"Lagoon" by Nnedi Okorafor

Publisher:London : Hodder & Stoughton, 2014.

ISBN:9781444762761

Characteristics:301 pages :,illustrations

Lagoon tells the story of the arrival of extraterrestrials on Earth in Lagos, Nigeria. It is interesting to note that unlike a lot of books and primarily all movies these aliens arrived in peace. In addition, it was nice to see another place on the Earth be featured as the primary location for contact (as opposed to the United States). 
According to the author of this book was written in response to her having seen the movie "District 9" and I assume her anger at how the aftermath of contact was portrayed:
"Thanks to the South African science-fiction film District 9 for both intriguing and pissing me off so much that I started daydreaming about what aliens would do in Nigeria. This novel was birthed from my anger at District 9, but it quickly became something else entirely."
This is an understandable reaction, because this movie was in my opinion essentially a commentary on the practise of Apartheid and the after effects which I'm sure are still being felt in Africa.
The author's take on what an alien first contact would be like is extremely refreshing, and unique. But it is unique not just because it is set in Lagos,  but also because of the realistic way in which the people react. Some panic, some turn to religion, the military gets involved, as well as celebrities, gangs, etc. All these facets are explored, and all are well considered.
The only minor issue I had with this book was the authors use of dialect when certain characters spoke. However, this was easily overcome after reading only one or two chapters, and in the end proved to be a great addition to the story as it gave it an authentic flavour.

"Being A Scot" by Sir Sean Connery & Murray Grigor

Publisher:London [England] : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2008.
ISBN: 9780297855408
Characteristics: 311 pages :,illustrations (chiefly color), portraits (some color) ;,27 cm

This was an extremely interesting book to read, that takes the reader on a journey through the life of Sir Sean Connery, from his beginning in Edinburgh where he delivered milk door-to-door to world wide fame as a celebrity.

With 93 films to his credit,  most people would recognize him as the original James Bond, but his acting credits are far more wide ranging than that.

But this book is much more than an autobiography "Being A Scot" is a portrait of what Scotland is really like, and looks at some of the famous achievements (and failures) that have graced it's history. In addition, Sir Sean Connery looks into the history of the country and examines why the Scottish people are the way they are. The history lesson itself was extremely interesting, and well written.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Scottish history.

"Red Sparrow" by Jason Matthews

Publisher:New York : Scribner, [2013]
Edition:First Scribner hardcover edition.
Copyright Date:©2013
ISBN: 9781501171574
General fiction M PBK
Characteristics: 434 pages ;,24 cm

This was without a doubt one of the better espionage novels I have read for quite some time. The  author is an retired CIA member, and this added a lot to the story as he was able to infuse the plot with lots of details that general author would not be able to do, even if they did a lot of research. This book is the first in a trilogy, and the next two books will be reviewed relatively soon.

The story is set in contemporary Russia, and revolves around a young ballet dancer (Dominika Egorova) who is in line for a position in the Bolshoi Ballet until an accident sidelines her career. She elects to become a intelligence operator, and is then sent to what is known as Sparrow school to become trained in the art of seduction. Upon graduation she is assigned to a CIA agent (Nathaniel Nash) who handles the biggest informer inside Russian intelligence.

President Putin even appears briefly in the novel in a couple of places, and I couldn't help but wonder if he's read the book, and if so what he thought about it. Not that I'm ever likely to find out.

This story is well crafted, very difficult to put down. I recommend it to anyone who considers themselves to be a fan of espionage novels and especially to fans of John le Carré.

Hollywood has recently released a movie adaption of this novel, and I am interested in seeing how they have handled the storyline, but at the same time quite apprehensive as they have a reputation for generally making a mess of things when they try to do this. Here's hoping the script writer, director, etc. actually read the book, and not just a back cover blurb.

"Making It Big in the Movies" by Richard "Jaws" Kiel (1939-2014)

Publisher:Reynolds & Hearn, Ltd. London
Copyright Date:©2002
ISBN: 9781903111901
Characteristics: 240 pages : illustrations, facsimiles, portraits ; 24 cm

This was a very unique look at a very unique actor. Richard Kiel played numerous parts in many movies that required a large person, but didn't reach worldwide fame until the James Bond movies "The Spy Who Loved Me", and "Moonraker". He is the only Bond villain to do a second movie (other repeating characters such as Blofeld were played by different actors).

Mr. Kiel definitely had a interesting life, he was a successful businessman, and was without a doubt a loving and supportive father. His life in Hollywood was unconventional, and at times rather sad as he was typecast into various roles due to his size; mistaken for other actors such as Andre the Giant (Princess Bride), Ted Cassidy (Lurch from the Addams Family), and others.

This books was written in a very easy to read style, and you learn a lot about the inner working of Hollywood, and the motion picture industry. Mr. Kiel also gives out a lot of good advice on how to survive life, in a not-so-fair world. All in all a very good auto-biography.

"21 Things You May Not Know About The Indian Act" by Bob Joseph

Publisher:Port Coquitlam, BC : Indigenous Relations Press, [2018]
Copyright Date:©2018
ISBN: 9780995266520
Characteristics: 189 pages.

This book is without a doubt one of the best books I've read with regard to Native Canadian affairs in many years. The way that the Native population of Canada was treated by the European colonists/invaders was deplorable, and unfortunately it's something that is still present and isn't likely to change in the near future unless major policy changes are made in the government (both federal and provincial).

When I did my Bachelor of Education degree a number of years ago  I chose Native Studies, as my minor (you weren't allowed to major in it) and even though I was immersed to a great extent in native history, and the effects of colonization, etc. The 21 things outlined in this book were for the most part new to me.

