Book blogging: The Dangerous World of Butterflies: The Startling Subculture of Criminals, Collectors and Conservationists.

The Dangerous World of Butterflies: The Startling Subculture of Criminals, Collectors, and Conservationists by Peter Laufer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You're thinking, "Butterflies? Really?" I was right there with you when I first heard Peter Laufer talking about his book on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. But I was intrigued, and when a friend gifted me a copy of the book, I couldn't wait to get into it. I'm glad I didn't put it off because Dangerous describes this world to a tee. Right from the start you're immersed in the world of butterflies - not stuff of cliche, but truly fascinating facts drawn from this very bizarre world. You'll learn things like how some female butterflies are fertilized before they've even hatched (pupal rape, ewww) and how there's this whole feud between butterfly breeders (you can breed butterflies?) and butterfly enthusiasts whose only goal anymore is to see and maybe photograph butterflies - netting and pinning is so passe. There's this dark and dangerous world of butterfly smuggling where certain species can bring you thousands of dollars for a single specimen . . . and several years in jail when you're caught. Finally there are the scientists who devote hours and hours tending larva and supergluing chrysalises to the undersides of leaves only to have to schedule and carry out these black ops-type releases of endangered species so that butterfly hunters don't descend on the release sites and net all the carefully raised butterflies.

It's exhausting, but oh, what a ride.

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Book blogging: Coraline

Coraline by Gaiman-N

My review

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a fantastically creepy book! Short enough to be read in a single day - practically in a single sitting, this book will transport you to a world where nothing is what it seems. Coraline stumbles upon the deceptively familiar "other" world and soon finds herself in a desperate scramble to save herself, her parents and the lost children from the malicious "other mother" with the black button eyes. Helping her is a surly black cat, who can talk in the other world, and the lost children - shades of children previously snatched by the bedlam - who lead her to find their souls.

Gaiman outdoes himself again. The imagery he conjures up is so vivid you'll be sure there's an other world on the other side of your closet door. And then, just when you think it's all over, the worst is yet to come! The final chapter is so intensely creepy, it just may keep you up nights.

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Book Blogging: Paul of Dune

Paul of Dune by Brian Herbert

My review

Rating: 3 of 5 stars

The teenage me would have loved this book. She would have hung on every prophetic pronouncement from Paul Muad-Dib's lips. She would have found it all so *meaningful* and fraught with symbolism . . .

The adult me thinks, "Meh." I didn't even finish it. It was OK, but it was a filler, something I was reading because I didn't have anything better to read. Then my friend gifted me with something much more interesting. Dune is due back tomorrow. Hopefully there is a teenage girl out there somewhere who will pick this up and keep the dream alive.

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Book blogging: Catching Fire

Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human by Richard W. Wrangham

My review

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another in a long line of interesting evolutionary theories that cannot possibly be tested or proven. Still, the author makes a compelling argument using all sorts of anecdotal evidence.

Conventional wisdom has it that man first began hunting and only later learned to use fire. Wrangham argues that just the opposite is true, and he bases his arguments mainly on logic and comparative analysis of modern man and great apes.

Favorite argument:
Without cooking, primitive man would not have had time to hunt, gather and eat.

Evidence offered:
Chimpanzees spend 70% of their waking hours chewing, simply so that the rough vegetation they eat will be broken down enough so that their bodies will be able to extract sufficient nutrition. Adult humans spend only 5% of their waking time chewing their food.

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Book blogging: Interworld

Interworld by Neil Gaiman

My review

Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Unlimited universes and a multitude of Joey Harkers who walk between worlds and fight to defend the multiverse from the magical villains of Hex and the scientific goons of the Binary . . . it all makes for a truly bizarre yet unusual story.

Favorite character: Hue.


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Book Blogging: The Omnivore's Dilemma

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

My review

Rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read Pollan's In Defense of Food a while back and instantly fell in love. I knew the minute I finished it, I had to find The Omnivore's Dilemma and devour it too. It was an intriguing concept, but I'll admit it wasn't really the book I thought it was going to be. I don't know what I thought it would be about, but the idea of following three meals from the farm to the table (or driver's seat as it were) was captivating. Not to be horribly cliche, but it really made me think.

Of course, some of my childhood was spent on a farm, and many of my earliest memories revolve around slaughtering animals for food (annual chicken slaughtering day, anyone?), so I'm probably more aware than many Americans of the origins of our food. Even so, the sections on industrially farmed corn and factory-raised beef were eye opening. Even moreso was the section on "industrial organic," or organic farming on a large scale a la Eggland's Best and Horizon Dairy. I'll admit I have bought industrial organic in the past and patted myself on the back for being "green" or environmentally conscious or whatever you want to call it. However, since reading this book, I've been more aware of the truly alternative option: buying local. I'm currently loving our local farmer's market, and I'm making an effort to buy more local vegetables and meats along with handicrafts and other fun farmers market finds.

