That's the Book!

This post has been resting at the back of my mind for quite awhile already, and it's finally making its way to the interweb.  A few months ago I joined a book club in Seoul which has been great.  I've been introduced to several books I wouldn't have read on my own (which is always the best part of any book club). 
My part of the Bookleaves story begins at What the Book? on their bulleton board.  A little yellow piece of paper was posted there relaying the information of this book club in Seoul that meets every two or three weeks.  At that point I've been in Korea for a while and was really looking for something and considered starting a book club myself.  It was like putting a plate of Oreo cookies in a room full of five year old kids (or 30 plus year old adults) and telling them not to eat them.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any paper to keep track of the information to make the connections I needed to so I could join this group.
After reading the add a few times I actually remembered what I needed and quickly wrote and email to Veronica expressing my interest in the group.  She replied shortly after letting me know what book they would be reading next and was well on my way to joining the group.
Since I've joined the group we've read some fantastic novels and a couple I really didn't like.  The books we've read are (I cannot remember the order):

Sarah Dunant's In the Company of the Courtesan - The was the first book I read for the group and I didn't like it so much but it was far from being the worst book we read.  The story is a courtesan and her vulgar dwarf trying to eek out an existence after being forced to relocate in 16th century Venice.  The most memorable character is La Draga a mysterious witch like figure and a close second is Bucino (the dwarf) the mastermind behind the great courtesan.

Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns - This is Hosseini's second novel about the war-ravaged Afghanistan.  The story about the women (women periphery of society) of Afghanistan and more specifically the story of Mariam.  The story spans several decades to reveal some recent history of the country.  It's a story that told by someone that truly loves the country that he grew up in and wants the world to know what is happening there.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov - Basically this is a retelling of Faust.  This is the book that I couldn't stand (this feeling seemed to the consensus of the group).  There was nothing about this novel that kept me drawn into the story and just finished the book for the group.  This is one book that I wouldn't have had a problem putting down and never picking up again.  With that being said I would be interested to see this a film, while reading it I thought it would translate well to that media but failed in written form. 

Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Foer is a master when it comes to story telling.  I read Everything is Illuminated not long before reading this one and they were both wonderful stories.  There were a number of similarities some of which bothered me but easy to look past.  This time the story of a child trying to find out what the key, he found in a vase in his father's room, will open.  His father was on of the victims of September eleventh, which could be difficult subject matter, but Foer deals with it well.  And there isn't much focus on the date, in-fact it's not even mentioned until the last quarter of the novel.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - A wonderful story of the circus told from the perspective of a now elderly man looking back on his time working in a circus.  The photos of circuses gone by really help to propel Gruen's tale.  It made me want to join the circus.  Definitely a book that should be picked up if you can.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - This is his first novel and it was just as gripping as A Thousand Splendid Suns.  These are two novels that are independent of each other but also complement each other.  In Kite Runner Hosseini is writing a story about boys growing up in Afghanistan and has a number of disturbing scenes.  Well worth the read and it proved to be a great novel for dialogue.  The group was left wondering if this book is biographical in any way, we wouldn't be surprised if it was.

David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day - This is a collection of essays by Sedaris that were entertaining.  Two stories were very memorable; You Can't Kill the Rooster and I'll Eat What He's Wearing.  The essays were full of laughs and would be a great book to add to any collection.

You Suck: A Love Story by Christopher Moore - The world really needs more vampire love stories and nobody could do it better than Moore.  If you've read anything by Moore you know the book is going to have some wild characters and bizaare situations.  This is a fantastic story and made me want to go out and read more by Moore.  I wanted to read this one because it was a number of years since I read Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal and the group was looking for something light. 

This week are going to be discussing Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.  I'll leave my thoughts on this one for another post. 

Bookleaves is a great group with a range of characters in the group.  It's always an adventure going to the bi/tri-weekly meetings.  It's always something to look forward to.  If you're ever in South Korea and looking for a book club find Bookleaves.

As you regular readers of That's the Book! know this week is the Canada Reads competition and I've started listening to what the defenders (Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson defended by Jemeni, From the Fifteenth District by Mavis Gallant defended by Lisa Moore, Icefeilds by Thomas Wharton defended by Steve MacLean, King Leary by Paul Quarrington defended by Dave Bidini, and Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley defended by Zaib Shaikh) of this years short list. On the first episode of the pod cas Dave Bidini talked about books he read while growing up (the others are doing this too) and it drew me back to my early days of reading and being read to. So, I wanted to share some of the books I read while in school. Without further ado here are some books I loved while growing up.

