February's 10 reviews are now archived and cross-linked on the main site.
Enjoy!
Monday, February 29, 2016
Saturday, February 27, 2016
The Boys in the Boat (Daniel James Brown)
The Boys in the Boat
Daniel James Brown
Viking
Nonfiction, History/Sports
***** (Great)
DESCRIPTION: 1930's America was a far cry from the bustling, prosperous country it was a mere decade before. Between the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, millions had lost their livelihoods and their homes. To succeed took an extra helping of grit. Joe Rantz was no stranger to hardship and abandonment when he came to Seattle's University of Washington, barely scraping the money together for the education he hoped would lift him from poverty and allow him to marry his sweetheart. Earning a seat on the university's lauded eight-oar rowing crew might be his only way to stay in school. But grit alone doesn't win races. It takes something more, something he long ago gave up on: trust in his fellow man, in the other boys in the boat. Little did he know that the journey beginning in the waters of Lake Washington would eventually lead him halfway around the world, to the 1936 Berlin Olympics and a race no sports fan would ever forget.
REVIEW: The closest I normally come to sports is firing up my Wii; in reality, I'm about as athletically literate as a sea slug, which also is an apt simile for my athletic aptitude. Had this book not been a gift, I likely wouldn't have picked it up, despite the local interest. I soon found myself utterly absorbed. Brown deftly establishes the setting, painting a detailed picture of the 1930's Northwest and the greater world of rowing - both of which were equally alien to me. With Joe Rantz as the primary focus, the story takes on a personal aspect, demonstrating how sports in general and rowing in particular are about much more than raw strength or physical skill but the personalities and mindsets of the athletes. Other people, of course, play a large part in the almost unbelievable story of nine working-class West Coast boys rising to international stardom, each with their own tales to tell and hardships to overcome. The perfect crew isn't so much assembled as evolved, a learned synthesis that rises above individuality. Races unfold in grueling real-time, with triumphs often almost immediately upset by greater failures and obstacles. Meanwhile, the propaganda machine of Nazi Germany seizes the opportunity to present a false, friendly face to the world at large, to pacify the international stage and discount tales of oppression and murder and a re-awakening military. One sees uneasy parallels between the propaganda and spin-doctors beguiling the populace, local and foreign, in the 1930's and modern times. The whole book works as a biography, a historic narrative, and a gripping story in its own right. I'm trying to think of a downside to it, a nit to pick, but - aside from some occasional name confusion among the many peripheral players - I can't think of one. Any sports-based book that's interesting enough for someone like me to stay up late on work nights reading it earns its five stars.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Seabiscuit: An American Legend (Laura Hillenbrand) - My Review
Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 (R. A. Scotti) - My Review
Daniel James Brown
Viking
Nonfiction, History/Sports
***** (Great)
DESCRIPTION: 1930's America was a far cry from the bustling, prosperous country it was a mere decade before. Between the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, millions had lost their livelihoods and their homes. To succeed took an extra helping of grit. Joe Rantz was no stranger to hardship and abandonment when he came to Seattle's University of Washington, barely scraping the money together for the education he hoped would lift him from poverty and allow him to marry his sweetheart. Earning a seat on the university's lauded eight-oar rowing crew might be his only way to stay in school. But grit alone doesn't win races. It takes something more, something he long ago gave up on: trust in his fellow man, in the other boys in the boat. Little did he know that the journey beginning in the waters of Lake Washington would eventually lead him halfway around the world, to the 1936 Berlin Olympics and a race no sports fan would ever forget.
