Jesus on Wheels (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} theministerscat) wrote in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} 50bookchallenge,@ 2008-05-31 12:00:00 |
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Book # 20. Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye
(339 pages// ISBN 1-59038-369-9)
Leven Thumps lives an awful life in Oklahoma with his aunt and her husband when he learns about a secret destiny he has to save the world by saving Foo, the land of dreams and hope. It is another children's fantasy novel like Harry Potter and the like, but it is different too. It is a bit formulaic, but a bit twisted too. It kindof reminded me of Alice in Wonderland.
Book#21. Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret by Obert Skye
(ISBN: 1416947183//433 pages)
Leven, Clover, Winter, and Geth travel across Foo to restore Geth to his human form and to his rightful throne. While on their journey through the Swollen Forest, Leven digs up a secret that stalks him across the rest of the book. In the end, Leven must get Winter's gift back and capture the secret before all of Foo finds out.
Book#22. Disney's Storybook Collection
(ISBN: 0786832347//320 pages)
I read this to Scarlet over the last couple of days. It is full of large-print, watered-down summary-like versions of Disney's interpretations of common fairy tales. Bambi's mother doesn't die, the little Mermaid doesn't turn into seafoam, etc.
Book#23. The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear Jan Brett
(ISBN: 0399-231935// 32 pages)
My friend Ashley gave me this little board book for Scarlet. I always loved this poem, and the book was adorable.
Book#24. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
ISBN: 076360013x/ 20 pages
This was another book given to me for Scarlet from a friend.
Book#25. Big Rex and Friends
8 pages
A cloth book Ashley gave me for Scarlet. Yes, I'm reading a lot of children's books these days. :)
Book#26. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
ISBN: 0694003611//31 pages
Given to me for Scarlet from a lady I work with.
Book#27. A Tiny Book of Peter Rabbit
ISBN: 0671526952//15 pages
This was a book that I had when I was a little kid and I read it to Scarlet.
Book#28. Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger
ISBN: 0399219994//25 pages
I love this book. Grandfather Twilight takes a pearl and puts it in the sky. It becomes the moon.
Book#29. Puss and Boots
10 pages
A cute little pop-up book
Book#30. My Life by Bill Clinton
ISBN:0375414576//957 pages
It wasn't as interesting as I thought it may be. I picked it up mainly to read about what he had to say concerning his affair with Monica Lewinski, and skimmed the rest of the book. There were some interesting parts though. His father died before he was born and then his mother married an abusive alcoholic named Roger Clinton, but for some reason, even though Roger pulled a gun on Bill's mother and beat her frequently, Bill and his mother still loved the guy and Bill refers to him as "daddy" this day, saying that he was still fundamentally a good guy.
Book#31. I am America (and So Can You! by Stephen Colbert
ISBN:0446580503//230 pages
Funny in parts, but a lot like his show and not as good as it could have been.
Book #1. 5 People Who Died During Sex and 100 Other Terribly Tasteless Lists by Karl Shaw (286 pages// ISBN 978-0-7679-2059-9)
I bought this book from Barnes & Noble with the gift cards I got for Christmas. It is a book of lists of facts that people don’t usually know. I do wonder where this man gets his information and if all of it is entirely true, though. Some just seems so unbelievable. But as the saying goes, truth is often stranger than fiction. It is funny to me that Il Duce was a creative writer, penning a series of bodice rippers in his lifetime and that the modern confessional boxes were invented to keep priests from sexually assaulting women.
Book #2. Lullaby for Morons by Ronald Keith Siegel (297 pages//ISBN 1595310118)
We read this book for the “451 Survivor’s Book Discussion Collective” at the library. It is about the first recorded killing of a teacher by a student in the United States. The killing took place in Poland, New York in 1914 and the killer was let off on the grounds that he was a “moron,” incapable of making intelligent decisions. The book was narrated by his friend “Croaker” who really did suffer from some kind of mental instability, which got worse with age and seemed to be catalyzed by the events of the murder. The murderer was a kid named Jean that seemed less mentally disabled than troubled. His father beat him all the time as a kid and he acted out in class for attention. Back in these days, however, everyone who had any kind of problem was classified as a “moron” or an “idiot” and locked up in an asylum. It was a very good book, but very sad.
