Milo, a young boy, receives a tollbooth as a present one afternoon. Being intrigued by the tollbooth, Milo picks the town of Dictionopolis as his destination. Along his travels in this new "land" he meets Tock, the watchdog. Together they travel to find the princesses Rhyme & Reason and return them to the Kingdom of Wisdom.
Juster, Norton. The Phantom Tollbooth. Random House (1961). 256 pages. ISBN 0394815009.
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First children's book I've read in a long time. Thanks to Patrick for the recommendation! Full of puns and humor this book will allow you to see familiar concepts differently.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Twenty - The Taste of Sweet - Julie Chen
Joanne Chen took some columns that she wrote and combined them into an engaging book. I enjoyed that she was hands on and participated in some of the research studies and activities that she referenced. Joanne explains how everyone is a different level of taster and the taste map of the tongue. One chapter discusses how the concept of a refined palate was born. Genetic enhancement of flavors - specifically strawberries - is referenced. Another chapter focused on the perception that sweets are bad for you and make you fat. One final section explained the history of artificial sweetener.
Chen, Julie. The Taste of Sweet. Three Rivers Press (2009). 272 pages. ISBN 0307351912.
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I found this book on the giveaway shelf at work and was immediately intrigued. Diabetes runs in my family and therefore I'm always watching the amount of sugar I'm eating. I learned a lot about sugar and its many forms. I also found a new genre of books - food literature - to explore and dive into. Two books that were referenced in this book which I'm looking forward to reading are True History of Chocolate and Mindless Eating.
Chen, Julie. The Taste of Sweet. Three Rivers Press (2009). 272 pages. ISBN 0307351912.
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I found this book on the giveaway shelf at work and was immediately intrigued. Diabetes runs in my family and therefore I'm always watching the amount of sugar I'm eating. I learned a lot about sugar and its many forms. I also found a new genre of books - food literature - to explore and dive into. Two books that were referenced in this book which I'm looking forward to reading are True History of Chocolate and Mindless Eating.
Nineteen - The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
This book follows the lives of Henry, who has the ability to travel through time, & Claire. When Henry becomes stressed he time travels and arrives at his destination naked. Claire meets Henry for the first time when she is a young girl playing in the meadow. A few years later they meet in Chicago and start to date. Eventually, they marry and have a little girl who can also time travel.
Niffenegger, Audrey. The Time Traveler's Wife. Mariner Books (2004). 560 pages. ISBN 015602943X.
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I read this book because it was recommended to me (thanks Elizabeth!). It was an interesting story, but at times the plot was hard to follow since each chapter jumped forward or backward in time. The ending was not a surprise, but a tad bit more graphic than I expected. I am excited to see how the book translates to the screen.
Niffenegger, Audrey. The Time Traveler's Wife. Mariner Books (2004). 560 pages. ISBN 015602943X.
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I read this book because it was recommended to me (thanks Elizabeth!). It was an interesting story, but at times the plot was hard to follow since each chapter jumped forward or backward in time. The ending was not a surprise, but a tad bit more graphic than I expected. I am excited to see how the book translates to the screen.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Last ten books
...will be reviewed and posted shortly. I can't believe I'm 10 books in the hole. I'm also trying to hit 30 books before next Monday. Possibly going to make it - considering I'm on book 29 right now.
Stay tuned....
Stay tuned....
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Eighteen - Murder in the Rue de Paradis - Cara Black
What would you do if you woke up the morning after you were proposed to and your fiancee is dead?
Aimee Leduc finds herself in this exact position. She decides to investigate who killed Yves, her fiancee. As her investigation continues she begins to envail a terrorist cell that is targeting a local Muslem leader. Vatel, a security guard who "witnessed" Yves' murder, is threatened to provide information to the local police or loose his immigration papers.
Aimee stops an assination attempt of the Muslem leader and suddenly becomes a target herself. A photo journalist helping Aimee is murdered at the train station. Aimee meets Vartel who takes her to meet a famous Turkish novelist who explains how the IKK and Yellow Cresent - two radical groups - interact.
Black, Cara. Murder in the Rue de Paradis. Soho Crime (2008). 288 pages. ISBN 1569474745.
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This book is number 8 in a long time running series, but I felt that I could easily jump into this story without knowing the backstory of the main character - Aimee Leduc. The plot is fast paced and brings in a modern twist with the Turk/French hosilities. Excellent book and kept my attention the whole time.
Aimee Leduc finds herself in this exact position. She decides to investigate who killed Yves, her fiancee. As her investigation continues she begins to envail a terrorist cell that is targeting a local Muslem leader. Vatel, a security guard who "witnessed" Yves' murder, is threatened to provide information to the local police or loose his immigration papers.
Aimee stops an assination attempt of the Muslem leader and suddenly becomes a target herself. A photo journalist helping Aimee is murdered at the train station. Aimee meets Vartel who takes her to meet a famous Turkish novelist who explains how the IKK and Yellow Cresent - two radical groups - interact.
Black, Cara. Murder in the Rue de Paradis. Soho Crime (2008). 288 pages. ISBN 1569474745.
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This book is number 8 in a long time running series, but I felt that I could easily jump into this story without knowing the backstory of the main character - Aimee Leduc. The plot is fast paced and brings in a modern twist with the Turk/French hosilities. Excellent book and kept my attention the whole time.
