Chain Reading

I should've known what I was getting into when I paid $2 for this book on a clearance rack!

The vast majority of these 55 tips take control away from the child and put it in the hands of a big-headed teacher who will punish them to shocking extremes for things like not saying "thank you" within 3 seconds, for not knowing which is a salad fork, or (most arbitrarily) bringing Doritos into the classroom. The icing on the cake is the teacher's fallibility: he admits to not wanting to be a teacher at all, and commits awful acts of agression and poor judgment throughout this little rule book.

The author's lack of writing experience is painfully evident as he will go off on long tangents while describing a rule. Most of the rules are based simply on things that he and his class did, which gives no help to anyone wanting to follow the advice (ie: get a $12,000 anonymous donor and take your kids to the White House!)

This book boils down to one big ego stroke thanks to his "award-winning" status, and is one of a handful he wrote while riding on his fifteen seconds of fame. I'm sure the others are equally useless.

I flew through this book in 2 days! It made what could've been an awful rainy weekend quite enjoyable.

Garland is a very good writer, and The Beach is very intense. Unlike a lot of "popular" novels, however, the narrative lends itself to a deeper understanding, and is full of rich imagery.

Action sequences are real page-turners and for the first time in a long time (since the horror novels I read in highschool), I found my heart pounding and my fingers itching to flip to the next page. Certain parts really appealed to some of my phobias and had my skin itching. Well done, Garland!

I have to admit that I enjoyed the flawed main character, Richard. His actions were shocking at times, but as he was a very well developed character, they meshed perfectly with his motives. Supporting characters were also very likable and very human. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Garland modeled them after his real-life friends.

I enjoyed the pop-culture references, especially the ones that mentioned videogames. The novel is definitely aimed at people who are very familiar with the 90's!

Thailand is painted beautifully here and it makes me excited to travel there next year! The book does not spend pages on description, but the information that is given hits hard and is memorable. I was sure I was going to wake up one morning on that beach!

An outstanding novel that has jumped onto my favourites list and I will be hunting down more by Garland. Bravo!

An excellent travel journal written by a 17 year old Canadian girl who bravely voyages to Thailand for a year.

The writing really captures her range of emotions as she is completely immersed in Thai culture and struggles to deal with the people, the language, the food, the school system... Manages to refrain from the usual journal-esque rambings and delivers some beautifully crafted prose. Small details and great irony appear frequently throughout the book, making it one to read again!

I became totally wrapped up in this book, as I am travelling to Thailand next year, but I think that anyone who has been overseas or who is considering it will find a comrade in Karen's story.

Interesting read!

A very quick and entertaining read. The clever writing and expert timing had me laughing!

Burroughs amazed me with the tale of his childhood. I can't believe that he came out of it laughing and sane enough to write it down.

Deals with his insane mother, his adoptive family's completely out of control home, his homosexuality and his early relationships. It's easy to love the character and wonder what you would do in that situation! He writes about amazing things with such precision.

Outstanding!

Meh...

I think "Nothing Special" definitely describes this book. While I was completely gung-ho about it from the start (I like history, murder and true-stories), this one lost my interest very quickly.

I believe that the story itself is definitely interesting. I just don't think that Larson is a very good author. At all. The bits about the architecture were FAR too long and amazingly uninteresting. This is supposed to be neat stuff, and he made it very dry with descriptions of the aging architects' gout and toothahces... yawn

The story about the serial killer is already interesting stuff. But it seemed as though Larson would forget what he was writing about quite frequently. He'd be in the middle of an interesting tale, and instead of building intrigue in the reader, he'd jump to a mind-numbing description of carolers or a snowdrift...! Also he made it very obvious that he was working from only a few reference texts as he described the killer's looks at least 10 times "through the eyes" of different characters. It was very repetitive and sucked the fun out of the interesting stuff!

I also found that he was completely unable to mix the two stories together. Apart from them taking place at the same time, Larson did not connect the two events enough to make the book flow. The result is halting and detached. It's like reading chapters from two different books. I can see that there should be a connection here... but where is it, Larson?!