Book #3. That’s Disgusting: An Adult Guide to What’s Gross, Tasteless, Rude, Crude, and Lewd by Greta Garbage (179 pages//ISBN 1580080944)
This was another book I bought with my gift cards I got for Christmas. It was a better book than Five People Who Died During Sex and 100 Other Terribly Tasteless Lists because there weren’t any glaring factual errors and she actually cited things with a bibliography, which made her information look more reputable. Some of the information was hysterical; other information just made me a little queasy. I recommend this one for good bathroom reading.
Book #4. North and South by John Jakes (740 pages//ISBN 0151669988)
The first book in Jakes’s trilogy about two families: the Mains and the Hazards, living and maintaining a friendship with each other during the Civil War. The friendship started before the war when George Hazard and Orry Main met at West Point. Orry was from South Carolina and George was from Pennsylvania, and although there were some hard feelings between the North and the South, mostly due to their differing opinions on slavery, the two boys became the best of friends. After West Point, they remained friends throughout their trials and tribulations, and their two families became even more bound together through a series of events resulting in marriage and schisms. As the war became nearer and it became inevitable that the two halves of the country would have to fight each other, things became increasingly tense between the Hazards and the Mains and it became more and more difficult for their friendship to be preserved. I enjoyed this novel because Jakes offered facts and viewpoints from all different directions. We were able to see fanatics and good people from both the North and the South and it became more apparent that not all slave owners were bad people, but just products of the time. I am going to have to look into the other two novels in the trilogy: Love and War and Heaven and Hell.
Book #5. Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen (297 pages// ISBN: 978-0-451-22123-0)
Sally and Troo O’Mailey are forced to stay alone with their stepfather Hall and older sister Nell when their mother goes into the hospital with an illness that looks like it is going to kill her. Unfortunately, however, Hall turns out to be a mean and absent drunk and Nell is too preoccupied with her boyfriend, so the sisters are left to their own devices. They begin to eat dinner every night with assorted neighbors and then it turns out that there is a murderer and molester on the loose who has already molested and killed two other little girls. Sally and Troo set out to discover the identity of the molester/murderer before it is too late and they are the victims.
Book #6. Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich (166 pages// ISBN: 0-312-37763-0)
An “in-between” book in the Plum series. Grandma Mazur finds a bag of money and takes off to Atlantic City to play the slots. She is pursued by a little man who thinks he is a leprechaun and a few mobsters who want the money back. Stephanie takes off to Atlantic City with Lula, Connie, and Diesel to find grandma and fix the whole mess. Lots of funny parts including Lula’s boob being exposed, Stephanie smuggling a horse into her apartment, and Diesel somehow managing to get Stephanie’s bra off on several different occasions without her noticing.
Book #7. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (642 pages// ISBN: 0-316-01177-0)
For the most part, I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit lengthy in bits and could have been edited more thoroughly. I had to skim a few chapters here and there. But for the most part, I really thought it was a good read. The story jumps back and forth between the story a father is telling his daughter, mostly through letters, and her own adventures in search of her father, and inevitably Dracula. The story begins in 1972 when the teenager daughter of a historian finds a bunch of letters in her father’s study addressed to “My dear and unfortunate successor.” When she asks him about these letters, her father embarks on a story about his adventures as a grad student when he learned that Vlad Dracula was still alive somewhere and had managed to abduct his advisor. When her father disappears one day, leaving behind a letter saying that he went to look for his wife Helen, the daughter sets out on a journey to find her parents. The book has been touted as “the thinking man’s Da Vinci Code,” and really I found it a good comparison.
