Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

This is a dystopian novel set in the year 2044.  You could also call it a quest novel, a coming of age novel, or near future science fiction.  It melds many different themes into a unique, funny, and exciting story.  The one common theme that seems to unite all of it is geek culture, video games, and the 1980s.

Wade Watts the main character, is a geeky kid who spends most of his time in the virtual world of OASIS.  Virtual reality in this setting is extremely realistic.  Wade Watts even goes to school in the virtual world.  The virtual world he escapes into is infinitely better than his horrific, crowded, dangerous trailer park existence in the real world. The theme of bits versus atoms pervades this book.  In the real world, even virtual money is worth more than most national currencies.

The story is centered around a contest to gain control of the world wide virtual world called OASIS.  To do this, the entrants must solves riddles that were part of the creator of the virtual world's childhood.  The childhood is a kind of super fanboy and geek festival filled with 1980s references; everything from Duran Duran to Star Trek to the video game Joust.  It is very funny.  It reminds me a bit of my own childhood.

The book adds in many tropes: a love interest, an evil corporation, and plenty of action.  It moves very quickly from scene to scene and makes you want to find out what happens next.  The book made me laugh and smile while I was reading it.  It is lot of fun especially if you are nostalgic about the 1980s, liked roleplaying games, video games, comics, and listened to rock music.

Ernest Cline has a website http://www.ernestcline.com/  .  The book Ready Player One is coming out in August of 2011.  I was reading an advanced reading copy sent to me by Library Journal   I think this book will cross reading genres and be appealing to a wide audience.

Book Review - A Father's Love

About the Book

In A FATHER’S LOVE, David Goldman recounts his extraordinary 5 year battle to bring his son Sean back home from Brazil after Sean was abducted by his mother, Bruna.  It is a riveting story full of peculiar ironies, unfathomable elements, threats and legal twists and turns.  Goldman describes in details the wrenching emotions he went through and how he relentlessly rallied support behind the scenes from both high-level U.S. government officials and national media organizations.  Father and son were finally reunited in December 2009, and Goldman writes about the challenges he is now facing as he works to rebuild his relationship with his son.  Goldman’s unusual story movingly celebrates an ordinary man’s incredible love for and loyalty to his son, and his ability to overcome the unimaginable to keep them together.  It is a testament to how connected any father and son can be and is coming out in perfect time for Father’s Day.

David Goldman wrote this book first and foremost to give back, and hopefully, to inspire others that it is possible to overcome the unimaginable. Love knows no boundaries when it comes to our children, the most innocent and vulnerable among us, and that love gives us the will and determination to do whatever is humanly possible to keep our children safe and stable. Goldman also wanted to shine a light on the pernicious issue of international child abduction. After six years of struggle Sean is safe and at home with his family, but in Brazil, and around the world, thousands of children remain trapped in the hell of international child abduction and they and their left behind families live in daily pain because of the loss of their loved ones. These families are in desperate need of assistance and advocacy, while trying to bring their abducted children back to their loving, waiting arms. 

About the Author

DAVID GOLDMAN grew up in Ocean Township, New Jersey, the son of a charter boat captain.  A graduate of Virginia Wesleyan College, Goldman found a career modeling.  He now runs a charter boat business and does advocacy work on international child abduction.  Visit bringseanhome.org

My Take on the BookI cannot imagine the pain that I would go through if one of my daughters' had been abducted b their mother. I cannot even foresee what I would do if this was my reality, let alone the reality that I lived in day in and out for five years. This book was a testament to fatherhood and the amazing journey that allowed Mr. Goldman to be reunited with his son.

This book was well written and was a compelling read. So much so that I did not want to put it down. This is a book that I would recommend to any father or any parent or person who wants to witness the amazing love that a father can have for his child.

I also have to commend the author for his willingness to give back and support other cases like his in regards to child abduction. His story and journey is one that others can learn from as well!

A very good book and one that I would highly recommend!

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Disclaimer  for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions. 

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Daily Thoughts 5/29/2010

New York Sunday Journal, May 3, 1896. Why did I post this on Saturday, to protest the idea of having to collect all my thoughts on Sunday and post them all at once as a Salon post.