Being that my speciality in Education was Social Studies, I would have been one of the people that would have ben responsible for teaching this material. I firmly believe that if I had chosen to teach, and if this book had been available that it would have been one of my primary resources for formulating lessons and units around Native Studies.

In order to hopefully rectify this I have sent emails to the University of Alberta Faculty of Education as well as to my ex-professors in Native Studies recommending this book to them if they haven't already read it.

I sincerely hope that the author will continue with this topic and uncover more things we don't know, as I'm sure there are lots of them.

"Adulting: How to Become A Grown-up in 468 Easy(ish) Lessons" by Kelly Williams Brown

Publisher:New York : Grand Central Pub., 2013.
ISBN: 9781455516902
Characteristics: viii, 273 pages :,illustrations

I was extremely impressed by the wisdom of the advice given in this book. While it is intended primarily to be read by young women and girls, the vast majority of it is applicable to young men and boys as well. Come to think of it I know quite a few older women and men that could benefit from this advice as well.

The 468 steps Ms. Brown lists are all well thought out and very pertinent to today's society. I'm over twice Ms. Browns age, and I wish someone had written a book like this for when I was starting out as I made some blunders, and I'm sure I would have handled things much differently if I'd had access to what should be considered basic information.

In Alberta's high school curriculum a course known as Career And Life Management (CALM) is taught. This book would make a great resource for any teacher preparing lesson plans for this course. Of course minor changes would need to be made, as it is an American book and certain things that are applicable south of the 49th Parallel are different than up here, but they are minor changes.

The book takes you o a journey through such topics such as cooking, getting a job, dealing with money, getting along with people, love, families, and much more. This is definitely a book I'll be recommending to quite a few people.

Enjoy

"Think Like A Freak" by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Publisher: Toronto : HarperCollins, [2014]
Edition: First Canadian edition --.
Copyright Date: ©2014
ISBN: 9781443416511
Characteristics: xiii, 268 pages :,illustrations


This book is the third in the the Freakonomics series, and depending on whether you believe the authors or not may be the last. I never reviewed their first book "Freakonomics" as I'd read it a number of years ago before I started doing this reviewing thing, but I did review their second one "Superfreakonomics" in November 2017.

This book was also a delight to read, but it took a somewhat different approach that their previous two. In those books they essentially presented case studies of various things and then analyzed them based on the principals of microeconomics. This book however tells you how to approach new problems and analyze them from this perspective. As I mentioned above the authors sort of hint that this might be the last book in the series, but with all the weird stuff that goes on in the world, I hope it isn't. Their unique outlook on things is very different, and makes you think about what they have to say.

One of my favourite chapters was: "What do King Solomon and David Lee Roth Have in Common?" I'm not going to tell you what it is, but I'm pretty sure the answer will surprise you. The answer also makes me wish I'd taken some microeconomics courses in University.

Once again, just like in "Superfreakonomics" the chapters are relatively long so in order to grasp all that is being presented to you I would suggest you only read one chapter per day so that you have time to think about what they are saying.

Now that I've read this book I think it might be a good idea to reread "Freakonomics" just to remind myself what it was all about. I'll likely review it when I done, even though it will be published out of sequence.

"Colossus and the Crab" by D. F. Jones (1915-1981)

Published: New York: Berkley Pub. Corp
Year: 1977
ISBN: 0425034674
Other Physical Details: 219 p. ; 18 cm

The third and final book in the Colossus trilogy follows the events of the second book directly (whereas there was a multi-year gap between the events of the first and second). Dr. Charles Forbin is in contact with two representatives from Mars who are not as friendly as they seem. The character of Dr. Blake features quite prominantly in this book but oddly Cleo Forbin is barely mentioned at all, which I found to be a bit of a let down as her part figured highly in "The Fall of Colossus" and was what motivated Forbin to act the way he did.

The title of the book is somewhat misleading, until you get about halfway through and figure out what "the crab" is - no I won't tell you! I half expected the Martian visitors to be crab-like or something, but that was not the case.

Overall this book was an enjoyable read, and the storyline comes to a logical conclusion with no loose ends that I came across. I found Forbin's capitulation to the Martian visitors somewhat odd, as well as his change of heart and revolt as somewhat out of character as the solution that is presented at the end of the book should easily have been thought of earlier, and this would therefore have solved numerous problems.

"The Fall of Colossus" by D. F. Jones (1915-1981)

Published: New York: Berkley Pub. Corp
Year: 1975
ISBN: 9780425027608
Other Physical Details: 188 p. ; 18 cm

This novel is a continuation of the D. F. Jones' first instalment in the series entitle "Colossus", which was made into the movie "Colossus: The Forbin Project" and reviewed last week.

It takes place five years after the first novel, and by this time two of the character Charles & Cleo are married and have a child. Colossus during this time has grown, and essentially controls the world. There is no more disease, starvation, or war etc. The world is essentially at peace. Around Colossus a cult has arisen that essentially worships him or rather it as a god, and consequently Forbin as pseudo Pope.

The majority of the book revolves around the struggles Forbin has against Colossus, his personal Life, and how to make the two mesh. Another parallel storyline deals with an underground organization that wants to destroy Colossus and return the world to it's previous state as in their opinion there has been no creative thought in the world since the take over.

This book makes a good follow-up to the original, and even though it still has the general mindset prevalent in the mid-70's with regard to women's rights and other such things it is a good read.

"Colossus" by D. F. Jones (1915-1981)

Publisher: Berkley [United States]: 1976
Edition:Unabridged.
Characteristics:246 pages

I first read this book may years ago, and was fascinated by it and the implications that it mentioned. Since then, some 40 years later a lot of what is mentioned in this novel has come true although not with the sinister implications that the book foretold. Today humans rely on computers to a great extent, and when you consider that this book was written some 20 year before the internet came to be that is pretty good.

