The Book Pirate

Blurb for the back cover:

“the story of two people who want to discover the love they had when they were young”

As I started to read Fishnet, I found myself drowning in metaphors about water. I was so confused for the first chapter that I had mistaken a goldfish for one of the central characters. Luckily, after re-reading the chapter, I realized what was going on. This wasn’t the story about a goldfish, but rather the story of two people who want to discover the love they had when they were young.

In the novel we are introduced to Maurice who is so obsessed about painting his wife’s smile that he fails to notice her. While Sheila, the wife, sets a plan in motion that will either get Maurice’s attention or be the end of their relationship. But this book isn’t solely about their these two. It is also about the town they live in. The town which Maurice’s father helped form, is in danger of going bankrupt and it seems only Maurice can save it. Helping him try to save the town marriage is an imaginary figure named Jonah who is either the result of years of drinking or just Maurice going crazy. Shelia schemes with her gal-pal Holly who, putting it nicely, is the town socialite.

I really liked this book in its simplicity. I wouldn’t call this book particularly deep (again, water metaphors) but it was completely compelling. The pacing was good as most chapters were broken up to feature the plots of the different characters. Doing this makes the book progress quickly and leaves little room for it to become dull.

I became a fan of the author Paul A. Toth from his blogs on The Nervious Breakdown. But you can also check out his web site or just go buy a copy. Meanwhile, I’m going to go hunt down a copy of Fizz.

Blurb for the back cover:

“a novella in novel-clothing”

We open on Henry Perowne waking up, in a trance, to see an airplane flying much too low over London. Is it terrorists or just a malfunctioning Russian cargo plane? He doesn’t know, so he goes back to bed. But for the rest of his Saturday deviates from what he expected. His planned Squash game is delayed by a massive peace rally and a brief auto accident with consequences greater than they originally appear. This book is about how Henry Perowne, a neurosurgeon, spent his Saturday.

Right off the bat I had a problem with this book. It took nearly thirty pages for the first line of dialog to be spoken. Before that is was filled with Henry’s thoughts to himself and dense descriptions of things that had no importance to the story. This was a common theme throughout the book. Something interesting would happen or some characters would be in the middle of a conversation, then suddenly the reader is given two pages describing something unrelated. It was as if Ian McEwan gave his protagonist ADD and could not focus on one subject. I felt that these distractions really slowed the pace of the book and interrupted the plot. Since Henry is a neurosurgeon, these tangents are often about how the mind works. But for the readers who aren’t neurosurgeons it can be a bit overwhelming and dull.

This book did have its good moments. When characters interacted and the plot advanced through events, it was entertaining, possibly deep. The sheer amount of filler makes me believe that Saturday is really a novella in novel-clothing. As always, Amazon.com has a copy waiting for you if this sounds like your cup of tea.

Here are some random book related links I found interesting this week.

- After Snuff, you have Pygmy, Chuck Palahniuk’s 2009 novel to look forward to.
- More book pirates. Publisher allowing people to download their two Mac books.
- This man fears he may have killed the author of The Little Prince author, or maybe he’s promoting his forthcoming book.
- Worried about the environment and buying books effect on it? Plant a tree.

and my personal favorite..

- Novelist strike continues, but nobody cares.

I met Scott Heim this evening. He was at Powells to promote his new book We Disappear . You may remember him from his book Mysterious Skin which came out in 1995 and was later made in to a movie in 2004. He has also penned the book In Awe and Saved From Drowning , a book of poetry. You may also recognize his writings from various periodicals as well. Face you, he’s everywhere and you can’t escape him, but why would you want to?

We Disappear centers around Scott, the protagonist not the author, who returns home to his mother in Kansas to investigate a missing boy. Donna, the mother, has been obsessed with missing children ever since she was kidnapped as a child. It’s a dark book which the author called "a psychological thriller." I haven’t read the book yet seeing as how I just picked it up tonight. Expect a more thorough review of it later on.

Scott, the author not the protagonist, mentioned that this book is part memoir. Not a memoir in the traditional sense but rather a memoir in the sense that the movie Titanic is a true story. He has taken experiences from his life and exaggerated them to fit the plot and for entertainment value. This, personally, I think is the best type of memoir. Straight off the bat you should acknowledge that what you are reading may or may not be true.

I read A Million Little Pieces and My Friend Leonard right after the news broke that James Frey had made some stuff up. Good for him! I found both books to be entertaining. They weren’t remarkably deep or life changing like Oprah led me to believe which is why people were upset, but still an okay way for me to pass the time on my lunch breaks.

