Book Review: Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

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Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For a man, picking up a book titled 'Glow' carries with it an intrinsic insecurity. I was interested in reading the story since the concept was intriguing but not sure I was comfortable with other men seeing me carry around anything with a title like this and a dust jacket that equally reflects femininity. To be honest, I limited to my reading of Glow to my own home simply because of these reasons.

On that note, let me just say that I am not sure I understand why an author would alienate a potential audience by making it look like it is for a specific sex and age group... but perhaps I am just being silly and trivial. The ironic thing is that the title and dust jacket are anything but what they would lead you to believe. In fact, I'm not even sure what the title refers to in the book. I actually found the writing to be quite brilliant and the story to be captivating.

Usually I struggle to get attached to books that are directed at young adult audiences because the authors seems to dumb down the story and dialogue for the younger generation. I didn't feel that Glow suffered from that problem. Now of course I have read many a book that is more challenging and complex but that doesn't take away from the fact that Amy Ryan did a wonderful job of sucking me into the story.

Glow is essentially about two colonies of earthlings that are on separate space ships destined to populate a new Earth after the old one has fallen apart. When one of the colonies is unable to reproduce, they invade the other ship and abduct all of the young girls. The story basically follows the action that occurs as a result. I thought the concept was exciting and thought provoking, especially for a YA novel.

My only real complaint (aside from the title and dust jacket) is that near the end the novel seems to morph into an attack on the concept of religion. While I am not opposed to novels that challenge the mind to question beliefs or the concept of religion, Glow moved past the subtlety that I felt would have served the book better, especially since the opinions of characters seems to be rash and spiteful regarding the matter rather than intellectual.

Overall, however, I loved Glow and look forward to the rest of the series. I sincerely hope that the second book in the series is as well thought out and interesting as this one was!

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Book Review: Keepsake by Kristina Riggle

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Keepsake by Kristina Riggle
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have to admit that I am somewhat confused over the positive reviews of this novel. This was my first experience reading anything by Kristina Riggle but I had a very hard time becoming interested at all. In fact, at times the reading was almost painful. I have rarely found a leading character to be as annoying as Trish was in Keepsake.

While I admit that I am probably not the target audience of this book (in fact I think I'm the only male on Goodreads to review it), I found the story to be uninspired. Mental illness is one of those fascinating topic that I actually love to read about because of former experience working in the mental health field. I wanted characters that were more relatable and less obnoxious but they never became interesting to me. The story felt very flat and predictable.

Eventually my interest just fizzled and although I felt like I invested way to much time making my way about two-thirds of the way through the story, I eventually abandoned hope of becoming intrigued in Keepsake.

Chances are there are some people who will enjoy this story but I'm not one of them. Since I won the book in a Goodreads giveaway, I decided to cut my losses and move on.

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One day...

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Drawn By Chow Hon Lam

No need to wait

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Makes great TV though

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Some men...

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Book Review: Batman: Battle for the Cowl by Tony Daniel

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Batman: Battle for the Cowl by Tony S. Daniel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Although I've primarily been a Marvel universe follower over the last few years, I've always been a fan of Batman. While my experience with Batman comics has previously been limited, I have enjoyed just about everything I read. This collection was no different.

I was somewhat familiar with the back story prior to picking it up so I understood the basic history - and in this one, that's kind of important or you'd have no idea why their is a 'Battle for the Cowl' in the first place. This book doesn't explain the back story so if you are unfamiliar with it, you should read previous books first.

I thought the story was very well written and exciting. I also loved the artwork. This one was a huge win for comic lovers, regardless of whether you are a Marvel or DC fan!

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Everything is incredible

Pin It Definitely makes me want to build a helicopter....



Everything is Incredible from Tyler Bastian on Vimeo.

Mother Nature is kind of awesome

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Ascendance from Henry Jun Wah Lee / Evosia on Vimeo.

Super sad

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Photos of super sad people by Nicolas Silberfaden

I like a little meat on my ladies

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If you've got muscles, you might as well show them. I think my wife could don this swimsuit with class. For $90 or so, your lady can own one too.

