1 Week - Thanks for Backing Us

After just a week and only a few posts, here's what we see:

Thanks for the support! We'll be doing our best to keep this site worth the time it takes to read. Let us know what kind of books you want us to find for you.

Still working on Adak tonight -- hint: it's written for a specific audience.

Transliterated

The Widow Ching-Pirate by Jorge Luis Borges
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A 2011 publication containing five shorts by Jorge Luis Borges, The Widow Ching-Pirate covers some of the author's most influential works. These translated stories come from two of his early 20th century works: Historia Universal de la Infamia and Ficciones . The current edition (translated by Andrew Hurley) includes "The Widow Ching-Pirate," "Monk Eastman, Purveyor of Iniquities," and "The Uncivil Teacher of Court Etiquette Kotsuke no Suke" from A Universal History of Iniquity, as well as "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" and "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" from Fictions.

The first three shorts tell the tales of historically infamous characters that we find in today's popular culture:

In "The Widow Ching-Pirate," Borges tells the tale of the 19th century lady-pirate who controlled a fleet of dangerous pirates in the Pacific. Ching Shih is portrayed as a pirate lord in Pirates of the Caribbean: At the World's End.

The author establishes New York's toughs as a unique class of thug in "Monk Eastman, Purveyor of Iniquities." Monk Eastman has his varied past told in this 1930's short and is the basis for Brendan Gleeson's character in Gangs of New York

The story of the revenge of the 47 Ronin is the third tale from this Penguin Mini Modern Classic. After their leader is compelled to perform Hara-Kiri, 47 samurai seek vengeance against "The Uncivil Teacher of Court Etiquette." This tale is a pop culture favorite and is the basis of 2013's 47 Ronin

The first of Borges' unique stories from Fictions is a thought-provoking first person narrative that should be read at least twice:

After discussing an epigram with the narrator, a man seeks out the source of the quote, revealing a discrepancy between two otherwise identical reference books. A previous discussion about base number systems (specifically duodecimal) with an acquaintance sparks an interest in Vol XI of an encyclopedia at his estate. Part magical realism, part conspiracy, "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" is an interesting, enjoyable, and highly recommended read.

A transliterator himself, Jorge Luis Borges writes a somewhat accusatory tale in "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote." Pointing at the disfigurement of an author's original work during transliteration, Borges speaks as a sort of peer-reviewer of a fictitious author.

This book brings together some seriously worthwhile reads from Borges. The great thing is that you can Google most of the stories to find and read them; no purchase necessary. 

View all my reviews

Author signing!

Yesterday, we went to a book signing by author Barry Jordan, Jr. at Books A Million, Potomac Mills. As expected, we had a great time meeting both Barry Jordan, Jr. and Sr., who are a couple of amicable family men. I had the added bonus of being able to explain to my son how stories and pictures go from being a person's idea to being a fun book.

We bought Barry Jordan, Jr's children's book Grandma! Can I Get a Dog? and had a lot of fun reading it on the way home, and then again after a much needed nap. The book is pretty silly (Grandma offers Boy some dog biscuits at the pet store) and has what all good children's books need: fun art. Thanks to the author and BAM for the event! We hope to see more from Mr Jordan!

//**If you want to go to events like this but don't know where to find them, goodreads.com has an event search, and Barnes & Noble frequently lists events at stores near you.

Here's the deal...

So, with a couple of posts up, it's time to tell you my game plan. I'm pumped to be doing this, and hope you will check back often to see the latest. Make sure to subscribe to avoid missing anything!

You can expect a few posts a week from me, and here is my list of some of the ones coming your way over the next couple of weeks, in order of ISBN and author's date of birth (not really):

• The Widow Ching-Pirate by Jorge Luis Borges
• As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
• Adak: The Rescue of Alfa Foxtrot 586 by Andrew C. A. Jampoler
• The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan
• The Ballad of a Small Player: A Novel by Lawrence Osborne (Early Review)
• The Pete the Cat series by James Dean & Eric Litwin - Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses and others (with help from my assistant reviewer)
• The Children's Hour of Holidays by Patty Smith (also with assistance from my boy)
• Some Mark Twain & a bunch of other stuff

Go ahead and get a head start reading so you can leave me some feedback! I hope you enjoy my reviews and choices, but if you don't, let me know what you want to see. Be reasonable - I'm not going to pick up a work that has had extensive study done on it;  i.e. The Analects or War and Peace. I just won't be able to do it justice here. I'm working on getting my full library up here on Library Thing.

As a general rule, if I happen to review a work primarily based on politics or religion, I will focus on quality, objectivity, and likelihood that you guys will find the book interesting, rather than my opinion of the content. Everything else is fair game. 

Enjoy!

Jason

"You can have it all in Barley Cross..."

Masters of the Fist by Edward P. Hughes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When reading, it is important to approach the work anticipating a certain mood. That is to say, if you watch Shaun of the Dead expecting a horror flick, you will be disappointed by its scare-factor. Masters of the Fist by Edward P. Hughes is an 80's science fiction novel that should be read much like you would watch Demolition Man today - without taking things too seriously.

I ran across a 1985 (or so) short about Barley Cross in a coverless edition from the Jerry Pournelle There Will Be War series, and enjoyed it enough to seek out the full 1989 novel. Set in post WWIII Ireland, Masters of the Fist is a fun read about the last remaining fertile man on the planet. The story moves along at a pace that will keep you interested, but not captivated. This novel is a good break from doing worthwhile things and will supply you with your daily dose of the creeps via the Lord of Barley Cross' incestuous efforts to repopulate the world. Here at Barley Cross, you'll find about 600 people with the same dad, a plane that blows itself up, plenty of poteen, a tank, a female bishop that isn't so priestly, and a girl with knock knees, among other interesting(?) things. My guess is you'll enjoy it. Unless you've got something better to do.

//**A side note: If you're looking to read a book, but not too pumped about paying $5 plus shipping for a book you might not keep, check out Paperback Swap. You list 10 paperbacks that you have and are willing to swap with other people, then pick what you want to read. Works well for older books that you might not find on eBooks or at the library.


View all my reviews

Numero Uno

Here it is: My first review! For this review, I chose to go outside the box by selecting this box of reference cards! I really love these and think that you will too!

The Photographic Card Deck of the Elements Flashcards: With Big Beautiful Photographs of All 118 Elements in the Periodic Table by Theodore Gray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A wealth of information in 126 cards, The Photographic Card Deck of the Elements is a necessity for any person that loves science. The front of each card contains its element's atomic number, atomic weight, atomic symbol and name, as well as beautiful imagery associated with the element. On the back of the card, you can find a plethora of valuable information from density and melting/boiling points to electron shells and atomic radius. Theodore Gray also includes interesting facts about each of the 118 elements, helping the reader to relate the atom to something a little bit more tangible. I would venture to say that you probably don't know much about neodymium, but Gray helps us understand why it is important to us -

"Discovered 1885 in Austria
Neodymium-iron-boron alloys are the basis for the most powerful permanent magnets, used in headphones, disk drives, and motors, and commonly known as neodymium magnets or rare earth magnets."

Without this element, your computer would not be able to store information for your use! These reference cards will be worth their weight in gold for any high school or college student and I highly recommend them for any person that loves to learn! The Photographic Card Deck of the Elements Flashcards: With Big Beautiful Photographs of All 118 Elements in the Periodic Table eliminates the time it takes to pile through books and webpages by placing relevant technical and usage information on easy and fun to read reference cards.

View all my reviews