Referencegirl's Blog

The Gone Away World

Nick Harkaway

576 pages

Published 2009

Sci Fi, Dystopia, Post Apocalypse, Humor

Can a book about post-apocalypse be funny? When Nick Harkaway writes it, yes.  Harkaway is incredibly imaginative and extremely funny. While his style often brought to mine Douglas Adams, Tom Robbins, and Christopher Moore, Harkaway has penned one of the most unique books in its genre ever.  This book threw me a bit. The first 30 pages are a bit mysterious but enthralling. Then we are jolted back in time without warning to the beginning of what seems to be an entirely different story for over 300 pages until we come back to the story started in the first 30 pages. This is not exactly a quick read. Sometimes descriptions and moments go on a bit too long. At times I got the feeling he was having a bit more fun writing then I was reading. But it is an amusing and fantastical journey and perseverance is well rewarded. I wish I could say more but do not want to spoil the fun. However, Harkaway has produced what will be one of most favorite quotes...

"Girls - at least where I grew up - tend to be more emotionally balanced and sane, and therefore find the kind of all-excluding concentration you need to care about dinosaurs, taxonomy, philately and geopolitical schemes a bit worrying and sad. Girls can grasp the bigger picture (i.e., 'it might be better to not destroy the world over this'), where boys have a perfect grip on the fine print (i.e., 'this insidious idea is antithetical to our existence and cannot be allowed to flourish along side our peace-loving, free society'). Note carefully how it is probably better to let the girls deal with weapons of mass destruction."

When You Are Engulfed in Flames

David Sedaris

323 Pages

Published 2008

Essays, Memoir, Humor

My dad saw me reading this while I was visiting home and said, "so that book is about the dangers of smoking?" "No," I said, "it's a collection of  humorous essays. Although I haven't read the whole thing, there might be something about smoking in it somewhere."
The last essay, The Smoking Section, was about when Sedaris went to Japan for three months to quit smoking. I have a year and a half sobriety from cigarettes and could sincerely relate to this essay. Like all of his essays, it was insightful but also funny and had me laughing at myself and him. The source of the book's title also came from this essay but I will not reveal it here. You should go discover it on your own and meanwhile, take care when reading in public, lest the surroounding crowd think you are crazy since you will be unable to keep from smiling to yourself like a fool and laughing out loud.

While reading this, I could hear David's voice in my head from hearing him read several of his essays on This American Life, a radio show on NPR. Click here for a list of Sedaris audios you can access for free.

Sweeping Beauty: Contemporary Women Poets Do Housework

Edited by Pamela Gemin

212 Pages

Published 2005

Poetry

This is a collection of poems by women written mostly about housework. Several use housework as a metaphor for a slew of concerns and issues prevalent to women today. Some drop the housework metaphor all together and go for something far more gritty then cleaning shower grout.

I would love to say that all poems have their merit, but the truth is that most poems written and published are crap. While many would have you believe training, education, and culture is required to appreciate a good poem - that is total bunk. A good poem stands on its own and captures the rapt attention of anyone reading it. If there is a mountain of bad literature that manages to be published and mass delivered, bad published poetry equals the entire Rocky Mountain range.

Sweeping Beauty, like most anthologies of poetry, is chock full of really terrible poems. However, there were a handful of diamonds in the rough and even a few polished jewels that made reading the collection worthwhile. And you have to admit, that is a darn clever title.

Got this little dude on my way to work a couple of mornings ago. He hung out perfectly still just long enough for to get very close, snap a pic, and then completely freak out when he flew away. I had thought he was dead - I would have never gotten that close had I known he was alive.

American Gods: A Novel

Neil Gaiman

592 Pages

Published 2001

Fiction, Fantasy

The story takes place mostly in mid-America but also in other parts of America and other dimensions entirely. It starts out with Shadow who is released from prison to find nothing as he expected it. Shadow is a guarded character and hard to relate to, but I liked him anyway, which is exactly how I think Gaiman wanted readers to feel about him. Shadow meets a grifter named Wednesday who is also a god and wants to hire Shadow to be his body guard. Wednesday is leading an effort to start a war between old gods like Easter, Chaos, and himself and new gods like Media, Internet, and Junk Food.  