The book itself is a good story, and delves a fair bit into human psychology, emotions, etc. It is the first in a trilogy, and I'll be reviewing the other two books in the near future.

This book was made into a movie in 1970 starring Eric Braeden, Susan Clark & Gordon Pinsent. The director Joseph Sargent was quite true to the book, and captured a great deal of the suspense, which makes the movie worth watching as well. The movie is somewhat dated in it's attitudes towards women, etc. but this is the way things were done in the 70's so unless Hollywood decides to remake this movie were are forced to put up with it. This however, is not a plea for Hollywood to remake another movie - please get some original ideas!

While I have no evidence of this I would venture to guess that this book may likely have influenced some screen writers in Hollywood as shows like the Terminator franchise, West World (original movie and series), to name just a few have technology as one of the protagonists in a classic struggle with humankind.

"Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail" by Cheryl Strayed

Publisher:New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2012.
Edition:First edition.
ISBN:9780307592736
Characteristics: 315 pages :,map ;,25 cm

An amazing book that details the trials of a young woman who hikes the Pacific Crest Trail (Mojave, California to The Bridge of the Gods, Oregon) alone. It details the problems she had, what made her attempt such a trek--and win, and the people she met.

This book is written in a way that grips the reader, and forces them to keep turning those pages. From the first few right through to the end. You hike the trail with her through scorching heat, snow, rain, and in one case a whole lot of frogs. She met quite a few people, some bears, a deer, fox, and a few rattlesnakes but survived her ordeal and was a different person at the end.

This was an excellent read, and I would encourage anybody who is interested in hiking the Pacific Crest Trail to definitely read it before they leave, along with the various guide books on the trail: "The Pacific Crest Trail, Volume 1: California" & "The Pacific Crest Trail, Volume 2: Oregon and Washington". Come to think of it, I think it would be a good book for everyone to read, as it gives a person insight into a whole new world.

"Hunt for Red October" by Tom Clancy (1947-2013)

Publisher:Annapolis, Md. : Naval Institute Press, [1984]
Copyright Date:©1984
ISBN: 9780425240335
Characteristics: 387 pages ;,23 cm

This was Tom Clancey's first novel and as such was well written. He did an extensive amount of research, and developed an interesting plot that keeps the reader in suspense. For those people who have watched the movie, it is quite different as it seems to be typical that Hollywood feels the need to dumb things down for their audiences, as well as eliminate and change others things for no apparent reason.

With that being said this is really the only novel by this author that I have ever really enjoyed, as in later books he tends to get a little preachy on how wonderful the United States is. In this book that works well as it deals to defectors the United States, but in others of the series it simply gets to be too much.

The one thing that tended to irk me a fair bit in the book is that nowhere in it is Canada mentioned. Now considering that the majority of the action takes place off our Eastern coast you'd think that we would at least get a mention, but this doesn't happen. Mind you I wouldn't have expected the author to fabricate facts about our submarine fleet, as we don't really have one, but we could have been mentioned with regard to the Atlantic surface fleet. But, I guess you can't have everything, as I've seen American school textbooks, and Canada is primarily depicted as a barren wasteland north of the 49th parallel. Yes, I'll stop whining now!

"Dinosaurs of the Alberta Badlands" by Dr. W. Scott Persons IV

Publisher:Harbour Publishing, 2018
Edition:First edition
ISBN: 9781550178210
Pages: 144
Includes glossary, index

This book is a great introduction to the world of palaeontology for students, as well as their parents. Dr. Persons spent a great deal of time crafting the text to make it enjoyable to read, and I believe it will delight anybody who picks it up.

The book covers a wealth of topics in an easy to read format, with lots of illustrations (by Dr. Julius Csotonyi) and photographs which help to explain the various topics and concepts. Some of the topics covered include why Alberta is such a perfect place for palaeontology, how fossils are found, how the age of the fossils is determined, how evolution works, how fossils are safely extracted and prepared, and much more.

Interspersed throughout the book he also gives brief biographies of some of the palaeontologists that have worked with him in the Badlands and other parts of Alberta such as Drs. Philip Currie, Angelica Torices, Victoria Arbour, Eric Snively, Michael Burns, and Ryan McKellar. Readers also get to read about various dig sites and find out what is so special about them. Another section examines the various dinosaur species that were common, and are typically found in the Badlands, and other parts of Alberta.

This isn't a large book, but it would be a valuable one for any school library to have in their collection as todays elementary and junior high students are tomorrow's palaeontologists. The final section of the book details what a current students needs to know, and what's they'll need to specialize in if they want to be a palaeontologist.

"The It Girl and Me: A Novel of Clara Bow" by Laini Giles

Publisher:[United States] : Sepia Stories Publishing, [2017]
Edition:First edition.
Copyright Date:©2017
ISBN: 9780994734938
Characteristics: 430 pages

This is the second book from Edmonton's Laini Giles (the first being "The Forgotten Flapper"), and I have enjoyed them both. The thing I find hardest to grasp about these books is the amount of research that had to have gone into writing them.

The book is written from the perspective of Daisy DeVoe, Claira Bow's personal secretary, friend, and confidant and tells the tale of what it was like to live and work in Hollywood in the 1920's and 1930's. Daisy is I believe the perfect protagonist for this novel as you get to learn about all of Clara Bow's eccentricities through her. Her mother and three other members of her immediate family were all committed to instance asylums, her father chased virtually every skirt in Hollywood, and much more.

