Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
  • Grab your current read.
  • Open to a random page.
  • Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Make sure what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!
  • Share the title and author too, so that other participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!
Here we go:

"There were only two occasions of release which were not punishment. Release of the elderly, which was a time of celebration for a life well and fully lived; and release of a newchild, which always brought a sense of what-could-we-have-done."

From The Giver by Lois Lowry

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by A Striped Armchair and Out of the Blue that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

For Me:
Inkheart / Cornelia Funke
I, Robot / Isaac Asimov
The Bar Code Tattoo / Suzanne Weyn
Tarzan of the Apes / Edgar Rice Burroughs
Fool / Christopher Moore
Fahrenheit 451 / Ray Bradbury

For the Kid:
Tiger / Valmik Thapar
Tigers / Gwenyth Swain
Tigers / Melissa Cole
Tigers / Lesley A. DuTemple
The Tiger / Stuart P. Levine
Foxes / Sophie Lockwood
Baby Fox / Aubrey Lang
Foxes / Mary Ann McDonald
Wolves / Dan Greenberg
The Secret World of Wolves, Wild Dogs, and Foxes / Theresa Greenway
Growing Up with Wild Wolves / Sandra Markle
Coyote / Stephen R. Swinburne
Dog / Juliet Clutton-Brock
Lions / Melissa Cole
Lions / Claire Robinson
Lions / Kathy Darling
Face to Face with Lions / Beverly and Dereck Joubert
Big Book of Race Cars / Trevor Lord
The Mouse and the Motorcycle / Beverly Cleary
Dear Mr. Henshaw / Beverly Cleary
Otis Spofford / Beverly Cleary
Sideways Stories from Wayside School / Louis Sachar
How Santa Got His Job / Stephen Krensky
Geronimo Stilton: The Curse of the Cheese Pyramid
Geronimo Stilton: Wedding Crasher
Geronimo Stilton: It's Halloween, You 'Fraidy Mouse
Geronimo Stilton: My Name is Stilton, Geronimo Stilton
Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds) / Dav Pilkey
Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants / Dav Pilkey
El Capitan Calzoncillos y la Ridicula Historia de los Seres del Inodoro Morado / Dav Pilkey (I'm thinking he didn't notice it was in Spanish.)

For the Kid but that I intend to read:
Help! I'm a Prisoner in the Library / Eth Clifford

As I'm sure you can tell, our library bag was a bit heavy this evening.

Currently Reading: The Giver / Lois Lowry

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Review: Heavier Than Heaven (Charles R. Cross)

Amazon.com's review.

"He was the shape of suicide." - Ryan Aigner about Kurt Cobain quoted in Heavier Than Heaven.

Like many people of my generation, Nirvana and Kurt Cobain shaped the way I listened to music and what I listened to. Before I found Nirvana, my musical tastes ranged only as far as New Kids on the Block and Paula Abdul. I don't remember when I first heart them - probably when "Smells Like Teen Spirit" came out - but I remember my musical tastes subsequently being transformed.

I remember watching the vigil held after his death and hearing Courtney speak and cry and wail and read Kurt's suicide note. I remember Rolling Stone published some of the note. It really affected me at the time - as it did many other kids my age. So many teenagers were absolutely devastated by his death. It's a sad story. He really was, or could have been, an amazing man. He was, no doubt, a lyrical genius who inspired many, many people.

