Air Guitar by Dave Hickey

Air Guitar

by Dave Hickey

10 Words: A challenging read forcing one to think more about art. 

     This book was read as apart of my summer of art project. I have been joining people all over the world in participating in art assignments given to us by a mixture of artists. We are reading this book in order to expand our mind and think about art a bit more fully. The full review has been posted on the blog I have created for that project. It can be found here.  

Walking Contradiction By Nancy Jane Moore

Walking Contradiction

 By Nancy Jane Moore

10 Words: Future worlds, Future worries. All based off current problems extended.

     Walking Contradiction is a collection of seven short stories. Each story is set in some time along the Earth's future. All the stories are self contained, but I do think a few of them are directly related. It also feels like its possible that they all are related.
     The stories talk about the consequences of the actions of present day people living on earth, the way we have treated natural resources, the way we are often at war.  They expand and explore the direction our actions could take us, and show a not too hopeful future, yet for the most part it is one that is trying to redeem itself.
     My favorite of the stories happens to be the first one, the one the book is named for. Walking Contradiction. The main character of the story is a detective, what makes them different is that they are niver male or female. They are Ambigendered, a person who has both sets of working sexual equipment (thats the way the story explains it). She is asked to investigate a group who are called The True Virgins, a group who chose to remove their gender completely. It makes for an interesting contrast and comparison story when a person who has embraced both genders is forced to face the ideas of a person who has chosen to move beyond gender. The disgust she feels over the idea that these people would want to creat an artifical way of reproducing themselves.
   

The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World Comics, By: Robert Jordan, Chuck Dixon & Chase Conley.

The Wheel of Time

The Eye of the World Comics

By: Robert Jordan, Chuck Dixon & Chase Conley

10 words: Epic story meets stunning visuals, worth the read... or re-read. 

Wheel of Time was a large part of my high school years, along with The sword of Truth, (and Harry Potter...). The sad part is that my interest in following the epic long book series (14 books...) ended way before the books came to a conclusion (the last one being released last year).  The last one I read when it was released was new Spring... and I think I only got as wad as the path of Daggers... though I am not completely sure... to be honest I started getting tired and frustrated with the series and started to feel that a lot of words were used to describe nothing happening... 

That was years ago, and I still believe that there was something important being told by the series, as well as something to it that I enjoyed. That was why when the first book came up as a comic apart of the Humble Dynamite 10th Anniversary Bundle I felt like it would be a good use of $15. 

The Comic did not disappoint me. It told the first story of the series very well, showing the events in a beautiful way. At the start I had a bit of trouble telling which boy was which, but I feel that was intentional... we are confused the way the dark one is confused. The looks of the Three Rivers boys are so similar, that its there actions that distinguish each boy from each other. Making them the person they are more than the way they look. 

Book one doesn't explain itself, it doesn't have any problems with tossing you into the confusing world of Andor. It keeps you, the reader as in the dark about the situation the characters are in as the main characters are themselves. This feels right to me, the characters are seeing the world they live in for the first time and we are as well through there eyes. There is no pre-required knowledge to this story and it doesn't attempt to throw that at you in any way. You never feel like you are missing something, or that things are being over explained it has a good balance. The Comics follow this balance, with the added benefit of being able to show you and not having to tell you things. Like the differences between the different towns or grand places they travel to. 

The Wheel of Time is an Epic read, 14 books in total. I have added them to the giant list of things I wish to read (which seems to increase every two weeks or so when new Humble Book Bundles come out...), but its definitely one I suggest at least book one is (I do kinda remember it not keeping its pace well... but we will see how it goes as I read the next book). Also if you feel like reading a story in a different kind of way, this comic does the book justice.  

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Beloved 

by Toni Morrison

Read as Apart of Crash Course Literature 

10 Words: Dark actions stemming from dark actions, consequences will always haunt.

     Beloved is the story of an African American Lady named Sethe who escaped slavery. Adventualy though  her masters found her and her children, in an attempt to protect them from being returned to life as a slave - which she felt was no life at all -  Sethe attempted to kill her children, and actually managed to killed her 2-year old daughter. 

     This act meant that there was always a missing place felt in the home. Her sons never forgot the fear she felt of the slavers and the fear they felt of her and so as soon as they were able they left the home. They all feel that a ghost of that child lives with them in their home. 

     This story goes on to express the way those surviving this event, and there past as a slave do the best they can do to honor the past but to continue onto a new life as time moves on. 

