Books I Read In 2010

1. 61 Hours: A Reacher Novel (Anthill: A Novel by Edward O. Wilson
2. Anthill: A Novel by Edward O. Wilson
3. Black Belt Librarians by Warren Graham
4. Children of the Dust Bowl by Jerry Stanley
5. Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles
6. Death Warmed Over: Funeral Food, Rituals, & Customs from Around the World by Lisa Rogak
7. Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big by Berkeley Breathed
8. Fear the Worst: A Thriller by Linwood Barclay
9. Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan
10. Happy Birthday or Whatever: Track Suits, Kim Chee, and Other Family Disasters by Annie Choi
11. Lightning by Dean Koontz
12. Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay
13. No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay
14. One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, No. 1) by Janet Evanovich (audio)
15. Passing for Thin: Losing Half My Weight and Finding My Self by Frances Kuffel
16. Peaks and Valleys: Making Good And Bad Times Work For You--At Work And In Life by Spencer Johnson
17. Plan B by Jonathan Tropper
18. Point Omega: A Novel by Don DeLillo
19. Postcards from a Dead Girl: A Novel (P.S.) by Kirk Farber
20. Quiet Mind: A Beginner's Guide to Meditation by Sharon Salzberg, Sakyong Mipham, Tulku Thondup, and Larry Rosenberg
21. Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye
22. Shallow Graves (A Location Scout Series) by Jeffery Deaver
23. The Bone Lady: Life as a Forensic Anthropologist by Mary H. Manheim
24. The Book of No by Susan Newman
25. The Husband by Dean Koontz
26. The Librarian's Book of Lists by George Eberhart
27. Thursday Next: First Among Sequels: A Thursday Next Novel by Jasper Fforde
28. Trouble Maker by Janet & Alex Evanovich
29. Two For The Dough by Janet Evanovich
30. What I'd Say to the Martians: And Other Veiled Threats by Jack Handey
31. What It Is by Lynda Barry
32. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
33. Written On The City: Graffiti Messages Worldwide by Axel Albin and Josh Kamler
34. You're Only Old Once! A Book for Obsolete Children by Theodor Geisel - Dr. Seuss

Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye

  A dying father haunted by the past, the untold truth of a tragic ship wreck on the Great Lakes and a son’s lifetime of resentment over his father’s withdrawal from the family are blended together in this excellent debut novel to create a story of family, forgiveness and undying love. Noah Torr returns home to help his sick father prepare the family cabin for winter only to discover that his father is actually dying. What follows is a torrent of emotions, memories and reconciliation interwoven with the tragic story of the Ragnarok, an ore ship, once proud but now resting at the bottom of Lake Superior. It forced me to look back at my relationship with my own father and wonder what stories followed him to the grave simply because I never asked to hear them. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Troublemaker Book 1: Alex Barnaby Series 3 by Janet Evanovich, Alex Evanvovich, and Joelle Jones

I recently started reading the Stephanie Plum series written by Janet Evanovich and have been enjoying them so when I saw this book on the shelf I thought, why not? Normally, I don’t read graphic novels, in fact this is my first. I found it easier to follow than I expected and while not a great story, it is enjoyable. I might of liked it better had I known more background on the characters. In order to get the background you would need to read “Metro Girl” and Motor Mouth” both by Janet Evanovich and written in a standard novel format. I would recommend this book if you are looking for a light read or something to read on your next plane ride.

 

 

While writing this, I was listening to "If You're a Bird" from "Experience Music: A TuneCore Pop Sampler" by The Scene Aesthetic

Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big (Storyopolis Books) by Berkeley Breathed

Yea, it’s a children’s book, so what. It is also one of the best kid’s books I’ve ever read. They didn’t have books like this when I was a kid. The illustrations are excellent and why wouldn’t they be, Berkeley Breathed is the creator of the Opus and Bloom County comic strips. On top of that is a good story with lessons in honesty, forgiveness, and family. Put down the Little Golden Books and read this to your kids, they will thank you for it.

