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)

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. 

Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate #1) ~ Gail Carriger
Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages ISBN-10: 0316056634 ISBN-13: 978-0316056632

The fun, frothy tale is set in an alternate Victorian London where vampires and werewolves have been integrated into society. The Bureau of Unnatural Registry is the organization keeping tabs on them and one 25-year-old spinster, Alexia Tarabotti keeps finding herself in their company.  Alexia herself is one of the rarest of the unnaturals. She's a preternatural, i.e. one who has no soul, and thus she has a negating effect on werewolves and vampires when she comes in physical contact with them.  When Alexia accidentally kills a rogue vampire -- one that is not part of a hive -- the plot gets into motion.  Alexia herself is a wonderful character: smart, witty, forthright, self-concious about her dark skin tone, dead Italian father, and prominent nose; she is eager to have something to do. Preferably something to do with the BUR and the handsome head of the BUR the Earl of Woolsey, Lord Maccon, the land's hunky alpha werewolf.  This story was very much fun, perhaps a little short on action but long on wit and with a healthy dose of erotica.  I'm probably not the target demographic for this sort of thing, but I greatly enjoyed it and will no doubt scoop up the follow-up, Changless, when it becomes available next May.

Deadhouse Gates (Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 2) ~ Steven Erikson
Mass Market Paperback: 864 pages ISBN-10: 0765348799 ISBN-13: 978-0765348791

This tale continues with only four of the characters from Book 1 (Kalam, Fiddler, Crokus, and Apsalar) and a host of new characters on another continent. The four from Book 1 travel to the Seven Cities area of the vast continent west from Genabackis.  The seer Sha'ik launches a war against the Malazans.  The Empress Laseen picks the Wickan leader of the Crow Clan, Coltaine to safeguard the Malazan refugees.  Coltaine begins a long, hazardous march to the city of Aren.  There are several bloody battles, many perilous travels through strange "warrens", and some new interesting characters, notably the Imperial Historian, Duiker (attached to Coltaine's march) and the youngest daughter of House Paran, Felisin.  Her journey takes some strange turns. It's epic, strange, dark, and weird. It's also big meaty fantasy with an eye-popping conclusion.  I enjoyed it but next up is some lighter fare.

       

Click here to download:

Malazan_book_2.zip (1092 KB)

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions ~ Dan Ariely
hc 304 pages ISBN-10: 006135323X ISBN-13: 978-0061353239

This was a pretty interesting book, interesting enough to finish, but maybe not so much that I read it to the exclusion of all else.  Regardless, I learned some cool things about how irrational we all are.  Things like the effect of a thing's price on our decision to buy it or determine its effectiveness... the influence of arousal on decision-making (careful there!)... overvaluing possessions... the effect of expectations... and our propensity to cheat when the option is available to us.  The author details many little experiments that he and his colleagues used to bolster his conclusions and I was amused at how many of them involved beer in some fashion.  Clearly he's a smart man.

Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities
~ Amy Stewart
Hardcover: 223 pages ISBN-10: 1565126831 ISBN-13: 978-1565126831

I enjoyed this handsome little compendium of plant facts and lore. But it's also scary too. There's more than a few plants in this book that I never want to come in contact with. One that is native to Australia called the stinging tree can leave you in pain for up to a year.  I also learned about several very invasive species of plants that are taking over both land and sea.  There was also poisonous plants that need only hours to kill you after ingesting; and plants good for getting high (mostly mildly) although some of them look very much like other plants that will kill you.  Lesson learned? Just say no.  This book includes handsome etchings.

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one with a library that's possibly a trifle out of hand. Check out this gallery of photos of author Neil Gaiman's library in his Minnesota home.

Mine's not that big. I think Neil should think about waiting for paperback more often.

The Court of the Air ~ Hunt, Stephen
Paperback 599 pages ISBN-10: 0007232187 ISBN-13: 978-0007232185

I got to page 172 before deciding against finishing this story. The author crams many different ideas into this steampunk-fantasy-mashup of a tale. The two main characters are orphans.  Molly Templar gets placed by the orphanage into prostitution, but her very first john turns out to be an assassin. She escapes but we don't know much about who the assassin is, who he works for, or why Molly would be targeted.  By page 172 I still don't know. 

Then there's Oliver. When he was very young he and his parents crashed an aerostat (an airship) and he lived for 4 years within the "feymist."  The feymist has been known to alter people only after casual contact yet Oliver seems unaffected.  Then his guardian uncle and household are murdered and Oliver is framed. Again we don't know why his uncle was targeted or what the motivations are of the killers.  Ugh.

There's various fun things thrown into the mix: other races like the craynarbians (crab-like people), autonomous "steammen" (think robots) with their own culture, floating pieces of land (often the result of floatquakes), underground cities, etc. The problem is that all these new things keep on coming and keeping everything straight is a complicated chore.  Place names are thrown about but no maps are provided. Various terms are sprinkled in, but their definitions are lacking (no glossary either).  And so far Molly and Oliver are fairly one-dimensional. I don't feel like I know them.  I should after 172 pages, no?

So, dang. I was looking forward to getting into this one but the hypercomplicated, incomprehensible plot along with the cardboard characters and indeterminate world has me scratching my head.  There's too much other stuff to read before I continue plodding through this one hoping it'll get better.  (Plus, this could be first in a series that may number seven books... and I've already committed to too many other series.)  On to other venues.

How I Became a Famous Novelist ~ Steve Hely

trade paperback 224 pages ISBN-10: 0802170609 ISBN-13: 978-0802170606

This is very light reading about a guy who figures out that many of the authors on the current bestseller lists are just really good con-artists and he wants in.  He comes up with some hilarious rules for writing a bestseller and sets off to write a schlocky romance-and-redemption story filled with heinous clichés and such.  He also wants to be famous just so he can upstage his ex-girlfriend at her upcoming wedding. But the character's trashing of the bestselling ilk that passes for entertainment these days is the good stuff.  It's often quite funny and possibly hits pretty close to home on occasion. This book can be read very quickly and should appeal to the cynic in you.  Oh, also: all the blurbs are fake.