Book Buzz

MARK SCHULTZ

ZANDER CANNON     KEVIN CANNON

Love learning about life. How do scientists know all this stuff? Some of the science in this book was in too much detail for me and this is in graphic form. The premise is an alien race is studying humanity because they are having problems with inherited diseases because they reproduce asexually. Asexual reproduction is basically cloning. The alien scientist is explaining how sexual reproduction works and its benefits  to his world’s leader.
The last chapter that talks about how knowledge of genetics can be used in the future and how it can tell us about the past is most interesting. A good book to skim.

PATRICK NESS

The New World is a harsh and dangerous place. We don’t know why people left the old world but the first settlers were religious people seeking a simple life. They came to create a utopian society but what they formed if far from perfect. On the New World men’s thoughts are open and broadcast for all to see. They call it Noise. But women’s thoughts are quiet. It makes for interesting and bizarre sexual politics.

“The first thing you find out when your dog learns to talk is that dogs don’t got nothing much to say ” is the first sentence. Highly engaging. The narrator comes from an isolated town where there is no women. They all perished in a plague. He  is the youngest in the community, soon to become an adult. But his “parents” tell him he has to flee days before his adulthood.  They can’t tell him why because then his noise would draw too much attention.

KNIFE is an excellent book; it’s a page turner. But is does have a couple of drawbacks. Length: it did not have to be 500 pages. Ending: books need a definitive ending rather than setting up for the next book in the series.

A JOURNEY THROUGH THE REALM OF VANISHING CULTURES

WADE DAVIS

Ethnobotanist and anthropologist Davis has traveled the world for 25 years to study the myriad ways indigenous people live in physical and spiritual intimacy with the natural world. Though listed as a book of photographs, LIGHT is much more. The pictures are amazing but the writing is a synthesis of many of the cultures he has explored. A beautiful, stunning book that is ultimately somber and sorrowful for it is describing “vanishing cultures.” Davis wrote that genocide, the deliberate and systematic extermination of a racial,  or cultural group is abhorred in modern times but ethoncide the systematic destruction of an ethnic culture in many ways is accepted. While discussing Andean culture of South America he wrote how nutritionally important the coco leaf contributing large quantities calcium and other minerals that were not traditionally found in their diet. Gems like this are found throught the book. Much of what he writes is the spirituality of the culture. Davis reflects on the effects of colonialism in these areas and laments the uncertain fate of groups like the Penan of Borneo, the nomads of Kenya and the Inuit in Canada is Russia.

An excellent read and an excellent collection of photographs.

WILL EISNER

NAME tells the story of the Arnheim family, German Jews who immigrated to America in the mid-1800s, through four generations of wealth, death, disaster, and marital strife. Eisner’s expressive characters show the reader the lives of immigrant families who suffer from “the uncertain feeling of being Jewish in a Christian world,” to quote Eisner. One thing that I found interesting was the racism of the German Jews against the Jews from Russia and Poland. It is also the story of cutthroat business deals and class. The characters are all one-dimensional, and there isn’t much nuance in the story. It is melodramatic with sudden heart attacks and a no-good, alcoholic younger son.

Not the greatest graphic novel but with Eisner being the father of the graphic novel I wanted to give it a try.

KAREN CONNELLY

This memoir highlights the year Connelly spent living in a small town in northern Thailand. She was seventeen when she left for Thailand and the writing reflects this. It is not a mature work. But I enjoyed it for the insights into daily life of the Thai people, their language and their culture. When I was in Thailand I asked someone to teach me to count to ten. “Nung.” I repeated, “Nung” and the people howled with laughter. I couldn’t hear the tones of the language. The same word can have five or six meanings depending on the tone used in speech. I really never learned any Thai. But Karen lived with families and went to school with the young people. Immersion is the best way to learn a language. But of course it wasn’t easy learning the language and accepting the restraints of the culture. Being the only “farang” (foreigner) in the area she had little privacy. Being a woman she didn’t have the freedom and choices she was used to in Canada. The writing improves through out the book. She calls Thailand “the green country” and the inhabitants “the gentle people.”

What drew me to this book is some of Connelly’s other writing. The Lizard Cage is an excellent novel of modern Burma.

A good read if you are interested in Thailand and Asia.

Vikas Swarup

This is the book that the movie Slumdog Millionaire was based on. And the book is completely different than the movie except for the basic theme and structure. Ram Mohammad Thomas is a contestant for a billion rupees. The book highlights an excerpt from his life that explains how he knew the answer. And what a life! Poverty, desertion, murder, prostitution, abuse, it is all in his life. But there was always some fascit that mattered most. I find it astounding, and if it’s typical of the things she’s asked, no wte of his life that he remembered thas that mattered most. I find it astounding, and if it’s typical of the things she’s asked, no ws that mattered most. I find it astounding, and if it’s typical of the things she’s asked, no wt provided an answer. The neighbour naming the pet Pluto because the kitten is tiny and Pluto is the smallest planet in the solar system. Despite the torture and abuse it is aThis is the book that the movie Slumdog Millionaire was based on. And the book is completely different than the movie except for the basic theme and structure. Ram Mohammad Thomas is a contestant for a billion rupees. The book highlights an excerpt from his life that explains how he knew the answer. And what a life! Poverty, desertion, murder, prostitution, abuse, it is all in his life. But there was always some fascite of his life that he remembered that provided an answer. The neighbour naming the pet Pluto because the kitten is tiny and Pluto is the smallest planet in the solar system. Despite the torture and abuse it is actually a light read. Fun. Now I would like to revisit the DVD.ctually a light read. Fun. Now I would like to revisit the DVD.

