Do You Like To Read?

One of my all-time favorite websites is PaperbackSwap.com. If you're a book lover, like I am, it's an unbeatable way to obtain new books to read.

The free site works like this:

1. Sign up for an account.
2. Post at least 10 books that you are willing to give away. By doing so, you are automatically awarded 1 credit to "buy" a book.
3. Search the database for a book you'd like to receive. When you find one, you "trade" your credit for the book. The system interacts with both parties to confirm the transaction.
4. The "seller/giver" mails you their book.
5. As other people request your books, you'll earn 1 credit for each book you mail that can then, in turn, be used to request other books for yourself. The more books you post, the more credits you'll earn, and the more books you'll be able to request yourself.

And that's all there is to it.

As the title suggests, you swap books with other members. The only cost to you is the postage to mail your books. But, postage is considerably cheaper than buying the book new.

What I really love about the site is all the nifty features they have.


You can set up a Wishlist of all the books you want. You then get put into a queue and when the book becomes available to you, you're notified if you want to accept the request or not.

You can even set it up so that the system will just automatically request the title. I appreciate this feature because you only have a 48 hour window to confirm if you want a book. Since I'm often without internet, this ensures I don't lose my place in line and can still receive the books I want.

I've been able to get sooo many books this way. I love it! It's a great supplement to the library system (if you use it) and a wonderful way to save on books if you happen to be a voracious reader.

Try it out. You won't be disappointed!

Am I Obsessed?

I love Roald Dahl. Love him. Did I say I love him?

I just re-read The BFG for something like the 100th time. So fun to read, everytime!

Surely you've heard of him? Mr. Dahl wrote countless classics. Of course, everyone knows Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But, did you ever read the sequel Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator? Just as enjoyable as the first.

And then there's James and the Giant Peach. And The Witches. And Matilda.

And many, many more. He also wrote the screenplay for one of my favorite movies of all-time: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang starring the incomparable Dick Van Dyke.

Dahl's language is to die for:

Snozzcumber.
Frobscottle.
Scrumdiddlyumptious.

Come on! Does it get any better than that?!

Who cares if his most well-known works are "written for children". Sometimes adults need a good "children's book" too!

So if you've never read a Roald Dahl book, you should. Pick one up TODAY.

And might I suggest starting with ... The BFG.

Then you'll know exactly what a Whizzpopper is. (Although, trust me. You already know!)

Sookie Stackhouse

I am OBSESSED with Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse novels, aka the TrueBlood books.

So far she's written ten books, but I'm almost done with the last one, Dead in the Family. What am I going to do when I finish? I've flown through them so fast.

Vampires! Shape-shifters! Witches! Fairies!

It's all so exciting!

Season 3 of TrueBlood started this month, and since I'm currently sailing with Royal Caribbean, I'm missing it. But, I've heard it good.

I'll have to catch up when I return to the Continental US.

But until then I had my books. Now what?

Charlaine ... please, please, PLEASE ... release a new one soon! I'm dying to find out what happens to Sookie next!

(Although, I guess I can't complain. Dead in the Family was just released in May. It'll probably be another year before a new one comes out. Boo-hoo!)

Narnia

I super-duper love CS Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. I always have. Read them over and over and over throughout my life-time.

I thought both movie adaptions (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian) were extremely well executed, faithful to the books and entertaining.

However, I was under the impression that the second movie had underperformed and that neither movies became the behemoth phenomenon the studio was expecting hoping. Thus, no more Narnia movies.

So it was with great excitement that I have just discovered the third movie adaptation: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It looks just as good as the previous movies!

Release date is December 10, 2010. Can't wait!

NOTE TO THE STUDIO HEADS: Please film the final movie now so the Pevensie kids don't grow up before you get there.

(For those of you who haven't read the series ... the intervening books don't include the same children.)

Book Review: Jeffrey Overstreet

It's been a while since I last discussed my reading thoughts ... so today, I thought I would recommend the excellent Jeffrey Overstreet's Auralia Thread series.

The series begins with Auralia's Colors where the Four Houses of the Expanse are gifted with the presence of a unique and mysterious girl who brings color and light wherever she goes and threatens the kingdom with an unimaginable revolution.

Auralia's Colors, in my opinion, struggles somewhat with focus. The land is inhabited by many, many people and Overstreet has too many chapters jumping from one character to the next, never to return. As a reader, it's difficult to keep track and sympathize with anyone. However, the story definitely kept me turning the pages.

But, it is Overstreet's second novel Cyndere's Midnight that truly captivated this reader. Taking the themes and characters from the first novel and greatly expanding them, I was drawn into a delightfully imaginative and wondrous world on par with Tolkien's Fellowship series or C.S. Lewis's Narnia series.

Thankfully, someone decided to include a character breakdown at the back of the second and third books, so it was much easier for me to figure out who-was-who.