REVIEW: The closest I normally come to sports is firing up my Wii; in reality, I'm about as athletically literate as a sea slug, which also is an apt simile for my athletic aptitude. Had this book not been a gift, I likely wouldn't have picked it up, despite the local interest. I soon found myself utterly absorbed. Brown deftly establishes the setting, painting a detailed picture of the 1930's Northwest and the greater world of rowing - both of which were equally alien to me. With Joe Rantz as the primary focus, the story takes on a personal aspect, demonstrating how sports in general and rowing in particular are about much more than raw strength or physical skill but the personalities and mindsets of the athletes. Other people, of course, play a large part in the almost unbelievable story of nine working-class West Coast boys rising to international stardom, each with their own tales to tell and hardships to overcome. The perfect crew isn't so much assembled as evolved, a learned synthesis that rises above individuality. Races unfold in grueling real-time, with triumphs often almost immediately upset by greater failures and obstacles. Meanwhile, the propaganda machine of Nazi Germany seizes the opportunity to present a false, friendly face to the world at large, to pacify the international stage and discount tales of oppression and murder and a re-awakening military. One sees uneasy parallels between the propaganda and spin-doctors beguiling the populace, local and foreign, in the 1930's and modern times. The whole book works as a biography, a historic narrative, and a gripping story in its own right. I'm trying to think of a downside to it, a nit to pick, but - aside from some occasional name confusion among the many peripheral players - I can't think of one. Any sports-based book that's interesting enough for someone like me to stay up late on work nights reading it earns its five stars.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Seabiscuit: An American Legend (Laura Hillenbrand) - My Review
Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 (R. A. Scotti) - My Review
The Habit Fix (Eileen Rose Giadone)
The Habit Fix
Eileen Rose Giadone
CreateSpace
Nonfiction, Self-Help
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: We all have bad habits, and we all mean to fix them... but somehow it doesn't happen. That vow to give up junk food or start a diet becomes one more broken promise. A determination to improve one's life falters when it's not clear where or how to begin. Author Eileen Rose Giadone has been there and done that; her failures and successes in changing habits, the countless books and articles she read and methods she tried, are distilled in this book.
REVIEW: Much of the advice Giadone offers can be found elsewhere; indeed, she cites sources and provides links to where she herself learned it all herself. What she does that others don't is sift through the mountains of self-help information out there and offer the nuggets that helped her. Instead of a full book or book series dedicated to meditation, for instance, she distills the general idea in one chapter, then offers links and suggestions for further reading. Interestingly, she starts with a chapter on the value of one's own word, how paying close attention to the promises we make is a good "keystone habit" from which others will flow. The more times we make claims and promises we can't follow through on, the more we train ourselves that our own vows mean nothing, leading not only to more self-doubt but to an automatic out for any genuine attempts at changing our lives. Overall, it's a decent little primer to self-help, a quick-reading introduction to positive changes that most people can start using right away.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Simple But Effective Strategies To Improve Yourself (Robert Eastwood) - My Review
10% Happier (Dan Harris) - My Review
Stop Procrastination (John Welker) - My Review
Eileen Rose Giadone
CreateSpace
Nonfiction, Self-Help
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: We all have bad habits, and we all mean to fix them... but somehow it doesn't happen. That vow to give up junk food or start a diet becomes one more broken promise. A determination to improve one's life falters when it's not clear where or how to begin. Author Eileen Rose Giadone has been there and done that; her failures and successes in changing habits, the countless books and articles she read and methods she tried, are distilled in this book.
REVIEW: Much of the advice Giadone offers can be found elsewhere; indeed, she cites sources and provides links to where she herself learned it all herself. What she does that others don't is sift through the mountains of self-help information out there and offer the nuggets that helped her. Instead of a full book or book series dedicated to meditation, for instance, she distills the general idea in one chapter, then offers links and suggestions for further reading. Interestingly, she starts with a chapter on the value of one's own word, how paying close attention to the promises we make is a good "keystone habit" from which others will flow. The more times we make claims and promises we can't follow through on, the more we train ourselves that our own vows mean nothing, leading not only to more self-doubt but to an automatic out for any genuine attempts at changing our lives. Overall, it's a decent little primer to self-help, a quick-reading introduction to positive changes that most people can start using right away.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Simple But Effective Strategies To Improve Yourself (Robert Eastwood) - My Review
10% Happier (Dan Harris) - My Review
Stop Procrastination (John Welker) - My Review
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Thing Explainer (Randall Munroe)
Thing Explainer
Randall Munroe
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Nonfiction, Reference/Science
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: The world is a complicated place, often made moreso by the complicated words used to explain it. In this illustrated guide, author Randall Munroe, creator of the popular webcomic xkcd, describes a wide variety of stuff using one thousand (or "ten hundred") of the English language's most common, simple words.