The story details the meeting, friendship, and sudden falling out between the two women when Clara's latest in a long line of paramours decides he wants to take over, run her life and to do this he has to get rid of Daisy. This is done, and Daisy ends up in jail, but she has a few tricks up her sleeve.

If the rest of the hollywood films stars of this era are as interesting to read about as these first two, then Laini will be writing for a long time.

"Pop Sculpture" by Tim Bruckner, Zach Oat & Ruben Procopio

Pop Sculpture: How to Create Action Figures and Collectable Statues
by Tim Bruckner, Zach Oat & Ruben Procopio

Publisher:New York : Watson-Guptill Publications, 2010.
ISBN: 9780823095223
Characteristics: vii, 272 pages :,illustrations (chiefly colour) ;,28 cm

This is an extremely well written book that gives the aspiring sculptor virtually all the information they need to begin turning out small figurines of action characters, and the like. It takes the artist through all the stages of production in great detail, with photographs of all the steps. In addition the authors detail all the equipment needed as well as alternative items that can be used instead, the various processes, and where to expect problems.

Pop Sculpture, however is not designed for the novice sculptor, but would make a valuable resource once they have gained sufficient experience to be able to complete a relatively detailed project. The book details the production of two statues The first of these is a statue of the Greek goddess Athena, and the second the Norse god Thor (an action figure). I wasn't able however to determine if either of these figures were actually produced for sale.

Finally the book gives an overview of what it takes to get into the sculpture business professionally.

An excellent book that is well worth the purchase price, if you are into sculpting these types of figures.

"Islands In the Sky" by Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008)

Author:  Clarke, Arthur C.
Published:  New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Year:  1952
Other Physical Details:  209 p. 22 cm

Once again I am forced to dip into my rather large library to review a book for this week, as I'm still working through the large one (but so far it's really worth it!).

This story is set in the not too distant future (which in 1952 terms likely meant 2001 or there about), still the story in fun to read, and read again. It may be difficult to find in print, but electronic copies are available.

The premise of "Islands in the Sky" is that Roy, a teenager wins a all expenses paid vacation to anywhere that a given company flies to, and he chooses to visit the Inner Station, which is a low earth orbiting satellite likely much like the International Space Station is for us. This is also where the space cadet train, and Roy has to not only learn how to live in null gravity, but interact with others quite a bit older than himself.

He also gets into some exciting adventures as expected, and this set his future course for him.

Islands in the Sky falls definitely into the category of juvenile fiction, and this is one of the places where Clarke excelled, along with Robert A. Heinlein and a number of others. To add to the flavour of the book, Arthur C. Clarke was the scientist credited with inventing the concept of the communications satellite. Today our whole world owes him a debt of gratitude, after all can you imagine what our world would be like today without satellites and what they give us?

Enjoy!

"Space Doctor" by Lee Correy (G. Harry Stine 1928-1997)

ISBN: 9780345292636
Edition Language: English
Mass Market Paperback, 245 pages
Published June 1981 by Del Rey

I'm partway through a rather large book right now so I dipped into my library to give this week's review. "Space Doctor" was written 38 years ago by Lee Correy, a pseudonym of G. Harry Steine, and is a great novel in the same vein as the early works of Robert Heinlein (who was a good friend with Steine) & Arthur Clarke. It tells of an energy hungry Earth, and the design and construction of the first of a series of Solar Powered Satellites in geosynchronous orbit.

The book's main character Dr. Tom Noels is hired on to design and operate an orbital hospital which is one of many stipulations that the government insists on before the project can go ahead. But, there has never been a hospital in orbit before so Noels has to reinvent virtually every medical technique that he has been trained in because it all depended on gravity, which he was soon to be without.

The author examines a number of different aspects of both engineering and medicine (G. Harry Steine was an engineer, and model rocket pioneer) and forces the reader to rethink how relatively mundane tasks might have to be redesigned to work in orbit, and eventually on long term missions to other planets. As the title suggests the main focus is on orbital medicine, but a few other aspects of engineering creep in as well along with a good dose of humour.

The blurb on the book jacket was one of the things that originally drew me to the novel as I had never heard of Lee Correy, and I was not disappointed as the story is well written, with believable characters. The plot itself is well thought out and overall is an extremely good read. I had hoped that a sequel to this novel was forthcoming but none was ever written.

"Everyone is African: How Science Explodes the Myth of Race" by Daniel J. Fairbanks

Publisher:Amherst, New York : Prometheus Books, 2015.
ISBN: 9781633880184
Characteristics: 191 pages : ,illustrations ;,23 cm

Having taken quite a number of anthropology and biology courses during my university training, I already knew that racism as a constructed concept that was based on the supposed superiority of certain groups of people. Dr. Fairbanks however was not writing his book for me, but was doing so for the rather large percentage of the population that hasn't already grasped this concept.

Dr. Fairbanks goes into great detail, but in a very readable way that explores the genetic, historical, and various other aspects of racism and hopefully puts them to bed for good. His discussion of topics such as: What is Race, African Origins, Ancestry versus Race, Skin Colour, Diversity and Health and Intelligence, and finally the Perception of Race covers this topic in a thorough manner that really should convince even the diehards, and leave everyone more enlightened.

Unfortunately, as is typically the case when dealing with humans there will always be certain factions (primarily religious, or other insular group) that will refute his explanations. There is likely nothing that intelligent individuals can do about these types of people except pity them in their ignorance, and help them as best we can in doing simple tasks like wiping their noses.

Yes, I know the above sounds very condescending - it was meant to be. I have no tolerance for racism, and even though I was exposed to it rather frequently as a child, I try to combat it as best I can in my daily life. Hopefully I'm succeeding.