Daily Thoughts 5/29/2010

Anyways, the big book convention is over. I had a chance to go through and look at the blog list of the Book Bloggers Convention. I never did put up a button for them. These are a few of the blogs which I liked from the list. I visited all of them to see what they looked like. Sometimes, it is a chance to just see what people are doing. http://bookbloggerconvention.com/attendees I probably should have gone through this before I went to the reception. But, then I am not very good at should have.

I really like the Rasco from RIF (Reading Is Fundamental) blog. It has a very clear design and excellent message. http://www.rascofromrif.org/ Reading Is Fundamental is part of the Summer Reading programs at most public libraries in the United States. I also liked Jeff's, The Reading Ape Blog http://thereadingape.blogspot.com/. His summary of Book Expo America is quite good. I joined the Book Bloggers Hop on Crazy For Books, I am #175, http://www.crazy-for-books.com/. I sometimes twitter with Marie from The Boston Bibliophile which is a quite nice blog. She is also a librarian blogger. http://www.bostonbibliophile.com/ . Maw Books by Natasha is of course wonderful, she was the primary arranger of the Book Blogger Convention. http://blog.mawbooks.com/ . There is also The Book Publicity Blog which I find fascinating.http://yodiwan.wordpress.com/. I have never seen so many book publicists in one place...

I also looked through the industry bloggers. The AMACom Blog looks quite interesting, it is often hard to find decent reviews for business books. I think I will get Investing In A Sustainable World Why Green Is The New Color of Money On Wall Street by Matthew J. Kiernan, Ph.D. http://amacombooks.wordpress.com/ . Another industry blog which looks very nice is Online Publicist. http://onlinepublicist.blogspot.com/. I liked the design of Authors on the Web, they left us a gift in the goody bag yesterday, a reading light. http://authorsontheweb.com/. I was surprised to have missed Quirk Books, http://irreference.com/ They are famous for Seth Grahame-Smith, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. We also purchased Queen Victoria Demon Hunter from them as well as Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter for our library. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was recently turned into a graphic novel.

Some Final Thoughts on Book Expo and the Book Blogging Convention.

One of the underlying conversations at the Book Expo was about reviewing. Although, it was not said out loud, the publishers were giving out a lot less review copies to attendees. Some were also limiting their copies to "reviewers." They were also trying to switch away from physical copies to either codes which allowed downloads to books or egalleys. This was a way to lower costs and improve distribution. While I was following the Ning Book Blog group there were questions about how international readers could get galleys. I would imagine that shipping a physical galley overseas via airmail would be cost prohibitive.

During Ron Hogan's talk he said that blogs had won out against review sites. He told us that places like the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and others were creating their own blogs to review books. The specific blog that Ron Hogan mentioned was Jacket Copy of the Los Angeles Times. Ron Hogan made a statement that Bloggers have won. I read the Books section of the New York Times on occassion looking at Paper Cuts one of the New York Times blogs.

I am not 100% sure about this, but I can tell you that blogs do have some advantages. They do not have to follow a formula or editorial policies created in review periodicals. They can innovate in their style. I often find myself when reading library review material wondering if they copied the dust jacket copy practically word for word to create the review. I think this is one of the reasons that Kirkus Reviews survived; they were willing to include more negative reviews and more florid language.

Bloggers can put an original voice and style into reviews. They can also add new conventions to describing books like adding descriptions of layout, style, and photography in books. There are no rules right now. Also, with nonstandard language it is much easier to prove you have read a book. A blogger can use much more original language. Hopefully, reviewers at the professional journals will adapt some of the better conventions from blogs as they are tried.

While I was at the Book Bloggers Convention, there was another group conversation about bloggers and reviewers. Bloggers do not have to write negative reviews. If someone gives you a book and you write a negative review, you might not get another free galley from them. It is often difficult to write a negative review. A blogger is not getting paid to write a review. Often, they are reading for pleasure. There is no requirement for them to finish reading a book which they do not like. A reviewer is being paid. The blogger can simply stop reading. I still think it is best to have at least a mention that they stopped reading a book and why.