DOUGLAS COUPLAND

I ‘m sorry another dud. What is happening to Can Lit? I usually laugh out aloud reading Coupland.

A is speculative fiction in the near future where bees have gone extinct. Today a frightening possibility. But after several years of extinction five people are stung around the world. As soon as they are stung they are seized by officials and studied by computers. After they are released they are drawn together. At this point all is well. But this is what looses me. The five characters are taken to Canada’s most remote archipelago, Haida Gwaii. There they are told to tell each other stories. So a third of the book is pithy, little allegorical tales.

Maybe you will get more from it than I. Doug write us a book for heaven’s sake!

MARGARET ATWOOD

one word: DISAPPOINTING. Much to my surprise and dismay. I love Atwood’s writing. What got me with this book is that it did not live up to it’s hype. The hype being that FLOOD starts off where Oryx and Crake left off. I kept waiting for that to happen. It does around page 350. Before that she is exploring the life of a couple of characters before the apocalypse. All very interesting. All superbly written. I am likely the only one in all of Canada who was left embittered by this novel. Be for warned. I wish I had been. I could have enjoyed it more.

GEORGE D SHUMAN

Blind psychic Sherry Moore   can “visualize the last memories of dead people,” is exposed to radioactive cesium 137 while trying to discern what caused an outbreak of possible hantavirus in New Mexico. Back in Philadelphia for tests and treatment, with trusted Dr. Salix, she touches the body of mental patient Thomas J. Monahan, an army private during the Korean War who was used in a government mind-control experiment in 1950. Thomas’s residual memories concern Area 17, a secret base in Mount Tamathy, N.Y., where a weapon was developed by Nobel Prize–winner Edward Case. Puzzelled, Sherry is helped in her investigations by her neighbour and good friend retired admiral Brigham. Of course not having had sight since she was five, Sherry can neither read nor drive. To be honest she would likely have had more problems adjusting to sight than the book suggests. Case’s handsome sociopath stepson, Troy Weir, sets out to dispose of Sherry and anyone else who might know anything about Area 17. While Sherry investigates Thomas’s past, she becomes attracted to Troy, much to the dismay of her Navy SEAL fiancé, Brian.

An alright thriller. After I finished reading it I found out that it is the fourth book about Sherry. The series started with Lost Girls. I won’t read any more.

RUPERT EVERETT

Everett’s autobiography is surprisingly well written for a Hollywood gossip rag. Having previously publish two or three novels he most certainly does have a way with words. His start was in an upper middle class English family which of course led to the brutality of boarding school. It was there Rupert got his first acting experience and made plans to attend acting school. He ended up being kicked out of acting school for being unruly. But that certainly has not hurt his career at all. Rupert is a shameless name dropper. It seems that he knows everyone in Hollywood. Light fare. I actually listened to an audio version that was abridged to 4.5 hours. At the time I was quite sick so listening was the best way to appreciate this book.

SUSAN KUKLIN

Kuklin has written a well balanced look at the issues surrounding capital punishment of teens. She tells the stories of the perpetrators: one who killed someone, but another one who maintains his innocence. I was just reading a report in Macleans magazine of yet another Canadian wrongly convicted of murder. And the scary thing about that is the murderer is in a position to commit more violent crime. Wrongful convictions is the strongest argument against capital punishment for me. But back to NO CHOIRBOY. KUKLIN also looks at how the victim family is affected and the family of the perpetrator of the crime. This well balanced approach makes for a most thought-provoking read.

I did have to ask my self why did all these kids have guns? That idiotic belief that it is a right to bear arms might have been necessary in 1800 but makes no sensense today.

EDITORS OF HUFFINGTON POST

Wikopedia defines Huffington post:

The Huffington Post (often referred to as HuffPost) is an American liberal news website and aggregated blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer and Jonah Peretti, featuring various news sources and columnists.^[2] The site offers coverage of politics, media, business, entertainment, living, style, the green movement, world news, and comedy, and is a top destination for news, blogs and original content. In four years, it has become an influential media brand — “The Internet Newspaper.” The Huffington Post was launched on May 9, 2005, as a commentary outlet and liberal alternative to conservative news aggregators like the Drudge Report.^[3]

In 2008, the site launched its first local version, HuffPost Chicago; HuffPost New York launched in June, 2009, and HuffPo Denver launched on Sept 15, 2009.^[4] The Huffington Post has an active community, with over one million comments made on the site each month.”

H-Post has garnered multiple awards for blogging and news.

The GUIDE talks most specifically about political commentary, which isn’t the type of blogging that I do. With chapters such as Finding Your Voice and How the Blogosphere is  Remaking the Media it does have wise suggestions.

