Winter's Bone

This title sounds fitting this week! I just started this book this morning, so I'm only about half way through, but really only wanted to put it down so I could tell others to read it!
This has been made in to a movie, which I haven't seen, and after reading what I have read so far, I can't imagine it could match the quality of the novel. This is very well written. I was hooked from the very first paragraph, which you can read, along with the first 2.5 chapters on Amazon for free. The descriptions are awesome, with some "one-liners" (if you will) that just say it all.
The story line is interesting and suspenseful. I don't want to give too much away because I think the author's way of moving the plot is a big part of why I'm hooked. It takes place in a poverty stricken area of the Ozarks. The main character is a 16 year old girl whose mom is mentally ill, father cooks meth, and has two younger brothers to look after. She is looking for her father who is out on bond and has disappeared ...and that's all I'm giving away!
I highly recommend this one. Now, I'm going to go finish it, I'll post again to let you know if I still like it after I'm finished.
Did I mention I really like the writing?

Brandon, I know you don't prefer female narrators, however, this girl has bigger balls than most of the guys we hang out with...I'm just sayin'...

Emily

Essays: Because who has time for a whole novel right now anyway?

Well hello there, fellow book-sharers. Schmei here. (It's pronounced like "pie", which, incidentally, is something I like to eat.) Most of you know who I am in real life, but I have this delusion about trying to remain somewhat anonymous on the interwebs, so humor me. 

Because I, in turn, will humor you, with my best book recommendation of late. 

Over Christmas, my librarian brother-in-law, Jon, gave me a book I'd never heard of. This is always a Good Sign. Jon is a master of the well-selected book, and I'm always excited when it's a complete unknown to me. 

As I hoped, he hit this one out of the park. So I'm sharing it with you, and I hope you'll have a chance to read it soon, so I can talk about it with someone other than my long-suffering husband who hasn't had time to pick it up yet. 

The book is  The Fiddler in the Subway by Gene Weingarten. 

I should note that I greatly enjoy journalistic writing, and for a brief time in a past life I considered becoming a features writer, so there's a part of me that essentially wants to be Gene Weingarten, without the facial hair. And damn, people, the man can write like I've never seen before. These essays made me laugh out loud and cry... more quietly, only because I didn't want to startle people around me. The essays about his father managed to do both at once, perfectly. The final essay - and the title piece - made me think about life. 

I mean Think. About Life. 

(Though I have to throw out that DC is a crazier town than Chicago. Things would have been different here, I just know it. I'll leave it at that.) 

Oh, and don't skip over the introduction. Weingarten gives some insight into his way of looking at life, and you can see how that informs his writing. It also offers some of the best writing advice I've seen since Stephen King's On Writing. Which is saying plenty. 

I feel that I should also note this: the essay entitled Fatal Distraction - Weingarten won a Pulitzer prize for it - is extremely difficult to read. I had heard about this essay from a few folks who read it when it was originally published because the subject matter is troubling. Weingarten gives a warning before the piece, and if you have a small child in your life, or, hell, if you're human, you may have some difficulty getting through it. 

But you should try. Because he manages to find some redemption there, in a painfully arbitrary, irredeemable situation.

And then he follows that up with a funny essay, because he knows what he just did to you. He's a man who respects his readers, that's what he is.  

So please, go check out this book, and read the whole thing, and when you've finished, and then after you re-read a few of the essays three times (that's not just me, right?) - let me know what you think of it. 

New Format... finally

So, as you all have seen... production and participation around here has ground to a damn-near halt. The reason: primarily school and the holidays. Most members on here are either in school or work in a shcool. So, with the increase in work and workload... a decrease in recreational reading time. So, here's my idea: traditional round robin book club format May through October; and November through April, it'll be a forum for reading. You read something good? Post on here, tell everyone about it, let them know if it's any good. We can still discuss the books in the comments, it'll just be more freeform so people can participate as they're able.

To post on here, it's simple. Just write your post (including any html to have pictures etc... for a quick primer: click here ) in an email, and send it to this address: Webb.brandon.twofold@blogger.com . Whatever you write will be posted as a new post, with the subject line being the post title. Thoughts on the new set up?

Procede with caution...

For those of you who don't know, they are currently in pre-production of a 'Hunger Games' movie. No one has been cast yet (that I'm aware of), and the set release is sometime in 2013. Stumbled across this fan movie though.. and wow, this book could make an awesome movie.. if done right. Fair warning on the vid: it is violent.. and is the scene of Rue's death.. so if you're the crying type (it got a little dusty for me watching it...), don't watch at work.

Productivity is at an all time low.

Emily's picking the next book. It'll be up soon. Watch for structural changes to our little corner of the interwebs, coming soon. I'm gonna make it more interactive, with more updates.

New book. better late than never.

Sorry for the delay.. my screen is broken, and I've been slightly busy.

New book:


World War Z by Max Brooks

Synopsis:
Brooks, the author of the determinedly straight-faced parody The Zombie Survival Guide (2003), returns in all seriousness to the zombie theme for his second outing, a future history in the style of Theodore Judson's Fitzpatrick's War. Brooks tells the story of the world's desperate battle against the zombie threat with a series of first-person accounts "as told to the author" by various characters around the world. A Chinese doctor encounters one of the earliest zombie cases at a time when the Chinese government is ruthlessly suppressing any information about the outbreak that will soon spread across the globe. The tale then follows the outbreak via testimony of smugglers, intelligence officials, military personnel and many others who struggle to defeat the zombie menace. Despite its implausible premise and choppy delivery, the novel is surprisingly hard to put down. The subtle, and not so subtle, jabs at various contemporary politicians and policies are an added bonus.


I'll give some of you a second to get the eye-rolling out of your system.

Done? Feel better? This book is really good. I promise. It's about the emotion, and survival instinct that this kind of event would have, not just the horror, and scare factor of traditional zombie fare.

Plus, Halloween is coming up. Zombies are fitting.

This book wants to fight you.

Laurie (Drama Mama) picks the new book:




American Shaolin by Matthew Polly.t

Synopsis:
The raucously funny story of one young American’s quest to become the baddest dude on the planet (and possibly find inner peace along the way) Growing up a ninety-eight-pound weakling tormented by bullies in the schoolyards of Kansas, Matthew Polly dreamed of one day journeying to the Shaolin Temple in China to become the toughest fighter in the world, like Caine in his favorite 1970s TV series Kung Fu. American Shaolin is the story of the two years Matthew spent in China living, studying, and performing with the Shaolin monks. The Chinese term for tough training is chi ku (“eating bitter”), and Matthew quickly learned to appreciate the phrase. This is both the gripping story of Matthew’s journey and an intimate portrait of the real lives of the Shaolin monks, who struggle to overcome rampant corruption and the restrictions of an authoritarian government. Laced with humor and illuminated by cultural insight, American Shaolin is an unforgettable coming-of- age story of one man’s journey into the ancient art of kungfu—and a poignant portrait of a rapidly changing China.

Her reason for the choice:

I have always been fascinated by what others can do with their bodies, what they can do TO their bodies, and so as a result I have always enjoyed anything kung-fu related. I found this book and when I realized it was the story of an American self-professed weakling who went to China in search of the infamous Shaolin Temple to request training, I was intrigued. Matthew Polly's writing is witty, engaging, and easygoing. The story could have been very dry and technical, but it feels like you are sitting around a corner table at a college bar and listening to your buddy tell a story. Not only did I learn a lot about Chinese culture, but I have a new found respect for all things Shaolin. This book had me snickering unattractively to myself, reading parts aloud to ambushed family members, and inspired me to do some self-inventory of my own. I hope you all like it!