   This book shows the pain and mental trouble someone who is treated as the slaves were treated goes through. It shows the love that a mother can have, and the pain she went through to keep her children safe from the worst possible life she can imagine. The book  is doing its best to show us how the unstable lives slave had took a toll on the people that lived them. 

Maze by J. M. McDermott

Maze

By: J.M McDermott

10 Words: Lost, Confused, and Wondering. The end is never in sight.... 

... and I mean that for both the reader as well as the characters. This book really didn't make sense to me. It jumped between the lives of different people as they just tried to survive in a strange and confusing place that those living in know as The Maze. The stories reflect different events that happen over many different years in the maze. 

     The book is built strangely, and is non cathartic, which is a complicated thing to attempt to do... but left me lost reading the story and I probably wouldn't have bothered finishing it, if it wasn't for my determination to give it the best try I could because I was given it for free. 

     Yet given that the story doesn't make sense the writing is well done, the world described well and you can see that things are happening, that the world exists and that there is something strange but important going on here... its just disappointing that you are never really able to tell what that is... 

     

Wizzywig: Portrait of a Serial Hacker by Ed Piskor

Wizzywig: Portrait of a Serial Hacker

by Ed Piskor

10 Words: One mans entertainment is crossing lines that aren't exactly illegal... 

    Wizzywig is a Graphic Novel that follows the life of Keven Phenicle, a really smart kid that goes from hacking phones to phone companies and computers.  Keven is a smart kid who likes to sort out puzzles, this leads to him learning to look at the world in a way that everything is a type of puzzle, and he has the idea that if the actions you are taking benefit more people than it harms that its not bad. This way of seeing the world leads to him selling bootlegged computer games (which accidentally infects computers with a virus he didn't intend to create) and hacking the phone company so that there clocks are inverse (and saving people money for calling during peak hours). He exists at a time where his actions with computers and phones are unexpected, new and no one has a way of defending or expecting the actions he takes. He's not doing anything that is really illegal because no one knows what he is doing... or how.
     This means that the law is not ready for him when he does get caught, and he gets trapped behind everyones angar and expatiations of repayment. He also gets stuck not being able to find a place in the world that will take advantage of the way he thinks or his abilities.
     Was (is ) Keven a real person? Thats what this book had me thinking the whole time I read it. I think (from reading the afterword) that the events and actions he took are based on the feats of a bunch of different hackers combined into one fictional man. Though in a way it feels like they all fit, like the story is very much possible... though I am not impressed with the idea a man could be locked up in prison for 5 years without his trial... thats scary to me. 

     This is an interesting story and a well made graphic novel. If you like graphic novels its definitely a good one to read, especially since this book can currently (June 3 and the next 8 days) be bought in the Pay as You Want section of the current Humble eBook Bundle. If you like reading e-books I suggest you check it out, its a great way of getting books. 

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

Behind the Beautiful Forevers

By: Katherine Boo

10 Words: Look into life that is so unreal it feel fictional.

     The most important part of this book felt like it was the thank you section at the end. This to me was so extremely important because it make the book real. The events real. When reading the main part of the book itself the whole thing felt like fiction... like it was a story... that life couldn't really be like that... how could anyone value others so little, how can anyone be so envious or willing to walk all over those around them who are in a situation that is no better than their own... 

    This book is a collection of stories of the lives that were being lived by the poorest people in a town that the world believed to be modern, productive and prosperous. The stories are real, they are the stories collected by the author over three years. She has done what I felt was a valid job at showing me, a White Girl from Canada, the lives of those a world away. 

   The stories felt so unreal, they show strength and creativity. They show kids forced into doing whatever work they can just so that there families can sustain themselves. The stories show the internal struggle over attempting to do what one believes to be the right thing - (such and not becoming a thief) - when the world rewards those who do it. The stories make you appreciate a world where you can trust in those outside, that you can trust the police to do what they are expected, and the biggest problem you have is that you are making minimum wage at a crappy service job... while attending University.

P.S
     So I have a few more thoughts based on what John Green says to keep in mind in his vlog last friday, He talks about luck and how we don't really attribute it to situations but I don't really agree with the weight he is giving luck. I don't like luck, I believe that a single person has a lot more control over the outcome of a situation than the idea of Luck allows for.  Its not Lucky when a publisher likes your book, the publisher likes a book because they have learnt how to read and recognize a well written work as well as understanding what the potential customer base for that peace is and they understand that if they published it they are likely to make money from it. This isn't luck, there might be some luck in the first book but that's not the case for this book (or a book written by John Green which he might be referring too because he is being humble).
     I don't think that luck is really apart of this book, or the lives of these people. They all make choices, take actions that affect themselves and their community.  It wasn't bad luck that got Adul and his father in trouble, it was the actions of his Father, His Sister, Fatima and him that got him there... along with a corrupt justice system...
     The Idea of Luck bothers me, One's actions creates a situation, they can then respond to that situation to the best of their ability or not. The results is not Lucky... the result just is.

