A Book in Review: Nurture Shock

Nurture Shock: New Thinking about Children By: Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman
Non-fiction: parenting 23 pages
Book Count: 28

This book deals in depth with different new findings on how the brains of children and teens work. It is bases on scientific research both from lab testing and controlled experiments/ data collecting. It deals with many things like how TV watching isn't whats making kids fat, but educational TV may be making them meaner and why teen are wired for risky behaviors but not for being the stereotype angst filled teen. It's findings all boil down to two main points. First, kids do not think/respond/act/"work" like adults, which is why many things that should work, don't. Adults are thinking about what would work for them and why in a case, but for kids it is different. The second point is that positive traits are not always the opposite of negative ones, nor does it necessary stop them. For example, popular kids are the ones that best know how to control others. This is done with a careful balance of actions that are nice and are mean. It also points out how, because kids brains are still learning how complex issues work, things that you wouldn't think are an issue can be confusing to them. Like how lying is wrong, but if you get a horrible gift on your birthday, you still need to smile and say thank you, or even that if your birthday is in a week they may tell people you are 5 when you are still 4.

A Book in Review: New Moon

New Moon By: Stephenie Meyer
fiction: teen, fantasy, romance 563 pages
Book Count: 27

First, I reviewed the first book in the series here.
This book was better then the first book in the series. The crush like romance of the first book seams deeper this time making Bella's whinny/deeply depressed inner voice more logical and reasonable after Edward leaves. I did find all of the Romeo and Juliette talk in the book annoying only because of how all the fans talk about it being like the play. If the book says itself that they are like Romeo and Juliette saying that about it is silly.

A Book in Review: Stephen Fry in America

Stephen Fry in America by: Stephen Fry
Non-fiction: travel 313 pages
Book COunt: 26

In this book British actor/comic/writer Stephen Fry travels to every state in the USA. As he does so in less then 2 years with a large amount of it driving and leaves the country at least once during the time to work on a different show (this book is a companion to a TV special on the BBC) he misses a lot of major things for each state. In fact he only drives to the state line for Ohio. But, what he does see is a strange mixture of America. He repeatingly talks about how he didn't believe the world's stereotype of Americans before this trip and has grown to love America more after seeing it, but he also makes fun of America's love of over the topness and our cheeses. (Not like I don't also cringe every time the Kraft cheese commercial about American cheese comes on. "Hey look, its a bright orange processed milk based plastic like product, isn't it patriotic?") He does many things you would expect a TV show to do for each state (Salem on Halloween, car things in Michigan, wine tasting in Napa) but also many times just interacting with different people around the country (thanksgiving in a families home, watching a high school basketball game, ice fishing). Most of the book was fun to read. It had a sidebar for each state with information on the state like the capital, nicknames, state motto, bird, drink, tree, etc and famous people from there. It was originally written for a British audience and so often has British spelling, and word usage. It even has an American English word quiz at the end.

A Book in Review: Psych: The Call of the Mild

Psych: The Call of the Mild By: William Rabkin
fiction: mystery 279 pages
Book Count: 25

First, this book is based on the TV series Psych. As such, it would be most enjoyed by people who watch the show. There is some explaining of things that you would learn from watching the show, but I don't think that there is enough for the book to make sense without at least seeing the show a few times.
As someone that has seen the show, I liked this book. It did a good job of writing out some of the things that make the show so fun. It uses the start with the flashback to young Shawn and what it adds to the characters background fits with the show. It also has the pop culture you would expect in the show. (Add Lost joke here.)
In this book the guys all have to confront their worst fears/nightmares. Gus is out in the woods being chased by a "monster. " Lassiter has to deal with jurisdictions and working with others. Henry has to deal with his biggest fan, someone that has taken everything that he said in a school assembly and based his life around it. And we later learn what Shawn's nightmare is.

A Book in Review: Choosing a Dog for Dummies

Choosing a Dog for Dummies By: Chris Walkowicz
non-fiction: animals 305 pages
Book count: 24

First, I am not getting a dog now, I just felt like reading up on different breeds of dogs. That being said this book had a good amount of basic information on how to take care of a dog and listings on a wide variety of major breeds and a few lesser known ones. It is divided up by the types of dogs; hunting, herding,terrier, hounds etc.

