In Which I Recommend Some Books that I'm Having Trouble Reviewing

My interview with my husband is being postponed due to him having a busy week at work. I'm going to post it next Thursday instead.

I read several amazing books in the past year, one of which I was supposed to post a review for yesterday. But as I tried to write said review, I found that I was having difficulty figuring out what to say simply because it had been a while since I'd read it. I LOVED the book, but I couldn't adequately express why without a reread. I didn't want to just write a mundane review that could be about any book: I wanted to do the book justice.

So, given that I don't have time for a reread right now, I'm going to recommend the books instead of reviewing them. I'll provide a synopsis, as well as a link to Amazon. In no particular order, here are some amazing books you should all check out.



The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker

Synopsis: Nora Fischer's dissertation is stalled and her boyfriend is about to marry another woman. During a miserable weekend at a friend's wedding, Nora gets lost and somehow walks through a portal into a different world, with only her copy of Pride and Prejudice in her back pocket. There, she meets glamorous, charming Ilissa, who introduces here to a new world of decadence and riches. Nora herself feels different: more attractive; more popular. Soon, her romance with the gorgeous, masterful Raclin is heating up. It's almost too good to be true.

Then the elegant veneer shatters. Nora's new fantasy world turns darker, a fairy tale gone incredibly wrong. Making it here will take skills Nora never learned in graduate school. Her only real ally--and a reluctant one at that--is the magician Aruendiel, a grim, reclusive figure with a biting tongue and a shrouded past. And it will take her becoming Arundiel's student--and learning real magic herself--to survive. When a passage home finally opens, Nora must weigh her "real life" against the dangerous power of love and magic.

With an appealing protagonist, cinematic storytelling, and a rich vein of wry humor, Emily Croy Barker's debut offers an intelligent escape into a richly imagined world. The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic is proof that magic not only exists, but--like love--can sweep you off your feet when you least expect it.



The Silent History by Eli Horowitz, Kevin Moffet, and Matthew Derby

Synopsis: A generation of children forced to live without words.

It begins as a statistical oddity: a spike in children born with acute speech delays. Physically normal in every way, these children never speak and do not respond to speech; they don't learn to read, don't learn to write. As the number of cases grows to an epidemic level, theories spread. Maybe it's related to a popular antidepressant; maybe it's environmental. Or maybe these children have special skills all their own.

The Silent History unfolds in a series of brief testimonials from parents, teachers, friends, doctors, cult leaders, profiteers, and impostors (everyone except, of course, the children themselves), documenting the growth of the so-called silent community into an elusive, enigmatic force in itself—alluring to some, threatening to others. Both a bold storytelling experiment and a propulsive reading experience, Eli Horowitz,  Matthew Derby, and Kevin Moffett's The Silent History is at once thrilling, timely, and timeless.

The Resurrection of Mary Mabel McTavish by Allan Stratton

Synopsis: Faith healers, movie moguls, and social-climbing fraudsters collide in Depression-era Los Angeles

It’s the Great Depression and Mary Mabel McTavish is suicidal. A drudge at the Bentwhistle Academy for Young Ladies (aka Wealthy Juvenile Delinquents), she is at London General Hospital when little Timmy Beeford is carried into emergency and pronounced dead. He was electrocuted at an evangelical road show when the metal cross on top of the revival tent was struck by lightning. Believing she’s guided by her late mother, Mary Mabel lays on hands. Timmy promptly returns to life.

William Randolph Hearst gets wind of the story and soon the Miracle Maid is rocketing from the Canadian backwoods to ’30s Hollywood. Jack Warner, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Rockettes round out a cast of Ponzi promoters, Bolshevik hoboes, and double-dealing social climbers in a fast-paced tale that satirizes the religious right, media manipulation, celebrity, and greed.

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach

Synopsis: The study of sexual physiology - what happens, and why, and how to make it happen better - has been a paying career or a diverting sideline for scientists as far-ranging as Leonardo da Vinci and James Watson. The research has taken place behind the closed doors of laboratories, brothels, MRI centers, pig farms, sex-toy R&D labs, and Alfred Kinsey's attic.

Mary Roach, "the funniest science writer in the country" (Burkhard Bilger of 'The New Yorker'), devoted the past two years to stepping behind those doors. Can a person think herself to orgasm? Can a dead man get an erection? Is vaginal orgasm a myth? Why doesn't Viagra help women or, for that matter, pandas? 

In 'Bonk', Roach shows us how and why sexual arousal and orgasm, two of the most complex, delightful, and amazing scientific phenomena on earth, can be so hard to achieve and what science is doing to slowly make the bedroom a more satisfying place. 