Book #8. The Placebo Chronicles by Douglas Farrago, M.D (190 pages//ISBN:0-7679-1949-1)
This was a book of amusing stories and anecdotes from doctors and other people in the medical profession. The stories included one about a morbidly obese woman with maggots in her vagina, several amusing and somewhat disturbing stories about narc-seekers and people with Munchausen Syndrome, and a few nice x-rays of random objects stuck in certain orifices. I never realized before now what doctors have to deal with, but now that I know, I am glad I never became a doctor. I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to the curious and steel-stomached.
Book #9. Love and War by John Jakes (885 pages)
The second novel in the North and South trilogy, this one is mainly about the war and how the lives of the main characters are affected by the events of the war. The Mains and Hazards are divided by the conflict, but they still maintain bonds of loyalty. Cousin Charles rescues Billy Hazard twice from hardship and Orry risks life and limb to write George and send Madeline to Constance in time of trouble. Orry is killed by a wounded Yankee soldier he is trying to save and the Main plantation is burned down and destroyed by a band of angry ex-slaves. Still, the families prevail and maintain their friendships, although feelings and people change with the times. A good book, although I had to skim through a lot of the battle scenes and the military talk.
Book #10. One Hundred Young Americans by Michael Franzini. (256 Pages//ISBN:0-06-119200-7)
This was a really neat book. The author and his crew went arond the United States interviewing and photographing young Americans in order to get as accurate a cross-section as possible. Kids from all walks of life were represented from young prostitutes to hard-core Mormons.
Book # 11. The Complete Sherlock Holmes (volume 1) by Arthur Conan Doyle. (516 pages//ISBN 1579126766)
I enjoyed these stories. It was fun to see how Sherlock came to his deductions, but after a while, it did get a little old. Fun in small doses. This volume did contain a lot of typographical errors.
Book # 12. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
(64 pages//ISBN:0064430227)
This is the first book I read to my daughter while we were in the hospital. I remember reading it when I was a kid at my grandmother’s house and really liking it, so I bought a copy on B&N.com before Scarlet was born. One of my favorite children’s books ever.
Book # 13. Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
(274 pages//ISBN:9780060724610)
Yes, yes. I just have to finish the Princess Diaries series. This one just came out this year and I reserved a copy a the library. Michael called Mia from Japan and said that he just wanted to be friends, Lilly stopped speaking to Mia and created a IhateMiaThermopolis website, Lana Weinberger wants to be Mia’s best friend, and now Mia is in therapy for her depression. Will she end up with Michael or JP in book 10?
Book # 14. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
(ISBN: 0688105351//394 Pages)
Three men find themselves aboard a submarine that they originally thought was a whale. The leader of the ship is Captain Nemo and he keeps them captive aboard the craft, allowing them freedom around the ship, but telling them they can never leave. Great adventures ensue.
Book # 15. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
(ISBN:0-06-057234-5//183 pages)
I read this to Scarlet and it was a lot of fun. It reminded me of my childhood when I used to take these books out of the library all the time.
Book # 16. Leaping Beauty by Gregory Maguire (197 pages// 0-06-056419-9)
This is a book of retold fairy tales written by Gregory Maguire: the author of Wicked. These stories are written for children though. Sleeping Beauty is actually frog princess doomed to be Weeping Beauty forever. Instead of three bears, there are three chickens who have to outwit Goldifox. Very cute book.
Book # 17. Alfie's Home by Richard A. Cohen (24 pages)
The most disturbing children's book ever. I found it while surfing the internet at work. Don't even ask.
Book # 18. Atonement by Ian McEwan (480 pages// ISBN: 978-0-307-38884-1
I liked it, but it doesn't end well. The only characters I liked consistently were the twin boys.
Book # 19. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling (309 pages// ISBN: 0-590-35340-3
No point in reviewing this one.
31 / 50 books. 62% done!
