has no idea how real people act or think. Her picture of high school is horribly skewed; high school does not look like this.

(2) None of the characters were likable. All the characters were selfish and flippant towards everyone. I was confused about who I should root for. Peter, the high school shooter? Josie, the suicidal, selfish and self-righteous girl who kept her emotionally unstable mother at bay? Alex, the insecure judge who was more concerned about other people liking her? Patrick, the cop who gave egregiously inappropriate responses to people from the shooting?

(3) All the characters were essentially the same. They struggled with the same insecurities and they viewed the world in essentially the same way. The only characters that were different were the bullies and they were so two-dimensional that I could slice bread with them.

(4) The pacing of the book was horrible. It was good for the first 100 pages and then it dragged for the rest of the book.

(5) I HATE HER SURPRISE ENDINGS!!!

(6) There were loose ended plot points that she never picked up again.

(7) There were too many teen issues addressed at the same time.

(8) The list could go on but I don't want to think about this book anymore.

Overall,

I do not recommend this book--not even just a little bit. I think that the topic of school shootings is a pretty serious thing and the story seemed to say that the shooter was a victim and we should feel sorry for them. And that makes me want to puke. The writing usage was competent but almost every facet of the the story was horrible.

...and then I found two bucks.

Foundation And Empire by Isaac Asimov (finished)

2009-07-13T16:34:00.004-04:00

I just finished Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov.

I was impressed by the first book, Foundation, so I was compelled to continue the series. I am not reading it in the order that is recommended by the publishers (in chronology of the story). I am reading it in order of when Asimov wrote the stories: Foundation, Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation. I don't plan to read further than the third book.

The book is a continuation of "What if the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire is set in space". This book is divided into two separate stories; the first is about 100 pages long and the second is about 185 pages long.

The second story introduces the character of the Mule. The Mule is a memorable character. Unfortunately, I can't mention more about the Mule without spoiling the story. Asimov handles the introduction and the development of the Mule very well.

I didn't notice this so much in the first book but I thought this a number of time in this second book. The execution of Asimov's story telling is not very good. It suffices to move the story forward but there were a number of confusing sentences and jarring transitions.

Regardless, Asimov's story and ideas (regardless of execution) are outstanding. It seems to me that modern science fiction writers like to borrow from Asimov a lot (to put it kindly). And it is no surprise because Asimov's vision of the future is original and compelling.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. The writing is a little weak but sufficient. The story (especially about the Mule) is outstanding. Enjoy the book if you choose to read it. Good times. :)

Umai Umai-A Restaurant Review

2009-07-11T09:04:00.004-04:00

Last night I went to a small sushi place in the Fairmount district in Philadelphia near the Art Museum. The place was called Umai Umai. Here's what I thought of the place.

We had ordered the following:

1. The checkerboard sashimi (starter)-this is essentially tuna, both red and white presented as a checkerboard in a spice red sauce. it wasn't much food but i think the point of this was to pique the taste buds. TASTE: good and visually very appealing.

2. The traffic light roll (specialty roll)-it really looked like a traffic light: the top three rolls were topped with red caviar, the middle three with yellow caviar, the bottom three with green caviar. This is essentially a spider roll with soft shell crab done their way. TASTE: very good. The green ones were pretty spicy.

3. The spirited away roll (specialty roll)-this is tuna with shiitake and watercress: a beautiful triangular roll. TASTE: very good.

4. The pingu (specialty roll)-kind of reminded me of potato skins that you would get from TGI Fridays. I even thought that they had put bacon bits on top of what looked liked little potatoes. It was crab inside a flash fried crunchy roll. TASTE: very good.

NOTE: One specialty roll is probably enough food for dinner if you are moderately hungry. Each specialty roll was about 9 to 10 pieces.

Strengths:

The food is unique. I haven't had rolls like this anywhere before.

The service was outstanding. The waitress was cordial and very knowledgeable about the menu.

The atmosphere was a little too dark but overall, pretty chill and relaxing (until more people came in and because the place is pretty small, it got loud).

It is a BYO. I love BYOs.

The neighborhood is in residential fairmount so it felt pretty safe. You should be good parking there. And after dinner, you could walk around the art museum so that you could burn some of the calories that you've eaten.

Weaknesses:

We got lost. This might not be so much of a Umai Umai weakness; it might be more of a Mr. Lee weakness. But we found the place soon enough.

As the place got crowded, it got pretty loud.

The place is pretty small so don't go there with groups larger than 4 to 6 people.

Overall:

Overall, the experience was very good. I would highly recommend this place. Craig LaBan has reviewed this place also if you want to check it out. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/craig_laban/20090621_Umai_Umai.html

Good times.