Alias Hook by Lisa Jensen

Synopsis: "Every child knows how the story ends. The wicked pirate captain is flung overboard, caught in the jaws of the monster crocodile who drags him down to a watery grave. But it was not yet my time to die. It's my fate to be trapped here forever, in a nightmare of childhood fancy, with that infernal, eternal boy."

Meet Captain James Benjamin Hook, a witty, educated Restoration-era privateer cursed to play villain to a pack of malicious little boys in a pointless war that never ends. But everything changes when Stella Parrish, a forbidden grown woman, dreams her way to the Neverland in defiance of Pan’s rules. From the glamour of the Fairy Revels, to the secret ceremonies of the First Tribes, to the mysterious underwater temple beneath the Mermaid Lagoon, the magical forces of the Neverland open up for Stella as they never have for Hook. And in the pirate captain himself, she begins to see someone far more complex than the storybook villain. 

With Stella’s knowledge of folk and fairy tales, she might be Hook’s last chance for redemption and release if they can break his curse before Pan and his warrior boys hunt her down and drag Hook back to their neverending game. Alias Hook by Lisa Jensen is a beautifully and romantically written adult fairy tale.

December Park by Ronald Malfi

Synopsis: In the quiet suburb of Harting Farms, the weekly crime blotter usually consists of graffiti or the occasional bout of mailbox baseball. But in the fall of 1993, children begin vanishing and one is found dead. Newspapers call him the Piper because he has come to take the children away. But there are darker names for him, too . . .

Vowing to stop the Piper’s reign of terror, five boys take up the search. Their teenage pledge turns into a journey of self-discovery . . . and a journey into the darkness of their own hometown. On the twilit streets of Harting Farms, everyone is a suspect. And any of the boys might be the Piper’s next victim.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Synopsis: On the faded Island Books sign hanging over the porch of the Victorian cottage is the motto "No Man Is an Island; Every Book Is a World." A. J. Fikry, the irascible owner, is about to discover just what that truly means.

A. J. Fikry's life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island-from Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who's always felt kindly toward Fikry; from Ismay, his sister-in-law who is hell-bent on saving him from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who keeps on taking the ferry over to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.'s bad attitude. Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him. These days, A.J. can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly.

And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore. It's a small package, but large in weight. It's that unexpected arrival that gives A. J. Fikry the opportunity to make his life over, the ability to see everything anew. It doesn't take long for the locals to notice the change overcoming A.J.; or for that determined sales rep, Amelia, to see her curmudgeonly client in a new light; or for the wisdom of all those books to become again the lifeblood of A.J.'s world; or for everything to twist again into a version of his life that he didn't see coming. As surprising as it is moving, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love.

The Intern's Handbook: A Thriller by Shane Kuhn

Synopsis: Interns are invisible. That’s the mantra behind HR, Inc., an elite "placement agency" that doubles as a network of assassins-for-hire, taking down high-profile executives who wouldn't be able to remember an intern’s name if their lives depended on it.

At the ripe old age of twenty-five, John Lago is already New York City’s most successful hit man. He’s also an intern at a prestigious Manhattan law firm, clocking eighty hours a week getting coffee, answering phones, and doing all the grunt work no one else wants to do. But he isn't trying to claw his way to the top of the corporate food chain. He was hired to assassinate one of the firm’s heavily guarded partners. His internship is the perfect cover, enabling him to gather intel and gain access in order to pull off a clean, untraceable hit.

The Intern’s Handbook is John Lago's unofficial survival guide for new recruits at HR, Inc. (Rule #4: "Learn how to make the perfect cup of coffee: you make an exec the best coffee he’s ever had, and he will make sure you’re at his desk every morning for a repeat performance. That’s repetitive exposure, which begets access and trust. 44% of my kills came from my superior coffee-making abilities.")

Part confessional, part how-to, the handbook chronicles John’s final assignment, a twisted thrill ride in which he is pitted against the toughest—and sexiest—adversary he’s ever faced: Alice, an FBI agent assigned to take down the same law partner he’s been assigned to kill.

The White Magic Five and Dime by Steve Hockensmith

Synopsis: Much to Alanis McLachlan's surprise, her estranged con-woman mother has left her an inheritance: The White Magic Five & Dime, a shop in tiny Berdache, Arizona. Reluctantly traveling to Berdache to claim her new property, Alanis decides to stay and pick up her mother's tarot business in an attempt to find out how she died.

With help from a hunky cop and her mother's live-in teenage apprentice, Alanis begins faking her way through tarot readings in order to win the confidence of her mother's clients. But the more she uses the tarot deck, the more Alanis begins to find real meaning in the cards ... and the secrets surrounding her mother's demise.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Synopsis: At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State — and she would do it alone.

Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wildpowerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh

Synopsis: This is a book I wrote. Because I wrote it, I had to figure out what to put on the back cover to explain what it is. I tried to write a long, third-person summary that would imply how great the book is and also sound vaguely authoritative--like maybe someone who isn’t me wrote it--but I soon discovered that I’m not sneaky enough to pull it off convincingly. So I decided to just make a list of things that are in the book:

Pictures
Words
Stories about things that happened to me
Stories about things that happened to other people because of me
Eight billion dollars*
Stories about dogs
The secret to eternal happiness*

*These are lies. Perhaps I have underestimated my sneakiness!

_______________________

So, there you have it. Now go read these books. Now.

-Gabe

In Which My Husband Has Written a Novel

The book above is very near and dear to my heart, but you won't find me writing a review of it. Reckless Magus, the first of many adventures of Abraxus Spellchaser, was published in 2013 by my husband, Donald Schlaich. I don't think that I could give a fair review because of my relationship to the author, but I did want to brag and promote his book like a good book blogger wife. 

Here's the synopsis from Amazon:

Abraxas Spellchaser has been a student of magic under his father since his eleventh birthday. Since he began that training, over a decade has passed, and Abraxas, known as Abe to his family and friends, thinks he's ready to take the final test and prove himself to both his father and the magical community that he deserves the title of "Magician," the most skilled of all of those who possess the gift of magic. His father gave him a simple test, walk between the worlds using his magic and return to their home in the Endless City. It's a magic Abe's known and practiced for almost five years. It should be simple. Right up to the point where Abe attempts to open the door between worlds and is knocked out from a strange backlash as he attempts to use his magic. From there, he is drawn into a web of intrigue and a game centuries old as he tries to figure out what is going on and how he can get home.

I honestly feel that it's a pretty decent book, but I could be biased. He would really appreciate any and all reviews, good or bad, so if anyone is interested in reviewing the book, let him or I know. The book is available in both print and electronic formats. You can contact him at don.schlaich@gmail.com and, of course, you can always e-mail me at gabrielreads@gmail.com.  

Don is currently hard at work editing the second novel in this series and will be doing an author interview on this blog next week, Thursday. 

A review of Katherine McIntyre's Snatched will be up tomorrow at 8 am. 

-Gabe

"No One Gets the Cupcake": A Review of Jay Martel's Channel Blue

Title: Channel Blue
Author: Jay Martel
Edition: Head of Zeus, Ltd. (Paperback, 2014)
Pages: 374
How I Came By This Book: Sadly, I no longer work in a library, but I still spend inordinate amounts of time in them. This book was found on the New Fiction shelf at my town library.

About the Author: I'm an executive producer and writer for "Key & Peele," a sketch show on Comedy Central. I've created various TV shows, written screenplays, gardened for Richard Nixon, and was once arrested for confronting Jeb Bush about Florida's death penalty program. I've also written comic pieces for "The New Yorker" and "Rolling Stone." Channel Blue is my first novel. For more info on Channel Blue and my writing, please check outfacebook.com/authorjaymartel. (from GoodReads)

Synopsis: Earth used to be Galaxy Entertainment's most lucrative show. The inhabitants of the Western Galaxy--the savviest, richest demographic in the Milky Way--just couldn't get enough of the day-to-day details of the average Earthling's life.

But now Channel Blue's ratings are flagging, and its producers are planning a spectacular finale. In just three weeks, their TV show will go out with a bang. The trouble is, so will Earth.

Only one man can save our planet from total destruction. And he's hardly a hero...

Review: Perry Bunt is a has-been screenwriter teaching screenwriting at a community college. He's broke, single, and bored, with only masturbation and the sight of his lovely student, Amanda Mundo, to break the monotony of everyday life. What he doesn't know is that he's about to become the most important person in the galaxy. Channel Blue is the story of an everyman thrust into an impossible position: he's the only sane person on Earth who knows that mankind is going to destroy itself in three weeks for the personal entertainment of trillions of viewers, which makes him the only one who can stop it from happening.

Unbeknownst to the 7 billion people on this planet, we're being watched. A lot. Our whole planet is Channel Blue, a conglomeration of thousands of television stations devoted to broadcasting the daily successes and foibles of humankind. Tuning in every second of the day is the rest of the galaxy, including the Edenites, an advanced form of human that has come to see entertainment as its highest priority. They delight in watching the "Earthles" fight wars, get gravely injured, or just all-around fail at life. And all of this has been happening without our knowledged. In fact, up until Perry Bunt stumbles into the wrong room in Galaxy Entertainment in an attempt to return Amanda Mundo's jacket to her, the only Earthle who knew about Channel Blue was a homeless man named Ralph, who hangs outside a convenience store. Unfortunately, for Perry, this one error in judgment will embroil him in a battle to save the world.