Dr. Seuss - I think almost everyone can remember the first time they read anything by this beloved children's author. The stories were so vivid and entertaining; to top it off they were easy to read for first books. My favoirtes by this author included but weren't limited to; Yurtle the Turtle, The Lorax, The Cat in the Hat, Horton Hears a Who, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. When I went home for my Grandmother's funeral a month or so ago I pick some of these books up for the kids I teach in Korea. Now I find I still love these books and sharing them with a new group of kids.

Shel Silverstein - I just loved the poetry by this man. I still go back and read one or two when I see a book in a bookstore, and chuckle to myself or out loud. But there is no book greater than The Giving Tree, the love story of a tree and his friend a bow we see growing up during the story. Love this book and bought this one too when I was back in Canada.

Roch Carrier - The Hockey Sweater is the story of a young boy in Quebec in need of a new hokey sweater. He gets a Maple Leaf sweater instead of Canadiens with the number 9 (Richard's number). A fantastic book for Canadian children or fans of hockey. If you can get a hold of Carrier's adult fiction that has been translated you are in for a treat, hunt if you must.

Robert Munsch - His huge collection of stories for children continues to expand each year but it's the early books that are great. Books like Mortimer, and The Paper Bag Princess are definitely tops. Many of his stories are made up when he visits schools and chooses one child that is present and uses his/her name for the character. They receive a copy of the book once it's been printed. It also helps that he's a fellow Canuck.

Dennis Lee - Alligator Pie has many whimsical poems that I love and even remember by heart today. I remember them and don't even have to dig into the deep dark recesses of my mind. I really need to do some hunting to find this book; the illustrations were also fantastic to look at.

Now for some adult novels.

J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit I don't know what it was about this book but it was the first novel I read by myself. I wasn't much of a reader as child, but when I did I devoured every book I got my hands on. It was my love of this book that drew me to my Tolkien and Medieval Literature course I took in University. Which then brought some other gems into my life.

George Orwell - Animal Farm a novel that I was introduced to in High School. This is the only novel I was forced to read (except To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee) that I actually enjoyed. This is a perennial read I love it so much. I think what really drew me to this book is the connection to the Russian Revolution; it brings my two favorite subjects together (Reading and History). If you haven't read this book yet get it and read it ASAP! This still holds its place as number one of my all time favorite books.

E.L. Doctorow - Ragtime the book holding number 3 spot in my favorite books. I think I like this for the same reason I love Animal Farm. Historical fiction is great; Ragtime has Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, and others that interact with the fictional family in the novel. Another must read novel and one I would love to read again.

I could keep going but I think I'll end here. The list of fantastic books while growing up is vast. I'm sure many of you have books that you love, what are they? Share your favorites in the comments section.

At the end of last year I thought I wouldn't be in Korea much longer and was going to miss the book club (Bookleaves) I've been attending.  So, I thought I would begin my own book club that would use facebook as a forum for discussion.  I thought this would be a great way to keep in touch with book lovers all over, regardless of where our lives may lead.  And from that Bookin' Around was born.  The purpose of Bookin' Around is to read one book a month and discuss the book as well as talk about other books we enjoy.  We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver is our second book (the first was Douglas Coupland's All Families are Psychotic).  As a group we are always looking for more people to join in the discussions we have going.  If you're an avid, or not so avid user of facebook come and join us at Bookin' Around.
Now that shameless plug is finished I can talk more about We Need to Talk About Kevin.  It's a griping novel about a mother dealing with the fact that her son is one of the growing number of teens going into their schools to kill their teachers and foes.  Overall this is rates as one of the best books I've read.  Not many books leave me sitting in stunned silence after reading the last word, in fact it has only happened one other time (Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow).  The writing style was intriguing because there are questions that are always being asked.  Slowly as the novel progresses these questions are answered. 
The more I read the more questions I had and wanted answers for many of the questions well before Shriver reveals them.  This made the book progress slowly at times.  The story I wanted most was that of the school slaying (referred to as Thursday through-out most of the novel) but we are not privy to that information until the final 20 or so pages.  One of the more troubling questions included where Franklin was and why did Kevin decide to kill his classmates and the teacher?  But all is revealed in due course. 
Eva Khatchadourian, Kevin's mother, is a very unreliable narrator who expresses her thoughts and the story of Kevin to Franklin in the form of a series of letters.  There were times I wondered about her mental stability because of her distain for her son, which despite her reasoning seemed shocking.  It's even more shocking when her second child Celia enters their lives.  It's also interesting to see the contrast between the two children, despite how cliche this sounds no turn of phrase could be better, is like night and day.  I find it odd how to very different children could be of the same mother and father (this could be due to Eva's prejudices toward Kevin). 
Most of the story is dark and haunting but when she finally tells about what had gone on that Thursday at the school you become chilled to the bone by how meticulous Kevin was in his planning for that day.  It's also chilling to see the relationship between mother and son after Thursday.
We Need to Talk About Kevin is a must read.  It's one of only two books I've ever read dealing with the issue of school killings, neither of which really spends a great deal of time talking about the crime up front.  If you're looking for something that deals a little more directly with the crime read Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland, both these books are worth taking a look at.
And for those of you interested Bookin' Around will be reading What is the What by Dave Eggers.