A Book in Review: Johnny and the Dead

Johnny and the Dead By: Terry Pratchett
fiction: children's, sci-fi/fantasy 213 pages
Book count: 23

This book is book two in the Johnny Maxwell Trilogy. You don't need to read the first book in the series to enjoy this book, although after reading it you will want to read them all. In this book Johnny sees the ghost of all the dead people in his local cemetery. Only they don't want to be called ghosts. One was a communist who doesn't even believe in the possibility of ghost as he is an atheist as are all good communist. When ever confronted with the issue he makes fun excuses/reasoning for how he can be there but still be right about ghosts. The ghost learn that they are going to build over the graveyard and move them. They make Johnny work to save their graves and over time work on spending more time materialized and working to change things on their own. This book is written at about a 5-6th grade reading level.

A Book in Review: Sundays with Vlad

Sundays with Vlad: From Pennsylvania to Transylvania, One Man's Quest to Live in the World of the Undead BY: Paul Bibeau
Non-fiction: popular culture, lit, history 290 pages
Book Count: 22

First, I like this book because it points out what few book that have absolutely nothing to do with the subject say, "Nobody, nobody at all, thinks American Budweiser tastes good." It even suggest other jobs that the company could better spent its time doing like making chemical weapons (which, may still taste better then Bud.)

Besides that, this book is on anything Dracula/vampire related from the historic Vlad to Count Chocula cereal. It also includes the story of how the author researched the book, which is where the Budweiser info comes into play as he actually travels to the Eastern European countries connected with Dracula where one can buy beer made in the city of Budweis (now Ceske Budejovice) It has a lot of funny parts. (Imagine a middle aged man in a minivan going off to the goth clubs.) It has a lot of information as well. And each chapter deals with a different part of the story and starts with a intriguing quote from later on in the chapter.

An Audio Book in Review: Shoptimism

Shoptimism: Why the American Consumer Will Keep on Buying No Matter What
BY: Lee Eisenberg
Non-fiction, economics

This book was a good mix of stories and data with information from a wide variety of sources that are both for and against the way that Americans shop. It is divided into two sections one on the buy side and one on consumers.

13 CD's 14.5 hours

An Audio Book in Review:

We are starting a new section on audio books, as we had started listening to them more now that we are driving more everyday. It is still not going to be listed in our book count as we are not reading them, but after years of keeping a list of books, there have been more then one time that we have looked back on something to see if we had already read it, to re-read the major plot points before reading the sequel, or to recommend it to others.

Happy Passover!

A Book in Review: The Bizarre Truth

The Bizarre Truth: How I Walked Out the Door Mouth First . . . and Came Back Shaking My Head By: Andrew Zimmern
non-fiction: travel, food, TV 267 pages
Book Count: 21

This book tells the behind the scean story of many of the most well known eposode of "Bizarre Foods". It is fun to learn how some of the more unusual shows ended up happening. You also learn how the show was even thought up and made it to TV. It also has stories of what he thought about differnt events. I enjoyed reading this whille watching some of the shows at the same time.

A Book in Review: Writing Dialogue

Writing Dialogue By: Tom Chiarella
non-fiction, writing 151 pages
Book Count: 20

This book is only about writing dialogue in your fiction. It has a small section on the actual writing rules for dialogue, i.e. where to put punctuation, paragraphing etc. But most of it is about learning to write like people speak and writing in an interesting way. It has a lot of exercises for you to do to help to write better. This ranges from writing down what you say in a day and analyzing it to writing exercises of 1-2 pages. It had a lot of useful advice in it.

A Book in Review: King Arthur: Dark Age Warrior and Mythic Hero

King Arthur: Dark Age Warrior and Mythic Hero By: John Matthews
non-fiction: history, classic lit. 122 pages
Book Count: 19

This book has both information on the possible historic king Arthur as well as the ledgens of king Arthur. It goes indept on the world that the real Arthur lived in and well as the stories that the tales of Arthur may come from and the changes in the story over time to adjust to the times and morals of the day. It also has sections on all of the major figures in the stories and a section on the quest for the Holy Grail including earlier stories of a magic caldrun.