There is an unacknowledged tension between the style of "readers advisory" and "literary criticism." The style of literary criticism appears to be fading a bit for popular titles. During the Librarians 2nd Annual Shout and Share, which is a book talking panel by collection development librarians, at around 3:45 p.m. Miriam Tuliao cofounder of Earlyword.com http://www.earlyword.com/ mentioned a new trifecta for bestsellers. If a book is prominently featured in USA Today, People, and Entertainment Weekly it will most likely appear on the bestseller lists. I hope, I will not have to read these magazines to measure some of the popular titles to get.

This is a bit stunning. I like many of the print publications like the New York Review of Books which is on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/NYRB.Classics and hope they are quick and adaptable in meeting the challenges facing them. My hope is that purely popular institutions will not have too much impact on our reading habits.

The final question which I faced directly, is "Is a blogger a reviewer?" Many people both write literary reviews and blogs. How do you approach a company and ask them for books who want their books reviewed, but are a little shy of giving a blogger a book. Luckily, because I work around a constant flow of books, I don't have to hunt for new books to read and review. Others do. I still really want certain titles on occassion. At the Book Blogger Convention, we were given contact sheets for Harper Collins to request review copies if we wanted them for blogs.

Chuck Klosterman Eating The Dinosaur

Chuck Klosterman Eating The Dinosaur

Chuck Klosterman writes novels and journalism. This book is a collection of essays focused on popular culture. It has a slight edge to it, a kind of independent feeling you might associate with independent rock or independent bookstores. I had heard comparisons between Chuck Klosterman and Hunter S. Thompson, but it really does not feel that way. There is no sense of outlaw violence or danger in reading Chuck Klosterman's writing.

The essays are very self reflective and can seem a little overwrought at times. Even so, I can identify with what the author is writing about. The topics he is writing about, alternative rock, sports, film making, and popular culture seem to be aimed at men in the age range of twenty to forty. There is a bit of humor thrown in. I especially liked his chapters on why he hates television laugh tracks and why time travel movies got it all wrong.

To understand some sections, of his writing you have to be familiar with pop culture. He makes statements like Details magazine was the best interview magazine from the 1980s. This can be silly sometimes. He also refers to major rock bands like Curt Cobain and Cheryl Crow. I can almost picture his ideal reader as being a thirty year old man who listens to Garth Brooks, watches the Super Bowl, and likes to watch PBS documentaries.

He is especially good at picking out interesting and eccentric figures in popular culture. I liked reading about Errol Morris, the most prominent American documentary film maker. If you look in the index it looks like he picked names out of popular culture dictionary running from Paula Abdul to Tom Wolfe.

This was a relaxing read; a way to spend an afternoon letting your mind wander.

Trust Agents Using The Web To Build Influence , Improve Reputation, and Build Trust by Chris Brogan

Trust Agents Using The Web To Build Influence , Improve Reputation, and Build Trust by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

Chris Brogan is a master communicator using the web. He runs one of the top marketing blogs at http://www.chrisbrogan.com . His main focus is showing people how to build a following in social media using openness and trust. He is also the founder of Podcamp which is a conference on podcasting. Julien Smith is a web analyst.

The ideas in this book are actionable. Every chapter gives suggestion on how to improve your use of social media. I have already used two of the suggestions; make sure you follow less people than are following you on twitter and try to make all the sections about yourself on blogs consistent and professional.

His aim is to teach you how to use social media like blogs, twitter, facebook, and linked in to create a network. This is supposed to help you eliminate the need for resumes and cut back on using business cards.

In addition to the social media tools Chris Brogan and Julien Smith suggest philosophical and strategic outlooks for looking at business. These include looking at work as a game, jumping the gates to create new opportunities, life hacking, leverage, and digital nativism. These strategies are the strategies of the most successful producers of web content and marketing.

There is a message that marketing and communications are becoming more personal. Customer service is described as being public relations. Marketing is about being open and listening to people. Networking is about helping others achieve their goals by pulling them up.

The book is a tool to change your perspective and improve your ability to network on the web. It is the mindset of the native producer of digital content. The ideas are different and interesting. There is a lot that can be used directly from this book to succeed in building your own extensive network of contacts.

