That’s the Book!

How about a chance to play editor-in-chief? Fill in the blanks:
__________ would have been a better book if ______________.

Thanks John for the suggestion. This is a difficult one, as there is always something I would change with most of the books I’ve read. But some definitely need more work than others. So, after having some time to digest this question here goes my answer:

This is going to need some clarification, without it this statement is very broad so I hope to bring it into perspective. Was by Geoff Ryman is the compilation of three stories, all of which surround one topic. The stories deal with the inspiration of, star of, and an actor who is connected to L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz. After reading the blurb on the back of the book I thought this would be a fantastic novel.

The book could probably be saved if each story was told as independent short stories told one right after the other. However Ryman kept jumping between all three stories making it difficult to follow at times. I understand why he wanted to do this but it fell short and so doing three stories in one volume may have saved this book. The three stories were interesting but I felt like I was missing something when the stories moved from one to the next.

Not that long ago I talked about sites that allow you to add your library online.  Now, a couple days ago, I found another site for keeping track of the books you’ve read.  I joined the site to see what it was all about, and I must say I enjoy the site for a couple of reasons.  I’ve added the site to my sidebar under the My Library heading. 

    The site is Goodreads, a site that allows you to keep track of and add comments about the books you have read or have on your TBR list.  This is just the launching point of this wonderful site.  Adding your books is easy; all you need to do is type the name of the author, ISBN, or book title to find the book.  There are options of where you can find the book as well (right on the Goodreads site or Amazon) and if it’s not on the one you choose it will switch to the other one automatically.  If you have a large library or have read a large number of books adding your books can take some time but it’s not difficult. 

    Once you’ve done that you can find friends on the site.  People you know that are also members of the free site can be found and add each other as friends.  Like facebook certification from the other person is need before you become friends, so you don’t get random people adding you as a friend.  Once you are friends, and even if you aren’t you see what they are reading or have read and their ranking of the book.  It’s just another great way to connect to your bibliophile friends. 

    Finally, the aspect that excited me the most (since GuruLib doesn’t have this option), is the book group option.  If you click on the upper right hand corner of the screen on the groups tab.  Once you selected that you have a plethora of options for groups to join.  There is a vast range of groups to join groups dedicated to; regions, genres, favorite books, book clubs, and many many more.  If you cannot find a group you like you can create your own.

    I really enjoy the Goodreads and needed to share this great site with the reads here.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

After watching the movie, the night before the Oscars, I wanted to read Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis.  I enjoyed the film so much that I couldn’t pass up any opportunity to read the books.  So far I’ve only read the first graphic novel Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and have the second one (Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return) waiting to be read.  The movie encompasses both books. 

    Once the Academy Awards were finished Susan (Naked Without Books) and I made the trek into Seoul and she purchased the Persepolis collection and I got the two Maus I and II.  I guess Susan has enough reading material at her place because she left both Persepolis books with me, or I guess she just figured I would get them read before she would.  They ended up just adding to my TBR pile, which is looking more and more like the leaning tower of Pisa.

    This week I eventually got to Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, not because it was next on my list but because I want to get them back to Susan (these are the only books I have that belong to her).  I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised by what I read and saw.  This is far from the first graphic novel I’ve read this year but it one of the better graphic novels. 

    There are many aspects to the story but the just of the story is Marjane growing up in Iran.  Persepolis gives some background of the country revealing the struggles the country has faced over the years.  This can be a difficult path to tread but Satrapi did a great job of telling the reader how Iran became the country it is today.  The struggles of the average Iranian in the 1980’s were more than I expected and may have lead to my great interest in that portion of the book.

    The drawings for the novel were phenomenal.  They are very basic and not much clutters the panels, which focuses on the characters and the story more.  They are also primarily black and white, which makes the images pop on the page and makes it easy to read.

    Overall: great book, great story, and plenty to learn while reading.  I’m looking forward to getting to the sequel (but I have too much that I have to read before I get to that).  I guess it’s just something to look forward to.

Who is your favorite Male character? And why?