I've had the idea of putting my library online for quite sometime now but was having difficulty finding something that would hold my library. At last I found it and put my books online. Well, when I say my books online I should confess that they are the books that I have with me in Korea. I have boxes upon boxes (literally) of books at my parent's place back in Canada.
I have been using delicious library for a while but I didn't like that it was taking up space on my hard drive. So, I started my search for a site to put my books. It was at this point that I came across Catalog Your Books Online! (Including Test) by Kimbooktu. Kimbooktu has a great blog with the focus on book related information (furniture, resources, etc) that's interesting to check out especially if you're looking for interesting things for your library. So, on the Catalog post she lists four websites that give you several options when it comes to displaying your library online. I think it's worth tossing the sites on here for you to take a look at:
LibraryThing - www.librarything.com
Shelfari - www.shelfari.com
Reader2 - www.reader2.com
GuruLib - www.gurulib.com
I'll let you go to Kimbooktu's site to know what she had to say about each site, she took the time to explore each site and relay the pros and cons of each site.
I took a look at the sites a bit myself and was torn between Shelfari and GuruLib. I ended up deciding to go with GuruLib and so far I'm very happy with the decision. Once I made the decision it didn't take me long to enter all my books into my library. I've also posted the a link in the sidebar.
I usually write about the books that I've read or am currently reading but lived this find so wanted to pass it on to others that may be looking for a place to keep a record of their library.

For anyone that's a fan of The Colbert Report Colbert's book I Am America (And So Can You!) is must read. It's a book full of truthiness (Truthiness is a satirical term coined by television comedian Stephen Colbert to describe things that a person claims to know intuitively, instinctively, or "from the gut" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or actual facts. This comes from Dictionary.com) and a laugh a minute. While reading this I would continually burst out into laughter, thereby having to share what I've just read with Charlotte.
Stephen Colbert begins his book with a how to guide. There are several tips he gives the read for what he/she should or shouldn't do while reading the book. This includes using the ribbin provided in the book to mark the pages as well as, "Start with a First Edition and be diligent in upgrading when new editions are available".
The book is full of Colbert's signature wit, and it's everywhere. Throughout the book he has made comments in the margins (which is great given you aren't allowed to mark the book in any way - another rule for using the book) and footnotes that shouldn't be missed. I'm sure those of you who are a part of the Colbert Nation could guess what he has to say in some of his chapters which include:
Religion: Accepting Jesus As My Personal Editor
Sex & Dating: 1001 Abstinance Positions
Higher Education: Smarties Pansed
Class War: Let Them Buy Coke for a Change
A Note to the Future: Instructions on How to Defrost My Head
And many others. Each of which provides some fun at the end of each chapter to encourage some reader involvement.
There are endless quotes I could put here, as I said earlier I laughed continually while reading this, but I wont. I'll just give you one of my favorites:
"All Dogs Go to Heaven? sorry, kids. It's only the dogs who've accepted Christ."
The character that Colbert has created first for The Daily Show and more elaborately for his own show The Colbert Report is clearly a right wing American with all the answers. It's the way he presents his arguments that make this book so funny. Unfortunately I believe there are probably people out there that take everything he has to say as the gospel truth. Everything in here is great fun and I couldn't wait for the next joke Colbert had in store of the readers.
Not only is it a great book but it's also the winner of the Stephen T. Colbert Award for the Literary Excellence. Would this qualify for the Book Awards Challenge?

When it comes to Dexter I knew the tv show existed well before I knew there were books that the show was based on. The concept of a compassionate serial killer interested me (doesn't that sound horrible) and the movie Monster, the story of Aileen Wuornos. In Monster Aileen felt that she was only getting rid of the "garbage" that was out there. Dexter is attempting the same thing, the only difference with Dexter is that being a part of the police force (as a blood spatter expert) knows that the people he's killing are actually criminal.

Any lover of books would have loved yesterday. From the time I left my apartment until I arrived back latter that evening I had 15 books in my possession. Yes, okay I admit that I may have a problem it's a compulsion but I will say I'd rather be addicted to buying books than smoking any day. It started when Kenneth let the members of Bookleaves (via facebook) about a book exchange in Itawan. After seeing that message I had to quickly contact my book buying partner in crime Susan (of Naked Without Books fame) to see if wanted to join me in the book exchange.