 

While writing this, I was listening to "If It Ain't One Thing (It's Your Mother) (feat. Lauren Briant & Colt Ford)" from "Experience Music: A TuneCore Country Sampler" by Mud Digger

The Librarian's Book of Lists by George M. Eberhart

“After years spent editing American Libraries and the many editions of The Whole Library Handbook, George Eberhart has collected a raft of arcane librarian and amusing trivia for this endlessly browsable volume.” (http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=3139) That’s a direct quote from the American Library Association website and it pretty much sums up the book.

There is something for everybody who works in a library, public or academic from the clerks to the director.  I particularly enjoyed the “Seattle Books Examiner’s Top Twenty Things Librarians in Public Libraries Wish Patrons Knew or Did” and “The Swiss Army Librarian’s Top Ten Pet Peeves about Patrons”. But if you are looking for serious lists, try “Roy Tennant’s Top Ten Things Library Administrators Should Know about Technology” or “Fourteen Ways Public Libraries Are Good for the Country”.

 

 

While writing this, I was listening to "Cover Girl" from "Experience Music: A TuneCore Country Sampler" by Josh Gracin

What It Is by Lynda Barry

The cover of this book caught my eye as I was processing a book return. The cover resembled a school art project so I decided to check it out. I began reading it and was immediately confused. It was a collage of images and random words and I could not figure out the subject or meaning of any of it. It asked philosophical questions such as “Can you have thoughts without language?” and “What is the past made of?”. Interspersed throughout the book are pages which chronicle the author’s lifelong realization of their art and writing skills but even these pages are collages of words and images. As I continued to read, I became aware of the book’s purpose which is to teach creative writing skills. This made me realize that the first part of the book is designed to force you out of the box when it comes to thinking about writing. The last part of the book is a series of writing exercises which consists of basically making a list of something such as family cars you remember riding in throughout your life, picking one and answering a series of questions about it, pick another car, repeat. It also explains how to work through writer’s block in a very creative way which I would have thought would make writing more difficult but what do I know since I can barely come up with ideas for this blog. I would recommend this book to anyone, not just aspiring writers. It is beautifully illustrated and very rewarding to the reader who can persevere through the hodge-podge of images and words to make it to the end.

 

 

While writing this, I was listening to "The Understanding" from "Experience Music: A TuneCore Alternative Sampler" by Jones Street Station

Spoke to God today. He said he would pay his library fines but since he was 35-50 years behind on his work, it may have to wait until he gets things better organized.

Chipmunks movie tops library's list of 'hot' DVDs | hot, library, items - Top Stories - Colorado Springs Gazette, CO

Chipmunks movie tops library's list of 'hot' DVDs hot, library, items - Top Stories - Colorado Springs Gazette, CO

Passing for Thin: Losing Half My Weight and Finding My Self by Frances Kuffel

Frances Kuffel writes a detailed and moving story of her lifelong struggle with a compulsive eating disorder, food addiction and weight problems. From her childhood in Montana where she volunteered to wash dishes after dinner so she could eat the leftovers off the plates or hide food into her room, to her life as a literary agent in New York where she continued to eat uncontrollably until she was well over 300 lbs. While on a trip to Coney Island with friends, she is humiliated by a ride operator at the Cyclone who proclaims “Nope, It’ll never fit” and refuses to let her get on the ride. This is followed by one of her best friends, while drunk, belittling her in public about her size and weight. She eventually joins a 12 step program and begins a long struggle to change her eating habits and lose weight. With the help of sponsors and friends from the group, she gets down to the 160s but then struggles with her new body and learning how to act “thin”. No struggle is left uncovered as she chronicles her relationship with her family  who support her efforts but don’t understand why she can’t eat “normal” foods, she writes about dating for the first time since she was a teenager and details her confrontations with an employer who becomes threatened by her weight loss and makes her life at work difficult. Overall it is a very inspiring story as she overcomes these obstacles and learns to accept her new self.