Then there's Raven's Ladder, the third book. This one felt like a bridge to me; both a continuation and an explanation of things to come, it nevertheless captivated me and made me hungry for the conclusion.

By now the Four Houses are in various states of disarray, the Seers are more maniacal than I would have originally dreamed, and the people are ready to fight.

What will happen to the Expanse? What of House Jenta? What will the Seers do? And I'm dying to learn more of The Keeper.

I've been told that Overstreet is hard at work writing the fourth (and final?) book in the series. I don't know, but I'm anxiously awaiting to see how he brings all the different plot threads together and concludes the story.

If you enjoy fantasy with a side of ethical and moral themes, try Overstreet's Auralia Series. The prose is quite beautiful; the characters intriguing; and the plot unusual.

Perfect for some not-so-light summer reading.

My Return to the Blogosphere

Hello dear devoted readers! (Are there any of you out there anymore?)

Sorry for my brief hiatus -- I seem to apologize every few months for my blogging absence, haha! Oh well. Such is life.

I've had a lot of personal transition lately and that's taken precedence over my writing, obviously.

Currently, I'm living in New York trying to make it big in the Big Apple. After getting off my Royal Caribbean cruise, I decided to leave Orlando and move up north. It was time for a change.

To pay the bills, I'm working for my good friend, Sarah, showing apartments. It's a tougher job than I expected. Not challenging mentally, but there is a lot of physical stamina involved: running all over the city. It's also commission-based so I'm always at the mercy of the clients.

But hey! It's a survival job.

I have gone to a few auditions here and there, but all the transition in my life: big move, new job, etc. etc. has slowed my grandiose plans for fame and fortune.

On the flip side, I've been able to read quite a few good books on the subway.

So far:

• Auralia's Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet (fantasy)
• Blind Fall by Christopher Rice (action/adventure/thriller)
• A Bette Midler Bio by ?
• The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss (action/adventure Sherlock Holmes meets James Bond)
• The Devil in Amber by Mark Gatiss (Book 2 in the series)
• The Island of Mending Hearts by Tim Ashley (romance)

All of them have been good. My least favorite was actually the Bette Midler book. Too much information and not enough heart. The author liked to detail each and every song on every one of her albums, which got old. I wanted to hear more about her personality and relationships with people. Not just her accomplishments.


But the rest of my subway reads were extremely good for different reasons. I especially enjoyed Mark Gatiss's books. He's an English writer who's worked on Dr. Who and Little Britain among others. His novels are very witty and well-constructed.

Anyway ... it's good to be back. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :)

Is Twilight the New Harry Potter???

I’ve finally jumped on the Twilight bandwagon. I know, I know, it’s a little “after the fact”. So sue me.

I love Harry Potter, and I just couldn’t bring myself to betray that series by reading the Twilight series. Until now.

One of my fellow cast members bought the Twilight DVD, and I’d heard that people who’ve read the book didn’t like the movie. I don’t really know why that matters, but I decided to give in, watch the movie, and then read the books to finally see for myself what all the fuss was about.

And I finally finished reading the fourth book, Breaking Dawn. I love the world that Stephanie Meyer has created, and I love the characters, specifically the Cullen family.

However ... I’m amazed that these books became the phenomenon they are. Mostly because I don’t like Bella, the book’s protagonist. It’s not that she isn’t smart or determined. No. She just whines a lot. And complains a lot. Like how she doesn’t want to go to prom. Or graduation. Or receive any gifts. It’s just soooooo unfair, she says. A LOT!

Why would anyone want to be with her? She just isn’t an attractive character to me. And yet, everyone in the series seems to be drawn to her. Odd paradox.

Of course, in the fourth book, she isn’t nearly as annoying. She's actually likable. Instead it’s Jacob Black who annoyed the heck out of me. I guess there always has to be one irritating character in Meyer’s books.

The other thing I can’t wrap my head around is the cold vampires. Every time I read a passage about how Bella kisses the cold, marble lips of Edward, I’m left ... well, cold. Why anyone would positively yearn to curl up into the hard, frigid arms of a chilly, rigid vampire is beyond me. Just doesn’t sound all that pleasant.

But ... even still, the fourth book wrapped up the series well. It was a satisfying conclusion which is oh-so-important to me. Meyer's climaxes are odd, though, in that they’re never really climaxes. Just resolutions to the conflict. Strange.

Oh, well. You know I’ll be buying a movie ticket when New Moon arrives in theaters.

And speaking of ... have you seen the trailer? It's awesome! Enjoy!

Moline Media Minute

Hi everyone. It’s time for the Moline Media Minute. Here’s a sampling of things I’ve watched and read lately:

Out of the Silent Planet by CS Lewis

Kind of a disappointment. I love the Chronicles of Narnia, and this book is the first in Lewis’s adult-oriented Space Trilogy. Unfortunately, I had to slog through it. Though, to be fair, I’m not much of a classics kind of guy; I don’t usually enjoy the style.