Ignatius J. Reilly from John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces would undoubtedly be my favorite male character.  Yeah, okay, I haven’t finished the novel yet (it’s one that it sitting on my shelf waiting for me to finish but I just think Ignatius is a great character.
Ignatius is very boorish, brash, loud, uncouth and conceited I just wonder how you couldn’t love a character like that.  Right from the first paragraph I knew I would like this character.  Toole gives us a wonderful description of this guy on page one paragraph one:
“A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head.  The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that grew in the ears themselves, stuck out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once.  Full, pursed lips protruded beneath the bushy black moustache and, at their corners, sank into the folds filled with disapproval and potato chip crumbs.  In the shadow under the green visor of the cap Ignatius J. Reilly’s supercilious blue and yellow eyes looked down upon the other people waiting under the clock at the D. H. Holms department store, studying the crowd of people for signs of bad taste in dress.  Several of the outfits, Ignatius noticed, were new enough and expensive enough to be properly considered offenses against taste and decency.  Possession of anything new or expensive only reflected a person’s lack of theology and geometry; it could even cast doubts upon one’s soul.”
I have yet to find any other character totally described in such a succinct way.
Answering this question has made me want to back and finish.  I have a new project for the weekend.

I’ve been waiting for some time now for a package from Amazon to show up at my door. And that package arrived today! Getting a package from Amazon is like Christmas each time one comes. I guess in a way it was kind of Christmas like since some of what came was a belated birthday gift from Charlotte, late but still greatly appreciated. Most of what came is for book challenges but one other item was just for enjoyment.
Today I got;
Peace Shall Destroy Many - Rudy Wiebe (Canadian Book Challenge)
Louis Riel: A Comic-strip Biography - Chester Brown (Graphic Novels Challenge)
We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver (this was last months selection for Bookin’ Around, loved the book so I still ordered)
and
Juno soundtrack (the music is just as amazing as the movie was).
I cannot wait to read the two books. Peace Shall Destroy Many is next on my reading list. I’m just about finished my Alberta book (Generica) so Saskatchewan is next and I cannot wait to dive into Wiebe’s controversial novel.

There has always been an allure to climb Mount Everest, and many people have risked their lives because of the draw Everest has.  Into Thin Air is the author’s first hand account of his accent of Everest and the events that may have transpired during the climb.  Jon Krakauer’s style and direct involvement to the events that transpired in the spring of 1996 make Into Thin Air a page turner unlike any other.
Several weeks ago I was strolling through the shelves of one of Seoul’s great bookstores, Kyobo to be exact, a friend of mine (Laura) recommended this book to me.  At the time I was looking to amass a collection of non-fiction to read along side a work of fiction.  Shortly after making this purchase, and if you know me you’ll know this wasn’t my only purchase that day, Bookleaves was compiling a list of books to read next.  Since I joined we haven’t read any non-fiction.  So, I suggested Into Thin Air and others thought it would be a good choice. 
It didn’t take me long to start this book once it was selected and I couldn’t put the book down once I started.  The story was fascinating and couldn’t wait to discuss the book.  This past Sunday Into Thin Air was the book up for discussion. 
The story of a group climb of Everest and many people ended up dieing on the journey back down the mountain.  Because of a storm and some poor decisions made not everyone made it back to their family.  One could make many speculations about why those that perished on the expedition, the author even makes some comments on why, but that’s all we can do.  There are many unanswered questions but that doesn’t negate the story Krakauer tells. 
There is debate among others that were there those days about what actually happened.  There are also speculations about some things that may have happened.  But the biggest issue that came up for me, and members of Bookleaves, is what should happen in future expeditions up Everest?  Are there stipulations on who should be able to climb?  Restrictions on when rescue teams will attempt to save someone on that mountain?  Or should things just be left the way they are?
The best part of this novel is the questions it forces you to think about and discussion it can create.  I deliberately didn’t really talk about what happened because I think this a book that should be read and you shouldn’t read about the events that transpired on a meager little blog like this.  Pick up Into Thin Air and read it.