There is another story happening in the background about a utopic-like small town except for that fact that one child has gone missing every year for over 100 years.

There are plenty of things to like in this story. For example, Gaiman attaches a sense of high charged spirtuality around things like the largest ball of twine. I also enjoyed his explanation of how the old gods followed people when they moved to America and that he pointed out that people have been coming to America long before Columbus. But the story was uneven. The existence of new gods was not as well explained. And I felt like there were two or three endings. To Gaiman's credit, there were no plot holes. In general, this was an entertaining read that would be especially enjoyed by those who have studied world religion and mythology. While this book was certainly well received - it won both the Hugo and Nebula awards in 2002, it was not my favorite Gaiman work.

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

Vicki Myron

277 Pages

Published 2008

Non-fiction, Libraries, Cats

Dewey started out as a dirty hungry kitten abandoned and dumped into the Spencer Iowa Public Library book return on one of the coldest nights of winter. He became an internationally known and loved spokescat for libraries and cats.

This book is about a lot more then a cat though. Myron, who you get the idea is a rather private person, allows herself to be vunerable by telling her own story. She paints the history, growing pains, and survival of a small town in the best light possible.  She is also a role model for all librarians on how to be leaders in our organization and keep our profession relevant to the needs of the communities we serve.

Okay, I am a librarian and a cat lover so I may be a little prejudice about this book. I loved it. Myron is obviously as big of cat nut as I am because she does more then just describe a cute fuzzy animal. She captures and expresses Dewey as an individual with his own personality, motivations, and sense of responsibility for the library and his patrons. It is an easy and engaging read that will probably choke you up at least once or twice.

For more about Dewey check out: www.deweyreadmorebooks.com

 

Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town

Warren St. John

307 pages

Published 2009

Non-Fiction, Refugees, Soccer

I am not a sports fan but luckily, this story is not really about sports. It is an inspiring story of overcoming adversity, making due with the bare essentials, and finding family far away from home.

Outcasts is a true story about Luma, a Jordanian woman with an affinity for soccer living in America. When Luma decides to stay in American after finishing school, it is against her family's wishes. Homesick and lonely, she comes across a group of boys playing soccer in a way that reminds her of home. When she decides to get involved and become a soccer coach to these boys, she has no idea what she is getting herself into. Luma rises to the occasion, helping refugee families navigate situations specific to the American experience. She is a tough coach, requiring her players to attend tutoring sessions for school, to have good manners, and to be responsible. Her tough coaching offers the kids opportunities to overcome and achieve. This is not just Luma's story either, St. John provides background for several of the refugee families featured, explaining how they came to America and offering a rare look into the refugee experience from the refugee point of view.

For more information on the Fugees (the teams' name), to find out what they are up to now, and to get involved cehck them out at: http://www.fugeesfamily.org/

The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why

Amanda Ripley

266 pages

Published 2008

Non-Fiction, Disaster, Psychology

Have you ever wondered how you would respond in a fire, hurricane, a plane crash? Have you looked back at your response in a disaster and wondered at yourself?

Ripley deftly weaves stories of past disasters with anthropological, psychological, and architectural studies about group and individual responses in disaster situations. Surprisingly, stories of mass hysteria are rarely true and that reports of such are often attempts by media to make exciting news. Humans have an instinct to be especially well behaved in disasters because it increases our individual chance of survival. All those warning systems, fire drills, and exit plans we find so annoying will save us. It is statically proven that reading the pamphlet in the airplane about what to do in an emergency and paying attention to the flight attendant, no matter how many times you have flown before, greatly increases your likelihood of survival. I will never think I am too cool to pay attention again. 

Ripley goes through each step in our personal response systems: denial, gathering, checking in, acceptance, action, and shock, explaining the role of instinct and knowledge in each and how those can both save and hinder us. She describes past disasters in such detail, gleaned from first-person accounts, that I often felt that I was there. At the same, I wanted more experiential description and less science.

This was a moderately easy read. I learned a lot. Next time the fire alarm goes off, I will not stop to gather and check in. I don't care if it is just a drill.