There were some parts of the book that I found hard to read because I could relate to her story all too well. While I never remember eating the leftovers off of someone else’s plate, I had no problem raiding the fridge and stuffing as much food as possible into my mouth before someone noticed. At the age of 13, I weighed 155 lbs. and have been as heavy as 345. I know the humiliation of squeezing into an airplane seat, asking for a belt extender and seeing the person next to you cringe like fat is contagious and they will catch it if you touch them. I have been embarrassed by asking to be moved to a table in a restaurant because I couldn’t fit into the booth that every hostess invariably tries to seat me in. While I know what I should eat and how much to eat, everyday is a struggle and I will binge at the drop of a hat. I know I can eat just one cookie and be OK but if that bag is left sitting out and no one is looking, I’m eating the whole damn bag.

Even as I read this book and was inspired as well as reminded that there was a ray of hope out there for me, I was helping myself to 2nd and 3rd helpings of Thanksgiving leftovers. How’s that for irony. I have managed to drop weight over the last few years but I still have a good 100 lbs. or so to go before I get back to what I weighed at age 13. Christmas, along with all of its’ requisite holiday dinner parties, is looming straight ahead and hopefully I will emerge into the New Year with minimum damage and a new course plotted.

 

 

While writing this, I was listening to "Little Fly" from "Chamber Music Society" by Esperanza Spalding

The Husband by Dean Koontz

 

What would you do to get your wife back? Would you die for her? Would you kill for her?

Mitch Rafferty is faced with those very questions when his wife is kidnapped and the ransom  is $2 million. Only problem…Mitch is a gardener with very little money or assets.

Once again Dean Koontz has come up with an everyday character and placed him in an improbable situation. What follows is a thrill ride that you’ve been yanked into and can’t escape until it reaches the end. Dean Koontz has quickly become one of my favorite authors for this very reason.

Books I Read in 2010

 

The Bone Lady: Life as a Forensic Anthropologist by Mary H. Manheim      

 

 Quiet Mind: A Beginner's Guide to Meditation by Sharon Salzberg, Sakyong Mipham, Tulku Thondup, and Larry Rosenberg  

 

Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay   

 

Anthill: A Novel by Edward O. Wilson  

 

Thursday Next: First Among Sequels: A Thursday Next Novel by Jasper Fforde  

 

Shallow Graves (A Location Scout Series) by Jeffery Deaver  

 

Children of the Dust Bowl by Jerry Stanley  

 

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak  

 

Postcards from a Dead Girl: A Novel (P.S.) by Kirk Farber  

 

No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay  

 

What I'd Say to the Martians: And Other Veiled Threats by Jack Handey  

 

 Peaks and Valleys: Making Good And Bad Times Work For You--At Work And In Life by Spencer Johnson  

 

61 Hours: A Reacher Novel (Jack Reacher Novels) by Lee Child  

 

Point Omega: A Novel by Don DeLillo  

 

  The Book of No by Susan Newman  

 

Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles  

 

Lightning by Dean Koontz  

 

Fear the Worst: A Thriller by Linwood Barclay  

 

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan  

 

Happy Birthday or Whatever: Track Suits, Kim Chee, and Other Family Disasters by Annie Choi 

 

 Death Warmed Over: Funeral Food, Rituals, & Customs from Around the World by Lisa Rogak 

 

You're Only Old Once! A Book for Obsolete Children by Theodor Geisel - Dr. Seuss 

 

Plan B by Jonathan Tropper

 

 Written On The City: Graffiti Messages Worldwide by Axel Albin and Josh Kamler

 

One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, No. 1) by Janet Evanovich (audio)

 

The Husband by Dean Koontz

Last 10 Books I’ve Read

The Husband by Dean Koontz

 

One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, No. 1) by Janet Evanovich (Audio)

 

 

  Written On The City: Graffiti Messages Worldwide by Axel Albin and Josh Kamler

 

Plan B by Jonathan Tropper

 

  Death Warmed Over: Funeral Food, Rituals, & Customs from Around the World by Lisa Rogak    

 

You're Only Old Once! A Book for Obsolete Children by Theodor Geisel - Dr. Seuss  

 

 

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan

 

Happy Birthday or Whatever: Track Suits, Kim Chee, and Other Family Disasters by Annie Choi

 

Lightning by Dean Koontz

 

Fear the Worst: A Thriller by Linwood Barclay

DireSkates celebrates RFID installation at Library

YouTube - Distraxion

YouTube - Distraxion

Alma on Vimeo

Alma on Vimeo




Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.