"God is Not Great" by Christopher Hitchens

Publisher:Toronto, Ont. : McClelland & Steward, [2007]
Copyright Date:©2007
ISBN: 9780771041433
Characteristics: 307 pages ;,25 cm

This book was extremely well written and researched, but when you consider that Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) was an award winning journalist then this is to be expected. In this book he took on the subject of religion, and defends the secular viewpoint with well chosen arguments, numerous facts that support his viewpoints with clarity and that are historically accurate.

Mr. Hitchens gives numerous example of how one religion has borrowed from another, and that one borrowed from earlier ones simply to perpetuate the belief system that they wanted people to subscribe to. He does not pull any punches, and this in itself makes the book worth reading.

With examples from history of how the Catholic church supported fascism, and assisted in smuggling members of the Nazi party out of Germany to South America (as well as supporting them in other ways, including such things as celebrating Hitler's birthday). He also goes into a lot of detail that looks at historical reports that expose the Islam, Judism, as well as others.

It doesn't matter whether you consider yourself to be religious or not. I believe that this book is one that everyone should read.

"One Brother Shy" by Terry Fallis

Publisher:Toronto : McClelland & Stewart, [2017]
Copyright Date:©2017
ISBN: 9780771050725
Characteristics: 394 pages

Mr. Fallis has done it again! His latest book is another great story.

Although "One Brother Shy" deals with the serious subject cyber-bullying as a sub-plot it is done in a way that makes it readable by all. The main story focuses on the search for a long lost sibling, and eventually a father as well, and this along with a good dose of hockey memorabilia rounds out a very enjoyable story.

I didn't find this book to be as funny as some of his earlier works but then again with a sub-plot of cyber bullying and the consequences of this it is somewhat difficult to make jokes. As always the characters are likeable, and very real. In some cases, such as Simone too real!

"The Female Eunuch" by Germaine Greer

Publisher:New York : HarperCollins, 2008.
Edition:First Harper Perennial modern classics edition.
Copyright Date:©2006
ISBN: 9780061579530

I had been meaning to read this book for some time, but never quite got around to it. I finally took the plunge a couple of weeks ago and was very sorry that I'd waited so long, as it definitely is one of the most important (if not the most important) books on feminism to ever be written.

Even though it has been 48 years since it was originally published the information in it is still as relevant as it was back then. Dr. Greer's examination of the way women have been, and still are treated and oppressed forms an important historical record for all of humanity.

Some of the references may be considered by modern readers to be very dated. But when the facts presented are examined in a modern context it will easily be seen that very little has changed to any appreciable degree in today's world. In most cases it is just harder in some instances to see the oppression as the oppressors have become more skilled at hiding it, and people today have become so used to it that they tend ignore it.

This is a book that everyone should read - especially by men!

"Every Day is an Atheist Holiday!" by Penn Jillette

Publisher:New York : Blue Rider Press, [2012]
Copyright Date:©2012
ISBN:9780399161568
Characteristics: 285 pages :,illustrations, portraits ;,24 cm

This is Penn Jillettes second book dealing with atheism, and it's even better than "God, No!" which I wrote about couple of weeks ago. In this book he isn't constrained by the idea of rewriting the christian ten commandments, and instead follows the idea of the various christian holidays. What results is a free-flow of stories from throughout his life that both confirms his atheism, and gives a compelling case for it to be accepted throughout the world. One thing that struck me while reading both this book and his previous one is the extent to which Mr. Jillette's moral character has been aptly demonstrated pretty much throughout his life.

As you can tell by the publication date, this was written prior to the election of Donald Trump as president of the US. It is fairly safe to say that Mr. Jillette, has no use for Donald Trump and he gives good example of way as he was once a contestant on Trump's Celebrity Apprentice pseudo-reality show.

I would recommend that everyone read this book (but read God, No! first) and make up your own opinion. Mr. Jillette is a very talented writers, very funny, and has had a lot of strange things happen to him during his life, but they have all contributed to making him the man he is.

"52 More Things You Should Know About Palaeontology" by Alex Callum & Allard Martinius

Publisher:[Mahone Bay] Nova Scotia : Agile Libre, 2017.
ISBN: 9780987959478
0987959476
Characteristics: 135 pages :,illustrations, map.
Additional Contributors: Cullum, Alex 1969-
Martinius, Allard W. 1963-

The book as the title suggests is the second volume of a series of scientific papers that explain the world of palaeontology. As I wrote in my review of the first volume I came across these books by shear chance when I was looking for books about palaeontology for young people - a quest I'm still on by the way.

Once again in this volume we have 52 papers, but in this case they explore the science by going on a journey through time and looking at the animal kingdom and how palaeogeography has given people insight on what the world was like, and how these facts were discovered. In addition they deal with topics such as conservation, curation, laboratory work, and much more. All of the contributors to this volume are outstanding authors with the ability to explain difficult concepts in easy to understand terms.

Here's hoping the editors consider doing another 52 reasons!

As I mentioned before I work in the field of palaeontology myself and give tours of our lab at the University of Alberta (in Edmonton) to school groups and other visitors. It is a shame that the educational curriculum in Alberta doesn't support the teaching palaeontology past about 5th grade. Why this is I've never found out, even though I've asked numerous people in the profession. You would think that considering that Alberta has the riches fossil collections in Canada that this would be something to consider.

"God, No!" by Penn Jillette

Publisher:New York : Simon & Schuster, 2011.
Edition:First Simon & Schuster hc edition.
ISBN:9781451610369
Characteristics: xix, 231 pages ;,25 cm

I don't really remember my first introduction to the duo of Penn & Teller, but sometime after this I stumbled across their show "Penn & Teller: Bullshit" which is a good introduction for pretty much anybody to the skeptics view of the world as it is and how the worlds scam artists pull the wool over the eyes of the willing public by telling them what they want.