A Book in Review: The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters

The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters By: Rosemary Ellen Guiley
Non-fiction: reference, folklore, history, paranormal 337 pages
Book Count: 18

This is an A-Z book on vampire, werewolves and other paranormal beings. It is a good combination of legends and history. It includes folklore from around the world. It also includes historic events of "vampire" and "werewolf" attacks and their changing roles in books, movies, TV and other arts. It includes tons of information on landmark examples of vampires in the arts such as: multiple entries on the book "Dracula", season by season info on the show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and info on each book in the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. (Who interestingly was named Howard Allen Frances O'Brien at her birth.) It also has a section of further reading for each entry. The one major downside of this book is that it was published in 2005, since then there were many new things about the paranormal that has come out.

A Book in Review: Welcome to the Jungle

The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle By: Jim Butcher Illustrated by: Ardain Syaf
Fiction: sci-fi, graphic novel 106 pages(ish)
Book Count: 17

This is the first book in the graphic novel version of the Dresden Files. The characters look somewhat like the TV version of the story, but not like they copied the actors to make the book. The story was fast passed and interesting. In this one, local Chicago wizard, Dresden is investigating a murder in the zoo. The police want to make it a open and shut case of the monkey did it, but the facts don't add up. Even if you haven't read the novels or saw the show the book explains the background information, but in a way that isn't too boring for people that have previous experiences with the storyline.

A Book in Review: This Year You Write Your Novel

This Year You Write Your Novel By: Walter Mosley
Non-fiction: 103 pages
Book Count: 16

First, it did not take me a week and a half to read this 103 page book. I just haven't gotten around to post this before now (for many reasons ranging from illnesses to the power going out.) Anyway this book is meant to help you write a book in a year. One of the major pieces of advice goes exactly against the advice in the last book on this that I read, but still sounds like it would work for a lot of people. This book suggests that you set up a set amount of time that you are going to work on writing each day. Some days you may write the whole time, some you may spend re-reading or staring at the page, but still X minutes each day on writing. This advice sounds like it would work for many people depending on how you like to work, so I have no problem with that as advice its that he thinks the time should be 1 -1 1/2 hours a day in one chunk of time. He notes that that may be hard for anyone with anything else to do with their day, but offers no advice on how to carve out this time. Also, on things that I do not like about this book, after writing the whole story he counts every time you read it as a new draft, even if you make no changes to it! Reading a story doesn't change the words written down for it. You may think up new things about it and should of course read the story start to finish as part of revision, but that isn't a revision. As this book gives only a few pages of advice on how to write a book in a years time. (Including revisions) The rest is mostly basics on writing fiction: point-of view, plot, story development, etc. The end also includes a few paragraphs on trying to get your book published. Over all, if you have never read or written much before this and suddenly get the idea to write a novel, but have no idea how to, then this book is for you. If you are a reader, studied literature, write as a hobby or have read any other book on writing fiction and just are looking for a different writer's tips, you will more likely find this book to be boring.

A Book in Review: Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim By: David Sedaris
Non-fiction essay 257 pages
Book Count: 15

This collection of stories includes everything from the Dutch version of Santa Clause with his 6 to 8 friends/former slaves that help him kidnap bad kids and send them to Spain to the time he looked like some crazy serial killer to a bunch of tourist at 3 am while drowning a mouse and putting together a human anatomical model. It also includes stories about many of his relatives from his old rich aunt to his little brother's baby.

A Book in Review: Antiques Roadkill

Antiques Roadkill By: Barbara Allan
fiction: mystery 287 pages
Book Count: 14

This is the first book in a series written by a couple. It combines mystery with antiques tips and advice. It is the story of Brandy Borne who is newly divorced and has to move back in with her Manic-Depressive mother. If that isn't bad enough her dog is blind and diabetic and it looks like someone was trying to set her up for the murder of an antiques dealer who swindled her mother out of almost all of their antiques during a time when she was off her meds. Both her and her mother spend the book trying to find the real killer getting them deeper and deeper involved with the murder.

Jan-Feb Book Count:

Number of books read: 13
Pages read: 3048
Average number of days to read a book: 5
Average number of pages read in a day: 52
Average number of books read in a month: 7
Average number of pages read in a month: 1524

A Book in Review: A Broom of One's Own

A Broom of One's Own: Words on Writing, Housecleaning & Life By: Nancy Peacock
Non-fiction: Memoir, writing 187 pages
Book Count: 13

This is a book about the life of an author that also cleans houses to pay the bills. It was a good combination of writing information, humor, and interesting stories. It would be a good book to get anyone that is struggling as a writer. Even people with published books have to work at writing and often at something else as well. At the end there is an interview with the writer as well as her advice for other writers.