61 Hours: A Reacher Novel (Jack Reacher Novels) by Lee Child

 

Wrong place, wrong time, right man.

This was the first book that I have read from the Lee Child’s “Jack Reacher” series. I was concerned about it being the 14th in the series but I was hooked early. This book is able to stand on its own, all the back story is given to the reader as needed. There are no references to events from previous books that aren’t explained almost immediately. I was a little confused by the ending but maybe all the books end this way. Sort of a Sopranos fade to black style ending but it didn’t lessen the experience of reading the book.

It opens with a bus load of retirees and Reacher being stranded by a snowstorm in a small South Dakota town. Mix in a abandoned military installation, motorcycle gangs, prison unrest, a drug lord and a few other mysterious or unsavory characters and you have a delightful blend of murder, mayhem and action. It was a fun read and has inspired me to add the rest of the series to my “To Read” list.

Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles

 

Imagine being stranded in an airport on the eve of your daughter’s wedding, you know, the one that you haven’t seen since she was little and it appears you may not get to see her again anytime soon. It’s your second and possibly last chance at a relationship with her. What would you do? You could complain to the nearest airline representative who is stuck in the same airport you are or you could write a letter of complaint to the corporate offices. Do you stick to the relative facts or do you provide some background so that the airline knows how important getting to this event on time is? Well, Benjamin R. Ford decided to write a letter and give all the details whether relevant or not. What follows is a 180 page dissertation/rant on life, love, happiness and dysfunctionality. It runs the gamut from humor and satire to somber and heartbreaking. Take this book on your next flight, you’ll need it.   

Who cares if the dogs are out!

I live in in a moderate size house on a cul-de-sac of 7 to 8 houses. Spread among these houses are at least 10 dogs. The next door neighbor has 2, his neighbor has 3, another has 2 and yet another has 2 or 3.  It’s springtime here in Colorado so we have opened our windows to air the house out. I have been sitting here for the last hour reading email, surfing the web and listening to every freakin’ dog on the block bark. They bark at every car they hear, every squirrel, every door slam, every bird and every other dog barking.

Yes, I know this is what dogs do and I don’t fault them for that. I’m pissed at their owners. My wife and I do not own a dog or any other pet and I really have nothing against dogs or their owners…except that most of the owners around here put their dogs outside and then go back into their houses and ignore them. They sit in their air-conditioning with the windows closed and are totally oblivious to the mayhem going on right outside their door. I feel if you own a dog, you should at least check on it ever so often or even bring it inside if it will not stop barking.

They call it a neighborhood for a reason. Other people live around you and you really should consider that.

Just sayin’

 

 

Today's music selection is "Whiskey in the Jar (Full Length Version)" from "Dedication - The Very Best of Thin Lizzy" by Thin Lizzy

Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp by Jerry Stanley

 

An excellent description of what the “Okie” children experienced as their families fled the Dust Bowl for the promise lands of California. Complete with pictures, it gives the reader a good sense of their plight to be accepted and educated in a land where they were discriminated against. They were denied an education until a local educator Leo Hart decided to build a school just for them. What follows is a heart warming story of a displaced community coming together to build the school from donated and scrap materials, including an airplane, and insuring that the children received a quality education. This book should be on the required reading list for all grades.

Shallow Graves (A Location Scout Mystery Series) by Jeffery Deaver

John Pellam and his partner, Marty, are scouting locations for a film in Cleary, a small town in upstate New York. The book turns formulaic from the beginning. Pellam and Marty are outsiders in a close knit community which does not trust them or like the interruption of their small town life. The scouts’ motor home is vandalized, someone is watching them for the woods, there’s a murder to be solved and plenty of cover up by the town authorities. Formulas aside, this was a quick read and a decent thriller. It would be a good book for your next plane trip.