This book while it mentions their show and a other things that the duo has done over the years, is primarily focused on the opinions and life of Penn Jillette. I found the book itself to very interesting, not only has Mr. Jillette led an interesting life, but his outlook on that life is very concise and well thought out.

The book itself is based on a reworking of the christian ten commandments, and how they could be interpreted by an atheist. Mr. Teller's sense of humour is outstanding, and entertaining. Mr. Jillette is a confirmed family man, and as both this book and the show mentioned above demonstrate a defender of common sense. In the world as it is today the one thing that everybody needs is common sense, we have been living under an umbrella of superstition and pseudoscience for centuries, and it is time for all people in the world to give their collective heads a shake and open their eyes to what's really going on in this world.

"The Forgotten Flapper - A Novel of Olive Thomas" by Laini Giles

Publisher:[United States] : Sepia Stories Publishing, [2015]
Edition:First edition.
Copyright Date:©2015
ISBN: 9780994734907
Characteristics: 412 pages

This novel is a definite departure from the books I normally read and review, but I had been meaning to read it for quite some time as I thought I knew how much work Laini Giles put into writing it (she is a local author). I however sadly underestimated the scope of this work, as the research alone would likely be equivalent to what some students do for a Master's thesis. I'm not sure if she kept an account of the number of hours research she did, but I'm sure it is easily in the hundreds of hours. Laini wrote this novel in such a way that you can easily believe that this is Olive's actual auto-biography, and once you start it is an extremely difficult story to put down.

The novel itself examines and recounts the life of Olive Thomas one of the original silent movies stars from her childhood in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, her being chosen as the Most Beautiful Girl in New York City, her time in the Zeigfield Follies, her modelling career, her forays into directing and screen writing, through to her untimely death in 1920 in Neuilly-Our-Seine, France when she was 25. Woven throughout this is the life she lived being related by marriage to the Pickford clan which was tumultuous to say the least. We are also given glimpses of other famous actors and actresses such as W. C. Fields, Mary Pickford, Jack Pickford, to name but a few and how they interacted with Olive, and the rest of Hollywood.

Since 2015 Laini has released another book entitled "The IT Girl and Me" which tells of the life of Clara Bow, and is currently working on her third "Bathing Beauty" about Marie Prevost.

"Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson and "Black Sails" by Starz Entertainment Group

This book was written in 1883, and has been reviewed many times by many people because it such a great story. My reasons for reviewing it however are somewhat different. This is because I just finished watching the fourth and last season of the Starz series "Black Sails", which was written as a prequel to Treasure Island and introduces you to many of the story's main characters. So, I suppose I am actually reviewing both Black Sails and Treasure Island but I figure I can try and get away with it just this once.

Typically - in my humble opinion - it is very rare for Hollywood to come even close to what an author actually has written. Most times they seem to take pride in the fact that when they buy the rights to a book or story they can totally change it and keep nothing but maybe the character names or the title. But that is simply a pet peeve that I have and luckily for you it won't be something I'll dwell upon, as you do not want me to start ranting about how Disney has ruined so many stories.

But because this show is a prequel (some 20 years previous) to the book the directors and writers had a great deal of latitude in what they could do. When actually comparing "Black Sails" to the book that inspired it there was very little that they actually did change. The few changes they made were in rather insignificant places. One of the few differences that I was able to note between the two was that in the book Long John Silver lost his leg from the hip down, during an accident at sea. In the series he loses it below the knee, during a fight / or you could possibly say as punishment.

In other areas, the show did make a few changes to the way history actually played out, but once again these were relatively minor, and these changes, do not detract from the story in any way.

All in all, I found Black Sails to be an excellent series, and I sincerely hope that the Starz people will consider making a version of Treasure Island to conclude the storyline. Rumour has it that there are spin-offs being considered dealing with other characters as well.

I should note that the series is quite graphic, and there is a fair bit of what some consider vulgar language, but anybody who has ever been around any real sailors (or construction workers for that matter), will know this really is how they talk.

"Moranthology" by Caitlin Moran

Publisher:New York : Harper Perenial, [2012]
Edition:First U.S. edition.
Copyright Date:©2012
ISBN: 9780062258533
0062258532
Characteristics: xi, 237 pages ;,23 cm

This is Caitlin Moran's second book and it is just as delightful as the first (How To Be A Woman - 2011). In this book she writes about a great many topics, and also reveals a fair bit about her personal life, all of which are interesting.

Ms. Moran is a columnist for the Times in London, and was named columnist of the year by the British Press Awards in 2010, and Critic and Interviewer of the Year in 2011. What even more interesting is that she has been a journalist since she was 15.

Some of the topics she covers are her enjoyment of caffeine, Michael Jackson's memorial, her use of Skunk (a cross breed of Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica - thanks for this Urban Dictionary, as I didn't know. Okay, so I lead a sheltered life!). Her introduction to World of Warcraft, Dr. Who, Downton Abby, the fact that the original Ghostbusters is the greatest movie of all time (can't argue with that - the newest one sure failed IMHO). She also touches on such topics as the Burqa controversy, chivalry, trolls, children's  birthday party etiquette, the Royal Wedding in 2011 (between Prince William & Kate Middleton).

She also relates interviews she did with Keith Richards, Lady Gaga, Sir Paul McCartney, a slight obsession she has with "Sherlock" starring Benedict Cumberbatch, and much more.

This is a great read, that gives a little bit of insight into what's it's like to live in Britain, hopefully something I'll be able to experience sometime in the near future.