     

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart

by Chinua Achebe

10 Words: Traditional Man, cannot accept change, longs for good old days.

     This story follows through the life of a man who works hard for himself, his family and his people. Then one day an accident happens and everything he has worked for gets turned upside down. He is forced to spend seven years in Exile (his wife and children along with him). The year ends with Missionaries starting to gain a foothold in both his tribe and the one his mother came from. 

    The way it is written to me is apart of the simplified way that the people live in this world. They value the basic parts of life; having enough food to feed one's family, having a safe place for your family to live. The story is told with these simple facts in mind and it makes those simple parts of life feel like the greatest ideals one could live up to. 

     When things are changing he reacts against them. He believes in the traditions and the ways that have always been what he has lived for and seen as the strength of the tribe and his people. He does not understand the white people, their ways, nor does he feel that there is anything to gain by learning these things. As such when his son joins them he feels greatly betrayed by that action. 

     Its his strict belief in the old ways of doing things that leads him to attack the members of the church. When none of the tribe follow his lead though he is forced to accept that the tribe has changed even though he hasn't. He continues along the path that he sees as the strong, correct force for a man of the tribe to act when faced by an invader, though in the end he is forced to face the change and changes himself by committing suicide instead of facing the law - and pour treatment - of the white men.  

(Read as apart of Crash Course Literature, part 2 )

The Septimus Heap Series By Angie Sage

The Septimus Heap Series

Magyk, Flyte, Physik, Queste, Syren, Darke, Fyre  

By Angie Sage

10 words:

Overall: Magical adventure series, with fun cast, understandable rules and dragons.

Magyk: A grand adventure as the young transform into something more. 

Flyte: Septimus and Jenna learn their new places in the castle.

Physik: That which is know as taboo, is questioned and explored.

Queste: Even the best of intentions can get lost over time.

Syren: Sometimes its just better to tell what you are doing.

Darke: Getting the result desired from actions may not be best. 

Fyre: Thrilling end, Uninformed Actions Caused problems in Past and Present.

     This was a fun Young Adult series about a bunch of different kids growing into there places in the world. They were also also finding their place within their families and learning the way their places change as they grow up and start to create their own path for their life. 

     The first book reminds me of Harry Potter, the two main characters get brought into an adventure which forces them to face who they are and who they can potentially become. The following books follow them both as they continue to learn about themselves, their world, and who they will eventually be as they grow into adults who are a productive part of their home. 

     The seven books are a very fun mixture of fantasy, fighting vague evile who in some ways is evil for the pure sake of being evil. Some of the antagonists have a reason, but many of these are young adults themselves and their reasons are the same petty reason a bully would be a bully... these bullies just have Darke Magyk that they do not understand to help them be bullies. The few who are truly greater do not feel to have a real reason that drives them, the only reasons being a mix of wanting the Power to Control what happens in the Castle town and the fact that they can. 

     Overall it was a fun series and I was happy to see that there were more stories after reading the first (and wikipedia tells me that a new series will be coming in August that is in the world but seen from a new location and new eyes). I enjoyed this story and I do think many others would enjoy it as well. 

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonngut

Slaughterhouse Five

by Kurt Vonnegut

10 words: Sideways exploration during, before, and after the firebombing of Dresden.

     Slaughterhouse Five is the story of a Billy Pilgrim, a man who was an american soldier in WWII, though he wasn't a very good one at that. He claims that he was abducted  by aliens and that they taught him about the way that Time can work in the nonlinear fasshon. This has caused him to be unstuck in time and as such the story follows him through different points in his life jumping between moments in a nonlinear way. 

     This story is neet. Billy is a very simple person, with a very good live but not very interesting. To his children he has completely lost his mind when he starts telling the world about Time and the Aliens. Yet to him he is telling them the complete truth. You can't really tell if he is just a crazy old man. Or if what happened to him Actually happened. All you know is that HE believes it, and his Daughter doesn't.

     I also liked the way that Billy's wife is displayed. It is never actually stated that she is large and overweight. But whenever she is mentioned what is described is the food she is eating. The candy bars in her hands, or the wrappers. This gives me the feeling that Billy doesn't see her weight as a problem, its just a normal fact about the way she acts. 