It is a great book to skim if you blog. And it is funny. I laughted out loud several times. I learned that the wavy letters that you have to type to make a comment are called CAPTCHAs. That stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.”

STEIG LARSSON

A rousing read. Quite a page turner. GIRL is a continuation of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Set in Sweden, Michael Blomkvist ,the journalist, writer and publisher, is trying to help his friend and one time lover Lisbeth Salander.  Salander is wanted for three counts of murder. No one beside Blomkvist is looking for other leads. The murdered couple had researched and written an expose of human trafficking and prostitution. Some powerful people will be named when the book is published by Blomkvist. Salander was severly abused as a child. She trusts no one. Not even a friend.

Again a horrible cover in Canada. I borrowed this pic from Culture Witch.

SUZANNE COLLINS

Arresting concept: the youth of the nation pitted against the youth of the nation for public entertainment. Each year a male and female youth are chosen from each district. A complex draft chooses the contestants. At age ten each name goes into the draw; each year after the name goes in draft an additional time. Eleven twice, twelve three times, thirteen three times.  All names are kept in the draw year after year. When the kids have been chosen, they get a bit of training and then are throwen into an arena for a fight until death, for the amusement and control of the masses.

A good book but at 350 pages it needed serious editing. Unfortunately  GAMES does not come to a complete finality. It sets the scene for a sequel. Even within a series a novel should be complete on its own.

MARGARET ATWOOD

Since Atwood’s newest novel starts where ORYX ends, I thought I would refreshen my mind by reading this excellent saga. Wow what a book. No punches held. Not post- apocalypse, this novel tackles the devastation from before and during as well as post. Snowman is the last human left alive after an engineered virus designed by Crake is dispatched to the populous.  Crake spared Snowman to take care of his new species: a humanoid creation made by splicing different DNA.

It is a dark look at our future. It reminds me of the song (first line ) I Can Ride My Bike with No Handlebars. Starts off as simple braging but graduates into a megalomaniac ready to destroy the world.

I can hardly wait to read The YEAR of the FLOOD.

NANCY WERLIN

SURVIVAL is the story of three siblings and their trials to survive their crazily abusive mother Nikki. The father of Matt and Callie, the two oldest, is unable to stand up against his ex-wife and protect his children. Matt dreams for a superhero who will take them out of their situation. The story is a letter written to Emmy the baby of the family. He wants her to know the true story so that if Nikki turns up again she will know to stay clear.

It is a well written and well thought out novel for young adults. A touching read that won’t be forgotten easily.

JONATHAN HICKMAN

J M RINGUET

Best Graphic Novel I have read recently. Hickman iluustrates  genetic engineering and the creation of super-humans, from a corporate, profit point of view. The book is a documentary telling the story of two rival scientists who were both trying to bring about the next step in human evolution but solely for a profit. The rival scientists are both trying to create superhumans; one via genetic engineering and the other using technological modifications. Au cureent is the inclusion of venture capatalists who fund the research again for a profit share.

I enjoyed the way Hickman slowly revealed the consequences of this human engineering.

Art: lauralengyel.com

JAMES A. LEVINE

Not an easy book. Batuk is a child prostitue. She was sold into the trade by her father.  Auctioned to wealthy man, her owner likely received more from that first customer than the father was initially paid. Life goes downhill from there being sold to increasingly cheaper, less classy brothels.

She befriends a boy in the brothel. Puneet earns at lease double to what men pay for her because he is a boy. But after a visit from two police officers he is left bleeding and wounded from have a night stick inserted into his wiry  frame. The men leave the brothel laughing.

Author Levine is a doctor at the Mayo clinic. He was inspired to write NOTEBOOK after doing medical research in India. He devoting the proceeds from the sale of the book to help exploited children.

Well worth reading despite the pitiful ending.

MICHAEL GRUBER

Someone left the witch a baby.  She knew that she shouldn’t but she keeps the child to raise as her own. The ugliest child ever born she calls him Lump. A she bear suckles him and is his nurse. Lump grows up believing himself to be beautiful and pities human children when he catches a glimse because they are so repugnant. When he realizes how the non-enchanted world operates, he covers his face with a mask. He developes intois a most angry young man. The most fun is when Lump meets characters from fairy tales. In these revised tales the stepmother is never evil. Hansel and Gretal run away from an abusive mother and are saved by the witch.

A good fairy tale. Superb cover illustration.

DEBORAH GRABEIN

I have been doing some rather heavy reading of late so I wanted something trashy. I found it in this mystery in my latest library stash. The fun part is backstage and behind scenes of a popular rock and roll band. Blacklight is a successful band, now aging and doing comeback tours for its many die hard fans. A tabloid sleaze journalist, Dillan, is planning a no holds barred, unauthorized biography. All the dirt and of course there is dirt. But on opening night of the North American tour, his body is found in lead guitarist, JP Kinkaid’s dressing room. Kinkaid’s long term girlfriend (he never got around to divorcing his wife), found the body.

Trashy but fun and light. Just what I needed.