With ratings dropping, Galaxy Entertainment has decided to cut its losses and let Channel Blue go. In order to go out with a bang, the producers of Channel Blue put a series of events into motion--earthquakes, violence, a foiled airplane crash--that will eventually set off a spark in the Middle East, leading to all-out nuclear annihilation. When Perry discovers that this is the case, he sets out to save the planet by showing the galactic viewers that Earth isn't beyond saving. He becomes determined to prove that Earth isn't all violence and mindless stupidity, but his fellow Earthles don't make it easy for him. Every time he tries to do something nice, it backfires on him: he gets beat up; he inadvertently starts a religion; he gets locked up in a secret government facility and waterboarded.

As he and Amanda Mundo trip through these events together, their gaffes become a number one hit TV show: Bunt to the Rescue. The more popular the show gets, the crazier life gets for Perry, as the producers at Channel Blue up the stakes in order to up their ratings. In the middle of all of this chaos, Perry discovers a deep, dark secret that changes his view of the world forever. What will happen in the end? Will the Earth be saved? And will Perry survive to complete his mission?

Channel Blue is a hilarious comedy of errors in which the errors are not just Perry's--they're also our own. Martel satirizes humanity twice--we are both the watched and the watchers. He pokes fun at religion, politics, terrorism, nationalism. He takes swing after swing at our entertainment-obsessed, violent, and self-centered society. It's such a masterful piece of satire, with layer upon layer of scathing criticism veiled with non-stop laughter. The dual-criticism technique was new to me and it was extremely refreshing. In fact, it didn't quite click in my head that Martel is portraying us as the Earthles AND the Edenites until I sat down to write this review.

The plot is a bit twisty-turny, jerking the reader in a new direction every time it seems he or she has the novel figured out. It kept me guessing straight up to the end of the book, although occasionally I felt like I had whiplash from some of the more drastic plot twists. Martel doesn't make life easy for his poor protagonist, nor does he make it clear to the reader where things are headed. I definitely did not see the book going where it did when I started reading it, which is great. It's very rare that a book surprises me like that.

The characters are caught up in a whirlwind, which means that their development is very plot driven. Perry and Amanda are obviously the two main characters and therefore are the most developed. But there are several other characters to look out for, including Nick Pythagorus, Amanda's nine-year-old boss, and Noah Overton, Perry's bewildered neighbor, who only wants to make the world a better place. There's even a special guest star. I'll give you a hint: "Thank you. Thank you very much."

I really liked this book a lot. I would definitely recommend it if you're a fan of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or social satire in general. I'm giving Channel Blue 4 out of 5 Gabriels.

-Gabe

In Which I Have a Backlog of Books to Read

I'm a collector of books. A connoisseur, as well. But mostly just a collector. I grab books from bookstores, book sales, libraries...basically wherever I can find them. And then they sit around while I read other books that I've found. If my books were children, CPS would have come after me for neglect a long time ago.

Which is why I'm making a promise. I will acquire exactly zero new books until I have read the following:

-The 20(!) books that I recently bought at a library sale
-You by Charles Benoit
-No Impact Man by Colin Beavan
-The Iron Heel by Jack London
-In the Country of Last Things by Paul Auster
-We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
-The Occupy Handbook edited by Janet Byrne
-They Eat Puppies, Don't They? by Christopher Buckley
-The Natural Navigator: A Watchful Explorer's Guide to a Nearly Forgotten Skill by Tristan Gooley
-Rich, Free, and Miserable: The Failure of Success in America by John Brueggemann

Plus I have several e-books that I need to read and review for authors who are patiently awaiting said review.

This moratorium on acquiring new books does not extend to books that people send me for review, so feel free to contact me if you're interested in having me read something. You can find my review policy here.

-Gabe

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a prompt and ask book bloggers to answer that prompt in the form of a top ten list.

This week's prompt is something very near and dear to my heart: Top Ten Favorite Kick-Ass Heroines

Growing up, books were my refuge. I would devour pretty much any book that I came across. It didn't matter what or who the book was about. If it had pages with words on it, it would probably find its way into my hands somehow.

As I got older and became more of a feminist, I became more critical of novels in terms of their portrayal of women. While, as a kid, I didn't pay attention too much to whether or not the female characters were weak or not, today it makes me want to scream every time I read a book with a Catherine or a Bella who can't stand on her own two feet without some man there to hold her up. I want to read books with female characters who are feisty and independent and self-sufficient. I want any daughters I might have to grow up seeing women take care of themselves rather than being constantly saved by some cardboard cutout of what an attractive man is supposed to be.

As always, I'm going to do this prompt a little differently. Along with five heroines that I think are awesomely kick-ass, I'll be listing five heroines that I cannot stand due to their needy, selfish, or oh-so-obnoxious nature.

