Jenn’s Books

A book is to me like a hat or coat - a very uncomfortable thing until the newness has been worn off.

~Charles B. Fairbanks

Posted on August 15th, 2006

So, I slept all day yesterday. I am not joking. So you get two posts today.

There is a wonder in reading Braille that the sighted will never know: to touch words and have them touch you back.

~Jim Fiebig

Posted on August 13th, 2006

While I may be the last living person in the U.S. who hasn’t seen Pirates 2 up until this point, I saw it today. Gods it was great! I so can’t wait to see the next one, and my fiance need a pirate hat. He looks just like Captain Jack in one. Sometimes I count myself the luckiest woman alive. I have a wonderful man that looks like Johnny Depp without all of the drama that comes with being a celebrity.

Books - the best antidote against the marsh-gas of boredom and vacuity.

~George Steiner

Posted on August 12th, 2006.

I thought this quote was appropriate for the political climate currently. My heart goes out to those that must make a flight in the next week.

A book must be an ice-axe to break the seas frozen inside our soul.

~Franz Kafka

Posted on August 11th, 2006

Today’s big thanks goes to DT&T. They fixed my laptop and for cheap! If you have a computer problem and you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, give them a try. DT&T in Fremont

Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labeled “This could change your life.”

~Helen Exley

Posted on August 10th, 2006

Title: Fish! Author: Stephen C. Lundin Format: Hardbound

Fish! I found interesting because no one has ever put a management book in story form before. After millions of copies had been sold, hundreds from my store, I finally picked it up. It wasn’t as good as I had hoped, but not as bad as I had feared. I felt a bit like a child while reading this book. Like the “grown up” words were too much for me, but I had to get the adult concepts. On the other hand it was very compelling. I wanted to find out what happens to Mary Sue and her third floor group (sounds almost like an old country band, doesn’t it?). So while smart, capable employees are going to think this is a waste of time, it is a good book for the entire team to read so that they all can talk about the same book. And while that smart, capable employee is going to think it a waste of their time, it only took them an hour. It’s short, sweet and to the point. If you haven’t already gotten it for your company library, you should think about keeping a copy or two around.
If you would like more reviews on this title, please visit the Amazon website.

Title: Coraline Author: Neil Gaiman Format: Trade Paperbound

If you are a geek like I am, and you have kids, get them Coraline. Neil Gaiman has taken everything I loved about American Gods and then made it for kids. Coraline, the little warrior of our tale, is an explorer. She wants to find everything that she can; the deep well in the backyard, the creaky hallways and attic of her new home, and most importantly, the door. This door is locked by a dark black key and usually leads into a wall. The key is much, much colder then all of the other keys on the same key ring. When Coraline opens the door one day when her parents aren’t home, the door leads down a new hallway, one she hasn’t explored before. Through the long hall she comes into her kitchen, the kitchen that she just left. In the second kitchen are her parents, but they have buttons for eyes. They say they are her “other” parents. They want her to stay, and if she won’t, then they will just have to steal her real parents. Coraline proves to those that follow the story that being smart is much better then being big, that you can be much more clever then the adults.
If you would like more reviews on this title, please visit the Amazon website.

Title: The Lies of Locke Lamora Author: Scott Lynch Format: Hardbound

The more I read new names in science fiction and fantasy, the more new names I want to find. All of them that I have read recently have brought something new to the field. Someone suggested Scott Lynch’s Lies of Locke Lamora. So since it’s his first book, I gave it a read. OMG, is this good. The storytelling is fantastic; Lynch masterfully switches from the present to the childhood of Locke beautifully. The characters are funny and believable, like Locke. It’s almost like watching Robin Hood grow up, from boy who screws up all the time, into the cunning “Scourge of Nottingham and Thorn in Prince John’s side.” I explained the character of Locke to one of my friends as a mix of Robin Hood and the cast of Ocean’s Eleven, then add the biggest pair any thief has ever been born with. I would say this is more of a romanticized cat burglar mystery than it is a fantasy, but as it is set in a different world and in the middle ages of that world it seems, the book can be found at your local bookstore in sci/fi & fantasy.
If you would like more reviews on this title, please visit the Amazon website.

Title: The Joy of Cooking Author: Marion Rombauer Becker Format: Hardbound

If you do not have a copy of this book, my question to you is “How do you cook?” This is my bible in the kitchen. Last Thanksgiving was my first Thanksgiving cooking almost everything (my boyfriend made the garlic mash potatoes and they were so good!). The thing I like about Joy of Cooking is that it has general advice as well as specific recipes. So I had an idea for a sauce for the turkey consisting of red wine, rosemary, and a stick of butter. Off to the Joy of Cooking I went. So for a perfect bird, start with it breast down. I was quite pleased; I only caught myself on fire once, and the turkey was so juicy and delicious. I had a friend over who grew up in Japan and had never had turkey before so I was glad that it turned out perfect. Otherwise she would have gone home and told her mom “why do they have a holiday where all they do is eat this nasty meat?” I have found the book to be useful for all sorts of things outside of turkey. It’s got all of the basics of cooking. This is the perfect thing to give someone who is going away to college or someone who is getting married or someone who doesn’t have one.
If you would like more reviews on this title, please visit the Amazon website.

Title: The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer Author: Ridley Pearson as Joyce Reardon Format: Mass Market

So I am a sucker for Stephen King. As much as I pick his stories to bits, I keep coming back for more. I saw Rose Red one Halloween with friends and couldn’t stop laughing. I saw it as a comedy. The pizza delivery guy can make it to the house and back out again, but no one else can? If the pizza delivery guy is writing the whole story I guess that’s possible. Back at work, everyone starts looking for the new book by the “King of Horror”. Well it’s not over in ‘K’. We had it some place different each week. I finally read it after all of the madness had died down. I did like way it was laid out, very much like a diary from the turn of the century. It almost felt like this woman was talking to me, a very breathy sort of tone. All in all it was a basic ghost story. I am lucky enough to live semi-close to the Winchester Mystery House, and I just kept imagining that I was in that house. Even though it was just a simple ghost story, I thought it was very entertaining.
If you would like more reviews on this title, please visit the Amazon website.