Ern's Monthly Page Turners (December 2009)

*一部に日本語が書かれてます

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! This post ends my year of reading for 2009. It's been a great year for reading. Some of my favorites I read this year were pretty entertaining. I even managed to read a couple of classics as well (Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" and Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451"). Some of the highlights for me was "Red, White and Brew" by Brian Yaeger about his tour of American micro-breweries and was kind enough to leave me a comment on this blog as well. Although I haven't featured it yet, I did take his advice on trying Ibaraki Prefecture's Hitachino Nest Beer (thank you Brian). John Barlow's "Everything but the Squeal" as he attempts to eat every part of a hog in Northern Spain. Brandon Wilson's "Yak Butter Blues" as he treks the pilgrimage trail from Llasa, Tibet to Katmandu in Nepal with his wife and their donkey. Howard Dully's memoir "My Lobotomy" - an intense and sad but true story. Emmanuel Jal's "War Child" of his experience being a child soldier in Sierra Leone. Mark Thomas' "Belching Out the Devil" filling us in on Coca-Cola's not-so-clean business record. Misha Glenny's "McMafia" about some "seriously organized crime". And on the lighter side Julia Powell's "Julie and Julia" as Powell attempts to make all 500+ recipes of Julia Child's French cookbook and writes about it on a blog or Eric Talmadge's "Getting Wet" as he writes about Japanese bath culture and which was also featured on the blog "Asia by the Book" courtesy of me. I hope you enjoyed the books I read this year and I am looking forward to sharing my choices with you for 2010! And now for the books I read in the final month of 2009!



THE MACHO-MAN’S POINT IT BOOK by Nicotext – A stocking-stuff for your male-chauvenist friend. This book has absolutely no words. It’s as its title suggest, a book filled with pictures so the Macho-Man in you can point to the picture to convey what it is you want – a glass of beer, the remote, SEX, it should offend any female friends you have (if you still have any left), but it was amusing nonetheless. Published by a small publisher out of Sweden called Nicotext who’s titles become more popular with each release.

SIAMESE DREAMS by Christopher Johnson – One of the fortunes of being transferred back to the book floor of my employ is having interaction with our various customers and sometimes our customers could be the author of a particular book. Such was my meeting with Christopher Johnson, who currently resides in Tokyo but has a love for the Kingdom of Thailand. Having visited Southeast Asia before, we got to talking and before he made his exit he gave me his latest book which was published by Bangkok Books. Of course I read it. I have nothing against the author, but the story was very Bangkok specific and filled with a lot of dialogue in Thai. The story centers around two buddies who just graduated from high school but decided to seek adventure and followed the road to the Southeast Asia where they fall in love with the country and decide to stay. To be honest, this wasn’t really my cup of tea, but it was interesting how Johnson manages to blend the tragedy of the 2004 tsunami into his story line without making a farce of it. Unfortunately, his writing reminded me of Charles Bukowski who is one writer I just do not appreciate.

A YEAR OF MORNINGS: 3191 MILES APART by Maria Alexandra Vettesse and Stephanie Congdon Barnes – For a long while, I found this book sitting in the cookbook section. As I took a closer look at it, I found it to have no recipes and had absolute nothing to do with food whatsoever. But it seemed like a worthwhile book for the holidays. This book was put together from a blog the two women created. “Two Women! One Blog!” would make for a fine catch copy. One living in Portland, Oregon while the other lives in Portland, Maine – thus the subtitle of being 3191 miles apart. The two made a promise to each other to post a picture of their morning for an entire year. By becoming acquainted by the internet and finding they had the same interests led to this experiment in photography. As other people started to leave comments on their blog saying how the pictures inspire them to enjoy what’s around them, I find that this book is more than just about photography, it’s inspirational.

NINETEEN MINUTES by Jodi Picoult – Here in Tokyo, Picoult’s book “My Sister’s Keeper” adapted for the silver screen and currently playing in theaters around town and a popular seller at my local bookshop, I was fortunate enough to be given a comp copy of this particular title. Now this is an intense story which starts out with “In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game…In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge”. With the real-life incidents such as Columbine, it isn’t hard to imagine this story where the protagonist Peter has been bullied since kindergarten. Now seventeen and in high school, he has taken matters into his own hands and has killed at least ten people and injured a number of others. Unlike the students at Columbine, Peter is caught after the killings and stands awaiting trial. But the more you read the story, the more you begin to understand Peter. Bullying also being a major problem in Japan, the bullies might feel luckier over here with Japan’s strict gun laws. However, we’re talking about a country that has had over 30,000 suicides in this year alone (and quite a few of them could be attributed to bullying). A very hard book to put down.

