Send, by David Shipley and Will Schwalbe

While I wouldn't exactly rave about this book, it was pretty educational. Since it was all about emails, I wish I could have used this when I was giving my second ever Toastmaster speech, which was about how people communicate with each other through letters, phones and email. Oh well, I still learned a lot from this book.

I love using email. It's about the most convenient way that I can connect with people I've never even met but know that I like. But like anything, emailing has it's upsides and it's downsides. This book answers questions like, when is it appropriate to email and when is it be more appropriate to use other modes of communication? What should you include in an email and what should you not include? Do you understand your relationship with the person you're sending an email to or do you not? Is it possible that instead of replying, silence would be a better response?

Email has been with us for around a dozen years, yet there are still many things that one can learn about it. In any case, I think this book will make you think twice about hitting Send.

Reincarnation, by Suzanne Weyn

Well, it seems that I caved and read this whole book quickly, even though I promised myself I'd take it slower than I usually take books like this. But it was incredible, I tell you. What else would I expect from the "Treasure Trove?" ^_^ Suzanne Weyn... what a story-teller she is! Besides the awesome story and characters, I was astonished by the way she came up with all the words to describe everything, because you just want to keep the pages turning. The worlds that she created seemed so real, and I liked how the chapters were all organized.

It's kind of more like a collection of stories, because all the characters and settings are completely different, but there is something that connects everything and keeps one central plot. To get the book, you have to believe that reincarnation is real, i.e., when people die they are born again and live new lives, but an unconscious part of them has some memories of past lives that plays a part in their present life. That is what happens here, to all the characters. From the days of cavemen, or prehistory, to ancient Egypt and Greece in years ending in BC, to Massachusetts witch trials and Civil War battlefields, all the way to the present day. It's just the same characters playing over and over again, but in a slightly new way every time.

Every story has a few things in common. There's of course the romantic interest, a boy and girl who share true love and are destined for each other. Then there's the guy who wants to marry the girl, but he can never have her because he's a big jerk. Also there's a scheming girl who loves Jerk guy and doesn't see why Lover girl doesn't like him. Schemer girl could settle with Lover boy, and she tries that, but it never works out. Emeralds play a big part in each reincarnation, since in the very beginning Lover girl and Lover boy fought over a big green rock and wanted it for themselves. You know, because early humans loved shiny things.

With each new story, it was fascinating for me to spot each reference to a past life that the characters carried on in their next life, like an innate skill or a weird handicap, and somehow each character's situation in life seemed the same. It's pretty mind-blowing, because no matter who they are, the two lovers keep meeting up with each other and they have no idea why they feel so comfortable with each other, but pictures keep coming into their mind about how they loved each other in past lives, and they just... recognize each other. Crazy, I know. Circumstances keep forcing them apart, but in the very end they get together and are finally assured that nothing can separate them.

Sorry if this review was all vague and confusing, but I don't know how else to share it. Names aren't important, and there's really no point in going over every single story in each time. There are so many connections and coincidences that it's all one big sticky web. But just trust me on this one. Reincarnation is awesome! I have no doubt that Suzanne Weyn's other books are just as good as this, and I can't wait to read them. I probably need to take a little break after this healthy dose of fiction, though. I want to be as good an author as Weyn is, so I need to get to work.

Dean and Me, by Jerry Lewis

Well, this was definitely an awesome read. I learned so much from it, so I'm glad I listened to Annette when she recommended it to me. It's not what I usually read, but the story was amazing. These two guys, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, are one of my favorite comedy teams of old, and now that I've read the story behind their beginnings and successes, I respect them all the more. I think everyone should read their story.

Okay, who am I talking about here? Who are these guys, Jerry and Dean? Well, Jerry Lewis is pretty much the king of comedy. He's been in scores of funny movies that he also usually directs and writes, including "Rock-a-Bye Baby," "The Nutty Professor," and "The Disorderly Orderly," and so many more. Those are just some of my favorites. Jerry is one of the comedians my younger brother, Adam, idolizes. His face is made of rubber, he talks like a little kid, and nearly everything he does makes you want to laugh. Dean Martin is also a really funny guy. He was in many movies himself, though I haven't seen many of those. He's more famous for starring in "The Dean Martin Variety Show," which was full of hilarious skits and guest stars, and for being a prominent member of the Rat Pack, a group of handsome crooners that also included Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr, among others.

