Boogers Are My Beat: More Lies, But Some Actual Journalism (audiobook) by Dave Barry. Read by Dick Hill.

Very, very, very good.

Published by Brilliance Audio in 2003.
Duration: 5 hours, 55 minutes.
Read by Dick Hill

Unabridged.

Boogers Are My Beat: More Lies, But Some Actual Journalism is a collection of Dave Barry's columns from the summer of 2000 through September of 2002. They are read expertly by veteran narrator Dick Hill. I usually hear Hill reading crime novels and the like but I was pleased to hear that he has expert comic timing and turns out to be a perfect narrator for Barry's offbeat sense of humor.

Veteran reader Dick Hill

Topics include:

*The 2000 Democrat and Republican political conventions;

*The 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games;

*The Census;

*Camping in a Wal-Mart parking lot;

*and the silly tips in Cosmo magazine on how women can drive men wild.

Dave ends with two long essays about 9/11. One was published on 9/12 and does a great job of summing up the raw feelings and shock of the time. The second essay is much longer - by far the longest of the book. It was published on the one year anniversary of 9/11. It is simply brilliant. It incorporates the Gettysburg Address, an interview with the coroner in charge of the Shanksville plane crash scene and details Barry noted during a visit to both Gettysburg and Shanksville.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Boogers Are My Beat.

Reviewed on September 12, 2010.

Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern

Published in 2010.

For the first half of this book I found Justin Halpern's Sh*t My Dad Says to be a refreshing change of pace. Finally, a man who says what he thinks - no political scheming, no worrying about the consequences - this man just opens his mouth and says the first profanity-laced thing that pops into his head.

For example, from page 44: "I just want silence...Jesus, it doesn't mean I don't like you. It just means right now, I like silence more."

But, as the stories pile up and the sheer number of comments overwhelm the reader I started to feel there was a subtle, hidden subtext here - life with this man was and is difficult. Actually, it was not all that subtle in the chapter where Halpern's dad had to to be told that Halpern was "tweeting" his quotes to the whole world and had been making money off of the quotes and was going to publish a book about it. The level of concern expressed by his brothers when Halpern told them he had to break the news to their father was enough to make this veteran teacher concerned. If there was no real fear here, than Halpern needed to write this portion more clearly.

To be sure, he has his positive sides. In fact, at first the Dad is really refreshing in his candor but after a while it seems abusive. You don't have to tell everyone every thought you ever have about other people's habits, the dogs defecation routine,  food, Mrs. Dash and whatever other fool thing pops into your head.

Justin Halpern

A little candor - refreshing. Too much candor - well, no one wants to know all of their faults all of the time. Self-censorship, when well-placed, can be a blessing to everyone.

 

In a lot of ways, Halpern is no better than his dad - we are treated to 3 different tales of masturbation - one for the family dog,  two for him, including one where he describes how he fantasized about a girl he went on a trip with to Mexico. That must be a special memory for her now, huh? You did what while you thought about me?

 
I rate this book 3 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Sh*t My Dad Says.

Reviewed on September 12, 2010.
 
 

Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle by Daniel Wallace, Pablo Hidalgo, Gus Lopez and Ryder Windham

Published in 2010 by DK Publishing

DK Publishing continues a trend of producing lavish coffee table books filled with page after page of montages of full color images. In this case, the topic is the Star Wars phenomenon.

Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle is a very large coffee table book - one inch thick, 10 inches wide and nearly a foot high.

This book could just as easily have been called "George Lucas Year by Year." Star Wars dominates Lucas's career like the Eiffel Tower dominates the Paris skyline. Perhaps, even more so.

Boba Fett and George Lucas

As the title states, the book is a visual timeline of George Lucas, the Star Wars franchise and the people and companies involved in its production and promotion. We see early handwritten notes about "Journal of the Whills" - one of the first drafts of Star Wars Episode IV. Later on, we see further updates, including the introduction of a character named Luke Starkiller who, of course, became Luke Skywalker in later revisions. We learn about Lucas's early life, his early films and his influences and a bit about the research he did to create the series.