     The way the story is told, through the different jumps through time leads to my uncertainty of weather or not billy was truly abducted by aliens or not. The way we as a reader is unstuck in time throughout reading about his life makes you wonder if Billy is actually living his life that way, and not just us. It also makes me wonder what that would be like. I kinda don't think Billy is crazy enough for it to really be happening to him. You would never know any context about what happened "yesterday" to the moment you are in. I would be forever writing things in my schedule and continually looking at the calendar because i wouldn't know what I needed to do when... ever! 

(This was read as apart of following along with Crashcourse Literature... I am just not reading them in the same order it seems... and I am skipping a few because I can't follow the Odyssey very well and I am over Hamlet... )

Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth

Divergent Trilogy

Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant 

By: Veronica Roth

10 words: 

Divergent: Strong, Scared Girl, follows her heart, finds her own way.

Insurgent: Strong, Scared People, Trust those different, learn a new way.

Allegiant: Everything interesting that was being built up to gests destroyed....

     Divergent introduces us to a very different but interesting world where people are split into one of five factions based on the different attributes that they feel are the most important aspect to live by. When they are 16 they are given a test that is meant to help guide them to see what faction they belong in, but aside from the test it is still there own personal choice.  Most often the faction you are born into is the one where you stay, but switching is common enough. What is not common is having a result from the test that says you could fit in more than one faction. This is know as Divergent, there are people who are scared of those who are Divergent. For they are different and do not fit the mold that the society has been built around. 

     The first book in the Trilogy introduces us to Beatrice Prior, a young girl who finds out that she is Divergent. She meets the right people who let her know what she is and the general idea of the danger that it entails. This story is the building point, Beatrice and other Divergent's are learning about themselves. Those in charge world they live in is taking an action, its a big action. Puting Faction against Faction, even Faction member against Faction member. All based around a fear of Knowledge. A fear of what some people know and intend to let everyone know. 

     Book one ends with an attack against two fractions which leaves both factions broken and searching for a safe place. Book two starts with the introduction of life in a third fraction who is scared to change the way they live and stand for anything with strength. Forcing many of the people who had found refuge there (including Beatrice) to find safety elsewhere with the fourth faction. Things here are not perfect, there may be Honesty in Candore but that doesn't necessarily lead to the truth, especially when people don't listen. There is more fear than ever of the Divergent people now, there differences are seen to a greater degree than ever and those who are publicly known as Divergent, such as Beatrice, find it harder than ever to interact with people. 

     More attacks by those with Power force an eventual understanding between the two sets of people. It also forces actions from those who would never normally work together. The fight is taken to the home of those who started the problem. Leading to the knowledge that was being protected to be found and shown to all. 

     Book three the information that had been fought for in the first two books is spread open for all to see. The story of their world, and the truth of what is beyond that had be whispered about throughout the books is shown for all to see. The tattered remains of the society now must find a way to rebuild itself. Beatrice and a few others decide to investigate the world beyond their world. Here they find more strange information about their world, and a way to respond to this information. Attempting to find a way for their home world to become united once more.

     I enjoyed reading the first two books a lot. They felt driven and interesting. There seemed reason, and thought behind the actions of the different players acting in the world. This direction seemed to all fall apart in book three. The big reveal of the the world outside was a disappointment to me. It felt awkward and out of place.  Maybe I felt just as Tris did, finding a great government program was letting your world kill itself when it had the ability to stop it... She gets mad over the idea, in a way I felt that too but more in a sense that it didn't feel connected. There had been so much build up to that world outside, only for it to lead nowhere realy...

    I enjoyed book one a lot, yet I don't feel the Hatred for the idea of it having a Movie as I did for Harry Potter. Which to me shows thats its less of a great book. In my mind when a book is good enough to stand on its own, no movie required that makes a great book. This didn't quite do that. I feel that there is something that a Movie format could add (where as in Harry Potter I detested the thought, refused to even witness the trailers... there was a little Crazy there...) . The Divergent Trilogy is a decent story, its characters feel real. They are able to hold the burdens that they are given but don't lose their personality in the process. I enjoyed most of the way through. I just don't like the direction it took in the end. 

Faery Swap by Susan Kaye Quinn

 

 Faery Swap 

By Susan Kaye Quinn

10 words:  Finn must help farry destroy King's plans to invade world.