Thursday Next: First Among Sequels: A Thursday Next Novel by Jasper Fforde

 

Thursday Next: First Among Sequels is one of the better installments of the Thursday Next series. While maintaining its British sci-fi/fantasy feel, it brings the story lines from the previous novels together and answers a lot of questions left open throughout the series. Although subtitled “First Among Sequels”, this ties up nicely enough to be the last installment of the series. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and highly recommend that if you decide to read it that you start with the first book, “The Eyre Affair” or you will be thoroughly lost but beyond that warning, I know you will enjoy the series. 

Anthill by E.O. Wilson

An extremely slow moving book with excruciating detail about coastal Alabama wildlife habitats mixed throughout with a thinly veiled conservation message. Even though we are introduced to the main character Raff at an early age, his character never seems to develop fully. The first part of the book spends more time on Raff’s parent’s background and the history of the Mobile social hierarchy than the main character himself. The middle part of the book is an extremely detailed explanation of the life cycle of an ant colony. Finally the last part of the book begins to build some excitement but sadly it is too little, too late. If I hadn’t been committed to writing this review, I would have put the book down after the first 100 pages.

Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay

A large corporation is paying off the town council, a local resident has been murdered and a family member has gone missing. Now David Harwood, a local journalist investigating the corporation is the main suspect in the crimes and is faced with the challenge of protecting his family, staying alive and clearing his name. Linwood Barclay has written a gripping thriller that will keep you hooked from beginning to end.

Quiet Mind: A Beginner's Guide to Meditation by Sharon Salzberg, Sakyong Mipham, Tulku Thondup, and Larry Rosenberg

Ironically I read this in one afternoon while installing Norton Anti-Virus on 3 separate computers. What better time  to be reading about meditation and relaxation. It is a very easy and informative book about Buddhist meditation. It explains 6 different types of meditation in very simple and easy to understand language without forcing Buddhist beliefs on the reader. Its’ main goal is to teach simple meditation techniques, period. It also came with a companion CD which I have not listened to yet nor have I practiced any of the techniques. But there is always tomorrow. 

The Bone Lady: Life as a Forensic Anthropologist by Mary H. Manheim

This is a very dry and unentertaining collection of cases. While it may be of interest to students of forensic anthropology, it does little to create interest or excitement for a lay person in search of a good story or mystery. Most chapters read like a field report and are laden down with scientific fact. If your are interested in the world of “Bones” as well as some entertainment value, I would recommend reading Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach instead.

Annual Recap of New Year Resolutions – 2009

I know this should be really titled “New Year Blah, Blah, Blahs” because no one really believes you will succeed in keeping your annual resolutions but I can’t just give up on believing that I can improve myself.

So with that said here is a recap of my 2009 resolutions:

1. Blog more – 50/50 success. I actually blogged less as far as my usual ramblings but I did add 2 new sub-blogs. Terry’s World: Book Page and Terry’s World: Reviews. Check them out if you are really bored.

2. Get healthier – I didn’t set any specific goals but I guess I did ok. I didn’t really lose weight but on the other hand I didn’t gain either. I sort of went up and down in the same 10-15 pound range. I improved my cholesterol levels as well as increased my vitamin D levels. That’s good enough for me.

3. Be more connected to others. – Another 50/50 situation. I gained more Facebook friends and reconnected with some high school friends as well as some great friends that I hadn’t talked to in years. But I also turned off my Facebook chat and MSN Messenger for extended periods of time. I tended to crave more “alone” time this year so I feel I became more withdrawn. I really need to work on this in 2010.

4. Continue to read. – Success. I didn’t set a specific number of items to read in 2009, I just decided to read at my own pace. To my surprise, I actually read 23 books over the last year. For a list, go to Books I Read In 2009.

5. Expand my artistic horizons. – Succeeded. I took a photography class in February and managed to take a few weekend trips for photo shoots. Check out my work at http://tgford.shutterfly.com/.

As for 2010 I intend to keep the goals I listed above but I have boiled them down into the following slogan:

 

BE POSITIVE – BE HEALTHY – BE ACTIVE

 

I know it’s a little vague and kitschy but it encompasses a lot of different ideas and goals and is open to interpretation. Feel free to use it if you like.

 

Currently Playing: "Ba Bump" from "Monkey Business" by Black Eyed Peas