7449 / 15000 words. 50% done!
Cross-posted in15000pages, bookish, and booktards
Book # 20. Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye
(339 pages// ISBN 1-59038-369-9)
Leven Thumps lives an awful life in Oklahoma with his aunt and her husband when he learns about a secret destiny he has to save the world by saving Foo, the land of dreams and hope. It is another children's fantasy novel like Harry Potter and the like, but it is different too. It is a bit formulaic, but a bit twisted too. It kindof reminded me of Alice in Wonderland.
Book#21. Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret by Obert Skye
(ISBN: 1416947183//433 pages)
Leven, Clover, Winter, and Geth travel across Foo to restore Geth to his human form and to his rightful throne. While on their journey through the Swollen Forest, Leven digs up a secret that stalks him across the rest of the book. In the end, Leven must get Winter's gift back and capture the secret before all of Foo finds out.
Book#22. Disney's Storybook Collection
(ISBN: 0786832347//320 pages)
I read this to Scarlet over the last couple of days. It is full of large-print, watered-down summary-like versions of Disney's interpretations of common fairy tales. Bambi's mother doesn't die, the little Mermaid doesn't turn into seafoam, etc.
Book#23. The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear Jan Brett
(ISBN: 0399-231935// 32 pages)
My friend Ashley gave me this little board book for Scarlet. I always loved this poem, and the book was adorable.
Book#24. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
ISBN: 076360013x/ 20 pages
This was another book given to me for Scarlet from a friend.
Book#25. Big Rex and Friends
8 pages
A cloth book Ashley gave me for Scarlet. Yes, I'm reading a lot of children's books these days. :)
Book#26. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
ISBN: 0694003611//31 pages
Given to me for Scarlet from a lady I work with.
Book#27. A Tiny Book of Peter Rabbit
ISBN: 0671526952//15 pages
This was a book that I had when I was a little kid and I read it to Scarlet.
Book#28. Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger
ISBN: 0399219994//25 pages
I love this book. Grandfather Twilight takes a pearl and puts it in the sky. It becomes the moon.
Book#29. Puss and Boots
10 pages
A cute little pop-up book
Book#30. My Life by Bill Clinton
ISBN:0375414576//957 pages
It wasn't as interesting as I thought it may be. I picked it up mainly to read about what he had to say concerning his affair with Monica Lewinski, and skimmed the rest of the book. There were some interesting parts though. His father died before he was born and then his mother married an abusive alcoholic named Roger Clinton, but for some reason, even though Roger pulled a gun on Bill's mother and beat her frequently, Bill and his mother still loved the guy and Bill refers to him as "daddy" this day, saying that he was still fundamentally a good guy.
Book#31. I am America (and So Can You! by Stephen Colbert
ISBN:0446580503//230 pages
Funny in parts, but a lot like his show and not as good as it could have been.
Book #1. 5 People Who Died During Sex and 100 Other Terribly Tasteless Lists by Karl Shaw (286 pages// ISBN 978-0-7679-2059-9)
I bought this book from Barnes & Noble with the gift cards I got for Christmas. It is a book of lists of facts that people don’t usually know. I do wonder where this man gets his information and if all of it is entirely true, though. Some just seems so unbelievable. But as the saying goes, truth is often stranger than fiction. It is funny to me that Il Duce was a creative writer, penning a series of bodice rippers in his lifetime and that the modern confessional boxes were invented to keep priests from sexually assaulting women.
Book #2. Lullaby for Morons by Ronald Keith Siegel (297 pages//ISBN 1595310118)
We read this book for the “451 Survivor’s Book Discussion Collective” at the library. It is about the first recorded killing of a teacher by a student in the United States. The killing took place in Poland, New York in 1914 and the killer was let off on the grounds that he was a “moron,” incapable of making intelligent decisions. The book was narrated by his friend “Croaker” who really did suffer from some kind of mental instability, which got worse with age and seemed to be catalyzed by the events of the murder. The murderer was a kid named Jean that seemed less mentally disabled than troubled. His father beat him all the time as a kid and he acted out in class for attention. Back in these days, however, everyone who had any kind of problem was classified as a “moron” or an “idiot” and locked up in an asylum. It was a very good book, but very sad.