Without further ado, I present to you my picks for the five best Kick-Ass Heroines in literature and five Heroines that Need to Be Smacked Upside the Head.

Top Five Favorite Kick-Ass Heroines

1) Valkyrie Cain (a.k.a. Stephanie Edgley) from Skulduggery Pleasant: I really can't get through a Top Ten Tuesday list without mentioning these books. Valkyrie is a smart-ass, sarcastic, independent, stubborn girl who can wield magic alongside some of the greatest mages of the day. Trained by the one-and-only Skulduggery Pleasant, Valkyrie stands against evil without needing to lean on a man for help. Sure, she's got a boyfriend but it's not hard to see that she wears the pants in the relationship.

2) Hermione Granger from Harry Potter: Hermione shows young girls that being smart is awesome. The most intelligent young witch of her age, Hermione knows all of the spells that keep Harry and Ron safe. She's the brains of the operation as well as the kind of girl that other people look to for help. That whole Ron and Hermione emo thing during the last couple of books kind of annoyed me, but she's still a strong role model.

3) Meg Murray from A Wrinkle in Time: Okay, this one's a bit dubious. Meg is very self-conscious and critical of herself. She's also very dependent on her brother, Charles Wallace, and their new-found friend Calvin for the entirety of this book. But she's loyal and loving and fiercely defends her family. In the end it is she who saves the day, showing that people can change and that love is a powerful deterrent to hate. She's a sympathetic character that I grew up identifying with and I think that I found strength in the strength that she discovers.

4) Lady Julia Grey from Silent in the Grave: The protagonist of Deanna Raybourn's addictive Lady Julia novels, this budding detective is far ahead of her time. Although she lives in the stifling Victorian Era, Lady Julia holds her own and doesn't let society hold her down...much. She manages to juggle propriety with her own brand of girl power and I love it.

5) Liesel Meminger from The Book Thief: Liesel is a smart, compassionate young girl living in Germany during World War II. Her story of struggle and survival is beautiful and haunting. I love how she manages to rise above the hatred and horrors that surround her.

Top Five Heroines that Need to Be Smacked Upside the Head

1) Bella Swan from Twilight: Oh, yeah. You knew she was going to make this list. This whiny, needy, dependent, sorry excuse for a heroine drives me up the wall. "Oh, you're going to stalk me? How sexy is that. God, Edward you're so beautiful and the sun shines out your ass." "Oh no! My boyfriend left me. I'm going to go kill myself now." "No one likes me. Well, except for every boy in the school. Le sigh. Life is so hard." "How can I possibly choose between the two of you? Let's see, which sounds more appealing? Necrophilia or bestiality?" She literally cannot do anything for herself. Although, maybe that's because Edward is an abusive, over-bearing boyfriend?

2) Edna Pontellier from The Awakening: The absolute definition of a selfish woman, this pseudo-feminist novel follows the life of an obnoxious woman who complains about just about everything and sleeps with, like, everyone because she thinks that will help her find herself. I am totally all for women exploring their sexuality. Don't get me wrong. My problem is that conflating sex with feminism is ridiculous and insulting. To make it even worse, Edna makes it seem like feminism is about being a bad mother and a horrible wife, which is even more ridiculous and insulting. Hate. Hate. Hate.

3) Juliet from Romeo and Juliet: This girl is, what, 16? Maybe? And she's found one guy she likes out of the, I don't know, hundreds of others that she could possibly meet and they have to be together forever and if not she's going to die? Basically Juliet teaches that boys are the only thing worth living for. Yeah, that's a great lesson for young women. *holds up sarcasm sign*

4) Catherine Earnshaw from Wuthering Heights: Bratty. Dithering. Obnoxious. Selfish. Oh, and completely rude to pretty much everyone. Also, she tortures Heathcliff and is basically responsible for his being a drunk wife beater. Awesome. Not.

5) Estella from Great Expectations: This is one of my favorite novels, but Estella is such a jerk that she needs to make this list. I can't even describe how horrible she is to Pip (and pretty much everyone else). She's selfish and rude and thinks that toying with people's affections is fun. Not exactly who I'd want to date, but whatever floats your boat, Pip.

-Gabe

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a prompt and ask book bloggers to answer that prompt in the form of a top ten list.

This week's prompt is: Top Ten Books to Get in the Halloween Spirit

I answered a very similar prompt last year called Top Ten Books to Read During Halloween. I haven't read anything since then because, frankly, I don't know enough about horror and have never gotten into the genre.

This week, I'm doing things a little differently. I'm letting you, dear reader, create my Top Ten List for me. In addition to any book recommendations that are left in the comments, I'll be looking through your Top Ten Lists to construct a list of Top Ten Horror Novels Gabe Should Read Before Next Halloween.