"How To Be A Woman" by Caitlin Moran

Publisher:New York : Harper Perennial, [2011]
Edition:First U.S. edition.
Copyright Date:©2011
ISBN: 9780062124296

I decided to read this book as the cover states "Caitlin Moran is the feminist hero of our times" so I figured she would be a good resource to determine whether I was in fact a feminist. (I have been calling myself one many years even while still being not 100% sure I knew all the ramifications of the term.)

I am now happy to conclude that I am in fact a feminist and believe that women deserve exactly the same benefits as men have enjoyed for the last few thousand centuries.

Ms. Moran gives us a very insightful look into the world of feminism, and all the silliness that women have to put up with in a male dominated world. Her views on certain topics may to some be quite radical (primarily to men who hold the positions of power) but her views are well thought out, and presented with sufficient personal experience, evidence, and humour to easily convince an intelligent reader.

My next book will be her follow-up work "Moranthology" which I'm sure will be equally interesting.

"Feminism & Men" by Nikki van der Gaag

Publisher:London : Zed Books ; Halifax : Fernwood Publishing, 2014.
ISBN: 9781780329116
Characteristics: 246 pages :,illustrations ;,22 cm

This book was a very interesting read, that opened my eyes to a number of issues regarding feminism, ones that I hadn't considered in depth before. Ms. van der Gaag does extremely good job of outlining the various issues. A great deal of the book deals with why men act the way they do with regard to women, and the author gives excellent examples from all over the world to support her thesis.

I found it particularly disturbing to learn of the number of men in the world who believe that women are essentially just sex objects, second class citizens, or dare I say slaves. That this opinion seems to be directly relatable to the culture they are raised in, what is even more disturbing as nothing like this was ever mentioned to me when I studied different cultures during my anthropology degree. It all seems to be relatable to the macho image that men are indoctrinated into, and expected to exhibit throughout their lives.

Ms. van der Gaag notes a number of websites that give further information on this subject, and I would encourage people to check them out. Three of the main ones are:

http://menengage.org/

http://www.heforshe.org/en

http://www.whiteribbon.com

"Of Dice and Men" by David M. Ewalt (Level Fifteen Cleric)

Publisher:New York : Scribner, 2013.
Edition:First Scribner hardcover edition --.
ISBN: 9781451640502
Characteristics: vii, 276 pages

This book intrigued me as I used to play Dungeon & Dragons many years ago, and after reading it I definitely want to get back into it (however this will likely have to wait for a short time until I relearn my way around). The history of the development of this game system, was very interesting, and the author must have done vast amounts of research to provide the reader with an end product this complete.

I thought I knew something about the history of this game when I first picked up the book, but this myth was soon put to rest as I didn't know a fraction of the history of this fascinating (in my humble opinion) game. It is rare to see people playing games of any sort now-a-days that don't involve a smart phone, pad, or other computer device. Dungeon & Dragons was a phenomena that reached out to people throughout the world and still does. It's true that some of the earlier editions were difficult to master, but from the introduction that the author gives to the newest (5th) edition a lot of these issues seem to have been solved.

The behind-the-scenes look at the world of D&D and other similar games was intriguing as I and likely most other people were not aware of all that went on, from its beginnings in the Gary Gygax's basement, the founding of TSR Hobbies, it's rise to be a multi-millions dollar company, and it's unfortunate demise.

I was first hooked on D&D way back in the late 70s. This was back when we didn't have personal computers, and all the fancy stuff people have today. I still have my copy of the "Blue Box" edition, and it's in relative decent shape too. After reading Mr. Ewalt's book I'm going to be looking to get my hands on a copy of the 5th edition, and then after suitable time to peruse the the material I will be searching for a campaign to join. Maybe someday, I'll try running one myself. Who knows?

"52 Things You Should Know About Palaeontology" edited by Alex Callum & Allard W. Martinius

Publisher:[Mahone Bay] Nova Scotia : Agile Libre, 2015.
ISBN: 9780987959447
Characteristics: 137 pages :,illustrations, map ;,23 cm.
Additional Contributors:Martinius, Allard W. 1963-
Cullum, Alex 1969-

When I first came across this title*, I was doing some research for a book on palaeontology, it's historical roots and interaction with anthropology. It looked interesting, and based solely on the title I assumed it was a book directed towards young people (which my research was sorely lacking at the time). When I finally got my hands on a copy I was both a little sad that this wasn't what it was about, but also very much happier when I read the table of contents and found out that this was a compilation of 52 short papers by leading palaeontologists and others in the field from around the world describing their work.

This book gives the reader a basic introduction to the basic science of palaeontology, it's history, and many other related topics. Each of the papers is two pages long, and should whet your appetite to look into the subject areas in more detail.

The various papers in this book touch on the fundamentals of palaeontology, its biology, applying what is learned, teaching the science, stratigraphy, methodology, fossils, and culture with a given paper typically talking about more than one of these subject areas and showing how they all interrelate.

As someone who works in the field and gives tours to school groups and other visitors to our lab (University of Alberta) I believe this book would be quite a valuable resource to any high school library, public library, college or university as it is very complete.

The authors have also published a follow-up to this book entitled "52 More things You Should Know About Palaeontology" which I have yet to read, but will be doing so shortly.

*  Kudos to the editors by the way for spelling palaeontology correctly - this is one of my nit-picky complaints as the people who work with me can attest to.

"Artemis" by Andy Weir

Publisher:New York : Crown, [2017]
Edition:First edition.
Copyright Date:©2017
ISBN: 9780553448122
Characteristics: 305 pages :,illustrations ;,25 cm

Artemis is Mr. Weir's second novel, and he has followed up "The Martian" with another great story. I believe this one would also make a great movie in the event someone from Hollywood happens to be reading this blog (yeah, right!). As it has the elements of a great adventure story, with political intrigue, a strong protagonist, and much more.