The Omnivore's Dilemma will not necessarily radicalize the way you go about feeding yourself and your family. However, if each reader finds him or herself just a little bit more aware of how our food choices affect the world around us, we will probably all be better off for it in the end.

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In which I transcribe the girl's Star Wars story

Ocne upon time there was a jedi and a priss

• Once upon a time there was a Jedi and a princess.

there name wur Luke and Laya

• Their names were Luke and Leia.

there dads name was anakin and there moms name was saje

• Their dad's name was Anakin, and their mom's name was Sage - Sage is the girl's teacher at school.

But the evll henae wotoo to rveje on the jedi

• But the evil Henna - Henna is the villain in the movie, Barbie: Mariposa - wanted revenge on the Jedi.

Luke and anakin hav lisaveres

• Luke and Anakin have light sabers.
  

Laya is a fidee priss sow is her mom

• Leia is a fighting princess, and so is her mom.
  

the evll henae had a pllen

• The evil Henna had a plan.
  

she well tere anakin to the docsid and she did and she put honsolo in the covnit and she cachd Laya and she gav her to jodo

• She will turn Anakin to the dark side, and she did. And she put Han Solo in the carbonite, and she caught Leia and gave her to Jaba.
  

jodo mad her a serevit and she didi no wat to doo with Luke

• Jaba made her a servant; and she did not know what to do with Luke.
  

Luke wet atere hon Laya and anakin

• Luke went after Han, Leia and Anakin.

There are pictures and everything. I'm thinking of getting it scanned into the computer somehow. Must save this one for the ages.

Book blogging

Diving into Darkness: A True Story of Death and Survival by Phillip Finch

My review

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don't think I have it in me to ever even consider a hobby such as cave diving - not even casually. Finch takes the reader deep (really deep) into the dark underwater world of breathing regulators, drysuits, gas mixtures and guidelines to tell the story to two men, Dan and Dave, who have planned an ambitious dive deep into the belly of Africa to rescue the remains of a fellow diver lost years before. From the outset the reader knows that someone dies and someone will be caught up in an epic struggle to make it out alive - but Finch does a pretty decent job of maintaining the suspense. Even though I had pretty much figured out who it would be, I was still anxious to know the details, and was astonished to find that the climax of the story was not, in fact the end. Finch kept me engaged right up to the very last page. Five stars with no reservations.

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Book blogging

Deeper by Roderick Gordon

My review

Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Good, but not as good as Tunnels. I felt like the author was beating me over the head with a couple of the storylines in this one (yeah, ok, I GET IT ALREADY), and that this book could have easily lost a hundred pages or so in editing.

There's a third in the works, and I hear there are movie talks as well. Figures.

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Book blogging

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

My review

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Like Hosseini's first book, A Thousand Splendid Suns is set in Afghanistan and covers several decades of history. It is the story of two women who have the misfortune to end up married to the same man. Theirs is a struggle to survive a life with a man who would rather they exist solely for him within the walls of their home in a country where women are literally bottom of the barrel of importance. It is astonishing and gut wrenching. Hosseini has proved that lightning can indeed strike the same place twice; I'll read anything this guy writes in the future.

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Book blogging

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

My review

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

This story of a boy growing up in Kabul - back when Afghanistan wasn't synonymous with religious extremism - is beautifully written and achingly real. It is the story of a rich, privileged boy (Amir) and a poor servant boy (Hassan) whose real or imagined friendship (depends on who you ask) carries them through childhood until both of their lives are irreversibly tainted by evil.

And then the Russians come.

Years later, Amir - now living in America - receives a call from Pakistan. An old friend of the family tells him, "There is a way to be good again," and draws him back to his childhood home. He barely recognizes the land of his birth, but the chance to finally find a measure of relief from the guilt he has carried around most of his life is undeniable.

Unlike novels of lesser caliber, The Kite Runner never reveals its secrets before Hosseini is ready. The last hundred pages or so are filled with revelations and back-to-back shocks and surprises. In retrospect, the foreshadowing of many events was apparent, but at no point does Hosseini bang the reader over the head with it. There is a quiet morality within this heartbreaking tale, and the reader is well expected to find it without help.

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Book blogging

Distress by Greg Egan

My review

Rating: 2 of 5 stars
Meh.


By the end I had a hard time mustering up the interest to continue reading. The "Aleph moment" did not capture my fancy and all the talk of Distress and the mixing plague was so much blather.

I should have stopped reading days ago, but I hadn't been to the library, and didn't have anything else to read.

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Book blogging

Sorry - just one more today, then I swear I'm done. For a while anyway.