UP IN THE AIR by Walter Kirn – Originally published in the USA in 2001, this title has been adapted for the silver screen. And if any of you enjoyed Tom Hanks in “Terminal”, then you will want to read this book as well. It is about a business man who spends most of his time in the air or at airports or what the book refers to as “Airworld”. Unlike Tom who was stranded at one airport, Ryan Bingham is a slave to the skies. His job title is “Career Transition Counselor” or as you will read on the back of the book, “…is a fancy way of saying that he fires people.” Ryan hates his job. He is planning on quitting his job once he reaches his ultimate goal…one million frequent flyer miles! But you will have to read the book to see if he reaches that goal or not and I’m not going to spoil it for you.

THE YEAR OF LIVING BIBLICALLY: ONE MAN’S HUMBLE QUEST TO FOLLOW THE BIBLE AS LITERALLY AS POSSIBLE by A. J. Jacobs – After finishing the previous book and not having anything to read at home, I asked a few of my friends for some recommendations. One suggested Herman Hesse (one of his lesser known works), my aunt shared with me one of her favorite authors but said I probably wouldn’t enjoy it, and another suggested this title. I picked this title for two reasons. One, I had read Jacobs previous book “The Know-It-All” and thoroughly enjoyed it. In that book, he reads the entire Enclopaedia Brittanica from A to Z (a challenge I wouldn’t want to take up myself) and writes about his experience doing so. Second, its Christmas season so the timing was perfect. Now, it’s almost an impossibility to literally live by “The Book” but Jacobs decides to do so for an entire year as “he vows to follow the Ten Commandments. To be fruitful and multiply. To love his neighbor.” But to also follow some of the lesser known rules listed such as “avoiding wearing clothes of mixed fibers” or to “play a ten-string harp”. What makes this book really interesting though, is that Jacobs is an agnostic (which is probably closest to my beliefs and which my friend Father Chuckie does not hold against me) but is fascinated by religion (much like I am). Hopefully, this book will get you to thinking about religion as a whole as well, not just Christianity but Islam and Judaism and the controversies surrounding interpretations for and against abortion, masturbation, homo-sexuality, etc. A fascinating read and an eye-opener as well. I would recommend this to all my friends, be them Christian or not. Highly educational, it may even make you want to read the Bible again.

HEAVY METAL IN BAGHDAD: THE STORY OF ACRASSICAUDA by Andy Capper and Gaby Sifre – Baghdad and Heavy Metal? In the same sentence? Yes. Acrassicauda is a heavy metal band from Iraq. They were also the subject of documentary film made by Vice Magazine. This book picks up where the documentary film left off. Unfortunately, I don’t think the film is available or has been released in Japan yet. But it’s a very human story about a group of 20 year old guys who like to listen to Metallica and Slayer, not unlike the youth of our own country. But this is an Islamic nation. Saddam Hussein was still in power, and playing or listening to hard rock and heavy metal can literally get you killed. I am looking forward to seeing the documentary but I believe the book is more intense (a transcript of the film is included in the book as well). What makes this intense is that the band continued to play and rehearse even as the U.S. was preparing for war. All these guys wanted to was to play music, but then the “Second Gulf War” started, and instead of improving the life for the citizens of Iraq, it only led to more violence, an insurgency, and an impossibility to practice or play anywhere. The workers at Vice Magazine did not know that their article would spawn such a great response that they found themselves helping the band to leave their country and to gain refugee status elsewhere. I listened to one of their songs on YouTube and if you like heavy metal, you will want to support this band as well.

WHY AC/DC MATTERS by Anthony Bozza – Only three more months until the Australian bad boys of rock return to the “Land of the Rising Sun”. I haven’t bought my tickets yet but I think I may be going to this show. There are quite a few titles out about the band but this covers everything from their beginnings to their current release “Black Ice” which they are touring. I can remember the first time I saw them as well. It was 1979, they were the opening band for Ted Nugent and Cheap Trick at the Seattle Coliseum. This was when the band was still fronted by Bon Scott and touring their most successful album to date – “Highway to Hell”. I knew I was reading a book written by a kindred spirit as Bozza went on to say that the first time he saw AC/DC in concert was at Madison Square Garden in New York City and how the crowd got wild and built a mountain out of the chairs on the arena floor. I read that and thought to myself – “Damn, I was there. I was sitting in the arena when those chairs were flying over my head”. Yes, I saw the same tour in ’79 as I spent most of my summer in New York City with my uncle. I even saw Kiss on their “Dynasty Tour” there but that’s another story. I must definitely start buying back all the AC/DC CDs that I had sold over the years.