Included in the timelines are other bits of news about movies, politics and space exploration. For example, on pages 34 & 35 we read about July through December 1974 which includes the first draft of the script for Episode IV, some very early drawings for the TIE Fighters, X-Wings and the Death Star, Nixon resigning as President, the birth of the actor that played Darth Maul in Episode I, early plastic models of the Y-Wing Fighters, the release of The Godfather: Part II (the director is a colleague and friend of Lucas), the production of the first script for another Lucas movie - The Radioland Murders and Christopher Lee's (Episodes II and III) role in a James Bond movie. Every picture has a detailed caption and the story goes on for page after page after page.

Luke Skywalker

It is a fascinating read. I particularly enjoyed the pictures and descriptions of the Star Wars dolls that I collected and nearly wore out as a child. There is also information on the different videogames, novels, radio dramas, fan magazines, board games, fan clubs, appearances on TV shows, the famed Star Wars Christmas Special, John Williams, the cartoon shows, the Lego sets and even the Darth Vader Mr. Potato Head toy.

Lavish, thorough, massive and entertaining - this promises to be a hit with any fan. A can't miss gift.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.


This book can be found on Amazon.com here:  Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle

Reviewed on September 4, 2010.

Nothing But The Truth by Avi

A lesson in how political schools can be and how things can spin out of control.

Originally published in 1991.

Normally, I do not read Young Adult (YA) literature, but as a teacher I do delve into it from time to time just to see what's out there. In this case, I picked out this book for purely personal reasons.

Nothing But the Truth is all about a misunderstanding and mindless application of a zero tolerance rule in school.

The premise is we have a popular, respected and excellent English teacher (Miss Narwin) and a bright student (Phillip Malloy) who does not really apply himself too much. Malloy has been re-assigned to Narwin's homeroom. His previous homeroom had been rather loosely run, but Miss Narwin expects the rules to be followed and the school's written rule is absolute silence during the playing of the National Anthem. Malloy hums loudly during the Anthem (which causes and is directed to stop - something he was allowed to do in his other homeroom. He does not stop. Why not? He thinks Narwin is a hard-case teacher that is picking on him.

Malloy is removed to the office twice during the week for humming loudly during the anthem. The administrator ignores Malloy's real complaint - he dislikes Narwin for "giving" him bad grades in English class. Those grades are keeping him from joining the track team. Instead, the administrator follows a zero tolerance rule that says if you are sent to the office twice in one week you receive a three day suspension from school.

Soon, Malloy's neighbor, who happens to be running for the school board, picks up on this story and starts to campaign to reform the schools that suspend a boy who wants to display his patriotism by singing the National Anthem. Soon, the story spins out of control, rumors fly, careers are ruined and Malloy and his family have no idea how to deal with the situation.

The Author, Avi

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I would encourage any teacher to read this book as a cautionary tale. I would encourage everyone else to read it as a demonstration of how media tales get a life of their own and the truth is not always brought out. I used to teach in a middle school that was caught up in a milder version of this sort of event. A young thug (a serious bully) was audiotaping classes and editing the tape to make his teachers sound bad. His tape was confiscated and a local TV station was brought in ("Call 6 for Help!") and the overblown reporter told a slanted version of the story in an effort to help this poor disabled child get his audio recorder back from the bully of an assistant principal so that this young scholar could finally take his notes. Except - he was not disabled, he took notes just fine without it and there was no mention of the disruption that occurred while he played his edited versions during class time.

Our situation blew over fairly quickly, but it was intense enough.

So, the long and the short of it is, Nothing But The Truth is a great piece of fiction that explores what happens when politics, media sensationalism, mindless policies and failure to have a face-to-face discussion with all parties involved rips a school apart.

I rate this book 5 stars.

This book can be found on Amazon here: Nothing But The Truth
 
Reviewed on August 29, 2010.

Avi's website is: http://www.avi-writer.com/index.html

The Poacher's Son (Mike Bowditch #1) (audiobook) by Paul Doiron

Audiobook
7 CDs
8.5 hours
Read by John Bedford Lloyd

The Poacher's Son is the first in a series of books about Mike Bowditch, a rookie Maine Game Warden. Bowditch is settling into his job, losing his long-time girlfriend, dealing with the locals that have bad interactions with the local wildlife and rude out-of-state tourists that flaunt Maine's laws.