Dr. Ransom is kidnapped by a mad scientist and his assistant and taken to another planet (which turns out to be Mars) with the intention of being sacrificed to gain favor with the foreign inhabitants. Once there, Ransom escapes his captors and integrates with the different species and societies he meets. Eventually he comes face-to-face with the ruler of the planet who mets out justice to all three humans as he sees fit.


Critics raved about Lewis’s entire trilogy back in the 70s when it was written, but I found his first one rather tedious at times.

I loved the ideas behind the book and the overall philosophy, theology, and mysticism of Lewis’s Mars compared to Earth (“The Silent Planet”). He had great characters, too. But the dense descriptions and slow pace made it difficult for the book to hold my attention.


The Wicker Man

This was Nicholas Cage’s suspense thriller about a secluded island and its strange, Amish-type community. When Cage’s ex-fiance contacts him about her missing daughter (whom she fears is about to be harmed by the island’s community), Cage races to the rescue.


I was excited to see this movie. I’m not a big Nicolas Cage fan, but I’m all about the weird mystery-thriller genre. Unfortunately, the ending was a big let down, and as you know ... it’s all about the ending for me.

I was completely engrossed in the movie, but the finale, meant to be shocking and horrendous when it finally answers your questions, ultimately disappoints when the plot sucks all life and hope from its characters.

What a waste. What a downer. No wonder it bombed at the box office.


The Road to Cana by Anne Rice

Wow. She did it again. Anne Rice sure knows how to take a gamble and make a masterpiece.

Beginning with some bare bones information from the Gospels, Rice creates a story about Jesus’ life before He began His ministry, adeptly weaving history, family, geography, politics, spirituality, and humanity into an engaging and powerful novel.


And she takes risks.

This time around, Rice begins her story with two young boys - accused of homosexual activity - being stoned to death by the citizens of Nazareth (Jesus’ hometown) and ends the book with Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, His exorcism of Mary Magdalene (here Mary of Magdala), and His forty days of temptation in the desert (handled ingeniously, I thought).

If you’re a fan of Chaim Potok’s novels of Jewish life (and even if you're not), you’ll enjoy Rice’s take on Biblical Jewish society. I’m definitely looking forward to Anne Rice’s next book.

Company

My friend, Brian, was so kind to have kept the Broadway Revival Presentation of Stephen Sondheim's Company (shown on PBS last year) on his DVR for months and months for me until we were finally able to get together and watch it. He personally didn’t care for the production, and I wasn’t sure what to expect but ... overall, I liked it.

I definitely think watching the show on television doesn’t carry the same weight or impact of watching the live performance (obviously, but sometimes it does work, like MTV’s showing of Legally Blonde). This version of Company was so modern and minimalistic, I think it needs the atmosphere and energy of actually being present with the actors.


However, I still thought it was a powerful production. Having all the actors play their own instruments actually worked for once. I never saw the Sweeney Todd revival, but I can’t imagine how that would be successful and not distract from the musical. But here, the actors interact and socialize through the music, and their instruments practically become characters in their own right.

I didn’t care much for the melancholy undercurrents, though. Sondheim describes Company as being difficult for audiences to grasp due to its ambivalence: relationships are impossible, yet we can’t live without them.

However, there’s an overall negativity to the show that he doesn’t appear to recognize. The musical’s theme is a paradox, but the lack of hope and positivity affects that audience’s ability to connect with the material.

Still, I still enjoyed this critically-acclaimed revival and was glad to finally see it. Sondheim is a musical theater genius, and this show was no exception.

Books for Thought

I haven’t done any book reviews in a while, so here are the last two books I've read:

The Kite Runner

Amazing, amazing book. Not at all what I was expecting. Actually, I don't know what I was expecting, but I guess it wasn't this.

The beginning was a little difficult as I figured out the characters and their names - and the Afghani language in general - but that's really the only negative thing I have to say about the book because the prose was so smooth.

The characters were rich and well-rounded, the history and politics fascinating, and the story compelling and heart-wrenching. If you haven’t already read it, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of The Kite Runner. It wasn't the third highest selling book of 2005 for nothing.

The Shack

Interesting book!!!

The premise is this: where is God amidst tragedy? Not an easy topic to tackle, that’s for sure. And yet William P. Young courageously delves into a story about a husband whose daughter is abducted during a camping trip with unabashed tenderness.

The writing alternates between rich and glorious to hideously amateur, and yet, this book offers a fresh and original take on the nature and personage of God. If you’ve hungered for something spiritual that is decidedly Christian in nature but still waaaaaaaaay out-of-the-box, check this book out. I can't describe it, but I've never read or thought about God in the terms that this book dramatizes.

You’ll have to wade through some dense theological/philosophical passages in the middle, but it’s worth it for something so different from your typical spiritual fiction.

And ... I admit it ... I teared up at the end. If that isn't enough of a recommendation, I don't know what is.