Wildfire A Novel by Sarah Micklem

Wildfire A Novel by Sarah Micklem

This novel is about a woman in a fantasy setting named Firethorn. It is the second book in a trilogy. I liked the first book, Firethorn. I rather like that the main character survives by her wits. She is the concubine of a knight who follows him to war. There is magic in this novel, but not the magic of blessed swords and wizards throwing lightning bolts. Firethorn is a healer and is sometimes touched by visions and dreams. She also comes from a conquered people.

The novel is very visceral. There is a lot of violence and sex (often artfully described, maybe with a hint of the Kama Sutra) . Also because the main character is a healer, we get descriptions of diseased people being cured with herbs, or women giving birth. The descriptions in the writing seem to draw from history. I can recognize ideas or images from the myths and history of India, Japan, the Celts, and the Germanic peoples.

The novel is full of surprises. At one point the main character is a bonds woman in a foreign land and eventually rises to become a courtesan. It does not end in the way I expected at all.

This novel is quite literary. It feels like it was very well researched. The descriptions are often very intense; being bitten by poisonous snakes, collecting herbs by the river beds, praying to Ardor Hearthfire, divining with finger bones.

Wildfire is 519 pages long making it an epic tome. It was hard to put down at points. It is not a typical novel at all. I like the cover art for the novel. I also liked the poetry and the few drinking songs in the novel. The authors background in graphic design shows in how well the novel is paced and laid out. Publishers Weekly gave this book a starred review.

Good To Great By Jim Collins

Good To Great Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't By Jim Collins

This book is about how companies go from being good companies to companies that create long term sustained great performance. The book identifies eleven publicly traded companies from the Fortune 500 that went from barely beating the market to having continuous returns of at least twice the market for stockholders. I am not sure how this applies to libraries, but the book attempts to define a set of principles on making a company great.

The message in this book was easy to identify with. There are no complex strategies, flashy leadership secrets, or special financial techniques. This book is about how to inspire discipline, find a consistent simple purpose, create continuous incremental change, choose the right technologies, and bring very focused leadership on board.

One of the first things that Jim Collins writes is that it is impossible to implement any sustainable strategy without first bringing the right people on board. He also writes that it is as important to choose what not to do as what to do.

The book has a number of metaphors sprinkled throughout. One of them is the Stockdale Paradox: be brutally honest and at the same time know you will prevail. For discipline, there is the metaphor of rinsing your cottage to remove all the extra fat. This was done by a champion triathlete.

Most of the examples in this book are very concrete. Philip Morris introduced flip top boxes for cigarettes, Nucor introduced continuous slab casting, and Kroger was the first to experiment with scanners in supermarkets. These are all examples of introducing the right products and technology to gain market advantage.

My favorite metaphor in the book is the flywheel metaphor. Change happens not because of big fantasy initiatives, but because of continuous pressure. A flywheel speeds up because of continous sustained momentum. I like to think of the same idea with pushing an iceberg where it is very slow to move, but becomes very hard to stop once it is in motion.

The book contains no photographs. There are a few black and white charts that are easy to understand. Also, there is an index, bibliographic notes, and a detailed set of appendices explaining how the research on the companies being written about was done.

I read the companion monograph, Good to Great and the Social Sectors Why Business Thinking Is Not the Answer as well. The monograph is very short, 35 pages and distills the essence of the larger book focusing on nonprofits and government agencies. A few of the organizations covered are the New York Police Department, the Girl Scouts, and the Cleveland Orchestra. There are a number of metrics on how to measure greatness in social sector companies. This is worth reading before you read the larger book.

Slow Train To Arcturus-- Eric Flint and Dave Freer (Science Fiction)

Slow Train To Arcturus-- Eric Flint and Dave Freer (Science Fiction)

Slow Train To Arcturus by Eric Flint and Dave Freer is a novel of a generation ship.

Earth Sysgov decides they no longer want various malcontents and the best way to get them to go away is to build a generation ship and send them on their way. Each utopian group is sealed into its own habitat ball. The ship is accelerated on its way on a permanent journey to the stars. The ship looks like a string of attached balls.