HOW STARBUCKS SAVED MY LIFE: A SON OF PRIVILEGE LEARNS TO LIVE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE by Michael Gates Hill – When I first saw the name Starbucks and Gates and Privilege, I naturally assumed it was some relative of Bill Gates (okay, so I didn’t notice his last name was Hill the first time around). But this is such an excellent story. An elderly white gentleman – an executive at a well known advertising company, Yale educated, owns a house in the suburbs of Connecticut finds himself put to pasture by his younger boss. Not only does he find himself jobless – but he has an affair and has a child which leads to a divorce. Now he’s jobless, divorced, and living alone. His only comfort is having a cup of Joe at Starbucks. It is here that a decision is made which will change his life. The young, female, African-American manager approaches him and half-jokingly asks if he would like a job. She is taken aback when he replies “Yes, I would like a job”. Now this white man who was part of the “Old Boys Club” will be taking orders from a young, black woman. It’s such a human story – although it sounds like one long plug for Starbucks – you can’t help buy enjoy reading about his experience. As a bonus, the film rights to this book has already been sold and will star Tom Hanks with Gus Van Sant directing.

蒼井優 今日、いまごろ – 帯に書いてあるのは「２２歳。“女優の顔”と“女子の顔”」蒼井優の写真集ですよ。これを買ったのは日本語読みの勉強。写真が多いけど取材の記事とかはふるがな無しなんで、ちょっと勉強になります。彼女も可愛いし。いつ好きになったか分かりませんが、良く彼女の映画は観ます。あと帯に書かれたことはこうです：「映画の撮影現場、乗馬、住宅街を散歩・・・完全撮りおろし＆ロングインタビューを集めた完全保存版。私物紹介、ブライベートフォトで綴る旅のはなし、主演作品ヒストリー・・・etc. いちばん気になる女優・蒼井優の“今”をキュッと詰め込みました。」あと「主演映画“百万円と苦虫女”の撮影現場オフショットも満載！」や～可愛いですな。今はあの競馬と午後の紅茶のCMで彼女は観れる。

FREEDOM by 高橋歩 – 高橋歩の最新作。現在はまだ家族で世界を放浪してますが、まが新たなの本が出版されました。写真はもちろんと自分にエールをもらえる様な言葉もたくさん書いております。「倒れときは前のめり」「旅をして、自分をぶっ壊せ」等々。写真が面白いから飽きない。いつか下北沢で経営してる店をたずねて行ってみたいですね。世界一周は憧れますね。

FUCK YOU: ROCK AND ROLL PORTRAITS by Neil Zlozower – Zlozower has been taking pictures of rock and punk musicians for over thirty years. This is a collection of those artist with one recurring theme – they are all giving him the bird, flipping him off, the middle finger salute. From popular recording artists such as Metallica, Motley Crue (that’s Nikki Sixx on the cover by the way), Jon Bon Jovi, Ratt, Lemmy (from Motorhead) to lesser known artists (unless you’re a rock maniac like me) like Laaz Rockit and the Bullet Boys. This title will go well with your copy of “American Hair Metal” as well.





WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by Maurice Sendak – The original classic Caldecutt winning book by Sendak. Our bookstore is currently featuring this and other related titles as the Dave Eggers penned “Wild Things” has been adapted for the silver screen. I remember reading this (or having it read to me) when I was little. Along with this title, I vividly recall “Into the Night Kitchen” as well. The seemingly simple story has a deep message. Max runs wild and is scolded by his mother and is sent to his room without supper. So Max escapes into his imagination and heads off to “where the wild things are”. Some children’s books are just timeless classics and this is definitely one of them.

I am currently half-way through with my next book - a fiction title set mostly in Italy. I already have two other titles waiting after this one. And I'm always open to suggestions as well. So once again, I wish you all a Happy New Year and HAPPY READING as well!