I suppose if I were a published author or had an agent, they would be saying, "Hey, you're missing your deadline!". Fortunately, I write my book reviews for fun and currently am not a published author so I can make wahtever excuses I want about not writing them in a timely fashion (to be honest, sometimes I'm just lazy). So I shall use the standard cliche of, "better late, than never". Enjoy.
SCOOBY-DOO! by Jerry Beck - "Scooby Doo! Where are you?" "Over here!" Zoinks! I thought I would take a little break and check out this mini hardcover book published by Insight Editions. Hey, I grew up on Scooby (even though I have yet to burden myself with watching the live-action movies). And I hated Scrappy-Doo! In this short, really short book, you will learn how the original idea of teen sleuths grew into being - along with Fred, Velma, Daphne, and the cowardly Shaggy and Scooby-Doo. Oh, and the lyrics to theme song is in here as well. And if you're a criminal wannabe, you must remember your lines when you get caught (as you most surely will) - "I would have gotten away with it too if it hadn't been for you meddling kids!" I may have to read Insight Editions' "The Flintstones" as well!
CUPIDITY by Caroline Goode - Teenage rom-com novel that would make a great made for television After School Special. Laura Sweeney is a high school teenager and desperately wants a boyfriend. She's also a big mythology buff can calls upon Jupiter to send her one. Little did she know, the Gods were listening. Although the Gods have been retired and living at Mount Olympus Retirement Home - Mercury delivers Laura's message and the Gods decide to send Cupid to fulfill her wish. In order to get close to Laura, Cupid is sent back as an awesome babe that everyone wants to get to know and has renamed himself Cupidity. But when Laura accidently shoots Cupidity with Cupid's arrow, Cupidity falls under a spell. It is now up to Laura to seek help from Cupid's mother Venus, to make things back to normal. Good fun and rather cute - who cares if the outcome is predictable.
MCMAFIA: SERIOUSLY ORGANIZED CRIME by Misha Glenny - For those of you familiar with my reading habits, you will know that I am fascinated by "crimes against humanity" and organized crime in general - not that I want to become a criminal mind you. And I am not particularly fond of the "true crime" genre. It's one thing to read about "conflict diamonds" in Sierra Leone or the Rwandan genocide, but quite another when it comes to reading about people like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Edward Gants, or the Black Dhalia murders. But when I read about organized crime and how its members are able to defy the laws of authority or can simply bribe officials and run a state as if it’s their own (remember Panama and Noriega), I shake my head in wonderment but find the books too fascinating to put down. All of you are probably familiar with the Sicilian Mafia or the Japanese Yakuza, and perhaps the Chinese Triads, but Glenny covers far more than what we imagine conventional organized crime to be. He introduces us to a world where the Russian Mafiya control the sturgeon caviar trade, where the biggest growers of marijuana are in British Columbia, Canada, smuggling cigarettes in the Balkans, the Mumbai underworld, to the world’s biggest money laundering country – the U.A.E. Of course he also covers trafficking in women and currently, one of the world’s most profitable commodities – cheap labor from Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia.
SUPERMAN WAS A SPY? AND OTHER COMIC BOOK LEGENDS...REVEALED! by Brian Cronin - This is more or less a history of American comic books "lite". The history of DC Comics and Marvel is so vast and their universes are so expansive that it's amazing someone would attempt to cover both publishers as well as Walt Disney Comics, Dark Horse, and few others. But for someone who is not a fanatic about comics this makes a great read. You will learn little factoids about all your favorite super-heroes such as what the Caped Crusader looked like in his initial version - he had a red suit and no bat logo on his chest. The trademark and copyright wars are fascinating as well. The Comics Code Authority could have been covered in a little more detail - I certainly would like to know he decided what words you could and couldn't use, did you know that the Comics Code Authority prevented the use of the words vampires, werewolves, and such - leading to the demise of EC Comics which published a lot of horror stories like "Tales of the Crypt". Here were some other fascinating facts that you might not know - Wolverine of the X-Men was originally going to be real wolverine that by some sort of event believed itself to be human. How about a Dutch inventor not being able to get a patent on an idea he came up with because his idea was used in a Donald Duck comic book years before. If you're a huge fan of American comics, this book probably wouldn't be worth your time. If, like me, you have a mile interest and like to know about the origins of some of the original superheroes, or seeing reprints of Superman fighting Hitler, you will be quite satisfied. I quite enjoyed this book.