The story revolves around a lunar resident by the name of Jazmine Bashara who seeks out a living (not always legally) in the only inhabited city on the moon. Her life suddenly gets very interesting however, when she is offered an opportunity she can't really refuse. But which turns out to be a little more complicated than she planned on.

Mr. Weir is one of few authors today who writes in first person, and this gives the story a very immediate feel that many novels now-a-days never get close to. Many writers seem to shy away from first person, and more writing teachers, and resource material seems to advise against using it. Now while this may be good advice for an absolute beginning writer, it is quite refreshing (in my opinion at least) to read stories told this way.

In addition, Mr. Weir definitely did a fair bit of research when planning the city of Artemis and this has really paid off, as the technology behind the story is very consistently designed, and believable.

I eagerly await his next book, as I'm sure after two hits he'll be able to keep going.

"Astrophysics for People in a Hurry" by Neil de Grasse Tyson

Publisher:New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2017]

Edition:First edition.

Copyright Date:©2017

ISBN: 9780393609394 

Characteristics: 222 pages

I really enjoyed this book and think that Dr. Tyson's explanations of astrophysics are very complete and extremely easy to understand with little math required. I'm not sure when I first became aware of Dr. Tyson's work, but I believe it was possibly during the controversy that erupted following the demotion of Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet in 2006. I grew up in a time when we all thought that the solar system had nine planets, and now we have eight, so what? It was either that or when I saw the updated series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, which I feel is a great complement to the original series by the late Dr. Carl Sagan. If you haven't seen this series, I would definitely encourage you to do so, but would recommend that you watch the original first.

In any case, "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry" is a great book, and well worth the read. I've been a fan of space for many decades, but still learned a fair bit from this book which examines topics such as the Big Bang, Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and much more.

Dr. Tyson's sense of humour is quite unique, and adds to the fun of what some might think of as a rather unwieldily topic for a book that is marketed to the general public. His views on the viability of levitation are very interesting, and I would be very interested in seeing his equations on how this could be accomplished, and even more so in see an actual demonstration (but preferably not inside a closed room).

"The Discoverers" by Daniel J. Boorstin

Daniel J. Boorstin (1914-2004)
Publisher:New York : Random House, [1983]
Copyright Date:©1983
ISBN: 9780394726250
Characteristics: xvi, 745 pages ;,24 cm

The overview of this book says that it is "An original history of man's greatest adventure: his search to discover the world around him. In the compendious history, Boorstin not only traces man's insatiable need to know, but also the obstacles to discovery and the illusion that knowledge can also put in our way. Covering time, the earth and the seas, nature and society, he gathers and analyzes stories of the man's profound quest to understand his world and the cosmos."

This book is one of three Mr. Boorstin wrote in this same vein, the others being "The Creators" and "The Seekers".I haven't read either of these yet, but they are on my list, and will be reviewed in time.

The Discoverers was a fascinating book, and even thought it took me a long time to read it (684 pages of text) it was well worth the time. I believe this book (and possibly the other two mentioned above as well) would make fantastic texts for a history or anthropology class at the University level. Granted that the majority of students might not read them, but those that did would benefit immensely from the information to be gained.

The book is separated into four major divisions Time, The Earth and the Seas, Nature, and finally Society. Within each of these are sub sections that breakdown the divisions into more manageable works. These are sub sequentially separated into chapters dealing with a specific idea.

The detail with which Mr. Boorstin was able to present this information is wonderful. An example of this from the section of Time is: "Part I: The Heavenly Empire" which deals with rudimentary astronomy and it relation to astrology and how it was connected with religion and how they all influenced various historical events.

"Part II: From Sun Time to Clock Time" traces the development of time keeping through its many phases. Including Calendars, Sun Dials, Clocks, Time Keeping at Sea which allowed for the determination of longitude, etc.

I could go on and give an overview of the entire book, but then you wouldn't have to read it, which is something you should definitely do! All in all this was a great book, and I'm looking forward to reading the next ones in the series, however I won't be reading them right away as it will take me a while to digest all the information presented in this volume.

"Superfreakonomics" by Steven Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

Publisher:New York : William Morrow, [2010]

Edition:First edition, illustrated edition.

Copyright Date:©2010

ISBN:9780061941221

Characteristics:xxi, 281 pages :,color illustrations ;,27 cm

Superfreakonomics was a delight to read, as well as being very informative. I had read Freakonomics a few years ago and found that it too was well researched and well presented (however this was before I started writing reviews on this blog). I never took any microeconomics courses while I was in university but a book like this makes me wish I had done so.

The in depth examination of the Kitty Genovese murder was very interesting to read. My first exposure to this tale was during one of my psychology course at University, and like is mentioned in Superfreakonomics it was the standard telling (accounts from the regular news media), and that was many years after the fact as I was very young when it happened. The information provided in this book however sheds new light on the subject and makes you pause and think, rather than just be abhorred by the the bystanders did (or in this case didn't do).

Two other chapters that were very thought provoking was the one on global warming and the final one about monkeys. I would definitely like to hear more about the monkeys!

One criticism I have though is that when you consider that Canada is the Northern neighbour of the United States, and that we share the longest undefended border in the world. It seems odd to not see any mention of our existence in the book, mind you this is rather typical to a certain point in pretty much all books published in America so I guess I can't fault them on that (well, not too much at least).

All-in-all a very good book worth taking a good look at, you do tend however to want to read a whole chapter at once (and they're fairly long) so brew a big pot of tea and go to it. For sake of clarity I would recommend that you only read one chapter per day (or however long it takes, as there is a lot of information to absorb), and then sit back and reflect on what you have read.