Check back here later in the day to see what books I've chosen. And don't forget to leave your favorite horror novel suggestions in the comments!

-Gabe

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they post a prompt and ask book bloggers to answer that prompt in the form of a top ten list.

This week's prompt is: Top Ten Favorite Authors in X Genre

This prompt is a bit hard for me to answer because my reading tastes are so eclectic that I don't read too much of a single genre often enough and unless I REALLY like someone's writing style, I don't read everything an author has written. In an attempt to answer this, I offer my list of ten authors that have written fantasy novels that I could read over and over again.

1) Terry Pratchett, Discworld; Good Omens

2) Neil Gaiman, American Gods; Good Omens; Neverwhere, etc.

3) Clive Barker, Imajica; Weaveworld

4) Derek Landy, Skulduggery Pleasant

5) J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter

6) Michael Ende, The Never-ending Story

7) Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, etc.

8) C. S. Lewis, The Space Trilogy, The Screwtape Letters

9) Brian Jacques, Redwall

10) Okay, so there is no ten. I obviously need to read more fantasy. There. I said it.

-Gabe

I Read Banned Books. Do You?

Banned Books Week ended yesterday but as I haven't finished A Prayer for Owen Meany yet, I decided that in place of a review today, I was going to make a list of banned books that I've read, whether or not I liked them. I've seen a lot of people this week say things like, "I don't know which books are banned," which begs the question of why the hell they're writing about banned books if they have no idea what they're talking about.

So for all of you out there who didn't take the time to look at the lists on the ALA's Banned Book Week website, here are just the books that I've personally read.

In no particular order:

-The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
-To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
-The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
-1984 by George Orwell
-Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
-Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
-Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
-Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
-Animal Farm by George Orwell
-Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
-One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
-Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
-A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
-The Awakening by Kate Chopin
-Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
-A Separate Peace by John Knowles
-Scary Stories by Alan Schwartz
-The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
-The Giver by Lois Lowry
-Goosebumps by R. L. Stine
-A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
-Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
-The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
-Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
-James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
-A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
-Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
-The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
-The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
-Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford
-And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
-Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
-Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez
-Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
-The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
-Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
-Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

And there are probably a ton more that I've read that are challenged and banned less often. If you take a look at these statistics from the ALA you'll see that there are an outrageous amount of challenges, mostly by easily-offended parents who don't seem to realize that you can keep your own child from reading something without keeping the entire class from doing so.

Look at that list. Really, really look at it. Can you honestly tell me that these books are dangerous? Can you look me in the face and say that these books shouldn't be read? I don't want your religious excuses or your complaints about mature language. I'm talking about the fact that these are, for the most part, well-written and engaging books that teach lessons, open minds, and bring enjoyment to people. If you want to keep them out of the hands of your own family members, I can't stop you. But I will reiterate what I've been saying all week. You. Will. Not. Stop. Others. Stop trying to control everyone else and worry about your own kids, the ones who will become adults without ever having read some of the greatest novels ever written, who will miss out on the growth and maturity that comes with reading good literature. Leave other families out of your own issues.

I READ BANNED BOOKS. DO YOU?

-Gabe

Banned Books Week Reading List

It's that time of year again: Banned Books Week. While I sincerely hope that all and sundry are reading banned books throughout the year, I fully support a full week highlighting what is one of the most odious things one could ever do to a book--deny people the right to read it.

I'll be taking the time this week to post about the topic so you'll have plenty of opportunities to hear me rant about it, but I wanted to share my reading list for Banned Books Week. I'm suspending my other reading activities from now until the 6th so that I can read and review the following books this week:

-Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
-A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
-Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson by Louise Rennison

If I have time for anymore I'll probably just pick one or two of the ones off of my shelf at home.

Hope that you all have an enjoyable Banned Books Week!

Bill Moyers on Banned Book Week

Today's post is going to be short and simple. With Banned Book Week coming up next week I wanted to share this video that I found of Bill Moyers discussing the topic of banned books. It's a short video, but it says a lot in less than four minutes.

Take a look at the video and have a great Banned Book Week next week.

-Gabe

Top Ten Tuesday

Getting back to blogging again means getting back to doing Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish.

Every week TB&TB posts a different prompt and asks bloggers to make a top ten list of their answers to that prompt. This week's prompt is: Top Ten Series I Haven't Finished.

Here, in no particular order, is my list:

1) The Dante Valentine series by Lillith Saintcrow: I've read the first two books in this five book urban fantasy series, but I haven't yet read the other three (even though I own them). I attempted a reread of the ones I have read shortly before I stopped blogging last year but didn't get even halfway through the first one due to burnout. I still plan to read them. Someday.

