woodge blog

The World Without Us ~ Alan Weisman
trade paperback 432 pages ISBN-10: 0312427905 ISBN-13: 978-0312427900

When I told people I was reading this non-fiction book and that the premise was "What would happen to the earth if the human race suddenly vanished?" the usual response was to say something like, "So it's fiction?"

Ugh. NO.

First of all, to understand what could happen, we have to understand what has already happened so far.  And then, backed up by scientific knowledge from various experts in various fields, the author explains a very likely outcome of what would happen if we were just -- poof -- gone.  This book is absolutely fascinating.  So much so, that I was routinely ignoring the fantasy fiction I was concurrently reading and kept heading back to this book.  I don't often find non-fiction page-turners but this one qualifies.  And along with fascinating, this book is frequently alarming -- but not in a strident, self-righteous tone or anything like that.  This book presented me with many facts about the earth and our impact on it in a straightforward manner that just makes your proverbial jaw drop.  The two most alarming chapters for me were Chapter 9: Polymers Are Forever and Chapter 15: Hot Legacy.  In the former I learned all about the plastic refuse that is currently clogging our oceans. A LOT of plastic, mind-boggling... the Great Pacific Garbage Patch was mentioned and then I learned that there are at least six other large plastic-strewn gyres*.

So. That's bad. But then along comes Chapter 15 which goes into detail about radioactive waste, how much of it we have, what we're doing with it, and just how bad it is.  HOLY CRAP.  Take Uranium-238, for example.  This "depleted" version of U-235 has a half-life of 4.5 billion years.  In the United States alone, there's at least a half-million tons of it.  U-238 is an unusually dense metal, so we've been making armor-piercing bullets out of it.  (They can pierce tank armor.)  There's enough concentrated U-238 in the bullet points that radioactivity in the ashen debris can exceed 1,000 times the normal background level.  They'll emit radiation for more years than the planet likely has left.  (That is, this stuff will still be radioactive when 4 or 5 billion years from now our sun expands to a red giant and incinerates the inner planets in our solar system.  Nice.)

I could go on but suffice it to say that this book should be required reading.  An excellent book.

*Oceanography. a ringlike system of ocean currents rotating clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

Naruto, Vol. 1 ~ Masashi Kishimoto
trade paperback   192 pages ISBN-10: 1569319006 ISBN-13: 978-1569319000

I've only been aware of manga -- the term for Japanese comic books or "graphic novels" -- peripherally.  And sometime in the past decade they started making in-roads into large chain bookstores, like Borders. Being over 40 and cynical, I ignored them.  But I am a chronic browser and curiosity got the best of me. I ignored all the ridiculous big-eyed variety of artwork and happened upon Naruto. This series seems to be one of the most popular and has over 40 volumes to date continuing the tale. 

Naruto is a young prankster enrolled in a ninja academy.  While routinely derided by the whole village, Naruto dreams of becoming the best ninja ever.  He also has a curious relationship with a nine-tailed fox demon that had destroyed the village some years before around the time of Naruto's birth.

His story mixes slapstick comedy with tragedy, magic and ninja skills. The artwork is vibrant black-and-white drawings. It was kinda fun though I must point out it's obviously geared towards teens so I am not the target demographic. 

Like traditional manga, the book is read from right to left (like Japanese).  I may check out more of these.

   

Click here to download:

Naruto_vol._1.zip (127 KB)

Yes, the "science" is ridiculous... yes, much of the action is wildly implausible... yes, it's sometimes hokey as hell. But it was also entertaining in a wildly apocalyptic over-the-top fashion with earthquakes, tsunamis, toppling buildings, explosions, and a biblical conceit that's just stupid. Fun to watch despite its flaws.

Tom Cruise as real-life would-be Hitler assassinator Claus Von Stauffenberg. *rolls eyes* ... Things wrong with it: 1) Tom Cruise is not a good actor. 2) I bet even Paris Hilton could guess the ending. (Maybe). 3) Not suspenseful. Things right with it: 1) Rest of cast is good. End result? A waste of time.

Here's my favorite poem about November: No, by Thomas Hood:

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member --
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds --
November!

Boneshaker ~ Cherie Priest

Trade Paperback 416 pages ISBN-10: 0765318415 ISBN-13: 978-0765318411

This adventure tale falls into the growing steampunk genre (a genre that's hard to pin down). Boneshaker is set in an alternate history. In this tale, the American Civil War has dragged on into the late 1880s, the Klondike Goldrush has happened earlier and to a larger degree, and Seattle (Washington Territory) is home to tens of thousands of settlers.  Due to an experimental earth-drilling invention that went awry, a vein of gas (known as the Blight) has infected downtown Seattle so that it had to be walled off from the Outskirts. Within the walled city are roaming bands of rotters (think zombies), and some people crazy enough to venture inside and eke out a living among the rotters and Blight gas. When 15-year-old Zeke sneaks into the city, his mother, Briar, heads in after him and then things get really interesting.  Most steampunk stories include airships and this story is no exception. Among the many interesting characters are piratical airship captains and crew. Makes for a very fun, very cool story.

Peter and the Starcatchers ~ Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson

Trade Paperback 480 pages  ISBN-10: 078684907X ISBN-13: 978-0786849079

Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's first foray into kid-lit borrows Peter Pan and creates this story that happened before the events of James Barrie's classic. Here, Peter and some other orphans find themselves aboard the ship Never Land along with some mysterious cargo and a girl named Molly.  In hot pursuit is the notorious pirate Black Stache.  I read this aloud over many weeks to my kids.  They were all ears and Luke (age 7) especially enjoyed it. There's a bit of humor sprinkled throughout and many thrilling adventures.  The action is fairly tame although sometimes too intense for Kajsa (age 4). This book was popular enough to spawn three sequels to date.  We'll see if there's interest in reading the next. But the next read-aloud book may be something different.

If Toni Braxton married Dan Hicks and then formed a band with a subset of Elvis Costello's band The Attractions, would it be called Toni Braxton-Hicks and the Contractions?

A Little History of the World ~ E. H. Gombrich

paperback 304 pages ISBN-10: 030014332X ISBN-13: 978-0300143324

This popular book has been around for many years in over a dozen languages but it has only recently been translated to English. (The reason why is explained in the preface.)  Mr. Gombrich originally published this book in Vienna in 1936.  It is written for a younger audience which results in a clear, engaging narrative.  There are 40 short chapters which include sections on: Ancient Greece and Egypt, the Roman Empire, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Jesus, Mohammed, the Middle Ages, the Crusades, Charlemagne, Martin Luther, Napoleon, and so forth up to World War I.  Then in the final chapter, the author talks about his experiences during World War II and his hopes for peace. It is a fascinating book, covers a lot of ground, and made many areas of history much clearer for me to understand. I highly recommend it to anyone curious about world history. 

This was a quirky tale of con-artist brothers with one of them getting too involved with a mark. Great cast: Mark Ruffalo, Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz, etc. A decent diversion but I'm not surprised it went quickly to DVD (I don't think this got a theatrical release).