This book was an extremely interesting read. The author delves into the psychology behind Cobain's oddities and freakishness - because, let's face it, he was a pretty weird dude, even before he began abusing drugs. The book delves into Cobain's childhood, friendships, girlfriends, but hits the heart of the matter when he meets the Great Train Wreck, Courtney Love. The book shows Courtney's "human" side. We all simply see her as a big hot mess but she really was a driving force behind his life. Many people thought of her as Nirvana's "Yoko Ono" and thought she was the one who started Kurt heavily into drugs, but the truth is, he was using long before he met her. She did her best by him, and their love for one another - and their daughter, Frances Bean - clearly shines through.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

September 2008 Reads

49) Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women (Elizabeth Wurtzel)
50) Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex (Mary Roach)
51) Nightmare on Elm Street: Dreamspawn (Christa Faust)
52) Mercy, Unbound (Kim Antieau)
53) You Can Run But You Can't Hide (Duane "Dog" Chapman)
54) The Devil Wears Prada (Lauren Weisberger)
55) Heavier Than Heaven (Charles R. Cross)

Fall Into Reading 2008 - Update

The Fall Into Reading 2008 Challenge is being hosted by Callapidder Days.

1) Heavier Than Heaven (Charles R. Cross) - finished September 29, 2008. Review to follow.
2) The Tommyknockers (Stephen King) - gave up. I just couldn't get into it and it's too long to waste my time trying work through.
3) The Contortionist's Handbook (Craig Clevenger)
4) The Neverending Story (Michael Ende)
5) The Partly Cloudy Patriot (Sarah Vowell)
6) Twilight (Stephanie Meyer)
7) Take the Cannoli (Sarah Vowell)
8) The Tattooed Girl (Joyce Carol Oates)
9) Assassination Vacation (Sarah Vowell)
10) The Shipping News (E. Annie Proulx)
11) The White Album (Joan Didion)
12) The Corrections (Jonathan Franzen)
13) Life Mask (Emma Donoghue)
14) I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
15) Finding Nouf (Zoe Ferraris)

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Review: You Can Run But You Can't Hide (Duane "Dog" Chapman)

You Can Run But You Can't Hide Cover
Title and author of book: You Can Run But You Can't Hide - Duane "Dog" Chapman
Fiction or non-fiction? Genre? Non-fiction, memoir.

What led you to pick up this book? I love the Dog! Back when I had cable, I watched his show all the time. Plus, I love biographies and memoirs.

Plot summary:Duane Chapman, aka Dog the Bounty Hunter, has had an amazing life. He had a troubled and trying upbringing, which led to an early life of crime, including numerous arrests for armed robbery and a murder conviction. While Dog claims to be innocent of the murder rap, he maintains that the 5 years he served for the crime changed his life. With a newfound respect for the law, Dog vowed to become a force for change and good. This inspired him to pursue a career in bounty hunting. Dog is now the owner of Da Kine Bail Bonds in Honolulu and self-proclaimed Greatest Bounty Hunter in the World. Six thousand-plus captures over the past two decades have earned this highly intense, charismatic ex-con and born-again Christian such a distinction. He is also a devoted father of 12-and some of his older children work with him as bounty hunters, along with his equally charismatic new wife Beth. In YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE, Dog details all this and more, giving his legion of fans all the details they've been waiting for.
What did you like most about the book? I liked reading about how Dog got started bounty hunting. It doesn't seem to be a career one chooses - it's more of a "I just fell into it" kind of thing.

What did you like least? Dog - no surprise - has a bit of an ego and that shows in his words.

Do you recommend this book? If you are a fan of the Dog, by all means, read it. It's a good story. If you're not, you probably won't enjoy it.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Friday Finds - September 26, 2008

Friday Finds is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading.

Here is what I found interesting this week:


Can't remember where I saw it:
Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books (Maureen Corrigan)

*****
From A High and Hidden Place:
Garden Spells (Sarah Addison Allen)

*****
As seen on Bibliolatry:
A Good and Happy Child (Justin Evans)
Hurry Down Sunshine (Michael Greenberg)
Angelhead: My Brother's Descent Into Madness (Greg Bottoms)

*****
As received from Dear Reader:
Service Included (Phoebe Damrosch)

*****
From A Life in Books:
An Absolute Gentleman (R.M. Kinder)

*****
As seen on A Work in Progress:
Beasts (Joyce Carol Oates)

*****
From Tiny Little Reading Room:
Rat Pack Confidential (Shawn Levy)