     The story is a cute, fun tale about finding those lost, learning powers you didn't know you had, and saving two worlds. Its a safe, fun story that is somewhat predictable but I am also not really its intended audience so it might be less predictable to them... 
     Overall, I liked it. It was fun and simple but not in a bad way. The thing that I don't get about it is the idea - and almost obsession - that the magic in the book has something to do with Math, and knowledge that the humans have and the faeries don't. It feels like the book was written, and then someone said it was flat/normal. They didn't think it would have any real drive and so they added the idea that it could teach math some how (I haven't figured out really how) in order to give a way to disingenuous it from any other, simple fiction story. 
     I understand the idea behind making math fun. I like books that make math fun a LOT (if you want this kind of book see Math for Smarty Pants its AMAZING), as a kind I obsessed over them. That was why I wanted to review this book.Aside from saying over and over again how math was important it was never really applied in any way, AND there was still a second, more prominent explanation for the magic. That it came from nature/"elements" (not real elements, but the fire/water/air/earth kind... if something like Chlorine or Nitrogen had been used as the source of magic that would have made me SO happy!). This explanation was much more explained, and prominent part of the story than the Math knowledge part which is stressed so much in the ads / on the authors website. So I don't exactly understand what they were getting at. 

     The ads claim that math is the key used to stop the king... but its Magic that was used... its half explained that this spell was created through math... but it doesn't attempt to actually show us how (it would have been so cool if they had used some funky 4d geometric shape to trap the king, instead of a cube... or one of these!! (ya they are 2d but so what its MAGIC!)) There are so many interesting things about math that make it feel magical but over that it being said over and over that its important to these fairies its never shown or explained. I know the book is for grade 3-6... but your taking the goal to make math fun you should really include some math. The Math for Smarty Pants book above I bought myself with babysitting money in grade 5. It taught me what factorials are ( N!), they amused me greatly but i had no idea what they could be used for. If you are trying to combine real world math with magic you can make your math do whatever you want, just give me some math. 
     Aside from the book the author has a few learning things on her website. The game she made is kinda neat, and does attempt to put some of the Math/knowledge thing the book talks so much about into effect... so she is trying but when I was a kid I read 5 books for every book we talked about in class... I wouldn't have found this stuff if I was in grade 5. Also most of it is the normal, english book reviewing stuff.
     Overall I liked the story, my biggest problem is I don't find the book matches up very well with the advertisements of it. Which to me, seems strange but a 5th grader wouldn't care and would have a fun time with the story. 

Returning soon

      So I went back to university, and stopped reading a lot. But recently I got back into the mood to devour books again and am back reading continually. With this returns the feeling that I need to think about what I am reading and not just eat up the words and move on.
     That being said I plan to return to writing reviews and thoughts about the books I am reading. I have read 14 books (this doesn't count reading my textbooks... does a textbook count as a book?) since the beginning of the year. So I have some back tracking to do to catch up. A few are series and I will write about them together. Overall I seem to be on a Young Adult kick but whatever.
   The other thing I have found that might be interesting is I have found two android apps for reading books. One is OverDrive media. Its connected to my library (the Toronto Public Library) and it is the DRM company they use for when you borrow digital library books. I found it when I was having trouble getting library books to work on my sony e-reader (it seems that since I used to always use my netbook to put books onto it it doesn't recognize my desktop as being registered to my e-reader or somthing... DRM can be frustrating about 80% of the time...). The second Appt I found is called Scribd. Scribd is a subscription ebook sight (think Netflix for books) its a bit more than Netflix ($8.99... so $1.00 more).
   I haven't had any problems with the OverDrive media appt. It seems to connect to my Library easily, I can read offline fine. It does log out of the library connection but this hasn't affected the books i have downloaded. It also looks like if you had multiple library accounts that you would be able to connect them all but I have no way of testing this.
   Scribd mirror Netflix in its early years a lot. There are a good number of books on it, but most of them you haven't heard of before... This doesn't mean you won't find something worth reading, just you can't be picky (this is why I am using both the library and scribd. I can put on hold specific books at the library, and then read whatever NOW with scribd). There are lots of different kinds of books, if you read a lot its worth checking out the free trial. I read about 6 books on it last month, so kept it for a second month. I am having fun with it.
   Will post reviews soon on Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth, Septimus Heep series by Angie Sage. I am also (kinda) reading the books that are being talked about in Crash Course Literature 202. I didn't manage to get through the first few that have been (or will be) talked about... (the Odyssey and Oedipus Rex... the odyssey is kinda strange to read, I didn't quite get it. Its not the first time I have tried to read it too. I tried on the cruise once before i had a e-reader... Then theres Hamlet, I have read Hamlet  before and am not really feeling it.) But I will write about some of them soon. The other reviews that are on the way are from free review copies gained through Librarything.