Book #3. That’s Disgusting: An Adult Guide to What’s Gross, Tasteless, Rude, Crude, and Lewd by Greta Garbage (179 pages//ISBN 1580080944)
This was another book I bought with my gift cards I got for Christmas. It was a better book than Five People Who Died During Sex and 100 Other Terribly Tasteless Lists because there weren’t any glaring factual errors and she actually cited things with a bibliography, which made her information look more reputable. Some of the information was hysterical; other information just made me a little queasy. I recommend this one for good bathroom reading.
Book #4. North and South by John Jakes (740 pages//ISBN 0151669988)
The first book in Jakes’s trilogy about two families: the Mains and the Hazards, living and maintaining a friendship with each other during the Civil War. The friendship started before the war when George Hazard and Orry Main met at West Point. Orry was from South Carolina and George was from Pennsylvania, and although there were some hard feelings between the North and the South, mostly due to their differing opinions on slavery, the two boys became the best of friends. After West Point, they remained friends throughout their trials and tribulations, and their two families became even more bound together through a series of events resulting in marriage and schisms. As the war became nearer and it became inevitable that the two halves of the country would have to fight each other, things became increasingly tense between the Hazards and the Mains and it became more and more difficult for their friendship to be preserved. I enjoyed this novel because Jakes offered facts and viewpoints from all different directions. We were able to see fanatics and good people from both the North and the South and it became more apparent that not all slave owners were bad people, but just products of the time. I am going to have to look into the other two novels in the trilogy: Love and War and Heaven and Hell.
Book #5. Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen (297 pages// ISBN: 978-0-451-22123-0)
Sally and Troo O’Mailey are forced to stay alone with their stepfather Hall and older sister Nell when their mother goes into the hospital with an illness that looks like it is going to kill her. Unfortunately, however, Hall turns out to be a mean and absent drunk and Nell is too preoccupied with her boyfriend, so the sisters are left to their own devices. They begin to eat dinner every night with assorted neighbors and then it turns out that there is a murderer and molester on the loose who has already molested and killed two other little girls. Sally and Troo set out to discover the identity of the molester/murderer before it is too late and they are the victims.
Book #6. Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich (166 pages// ISBN: 0-312-37763-0)
An “in-between” book in the Plum series. Grandma Mazur finds a bag of money and takes off to Atlantic City to play the slots. She is pursued by a little man who thinks he is a leprechaun and a few mobsters who want the money back. Stephanie takes off to Atlantic City with Lula, Connie, and Diesel to find grandma and fix the whole mess. Lots of funny parts including Lula’s boob being exposed, Stephanie smuggling a horse into her apartment, and Diesel somehow managing to get Stephanie’s bra off on several different occasions without her noticing.
Book #7. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (642 pages// ISBN: 0-316-01177-0)
For the most part, I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit lengthy in bits and could have been edited more thoroughly. I had to skim a few chapters here and there. But for the most part, I really thought it was a good read. The story jumps back and forth between the story a father is telling his daughter, mostly through letters, and her own adventures in search of her father, and inevitably Dracula. The story begins in 1972 when the teenager daughter of a historian finds a bunch of letters in her father’s study addressed to “My dear and unfortunate successor.” When she asks him about these letters, her father embarks on a story about his adventures as a grad student when he learned that Vlad Dracula was still alive somewhere and had managed to abduct his advisor. When her father disappears one day, leaving behind a letter saying that he went to look for his wife Helen, the daughter sets out on a journey to find her parents. The book has been touted as “the thinking man’s Da Vinci Code,” and really I found it a good comparison.