Bowditch's life is turned upside down when a local deputy is killed while escorting a timber company executive (who was also killed) away from an unsuccessful attempt to cool local passions about the timber company's long term plans for the area. It seems that the number one suspect is Bowditch's estranged father, a local poacher, hunting guide and bar brawler well-known for his bad attitude and violent nature.

Bowditch is sure his father is innocent. He has no illusions about his father's nature, but he cannot figure out a motive for his father. He gets involved despite repeated warnings from his superiors and soon everything spins out of control.

A great deal of the book consists of flashbacks that give the reader (or in my case, listener) some insight into the relationship between Bowditch and his father. This does help with the climactic final scenes.

The author, Doiron is a Registered Maine Guide, so his descriptions of the landscape and wildlife of Maine are quite compelling - a real plus.

Fans of  C.J. Box's Joe Pickett mysteries will enjoy this one as well.

Website: http://www.pauldoiron.com/

This audibook can be found on Amazon.com here: The Poacher's Son (Mike Bowditch Mysteries)

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on August 29, 2010.

Mad Dogs by James Grady

An interesting ride, but not told as clearly as it could have been.

Published in 2006

The premise of Mad Dogs is a winner - picture an insane asylum just for spies that have been pushed beyond the breaking point. There are victims of torture, people who have compromised cherished values, lost loved ones in the line of duty or have just seen things that no one should have to see.

Now, imagine that 5 of these patients have a doctor that they love - he pushes them, challenges them and makes progress with them. And, he gets murdered right in the room where they do their "group" time, making it look like one of them had done it.

So, this group of misfits decides to flee from the frame job and find the root of the conspiracy that killed their doctor. Each of them resurrects their skills and works together to escape, find clues and follow the scant trail back to the source.

Sounds great, right? Kind of like a hard-edged version of the Michael Keaton comedy The Dream Team (1989)

Well, the follow through does not quite live up to the promise of the basic plot line. Grady sort of skips around from person to person in his narration but does so in a herky-jerky fashion so that the reader is left to guess what is going on from time to time. The over-arching plan and motivation of the villain is fairly underwhelming when it is finally exposed.

However, the "buddy movie" and "road trip" feel of the book and the look into the past lives of these former spies is interesting and overcomes those other problems. It was quite fun watching these characters confront their fears, work together and compensate for each others' weaknesses as they tried to clear their names and avenge their friend.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Mad Dogs.

Reviewed on August 24, 2010.

Free: The Future of a Radical Price (kindle) by Chris Anderson

A fascinating and enjoyable read

Published in 2009 by Hyperion.

Free: The Future of a Radical Price is an exploration of the future. It is an exploration of how advancements in computer technology, specifically the ultra-cheap price of computerized data storage, has changed the flow of information and data and has changed the rules of data-based business.

Written on computers using free programs, accessing free internet at coffee houses and using as many free sources as possible, such as Wikipedia* and blogs, Anderson discusses the concept of "free" as a business tool from its beginnings to now.

Anderson keeps a light and breezy tone throughout the book, but don't let that lull you into a sense that weighty business concepts are not being discussed. The exploration of "free" starts with marketing ideas such as the ubiquitous "Buy One Get One Free" to ideas such as giving the razor handles away but charging for the blades as he discusses the beginnings of American business institutions such as Gillette and Jell-O.

But, those brick and mortar type businesses are not the focus of the book. He is looking at the information age. Businesses like Amazon.com (free shipping once a strategic price point has been reached, free home pages for reviewers, lots and lots of reviews by regular folks, and not "professionals") and Google (free searches, free document programs, free uploads on video sites, etc.) are thoroughly discussed as are concepts such music piracy.

Chris Anderson

He includes lots of other examples, such as websites that offer free services to all (such as photo uploading or video games) but allow premium (paying) members extra privileges. He also includes in a listing at the end 50 business models based on free (he calls it Freemium) and provides concrete examples of companies that use these models, such as Disney, WordPress and Microsoft).

*Wikipedia has its flaws (I teach high school history and for 20 minutes in 2005 one of my students listed himself as the first Emperor of Rome, but it was caught, corrected and our school was banned from editing Wikipedia), but it is a tremendous resource and is good for a quick check on facts.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Free: The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson.

Reviewed on September 5, 2009.