2) Dune by Frank Herbert: I loved the first book in this series and own all six of them. I just haven't gotten around to reading the rest of them. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I've heard people say that the first one is the best, the second one is okay, and the rest of them just go downhill from there. I've heard others say that the whole series is fantastic so part of me is looking forward to them but the rest of me is wondering if it would be worth it.

3) The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien: I've read Fellowship but that's about it. I know, crazy, right? I've seen all three films but I know that that doesn't count. Again, I own them all, I just haven't sat down and read them. That's going to change soon, hopefully. I'm currently reading The Hobbit and will be attempting to read the Rings trilogy after that (maybe one per month?).

4) Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery: Own them all. Only read the first one. My gods, I'm sensing a pattern here.

5, 6, & 7) Baby-Sitter's Club by Ann M. Martin, Goosebumps by R.L. Stein, & Fear Street by R.L. Stein: There were just too many books in these series for me to read all of them before I eventually grew out of them.

8) Discworld by Terry Pratchett: I'm so close to having read all of the ones that are out but I want to savor them like a fine wine because I know that there probably aren't very many more left.

9) Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy: You all know that I have an obsession with this series but it's inconvenient and expensive to have them shipped over from the UK so I'm behind on them. I haven't read books six or seven although I managed to get my significant other into them so we'll hopefully be getting them as soon as we have some extra cash to spare. Now if the US would just get its frakking act together and start selling the rest of the series here I could read them in a timely fashion.

10) Twilight by Stephanie Meyer: Read the first one. Hated it with a passion. Will forever refuse to read the rest of these "books."

-Gabe

Books Can Take You Anywhere

I found this picture on Imgur yesterday and knew it deserved a spot on this blog.

If anyone knows the source I'd love to be able to link to it.

Also, did that signpost remind anyone else of this signpost?:

-Gabe

In Which I've Joined a New Book Site

The other day I received an e-mail from a new website called Custom Reads that was interested in having me join in order to recommend books to users. The basic gist of the site is that people choose different genres of books that they like to read and they get book recommendations from other readers who have read and liked them. It's in beta at the moment and the choices on genres and books are limited to what people have recommended but the great thing is that as more people join and recommend, the more choices there will be.

I'm going to spend some time in the next few weeks doing some recommending of books that I've read this year and really liked and I'm hoping to find some books from other recommenders on the site that I can read next year.

-Gabe

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Book Challenge 2012

2012 is almost upon us and that means a new year of reading challenges. Considering I've been pretty lax on completing the ones that I had signed up for this year, I was trying to be a good boy and not join as many next year. And then I saw this challenge on Sarah Says Read.

Hosted by Hanna at Booking in Heels, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Book Challenge is a year-long challenge that asks participants to read the books that each of the main characters in this film came from. Some I've already read and some I haven't, but I love a good reread so I don't mind.

I'm adding my own twist to the challenge and reading the original graphic novel by Alan Moore that the movie is (loosely) based on. I haven't read many (read: any) graphic novels other than Maus and I'd like to start.

I'll also be reviewing the film once I've finished all of the books. Here's what the challenge requires me to read:

1) King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard (Allan Quartermaine)
2) Dracula by Bram Stoker (Mina Harker) [reread]
3) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (Captain Nemo)
4) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (Tom Sawyer) [reread]
5) The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (Dorian Gray) [1/2 reread--I couldn't finish it the first time I read it.]
6) The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) [reread]
7) The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells (Rodney Skinner) [sort of]*
8) The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (The Phantom) [reread]
9) The Final Problem by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (James Moriarty) 

And with my one addition:

10) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore

I'm more than a little excited about this challenge, which begins on January 1, 2012. If you're interested in signing up, head over to Booking in Heels!

-Gabe

*See Hanna's post for the reason for the "sort of."

Francophone Friday 2

All this month, I'm participating in Paris in July, which means that I'll be reviewing some French novels, introducing you to French music, and just generally talking about all things French. Of course, this is a book blog first and foremost, so I wanted to make sure that my blog didn't get overwhelmed by French culture at the detriment of everything else. So, I'm implementing Francophone Fridays. It's the one day a week where I can let loose and ramble on and on about France (or in French). This is the day that you'll see links to French music, reviews of French films, information on culture in France, photos of French monuments, etc. The rest of the week will be devoid of anything Francophone. I think this keeps everything nice and tidy and keeps me from becoming an absolute bore.


Here's what I've been doing so far for Paris in July:
-Books:
Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

-Music:
"Allo Paris" by Mano Solo
"Diane de Poitiers" by Thomas Fersen


-Film:
Le Dîner de Cons


Look for more posts later today.


-Gabe

July Reading List!

I have two more books to write reviews for this week--A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak--but I had to work unexpectedly yesterday and was too tired to write anything. I'm also not as far into Tess of the D'Urbervilles as I had planned to be, so I'm going to stretch out the remaining reviews a little.