Book #8. The Placebo Chronicles by Douglas Farrago, M.D (190 pages//ISBN:0-7679-1949-1)
This was a book of amusing stories and anecdotes from doctors and other people in the medical profession. The stories included one about a morbidly obese woman with maggots in her vagina, several amusing and somewhat disturbing stories about narc-seekers and people with Munchausen Syndrome, and a few nice x-rays of random objects stuck in certain orifices. I never realized before now what doctors have to deal with, but now that I know, I am glad I never became a doctor. I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to the curious and steel-stomached.
Book #9. Love and War by John Jakes (885 pages)
The second novel in the North and South trilogy, this one is mainly about the war and how the lives of the main characters are affected by the events of the war. The Mains and Hazards are divided by the conflict, but they still maintain bonds of loyalty. Cousin Charles rescues Billy Hazard twice from hardship and Orry risks life and limb to write George and send Madeline to Constance in time of trouble. Orry is killed by a wounded Yankee soldier he is trying to save and the Main plantation is burned down and destroyed by a band of angry ex-slaves. Still, the families prevail and maintain their friendships, although feelings and people change with the times. A good book, although I had to skim through a lot of the battle scenes and the military talk.
Book #10. One Hundred Young Americans by Michael Franzini. (256 Pages//ISBN:0-06-119200-7)
This was a really neat book. The author and his crew went arond the United States interviewing and photographing young Americans in order to get as accurate a cross-section as possible. Kids from all walks of life were represented from young prostitutes to hard-core Mormons.
Book # 11. The Complete Sherlock Holmes (volume 1) by Arthur Conan Doyle. (516 pages//ISBN 1579126766)
I enjoyed these stories. It was fun to see how Sherlock came to his deductions, but after a while, it did get a little old. Fun in small doses. This volume did contain a lot of typographical errors.
Book # 12. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
(64 pages//ISBN:0064430227)
This is the first book I read to my daughter while we were in the hospital. I remember reading it when I was a kid at my grandmother’s house and really liking it, so I bought a copy on B&N.com before Scarlet was born. One of my favorite children’s books ever.
Book # 13. Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
(274 pages//ISBN:9780060724610)
Yes, yes. I just have to finish the Princess Diaries series. This one just came out this year and I reserved a copy a the library. Michael called Mia from Japan and said that he just wanted to be friends, Lilly stopped speaking to Mia and created a IhateMiaThermopolis website, Lana Weinberger wants to be Mia’s best friend, and now Mia is in therapy for her depression. Will she end up with Michael or JP in book 10?
Book # 14. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
(ISBN: 0688105351//394 Pages)
Three men find themselves aboard a submarine that they originally thought was a whale. The leader of the ship is Captain Nemo and he keeps them captive aboard the craft, allowing them freedom around the ship, but telling them they can never leave. Great adventures ensue.
Book # 15. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
(ISBN:0-06-057234-5//183 pages)
I read this to Scarlet and it was a lot of fun. It reminded me of my childhood when I used to take these books out of the library all the time.
Book # 16. Leaping Beauty by Gregory Maguire (197 pages// 0-06-056419-9)
This is a book of retold fairy tales written by Gregory Maguire: the author of Wicked. These stories are written for children though. Sleeping Beauty is actually frog princess doomed to be Weeping Beauty forever. Instead of three bears, there are three chickens who have to outwit Goldifox. Very cute book.
Book # 17. Alfie's Home by Richard A. Cohen (24 pages)
The most disturbing children's book ever. I found it while surfing the internet at work. Don't even ask.
Book # 18. Atonement by Ian McEwan (480 pages// ISBN: 978-0-307-38884-1
I liked it, but it doesn't end well. The only characters I liked consistently were the twin boys.
Book # 19. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling (309 pages// ISBN: 0-590-35340-3
No point in reviewing this one.
Cross-posted in
15000pages, bookish, and booktards