Seventeen - The Cellist of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway
Bosnia - early 1990's - Siege of Sarajevo - Four stories - a cellist, a sniper and two villagers.
After seeing a complete square be flatten by a bomb, the cellist voes to play Albinoni's Adagio for 22 days straight - one day for each person killed. Arrow, the sniper, after trying to take out some soldiers watching the fortress of Vraca is assigned to protect the cellist and take out the enemy sniper. After reporting in that she completed her mission, the headquarters is bombed and her boss is killed.
Kenan, one of the villagers, navigates the streets to get fresh water from the brewery for his family and his elderly neighbor. The brewery is shelled and he barely makes it back across the bridge and to his family.
Dragan, the other villager, runs into his friend Emina while walking to work. As he starts to cross an intersection, he is almost hit by a sniper. As Emina starts to cross, she is hit by a sniper and taken to the local hospital.
Arrow, Kenan and Dragan end up hearing the cellist play on his last day.
Galloway, Steven. The Cellist of Sarajevo. Riverhead Hardcover (2008). 256 pages. ISBN 1594489866.
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This book was a good intimate portrait of wartime conditions and how a person's priorities change. As I was reading this book - I felt like I was right there on the streets of Sarajevo. All of the characters dreamt of Sarajevo before the war and wanted to stay during the war even if that means they would die.
Many buildings were shelled during this standoff including the National Library. One Bosnian librarian described the scene as follows:
After seeing a complete square be flatten by a bomb, the cellist voes to play Albinoni's Adagio for 22 days straight - one day for each person killed. Arrow, the sniper, after trying to take out some soldiers watching the fortress of Vraca is assigned to protect the cellist and take out the enemy sniper. After reporting in that she completed her mission, the headquarters is bombed and her boss is killed.
Kenan, one of the villagers, navigates the streets to get fresh water from the brewery for his family and his elderly neighbor. The brewery is shelled and he barely makes it back across the bridge and to his family.
Dragan, the other villager, runs into his friend Emina while walking to work. As he starts to cross an intersection, he is almost hit by a sniper. As Emina starts to cross, she is hit by a sniper and taken to the local hospital.
Arrow, Kenan and Dragan end up hearing the cellist play on his last day.
Galloway, Steven. The Cellist of Sarajevo. Riverhead Hardcover (2008). 256 pages. ISBN 1594489866.
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This book was a good intimate portrait of wartime conditions and how a person's priorities change. As I was reading this book - I felt like I was right there on the streets of Sarajevo. All of the characters dreamt of Sarajevo before the war and wanted to stay during the war even if that means they would die.
Many buildings were shelled during this standoff including the National Library. One Bosnian librarian described the scene as follows:
Twenty-five mortar shells struck the building, along with forty shells that were dropped on nearby streets in order to prevent the fire department from reaching the library…The next day the sky was dark with smoke, while across the city, pages and small bits of burned books sailed through the air…Over 1,200,000 books and 600,000 serials, as well as all the catalogs that had been constructed over the course of years, computer equipment, microfilm and photo labs, andResearching some items for this blog post, I found that an excerpt from the book was posted on npr.org last December.
administrative documents, were all burned.
Sixteen - Saving Graces - Elizabeth Edwards
Saving Graces starts with Elizabeth finding a lump in her breast a few weeks before the end of the 2004 Presidential campaign. She explains how that discovery impacted both her and John.
Elizabeth lived wherever her father, a navy pilot, was stationed. She spent many years in Japan as well as Jacksonville, Florida and Annapolis, Maryland. She went to undergraduate school at University of Mary Washington and graduate school at University of North Carolina. At the end of the second year, Elizabeth decided to go law school and met John there. In 1977, they married during bar exam week.
A good portion of the book focuses on their son's unexpected death and how the family coped with that unfortunate accident. The last quarter of the book focuses on John's career in the Senate and eventually run for the presidency.
Edwards, Elizabeth. Saving Graces. Broadway (2006). 352 pages. ISBN 978-0767925372.
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I admire Elizabeth Edwards immensely, but I had a hard time reading and relating to a big chunk of this book. I truly am amazed by her strength and courage to face her cancer head on as well as deciding to have more children after Wade died. Last August, Elizabeth and John made news again when he admitted to an affair during his 2008 Presidential campaign. I'm interested to read Elizabeth's second book, Resilience, which comes out in May and is supposed to address that affair.
Elizabeth lived wherever her father, a navy pilot, was stationed. She spent many years in Japan as well as Jacksonville, Florida and Annapolis, Maryland. She went to undergraduate school at University of Mary Washington and graduate school at University of North Carolina. At the end of the second year, Elizabeth decided to go law school and met John there. In 1977, they married during bar exam week.
A good portion of the book focuses on their son's unexpected death and how the family coped with that unfortunate accident. The last quarter of the book focuses on John's career in the Senate and eventually run for the presidency.
Edwards, Elizabeth. Saving Graces. Broadway (2006). 352 pages. ISBN 978-0767925372.
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I admire Elizabeth Edwards immensely, but I had a hard time reading and relating to a big chunk of this book. I truly am amazed by her strength and courage to face her cancer head on as well as deciding to have more children after Wade died. Last August, Elizabeth and John made news again when he admitted to an affair during his 2008 Presidential campaign. I'm interested to read Elizabeth's second book, Resilience, which comes out in May and is supposed to address that affair.
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