Today, I'll be posting my reading list for July instead. Anything that doesn't get finished this month will go onto next month's list, but here are the titles that I'm planning to read in addition:

Paris in July Picks
-Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
-The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
-Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (in French)
-Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan (in French)

Books I Should Have Read By Now Picks
-The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
-Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Books to Movies Pick
-Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

Misc. Picks
-Bossypants by Tina Fey
-Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind by Graham Hancock
-Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
-Twice a Spy by Keith Thomson
-Perelandra by C.S. Lewis
-Dune by Frank Herbert (part of a six month personal challenge)

-Gabe

Les Romans en Français! (Novels in French!)

I've been thinking more lately about what I'm going to be doing for Paris in July and have decided that I'll be reading four books by French authors--two in French, two in English.

*En Français
-Le Petit Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)
-Bonjour Tristesse (Françoise Sagan)

*In English
-The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux) 
-Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)

There are three reasons why I'm choosing only four books:

1) Two of them are in French and will, therefore, take a while to read even though they're both pretty short. I've never attempted to read a full book in French before, so it'll be a new experience for me.

2) Les Miserables is huge! I've read an abridged version of it, but I've never tackled the entire thing. I figure this is my chance to do so, but I want to give myself ample time to read it.

3) I have so many other challenges and things that I have to read for that I don't want to overwhelm myself with books for just one of them. Besides, I'm going to be reviewing films and music, as well as teaching you all some French, too.

I'm really looking forward to this, especially reading Le Petit Prince in French. I'm thinking of rewatching and reviewing the film The Little Prince as well, but we'll see.

For those of you who are participating in Paris in July, I can't wait to see what the rest of you do!

-Gabe

Three More Cups of Trouble for Mortenson

Greg Mortenson shows just how many
big lies he's told in just the last few minutes. 

A few months ago I posted this about Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea. It was an article about a "60 Minutes" interview in which Mortenson was being accused of pulling a James Frey and lying through his pearly white teeth. Now, I have no problem with Mortenson getting some slack about not being entirely truthful, but I found this article that states the charge being brought against him in a Chicago court. Mortenson is being charged with "captur[ing] the hearts and minds of Plaintiff and book lovers nationwide, duping them into buying Three Cups of Tea."

I'm with the author of the article--this seems to be a really ridiculous charge. In fact, I find the idea of a lawsuit against him because of this book to be stupid. Yes, he should face consequences for his actions, but, if we're going to start suing authors who don't tell the truth, then no author is safe. Even the most honest of memorists and auto-biographers stretch the truth. Obviously not all of them bring mountain villages and philanthropy into the mix, but everyone tells little white lies in their life story. The focus of this case should be the damage he has done to the Afghani people, not the lies he told to the American public.

We are so fracking sue-happy in this country that it's absolutely ridiculous. The fact that Mortenson is now the defendant in a personal injury lawsuit when there was no real personal injury committed makes me think that the prosecuting attorney should be ashamed. Readers aren't emotionally or physically scarred because someone lied to them in a book. There are far more important issues at stake here and this is just a money grab by some pathetic, greedy people who are simply trying to get in on the current "hot topic."

-Gabe

The Magic Book Bus

Hello, all!

Occasionally when I have nothing to write I dig around on the internet to find book related news. I found this article last night. A woman from Florida has a VW bus named Bess that she drives around, bringing free books to kids in need. Having done observation hours in Rochester city schools, I've seen the hardships that many students face when they are living in poverty. While there are many issues facing children from poor families--lack of health care, inadequate nutrition, poorly funded schools--this one appeals to me especially, not because I don't think the others are important, but because I know from experience that this is one area in a child's life that often gets overlooked.

It's imperative that children are fed and clothed, but books offer new experiences, new horizons, and a chance to improve literacy. A lack of an education is a major factor in the perpetuation of poverty, especially in urban families. While, sadly, we as individuals with no political power may not be able to do much about the discriminatory policies that provide inadequate funding to urban schools or about the institutional racism that permeates our society, we can help children to get a better education. This woman, although I'm not sure what her Ethan Allen couch has to do with any of this, has found a way to do so and I applaud her efforts.

If you're interested in finding out more (or even donating), you can visit the Bess the Book Bus website.

-Gabe

The "Books I Should Have Read By Now" June Link-Up

It's June, which means the "Books I Should Have Read By Now" Challenge has officially begun. Each month I'll be posting a link-up like this so that participants can post links to their reviews. I'm still trying to figure out what the prize is going to be for this challenge, but, as they say, you have to be in it to win it. You can sign up at any point during the challenge, so if you're interested, click the link above and post a link to your participation post.