Recently a lot of people I know have been speaking out against the memoir genre and I don’t understand why. I take memoir books like I take my eggs, with a gain of salt. I don’t care if they are true. But I think what is upsetting my writer friends is that seemingly everyday people are publishing books based on everyday life. It could be that they feel envy that their novel that they spend who knows how long working on gets overlooked in favor of something that would be better fitted for People Magazine. What memoirs do for me is they offer a glimpse in to a life that is slightly more interesting then mine. I get the chance to get an idea what it would be like to work as a sexpert (Working Stiff: Misadventures of an Accidental Sexpert by Grant Stoddard ), to make good on a bet made while drunk (Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks ), or to see what is was like growing up in the 60’s (Queen of the Oddballs: And Other True Stories from a Life Unaccording to Plan by Hillary Carlip ). I guess in the end this is just a plea for everybody to take it easy on the memoir genre. There are good books out there like I Am Not Myself These Days by Josh Kilmer-Purcell and My Pet Virus: The True Story of a Rebel Without a Cure by Shawn Decker that are really worth checking out. But if you are still worried about it, give it time. Like the "Da Vinci" genre made popular by Dan Brown , it will pass in a year or so and we can all get back to good ol’ fashion fiction or this new memoir-fiction hybrid.

Barnes and Nobel’s web site features various videos of authors talking about books and whatnot. One video that caught my attention was this short little documentary about a man who owns over 35,000 books. Every room of his house holds hundreds of books. His basement look creepy but oddly comforting. He started his collection in 1975 and it’s been a slippery slope every since.

You can check out the other videos BN.com offers here.

Blurb for the back cover:

“one of my favorite books”

Daylight savings has thrown me off this week. It’s brighter later in the day; Darker in the morning. When you think about it, does it make sense to change your clocks by an hour? All this manipulation of time this past week reminded me of one of my favorite books, Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman.

The book itself is a collection of different ideas of how time would effect mankind. In one story time passes slower for things that are in motion. As a result we are shown a world where houses are on wheels and people move as fast as they can to live longer and retain their youth. In another, cause and effect no longer happen instead there is a world where effect precedes cause. My personal favorite scenario is the one where people are unable to remember their past and everyday they do everything for the first time. They travel home to a family they meet for the first time, have dinner for the first time, make love for the first time. In this world people carry around a book that tells them about what they have done, where they work and live. Then there are the people who throw away their book and refuse to have their lives defined by their past.

Like I said this is one of my favorite books. It’s a short novel that reads really quickly. You could start and finish it in a single afternoon. I highly recommend that you pick up this book.

It was a slow week for people reading in public. I blame the fact that it is finals week at the university and reading for leisure wont help students pass those annoying Physics finals.

Camouflage by Joe Haldeman
Set in the near(ish) future of 2019, a marine biologist tries to uncover the secrets surrounding a mysterious egg like object that was found at the bottom of the ocean. Is it alien? Or maybe something worse? Speaking of aliens, there are two of them wondering around the planet, immortal and unknowing of each other’s existence. What connection do they have with the egg and what will happen with the find out about the other?

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
The epic story of a man wrongfully put in jail. While there he learns a thing or two and vows revenge after he escapes. Returning to his home, he assumes a new name and uses the treasure he found to take back what he loved and expose those who betrayed him.

Blurb for the back cover:

“the one with the red cover, buy that one”

Two years ago while wondering semi-aimlessly in Powell’s Books I came across Christopher Moore’s The Stupidest Angel. At the time I had not read any of his work but I knew him to be popular or at least popular enough to get a bunch of books published. Since it was one of those rare occasions where the Christmas spirit had struck me, I bought the book and it ended up sitting on my bookshelf for two years. As each Christmas would come and go, I would pick up the book, read the first few chapters, then forget about the book until the following year. This year however something changed. I had read some of his previous books and Moore made it on the list of authors who I will read everything they write. He made me a blind follower in other words.

The story of the stupidest angel takes place in the lovely town of Pine Cove. Moore fans will remember the town from his earlier books which just so happen to be the books I have not read. Raziel, the archangel has come to earth to perform a Christmas miracle. Luckily for him he finds a young boy who just saw Santa Claus killed and wants nothing more to have Christmas not be ruined.

The story is told in the same fashion as his other books with a collection of outlandish characters doing outlandish things. I am sure if you had read his older books you might get more excited about the reoccurring characters, but even readers unfamiliar with his work will be able to connect with them and find them hilarious.

The Stupidest Angel has been re-released as The Stupidest Angel 2.0 with an extra chapter that takes place a year following the original book. It’s the one with the red cover, buy that edition. I had the yellow edition (1.0). Also, C. Moore has a website.