Jerry wrote this book (Dean was dead by then), so it was all from his point of view. It tells of how he and Dean became such close partners in comedy. They made the perfect team. Dean Martin was the handsome crooner, the straight man, but he still had a very sharp sense of humor. Jerry Lewis was the crazy guy, the monkey, the one who made funny faces and pratfalls. He was like a little kid, and Dean was the older brother he never had. And boy, when these two got together, they caused pandemonium. Everyone loved them! What seemed to separate this comedy team from all the others is that these guys were so spontaneous, they were ready for anything. No matter what the other one did, none of them ever missed a beat. And they loved what they did, which was go on a stage and make people laugh.

I learned so many things about Martin and Lewis in this book. For example, when the two of them met for the first time in 1945, Dean was about 28 and Jerry was only 19. 19 years old! I couldn't believe it... plus Jerry was already married and had a kid on the way! Such a young guy. Anyway, these guys became really close friends and they did shows, movies and all kinds of events together. Man, Jerry told such awesome stories about Dean and his speedy rise to fame.

Unfortunately, their partnership couldn't last forever. When they got reviewed in the newspapers, most of what was written was about how funny Jerry was, with Dean rarely getting any credit. In later years there was a lot of tension between them. They broke up after 10 years in 1956 and never really saw each other after that. They lived their own lives and became super famous in their own right, as I mentioned near the beginning. It's really a touching collection of stories and memories that is in this book. Everyone should know this team's tale, even if they've never hear of Martin or Lewis before. You'll laugh and think about life in showbiz several decades ago, and then when you get curious enough to find out who these guys really are, they have a ton of movies (17 of them!) and collections of their TV shows, plus there's any number of clips you can see of them on YouTube.

Here is a clip I found that demonstrates Dean and Jerry's partnership perfectly. You'll love these guys. ^_^

Book News #3

Since I went to the library yesterday, I thought it would be a good time to post some more book news. We checked out a ton of DVDs, but also plenty of books. Before I get into that, I want to say that since The Compound, I've kind of decided to give reading fiction a bit of a break, and I'll be reviewing more non-fiction type books.

Currently I'm reading Dean and Me, which is a biography that Jerry Lewis, one of my favorite comedians, wrote about his years working with his straight man partner, Dean Martin, before they broke up. I'm pretty much halfway through, and it's really great so far. My sister and dad said I just had to read this as soon as I was done with all my fantasy reads, so I did. You won't have to wait too long for a review of this. ^_^

Once again in a library visit, I tackled a graphic novel in one sitting. It was the second Alex Rider book, and I think it's amazing that I was able to find it so soon after the first one! I wonder if I'll be so lucky to find the third graphic novel... I kind of doubt it. But anyway, this book was just as exciting as the one before it. It was very fun to pass my time in the library reading through Alex's adventure. It was interesting to me when he got his hair cut for the mission. He looked so different! But cool. The villain was really creepy, you just hate him. So weird how he cloned himself... the ending is quite a twist too.

Okay, now I'll get to the books we checked out that I'm very likely going to read in the near future. After the Martin & Lewis book, I'm not sure what I'll read. Annette has other non-fiction books recommended for me that I want to get to, but she decided to check this book out for herself. Since she and I have developed semi-different reading tastes, I don't know how she picks books. Random, I guess. =P Well, it's called Send, and it seems to be all about the subject of emailing, which I think is very interesting. Who knows? Maybe I'll get to it next.

Okay, now this book was NOT checked out for a bit of light reading. In fact, it's quite serious. It's a how-to book on how to use the computer program Macromedia Dreamweaver 8. All part of Annette and my digital education. We've gone through these type of books before, for learning Flash or Photoshop or how to write PHP code. We think of it like a 90-day college course. I'm not sure when this class will start for us, but if I happen to pick up some really cool tips from it, I'll try to share them with you. Or I'll just give a status update of how far we are into it.