REVIEW: From the periodic table ("the pieces everything is made of") and cellular structure ("tiny bags of water you're made of") to jet engines ("sky boat pushers") and padlocks ("shape checkers"), Munroe covers a broad range of subjects of all shapes and sizes. The illustrations often have humorous little touches, adding to the fun of the overall concept. Occasionally, the simplification obscures the meaning, but it gets the general point across, and can be interesting. One flaw in the design, however, is the fold-out pages, which can be damaged by rereads and simply opening and closing the book. The fold-out diagram of a skyscraper ("sky toucher") at at the end is particularly vulnerable, for having the edges pointed in towards the spine. I'm very careful with my books, and I still have unwanted dog-ear creases here after reading it, as a simple matter of paper shifting as the book is read. (I can only imagine what library copies will endure...) All in all, it's an interesting and amusing concept, whether you're a kid just getting interested in science or a grown-up looking to understand the world a little better, but without access to an unabridged dictionary at all times.
You Might Also Enjoy:
What's That? The Oxford Visual Dictionary of Nearly Everything (John A. Pheby) - My Review
Randall Munroe
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Nonfiction, Reference/Science
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: The world is a complicated place, often made moreso by the complicated words used to explain it. In this illustrated guide, author Randall Munroe, creator of the popular webcomic xkcd, describes a wide variety of stuff using one thousand (or "ten hundred") of the English language's most common, simple words.
REVIEW: From the periodic table ("the pieces everything is made of") and cellular structure ("tiny bags of water you're made of") to jet engines ("sky boat pushers") and padlocks ("shape checkers"), Munroe covers a broad range of subjects of all shapes and sizes. The illustrations often have humorous little touches, adding to the fun of the overall concept. Occasionally, the simplification obscures the meaning, but it gets the general point across, and can be interesting. One flaw in the design, however, is the fold-out pages, which can be damaged by rereads and simply opening and closing the book. The fold-out diagram of a skyscraper ("sky toucher") at at the end is particularly vulnerable, for having the edges pointed in towards the spine. I'm very careful with my books, and I still have unwanted dog-ear creases here after reading it, as a simple matter of paper shifting as the book is read. (I can only imagine what library copies will endure...) All in all, it's an interesting and amusing concept, whether you're a kid just getting interested in science or a grown-up looking to understand the world a little better, but without access to an unabridged dictionary at all times.
You Might Also Enjoy:
What's That? The Oxford Visual Dictionary of Nearly Everything (John A. Pheby) - My Review
Friday, February 19, 2016
Tuesdays at the Castle (Jessica Day George)
Tuesdays at the Castle
(The Castle Glower series, Book 1)
Jessica Day George
Bloomsbury
Fiction, YA Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Castle Glower has many peculiarities. Rooms and halls rearrange themselves, though the throne room can always be found (eventually) by heading east. People have been known to be physically ejected if unpleasant enough. And on Tuesdays, the castle likes to create new rooms. Many find it confusing, but eleven-year-old Princess Celie has always considered Castle Glower a friend. She's even making an atlas of the sprawling, shifting grounds, an undertaking never before attempted in its ageless history. On this Tuesday, the castle produces a new tower, seemingly just for her - perhaps to comfort her. Celie's parents are leaving to bring her brother Bran home from the College of Wizardry, and they're leaving her behind. Sure, her elder brother Rolf and sister Delilah are still here, as is their friend Pogue the blacksmith's son, but it's not the same; they're on their way to becoming grown-ups, and she's still the baby of the family. Then something goes terribly wrong: her parents and Bran are ambushed and possibly killed, leaving fourteen-year-old Rolf next in line for the throne, a collection of greedy advisors ready to turn the crown into a puppet of their interests, and peculiar foreign princes on the doorstep who might be more than just concerned neighbors. As much as Celie needs the help of Castle Glower in these dark times, it might need her help even more.