A tool fit for the apocalypse [#zombiekiller]

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When the zombie apocalypse is upon us, it will pay to be prepared. I'm pretty sure the M48 Apocalypse Tactical Tomahawk could come in mighty handy. If nothing else, I'll look like a badass with this baby in my paws. 

Here are the deets:

• Lightweight to be carried all day without added muscle fatigue 
• Wide, upswept axe blade for mammoth chopping, slashing and zombie cutting potential
• Secondary edge on the back side of the head, specially sharpened on both edges for a cutting and hooking attack. 
• Blade is securely attached to the paracord-wrapped, 30% nylon reinforced handle with three separate bolts. 
• Includes a durable nylon belt sheath with belt loop and snap closure buttons. 
• 8" blade, 15" overall

Buy one at Amazon

Book Review: The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

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The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Dog Stars has sky-rocketed its way near the top of my favorite books! As many people have said, you can't help but compare it to Cormac McCarthy's The Road in many ways - the subject matter, the style of writing and general absence of most punctuation, and the overall tone. While I also loved The Road, The Dog Stars spoke to me in a way that the other didn't. I guess you could say that, if possible, The Dog Stars isn't quite as dark and provides glimpses of hope throughout the story. Beyond that, the story felt very real and very close to what I could imagine life being like following an apocalypse of this scale.

Hig, Bangley, and all of the other characters were very complex and I found them each to be likable in their own way. There wasn't a moment when reading this book that I wasn't totally engrossed. I gobbled it up from beginning to end!

This was one of the books I won in a Goodreads giveaway but it's one that I would have been more than happy to purchase on my own. It's a must-read for fans of post-apocalyptic fiction!

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Book Review: I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

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I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those extremely rare cases where I actually liked the movie better than the book. Don't get me wrong, the book has some interesting ideas and is a quick and relatively fun read, it just lacks the action and suspense of the film. Of course, this is probably a vile statement to make to a book nerd but I wasn't in love with the story. I was, however, in love with the ideas and I think Asimov was very successful in stimulating thoughts about a society that relies on intelligent machinery. Obviously, the subject matter has direct correlation to the time we live in now so the book is extremely relevant... I just wish it were a bit more exciting.

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X-Men / Star Wars cross-over

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Behold the imagination of Rey Arzeno

Poster: Hasta La Vista, BROTHER by Jon Smith [#manly]

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I think hanging this print on my wall would make a little bit more manly...

Review: Forgotten Bookmarks by Michael Popek

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Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages by Michael Popek
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Prior to receiving this book I expected to dislike it because of some of the more negative reviews I read on Goodreads. I won the book in a Goodreads giveaway and have put off looking through it because other people's reviews made me think it wasn't worth my time. This misconception was unfortunate because I think this book is actually a really great idea. It isn't really the type of book that you just sit down and read - it's more of the perusing kind of book. I actually think it would have been an easier sell as a coffee table book but even in its current format it is kind of magical.

While other people's negative reviews aren't completely inaccurate - that most of his discoveries are far from mind-blowing - I think it is a beautifully arranged collection of keepsakes that have a very intimate feeling to them. The book is also in beautiful color and the photograph are wonderfully arranged. It almost makes me want to start buying up old books myself in order to find hidden gems.

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How to be sexy (with your feet)

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Carso Penny Loafers by Antonio Maurizi

Find them at MyHabit if you're quick.

Review: Spontaneous Healing by Andrew Weil

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Spontaneous Healing by Andrew Weil
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Mark another one under the label 'Books not worth finishing'. In order to give full disclosure I should probably point out that I have spent some time with Dr. Weil personally and actually like him quite a bit. He's an interesting, likable man who has some progressive ideas about health care. I should probably also point out that I am in the medical profession myself.