The alien Miran spot the ship and they send explorers. What ensues is a comedy of social mores and errors. The best and worst characteristics of humanity are commented on. The Miran are portrayed as a relatively rational group of bipedal aliens. They start as males and slowly change into sessile females as they age.

As expected, the first thing that happens when the aliens visit the ship is that the humans in one of the habitats attempt to kill them. The habitat they first enter is full of violent extremists. Several of the aliens die, but one of them escapes.

The story of the book is told from an alien named Kretz who is struggling to survive. He makes a journey through the ship and encounters various human groups, biblical luddites, a tribe from the amazon, extreme sports enthusiasts who have learned how to fly, a matriarchal society where men are genetically engineered to be smaller and weaker than women, and a utopian workers paradise with a "great leader" that is having population problems.

Kretz acquires various human helpers on his journey get back to his ship. I don't want to give away too much about the story so I will just say they are misfits which don't quite fit in their respective societies. The story has an ending that is different than expected.

The story is hard science fiction. Dave Freer is a biologist, and Eric Flint is a historian. This makes for an interesting style of writing. I really liked Dave Freer's earlier series, Rats, Bats, and Vats and The Rats, Bats, and the Ugly. It was fun to read. Slow Train to Arcturus has a quirky kind of humor to it. The ship is falling to pieces in many places and the humans because they are isolated in their own little utopias don't quite know how to fix things. Because Kretz and the people who travel with him combine different kinds of knowledge, they can outsmart the people in each habitat.

There is some fighting, but nothing gratuitously violent. The characters use their brains. I liked the story. It makes for an excellent adventure yarn. It is also a new take on the generation ship story.

The Darker Mask Heroes From The Shadows Edited by Gary Phillips and Christopher Chambers-- Review

The Darker Mask Heroes From The Shadows Edited by Gary Phillips and Christopher Chambers-- Review

This book is an anthology of eighteen short stories about heroes. They are not just superheros. The short story, Strega's Last Dance is about a witch who gets her revenge on the local crimelord. Avatar is about a man who sweeps away evil and is the next incarnation of the buddha or other religious figures.

There are of course many superheroes, but these heroes are often not what you expect. Walter Mosley's Picket is a young thief who acquires his powers in a most unusual way. The Henchman becomes a villain to feed his family and pay child support.

A number of these heroes come from the poor quarters and the ghetto, Dred is a heroin addict, The Remover is fighting urban blight, and Flow is found by accident by a crew of thieves. There is a strong urban component to this anthology.

My favorite story in this collection is The Whores of Onyx City by Michael A. Gonzales. Sage Steel is a young girl who watches her mother die and is taken in by Dr. Sax who trains her to become a superhero. She must fight Kidd Babylon and his Wild Bunch who are selling drugs and pimping women.

My second favorite story is In Vino Veritas. Veritas is a hero who can smell lies. He must drink to avoid being overwhelmed by the people around him. I won't give away anymore.

The mix of authors is excellent; the husband and wife team of Steven Barnes and Tannarive Due, Walter Mosley, Gar Anthony Haywood, Ann Nocenti, L.A. Banks, Naomi Hirahara, and many others. There is a very diverse ethnic background among the different writers.

At the end of the book, they give one paragraph biographies of the editors, writers, and artists in the book. There are four artists who do black and white illustrations throughout this book. I especially like the illustration of the hero, The Alienist on P.334. are Brian Hurtt, Jeff Fisher, Shawn Martinbrough, and Sean Wang.

This is a very entertaining anthology with a different take on what it means to be a hero. I did not find any stories in this anthology which were not readable. This is a real accomplishment for the editors.

Sly Mongoose-- Tobias Buckell-- Review

Sly Mongoose-- Tobias Buckell-- Review

Sly Mongoose by Tobias Buckell is the third book in a science fiction series starting with Crystal Rain, then advancing to Ragamuffin. The setting for the third novel is quite interesting. It is on a planet like mercury with floating cities in the clouds, and very high pressure on the planet below. The clouds are acidic and the air is not breathable. It is also one of the homes of the Azteca, a human group once ruled by ruthless aliens. The Azteca have since declared the aliens false gods, and formed a democracy based on group consensus.