REVIEW: The concept looked fun, and the Kindle edition was discounted, so I figured I'd give it a try. It starts out light, pushing towards silly. Celie's relationship with the castle seems almost as childlike as her character. But it soon becomes clear that there's a little more to her, and to Castle Glower, than initially meets the eye, strengths that come out under pressure as her parents are attacked and the children are left to their own devices, forced to cope with a complex, adult situation. The three inherently trust each other, a refreshing change of pace from many stories, so they don't have to waste time convincing other people to listen to them, nor are they forced to act alone. As the story progresses, the castle itself becomes a character; it does indeed seem to reciprocate Celie's friendship, but it alone can't help her or her family against their many enemies. In general, peripheral characters line up pretty much as one might expect from early impressions - but, then, this is aimed at a younger audience. It still manages some tense moments as the siblings struggle, first to simply endure and then to try to best their opponents. Needless to say, Celie doesn't remain immature for long; all the Glower children do a lot of growing up, Celie most of all. The ending feels a bit quick, but wraps up the major plot points. I enjoyed it, and will likely read the next book one of these days.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Princess Academy (Shannon Hale) - My Review
The Eyes of the Dragon (Stephen King) - My Review
The Two Princesses of Bamarre (Gail Carson Levine) - My Review
(The Castle Glower series, Book 1)
Jessica Day George
Bloomsbury
Fiction, YA Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Castle Glower has many peculiarities. Rooms and halls rearrange themselves, though the throne room can always be found (eventually) by heading east. People have been known to be physically ejected if unpleasant enough. And on Tuesdays, the castle likes to create new rooms. Many find it confusing, but eleven-year-old Princess Celie has always considered Castle Glower a friend. She's even making an atlas of the sprawling, shifting grounds, an undertaking never before attempted in its ageless history. On this Tuesday, the castle produces a new tower, seemingly just for her - perhaps to comfort her. Celie's parents are leaving to bring her brother Bran home from the College of Wizardry, and they're leaving her behind. Sure, her elder brother Rolf and sister Delilah are still here, as is their friend Pogue the blacksmith's son, but it's not the same; they're on their way to becoming grown-ups, and she's still the baby of the family. Then something goes terribly wrong: her parents and Bran are ambushed and possibly killed, leaving fourteen-year-old Rolf next in line for the throne, a collection of greedy advisors ready to turn the crown into a puppet of their interests, and peculiar foreign princes on the doorstep who might be more than just concerned neighbors. As much as Celie needs the help of Castle Glower in these dark times, it might need her help even more.
REVIEW: The concept looked fun, and the Kindle edition was discounted, so I figured I'd give it a try. It starts out light, pushing towards silly. Celie's relationship with the castle seems almost as childlike as her character. But it soon becomes clear that there's a little more to her, and to Castle Glower, than initially meets the eye, strengths that come out under pressure as her parents are attacked and the children are left to their own devices, forced to cope with a complex, adult situation. The three inherently trust each other, a refreshing change of pace from many stories, so they don't have to waste time convincing other people to listen to them, nor are they forced to act alone. As the story progresses, the castle itself becomes a character; it does indeed seem to reciprocate Celie's friendship, but it alone can't help her or her family against their many enemies. In general, peripheral characters line up pretty much as one might expect from early impressions - but, then, this is aimed at a younger audience. It still manages some tense moments as the siblings struggle, first to simply endure and then to try to best their opponents. Needless to say, Celie doesn't remain immature for long; all the Glower children do a lot of growing up, Celie most of all. The ending feels a bit quick, but wraps up the major plot points. I enjoyed it, and will likely read the next book one of these days.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Princess Academy (Shannon Hale) - My Review
The Eyes of the Dragon (Stephen King) - My Review
The Two Princesses of Bamarre (Gail Carson Levine) - My Review
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