ALTERNADAD: THE TRUE STORY OF ONE FAMILY'S STRUGGLE TO RAISE A COOL KID IN AMERICA by Neal Pollack - Before y'all jump to any conclusions, let me start off by saying, "NO!, I am not an impending father-to-be!". I only picked this book to read because I liked the cover illustration. Pollack tries to become a responsible adult as fatherhood approaches. One of his first major decisions, aside from having a child, is in which city we he raise his family. Leaving Chicago, his family ventures to Austin, Texas. With kids comes all sorts of other decisions, ones which can induce family feuds. Pollack being Jewish, while his wife is not - the question of circumcision becomes more than just a snip off the tip. His wife says most research shows that to not circumcise is the way to go. But Pollack's family is Jewish. When he seeks advice from his parents - they nearly blow-up saying how could he even think of doing away with 6000 years of Jewish history. Pollack continues to take us on his journey as his offspring grows - which gives rise to new problems - where to send his child to school? How to solve his child's biting problem? Quite an amusing foray into the world of parenthood. I don't mind watching my friends become parents and quite enjoy playing with their kids. When they start to cry, you can always give them back!
EVERYBODY INTO THE POOL: TRUE STORIES by Beth Lisick - Now to read about alternative culture from a female point of view. But instead of Austin, Texas, Lisick lives in San Francisco. How can you not love the blurb on the back of her book which states, "Lisick makes her adult home on the fringe of mainstream culture and finds it rich with paradox and humor. On the one hand, she lives in "Brokeley" with drug dealers and street gangs; on the other, she drives a station wagon with a baby seat in the back, makes her own chicken stock, and attends ladies' luncheons." To be honest though, I found Pollack's book to be the more entertaining of the two, not that I have anything against San Francisco mind you. Maybe it was because Pollack's book followed a certain chronological order while Lisick's book wanders around from the past to the future. One article, she's single and talking about picking up guys or gals (trying to determine if she's bisexual), then next article, she's talking about being married and raising a kid. Still entertaining if you don't mind the order in which you read the articles.
MW by Osamu Tezuka - This is a graphic novel and just to put you on the right track, the title is pronounced "Mu". The author might be familiar to anime fans as he is the creator of Atom Boy and other well known mangas. This is one of his darker stories that has only recently been translated into English. A live-action version of the manga has been adapted for the silver screen and is currently being played at theaters around town. The story revolves around two main characters who survivors and witnesses to a terrible accident gone wrong some fifteen years ago that the Japanese government had covered up. On a small island somewhere in Okinawa Prefecture, a toxic virus had leaked killing the population of the entire island. The government was quick in sustaining any unwanted publicity and quietly covered up the accident. Now, 15 years later, one of the survivors sets out on a killing spree for those that were responsible for the cover-up while the other finds God and prays for his soul and those who were lost in the tragedy. But what gives this story an interesting twist is that the priest and psycho also have a physical relationship. I’ll be looking forward to watching the movie when it's available for rent on DVD.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: YOUR SHOT by National Geographic Magazine - Okay, this isn't a book but I wanted to share it with you anyway. On the National Geographic Magazine website, there is a section title "Your Shot" in which readers take their best and/or favorite photo for possible publication in an issue National Geographic Magazine. This is the first compilation of photos from "Your Shot" and is now available as a special magazine. Great for photo enthusiasts.This concludes my reading choices for the month of July. I hope you enjoyed it. My sister has said that I must read the "Twilight" series (probably for the simple fact that the story is based in Washington State), but she says it also quite entertaining. I shall keep it in mind. I am currently reading an English translation of a German national who one day decided to walk the Camino de Santiago - the pilgrimage trail from Saint-Jean-Piet-de-Port to Santiago de Compostela. And I have already read another volume of the food-based manga series "Oishinbo a la Carte". Until next month, HAPPY READING!
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