The story begins with a Pepper, a character who has appeared in the previous novels, falling from the sky into the dome of a floating city. Because of the alien biotechnology permeating his body, he survives the fall, although he is missing an arm and a leg in the story. This does not stop him from building a working armored suit so he can move around in the story. Pepper is the founder of the "Mongoose Men" and a member of the Dread Council on a world built by Caribbean immigrants.

Pepper has just escaped a harrowing battle with plague zombies on a passenger liner. He is wanted by several factions who want to know what happened on the ship. There are at least three different factions in the story, The Dread Council, The Azteca Consensus, and the Human League (which is virulently anti-alien).

Pepper is the center of intrigue. There is another character Timas, a teenage boy who goes to the surface sometimes to scavenge technology in a pressure suit. Timas provides the spare parts for a pressure suit so Pepper can lead the fight against the plague zombies.

This book has lots of action in it. There are battles aboard a spaceship, airship battles, pirate confrontations, and constant intrigue. The characterization is quite intriguing. The different characters in the story are culturally and individually distinct.

Pepper, one of the heros of the story leads the fight against the zombies, and must help the people of Chilo defend themselves. He helps them prepare the defenses and makes a last stand until the Mongoose Men can help. There is another hero in this story as well, Timas who has seen something which the zombies are seeking on the surface.

This was a fun book to read. The setting, plot, and characterization were all unique. Most science fiction stories are based on cardboard cutouts with aliens that are little more than substitutes for human fears. This was not one of them. An excellent addition to a series that gets better with each book. Once the action starts in this book, it does not stop until the book is done. Ragamuffin was short listed for the Hugo award. I think this book will be listed for the Hugo award and might win it.

Green Your Place In the New Energy Revolution by Jane Hoffman and Michael Hoffman-- Review

Green Your Place In The New Energy Revolution by Jane Hoffman and Michael Hoffman is a primer on alternative energy. The book starts with reasons you should go green; pollution, dwindling energy resources, political instability, and changes to a healthier lifestyle.

The book describes the present state of renewable energy focusing first on sources of energy that are not renewable. Coal, nuclear, oil and natural gas are compared to renewables. The author correctly points out that although there is talk about carbon sequestration, but no research money has actually been spent on creating the process.

The book then focuses on the state of renewable energy. It describes the different types of renewables, wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, and biomass energy. Wind is pointed out to be the most successful form of renewable energy currently. There is some brief talk on new concepts in solar energy like solar towers.

Then the author switches to describing biofuels. As part of this discussion he describes how a hydrogen infrastructure is not possible to build until at least fifteen years in the future. Ethanol and biodiesel are the only two currently available biomass fuels. This is a little bit wrong. Biobutanol is another option which could have been described. I like the extensive description of biofuels in Brazil. The authors even give several suggestions on how the Brazilian model could be extended to the United States.

After the forms of energy are described, methods of encouraging renewable energy are suggested. This includes definitions, RECs, (renewable energy credits), carbon cap and trade systems, and carbon offset taxes. The language makes these ideas which are very complex easy to understand.

Finally some new technologies are suggested. The jatropha plant which can be used for biodiesel is described, and the plasma converter for waste is also explained. This book misses the boat on wave energy converters. It doesn't talk about them at all.

Then the book puts renewable energy in a global perspective. China has already put over $8 billion dollars a year into renewable energy. They are very serious about developing a renewable infrastructure. India also has an extensive renewable energy infrastructure.

The final chapter is a series of recommendations for renewable energy. They are very lightweight. Institute higher standards for gas mileage, conserve energy at home and buy green appliances, and invest in a wide variety of renewables.

This is a solid primer on renewable energy. It covers all the basics in clean, understandable language. The book is not very controversial. It is meant for the mainstream reader. It is not very preachy. This book would be a good introduction for the sceptic or the person who was just starting to be interested in the subject. There is a short index in the back as well as a set of notes on the chapters. The book is a quick read.