I first met Dr. Weil while doing my undergrad in Complementary and Alternative Health at his rival school ASU. Although I found his ideas to be interesting, albeit somewhat short-sighted, until a week or so ago I never had any interest in picking up any of his books (I was confronted by a friend of mine who claimed that Dr. Weil says that "most doctors are duds" - a point that even after reading this book I don't think he holds). You see, in medicine you hear his story all of the time which somewhat explains the inability of alternative medicine to be widely accepted by traditional medical practitioners. Dr. Weil, and many other like him, quickly denigrates the treatment and training of allopathic and osteopathic physicians in favor of "natural" healing modalities, almost favoring the lack of scientific evidence over tested and tried methods of practice.

Spontaneous Healing is essentially Dr. Weil's personal apologetics for the primary use of "natural" medicine masked by the topic of the body's ability to self-heal. The book essentially starts off by providing multiple anecdotal illustrations of the miracles of alternative health when traditional medicine has failed. Now admittedly these stories are exciting and inspiring but they are also manipulative. I'm not one to ignore the power of nature or write off the seemingly miraculous despite lack of physical evidence - after all there is a reason I studied this in undergrad (in fact I almost decided to become a naturopathic doctor). The problem is that Dr. Weil's ideas can lead to dangerous practices such as the abandonment of proven medical treatments for the esoteric and romantic.

As the book goes on, Dr. Weil makes a case for "spontaneous healing", essentially utilizing the body's ability to heal itself. No doctor in their right mind would argue the idea that the body is intrinsically capable of self-healing but Dr. Weil pushed the point past logic. Many contemporary allopathic and osteopathic medical treatments indeed already utilize the body's own ability to heal itself - in fact, we use treatments on a regular basis that stimulate the body's immune reaction or cellular messages to create self-healing. The problem is that Dr. Weil finds superiority in practices that have little or no scientific basis.

I could only read so far into the book before throwing up my hands and saying "give me a break!" In my opinion, Dr. Weil has made some very beneficially changes to health care and I truly think that there are many unproven alternative modalities in medicine that can be beneficial to people in need of health care but without any checks and balances, these treatments can also be harmful and prevent the healing of diseases which would benefit from medical intervention. Dr. Weil is essentially a hippy doctor who decided early that anything except for traditional medical principles must be superior. His opinions on medical treatment and theory are largely based on the miraculous and anecdotal.

I agree with his thoughts that a collaborative system of complementary medicine would be beneficial to society but I think some of the ideas he advocates are shallowed by their inconsistency and lack of evidence. While I am grateful for the attention he has been able to give to alternative modalities - of which many certainly have their place in health care - I found this book to be an off-putting distortion of health and potentially dangerous to those who need serious medical intervention.

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Review: Right State by Mat Johnson

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Right State by Mat Johnson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It is difficult for me to write this review since this is 1 of only 2 graphic novels I have scored as a result of Goodreads giveaways. Despite being a comic geek to the core, I didn't like this graphic novel at all. As was stated by another reviewer, it felt very much like propaganda. Unfortunately it took away my ability to enjoy the political intrigue by essentially labeling everyone on the right wing as an extremist.

Regardless of your political leanings, the story felt contrived and far-fetched. The text of the graphic novel makes blatant political statements rather than utilizing the subtlety that would have made it a successful story.

Although the incorporation of political ideas has always been central to comics and graphic novels, and is originally what made them a success, Right State felt more like the author screaming his political views in your face rather than allowing you to see them by being entertained first. Essentially it wasn't even very successful at being propaganda.

My only praise for this book is that the illustration by Andrea Mutti was well done.

Sorry Vertigo/DC but this one wasn't a winner but please don't let that stop you from sending me more graphic novels in the future....

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Rock posters by Rhys Cooper [#NerdCave]

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Perhaps I'm just on a poster kick right now but I can't get enough of Rhys Cooper (he's the one who designed my new Beastie Boys poster). These can be filed under 'Nerd Cave Needs'.

Not that i do this type of thing

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...but I need one.

Anniversary presents are awesome [#NerdCave]

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So, my lovely wife decided that she wanted to award herself an anniversary gift of her own choosing, leaving me the ability to get something for myself. Introducing my new Beastie Boys poster designed by Rhys Cooper. Pretty awesome!