This last book I checked out for myself. I've had my eye on it for a while on what I call the "Treasure Trove shelf". I probably won't get to it for a long time, but it makes me feel good just to have this kind of book nearby. I'll try to make this one last. Reincarnation, by Suzanne Weyn. I've never heard of her, but she seems to have written a couple interesting books. This opinion is purely based on the synopses on the inside covers, you understand. From what I gather, this one seems to be about a boy and a girl who keep running into each other through reincarnation. They never recognize each other in their different lives, but they feel the same strange attraction. I don't know anything beyond that, but I have a strong feeling that this one will be a keeper. ^_^

Before I wrap this book news post up, I'd like to add that I am also currently reading a manuscript that my awesome friend Graham Bradley is letting me read and critique, Ghost Machines. I've read a couple other of his books, which were simply awesome, and I do believe he has a non-fiction book that is in the process of being published. ^_^ So lucky of him! Anyway, I haven't gotten that far, just 3 or so chapters, but I still think it's quite good. I only read it in my spare time though, so I don't know how quickly I'll finish it. I'll definitely be sure to let Graham know as soon as I do! ^_~

The Compound, by S. A. Bodeen

Wow. Okay, this was one eye-opener of a book. Recommended to me by Dave and the Lateiner Gang (here's their review of it), I read through it very quickly, just in a matter of 2 days, and I loved every page of it. The story was so intense! It was one of those novels that absolutely sucked you in and wouldn't let you go until you were done, even when you took a break from reading it. All I wanted to do was find out what happened next!

Basically it's about a rich family who goes underground as soon as a nuclear bomb apparently strikes, and they hide in a luxurious Compound that the billionaire father designed. The only problem is that the Grandma and the main character's twin brother, Eddy, weren't able to get through in time, so the rest of the family is devastated. ~,~

The Compound is set not to open for 15 years, so Dad, Mom, Lexie, Terese and our main character Eli all have to make the best of their living conditions. There are many rooms, and enough supplies to last them the whole time. But after 6 long years of routine and simply surviving, 15 year old Eli does something that breaks his routine. He looks into the room intended for his perished twin, and finds a laptop computer that has an icon for the internet. He tries to keep it a secret, but later he discovers that when he goes near his dad's office, an internet signal picks up, and he has an IM conversation with someone who is logged in with Eddy's old username. Dad takes the laptop away after this, but Eli's mind is still blown. What other secrets could his father be keeping from him and his family?

This is pretty much the plot of the story. I don't think I should reveal any more, because the rest of it is too good. For example, as Dave pointed out, there is a mysterious "yellow room" in which the purpose is at first completely morbid and revolting to Eli. At first, I was shocked at the thought as well. It really turns ethics on it's head. But once inside, he discovers that the room's inhabitants are wonderful and worth protecting, deserving of as much love as his family. He knows that he absolutely must get everyone out of the Compound and learn the truth, before it's too late. I hope this brief synopsis has aroused your curiosity, because this is one book that deserves a read.

Shades of Grey, by Jasper Fforde

I've got to say, even though I haven't read a Jasper Fforde book in at least 2 years, I was able to pick up on his style once again, and I very well believe that this was the best novel I've read this month! Most of it is really world-building, but it was really incredible. Amazing how this all came from one person's imagination.

The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world of some sort, probably over 500 years ahead of today, or Something That Happened. In this world, all the people have, for some reason, evolved so that they're mostly colorblind except for one color. So whatever a person could see reflected their social rank. It's all a rather complicated government with rules for everything, and all centered around color. What job you can do, who you can marry, acceptable behavior. Everything runs on merits and feedback. If you get too many demerits and negative feedback, it means you're up for Reboot, which will set you apparently right. At twenty years of age, a citizen takes a test to see what color he can see, and his life is mapped out after that. Besides the people who can see color, there are a lot of people who don't, so they're referred to as Greys, who are lowest in the social hierarchy.

It's really hard to explain what happens in the story, but there were lots of things I liked about it. An entertaining aspect of this world is that everyone has a color for a last name, representing what color they can see, like our hero Eddie Russet. He's the son of a Swatchman, who is like a doctor in that world, only instead of giving people medicine, he shows them a certain shade of color and they get better. The places are also named after colors, it seems, such as East Carmine, Vermillion, and High Saffron. Another important thing is that night is a total mystery to people. Since everyone can see very little color, at night no one can see anything. Also, certain trees evolved so that they've become carnivorous. 0,o

By making the acquaintance of a feisty Grey named Jane, Eddie starts to question the ways of his world and wonder what exactly happened that led to the Something That happened. He does his best to solve the uncountable mysteries that start to pile up on him, but being curious makes one stand out, so he needs to be really careful about the sort of questions he asks people. Like I said, most of the book is dedicated to building up this world, but somewhere in the second half the story picked up, and then I couldn't turn the pages fast enough! Trust me, the ending is completely explosive, blows your mind. ^_^

The great thing is that at the end of the book it promises that a sequel and a sequel after that will be written very soon, so that means Jasper Fforde means this to be a trilogy. I absolutely can't wait until the next book comes out.