The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why by Amanda Ripley

My review

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Who survives when a disaster strikes? People who don't freak out for too long, that's who. Can you increase your chances of survival? Yes - and Amanda Ripley will teach you how.

If for no other reason, read this for the story of the people who made it out of the towers on 9/11. Good stuff.

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Book blogging

Virgin: The Untouched History by Hanne Blank

My review

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

A non-voyeuristic history of virginity from the earliest civilizations to modern times. What does it mean to be a virgin? Has it always meant the same thing? What is the value of this *thing* we call virginity? Questions all considered and addressed by Blank in a straightforward, unapologetic manner.

But if you're squeamish at all about things *down there,* avoid this one.


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Book blogging

In His Sights: A True Story of Love and Obsession by Kate Brennan

My review

Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Kate Brennan is an alias, a precaution made necessary by the fact that this book's author is the victim of stalking, and her stalker is still at large. The story is horrifyingly true, and knowing this makes her honesty all the more breathtaking. Brennan reaches back nearly two decades to the time when she first met Paul, the man who will later become her hunter. He seems so normal - superficially - but as the months and years go by the reader takes up a role normally played by the audience in a horror movie. "Don't listen to him!" You will want to shout; "Just walk away!" But, as in any horror movie, the heroine can't hear; these scenes have already been played out.

Brennan humanizes the victim of domestic abuse and stalking. No longer can you afford the luxury of thinking that a woman who stays in an abusive relationship is foolish or weak or any of the other pejorative labels we apply to such women. She is strong, professional and capable of shouldering her own weight in the world - yet she still gets taken in by the predator. Her journey gives us insight into the mind of such an animal and gives hope to those in similar shoes. Definitely worth the read.

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Book blogging

The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our Health and Well-being by Nena Baker

My review

Rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm scared. I feel like I never want to buy anything ever again. While I'm at it, I'll try to stop eating and breathing and doing all the other mundane things I do every day that invite toxins into my body.

I don't mean to imply that Baker was inciting people to panic or that her writing was unduly alarmist. She was just absolutely thorough and detailed. She pulled no punches and airbrushed nothing. In the end, the picture was devastatingly clear.

Ok, so I can't completely remove myself from modern society. What *can* I do? Stop buying microwave popcorn, that's a start. And my non-stick cookware has been shoved aside in favor of some shiny new stainless steel. But it would be absolutely fabulous if the government could be convinced that petrochemical companies who create possible toxins should not be allowed to flood the environment with their chemicals without first proving that they are not harmful.


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Book blogging

The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: How Characters of Fiction, Myth, Legends, Television, and Movies Have Shaped Our Society, Changed Our Behavior, and Set the Course of History by Allan Lazar

My review

Rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is one to keep out where it is easily accessible and can be picked up whenever a few spare moments present themselves. I like that I can bounce around - picking and choosing which influential characters I'd like to read about rather than reading cover to cover. And, any book that includes Buffy the Vampire Slayer as one of the most influential characters in history is tops in my opinion.


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Book blogging

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

My review

Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Sedaris has an enjoyable writing style, and I guess if we all carried around notebooks and made note of the minutia of our every day lives then many of us could churn out columns of similar interest.


But in the end it gets a little tiresome.


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Merry Christmas Break!

Welcome to day two of Christmas break. The last week of school was chaotic and kind of pointless, but we did have a pretty rockin' winter program on Friday. My students sang, I'm Gettin Nuttin' for Christmas and pretty much knocked it out of the park. I was so proud of them.

Before the program we had our Christmas party. I had a parent volunteer to host it for me, and she did an AMAZING job. I was absolutely gobsmacked by the time and effort she must have put into it. Of course, she kept saying that it was nothing special, but you should have seen it. The kids had several crafts to do and a game to play - it went swimmingly.

I'm pretty much ready for Christmas now. I finished most of my shopping yesterday (one last thing to pick up today) and got everything wrapped. It was not a relaxing start to my holiday, but at least it's behind me.

I'm making a point of NOT going in to school until after Christmas. There are things I could do there, but I'm just not doing it. An actual break from work - that's what I need right now.

Oh, and I'm finally healthy (mostly anyway). It's only been forever.

Book blogging

The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America by Lorri Glover

My review

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

What to most of us know about the history of English America during the colonial period? Not much, that's what. In fact, many of us don't know much beyond what Disney's Pocahontas taught us - most of it flat out wrong. So this book is an absolute eye opener. The astonishing saga of the Sea Venture - being caught up in a hurricane and wrecking off the coast of the Bahamas - juxtaposed against the horrors of the "starving times" in the Jamestown settlement was almost poetic. Glover has taken a spotlight and illuminated one of the darkest corners of American history. A fantastic read.


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