This book might be more interesting if you live in Chicago, but it is definitely not well-written, or amazing. The story is great, only because it is true!

-NOTHING SPECIAL-

Who would've expected such smooth writing from an actor/comedian?!

This is a super succinct little book with moments of pure genius. Some of the writing, in it's candid brilliance, really struck me. Straight to the point, and doesn't linguistically weave around what must be said.

I loved the descriptions of Mirabelle's depression. Accurate and unique. She is a wonderfully written character. I was surprised to see great female thoughts woven by a male author! You'll want to take Mirabelle home with you. Also, the romances are not text-book and they are not easy to figure out, for the reader or the characters. It's easy to dislike some characters at times, yet totally understand where they are coming from.

The movie (also called Shopgirl) turned me onto this book. One of the few times that I wasn't peeved with the movie after reading the book. I definitely recommend it as well!

Also I love the word... "novella"... and I love the size. Get the copy with the shiny red cover, this is a sexy book that will make you look awesome just reading it.

I love how Douglas Coupland presents Vancouver.

High-key, sometimes gritty, sometimes artsy, photography gives this book a really unique style. His writing is as witty and insightful as his novels. And he writes about the city where I live! How cool!

Lots of this made me laugh. I think you have to live in Vancouver, or at least seriously visit it before you can fully appreciate this book. But if you love the city, you should pick this book up. It has a smooth smart humour that sticks with you long after you close it.

A quick, short read. Makes a great coffee table book!

This is one of those classic American novels, that will greatly appeal to some, not appeal to others, and sort of leave the rest of us to read them when they are assigned for school. That's where I fell in.

My mom tried to read me this book when I was a kid, but it wasn't exciting enough. We liked Tom Sawyer much better!

But as an adult, I did enjoy Huck Finn. His tales play out as a series of adventures, all tied together by a raft journey down the Mississippi. Lots of great characters (though some are infinitely frustrating, and you'll be glad to see him leave those behind). Huck's antics are very clever and amusing, and the final story in the book had me laughing out loud.

This book has made it onto numerous Banned Books sites, as it very frequently uses the dreaded N-word when referring to African American slaves. While that word made me uncomfortable for a little while, this was how people talked back then, and it is accurate for the novel to use it. I don't find the novel to be racist anymore than people actually were at that time. Characters that are admirable have a hard time dealing with the slavery that is so rampant, and Huck himself helps free a slave, Jim, who is a major character in the novel. The author certainly sides with the slaves many times, and presents them very humanely, despite the backwards attitude of many characters, and certainly the majority of the American population at that time.

A great look at a different time in American history. Huck is a very likeable character, and gets into some crazy situations. Not really a book for kids, as it certainly isn't wham-bam exciting. Definitely has something for the intelligent adult.

This is an awesome book that shows many amazingly luxurious hotels in Asia (includes India, Thailand, China, Japan and more).

Mostly a beautiful photography book. Some of these places are more stunning than you can ever imagine. You can actually stay in tree forts! Or float in a pool overlooking an expansive, deep green jungle. Everything is so ornately decorated and luxurious. Many hotels offer spa treatments, meditation and tours as part of their packages.

Prices, as described in this book, really vary. Some places are cheap (around the price of a highway-side hotel in North America) and others are insanely expensive! They are all definitely worth the money, though. Also included are some extra special things like a train that goes from Singapore to Thailand, or a cruise ship that travels the area.

The photographs are just amazing... But be warned... it will make you want to go! This is the kind of book that you could spend a rainy afternoon with.

Text is in English, French and German.

This is a really interesting book on learning languages, written by a guy who speaks 20-something different languages!

There really isn't a step-by-step method here, but there are lots of helpful suggestions if you are looking to learn a new language. Also some great ideas about memory and how to remember all the new vocabulary.

Gives a nice view of lots of different languages you may choose to learn, though sometimes I don't know how useful that is. Sure, Indonesian is easy to learn, but will it ever come in handy?

If you're learning a language (or considering it) you'll probably find some interesting stuff here.