In the meantime, I'd like to add that I've started reading one of Fforde's other books, The Big Over Easy, to my brother Adam. So far he really likes it, which is quite awesome because the first time I tried reading it to him, he thought it was boring. But now that he's older, he can appreciate the humor and style of it. It's quite fun to read aloud. It'll probably take a long time, but I'll let you know if/when we finish this book.

Some Graphic Novels I've read

I love graphic novels, but usually I read them so fast and in one sitting, in the library or in the bookstore, that I doubt whether or not they should count in my book count or not. Well, last night I read a really cool graphic novel, so I decided that now would be as good a time as any to bring up some of the books I've read this year that I neglected to review.

First, there is Zot. I read this in my Borders, on the first Friday of the year, I believe. Well, it was a Friday. Anyway, I was attracted to the book right away, because of it's author, Scott McCloud. This guy has written a bunch of other books: Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics, and Making Comics. And guess what? All those books are written in a comic format! It's really cool to be learning about comics as you're reading them. So I read all of these a couple years ago, and when I saw this book, I quickly picked it up and read as much as I could before we had to leave. I couldn't finish it, unfortunately (I'll have to wait until we go back to Borders again), but here's what I picked up.

Zot is about 2 worlds. There's our Earth, where teenage girl Jenny (I think that's her name) lives, and then there's an alternate Earth, where there are flying cars and robots and world peace, where the boy nicknamed Zot lives. Even if he lives in an idyllic reality though, Zot's world has supervillains, and he's the hero who saves the day with his rocket boots and gadgets and boundless optimism. He never loses on his world. At the beginning of the book, I immediately think I'm missing something, because it's from Jenny's point of view, and it seemed as if they were already tentative boyfriend girlfriend, and she knew about his world, but she was missing him because he hadn't shown up for a while. But I kind of got up to speed, and there's cool saving the world fights, and Zot kind of realizes that on our Earth, he doesn't always win and stop the bad guy. Like I said, I'd have to read more to find out what happens, but I'm definitely going to pick this book up next chance I get.

It was probably sometime last week when I read this book, Dead High Yearbook. It was at the library, and I read it all in one shot. This graphic novel was... okay. Not something I'd rave about or recommend to everybody, but the stories were kind of good, and I really liked the artwork. See, I wouldn't be reading any graphic novel if I didn't like the look of it's artwork. This actually seemed to be a bunch of different styles, because it was by different artists. It was a collection of stories about the supernatural deaths of some high school students. It reminded me a little of the Twilight Zone or something. I wonder if there will be any other books like this in the future. I think it hinted at the end that there were more, but maybe those stories won't be told. I don't know. I don't need to get my hopes up.

Finally, the last book I want to talk about. I read this, too, at the library, in just one sitting. The art attracted me immediately, plus I remembered that a friend had once recommended the series to me. (Thanks Rainy! ^_~) It was a graphic novel adaptation of Alex Rider, Stormbreaker. Really a cool story. It takes place in England, and it's about this teen boy named Alex Rider, whose uncle is a secret agent, but Alex doesn't know it. One day the uncle is killed, and Alex finds out that all his life he's been trained to one day take his uncle's place. It's funny, because the first thing he says when he discovers the spy headquarters is, "Is this Hogwarts?" He gets all these gadgets and, predictably, uses them all in the course of the story to defeat the villain and his evil plot to take over the world.

In graphic novel form, I thought the story was really entertaining and funny. It was like when I read the graphic novel to the first Pendragon book, and found that I loved the series! Later I discovered that there are a couple graphic novels that come after this one, so I might find these and go through the first 3 books in the series that way. I don't know if I want to read the actual books. I might, but I won't count on it. There is also a movie of Stormbreaker, which I've posted a trailer to, but I'm really hesitant to watch it. Since it was a graphic novel, it was fun to notice all the scenes I'd read about when I saw them in the preview, but I've heard that the film actually isn't that good. It's a little too cartoony, and the believability of it flies out the window. It's an awesome story in book form, though not in a live action movie.

I'll try to be a lot better at reviewing the graphic novels I read in the future! I promise.

Coming up next, very soon: Shades of Grey, by Jasper Fforde.