"The Book of Awesome" by Neil Pasricha

Sometimes it's easy to forget the things that make us smile. With a 24/7 news cycle reporting that the polar ice caps are melting, hurricanes are swirling in the seas, wars are heating up around the world, and the job market is in a deep freeze, it's tempting to feel that the world is falling apart. But awesome things are all around us - sometimes we just need someone to point them out. The Book of Awesome reminds us that the best things in life are free (yes, your grandma was right). With laugh-out-loud observations from award-winning comedy writer Neil Pasricha, The Book of Awesome is filled with smile-inducing moments on every page that make you feel like a kid looking at the world for the first time. Red it and you'll remember all the things there are to feel good about. The Book of Awesome reminds us of all the little things that we often overlook but that make us smile. With touching, warm, and funny observations, each entry ends with the big booming feeling you'll get when you read through them: AWESOME!

This book fell in my lap when I was doing Saturday duty at our main library branch. Yep, my day was not awesome; I had been "asked" to help fill in at said "big" library due to six open vacancies and a county-wide hiring freeze. And of course, my boss didn't give me a lot of heads-up about this change; I was working after finding out less than 2 weeks beforehand. So, yeah, I wasn't my usual chipper self, and I wasn't really feeling my job that day. While checking in books in the back room, I came across this little gem, and I felt compelled to stop and experience all the "awesome" things in life.

Not to sound too cliche, but this book really is awesome! Pasricha began this as an Internet blog project back in 2008. I suspect he, too, was having "one of those days", and rather than sit around and revel in the mope, he did something constructive and turned his attitude around. I've become a follower of the blog, too, after reading this book, and yes, it's still just as fun to read about the awesome things every morning.

So what types of awesome things are in the book? Things like "popping bubble wrap", which is listed on the dust jacket, and yes, just happens to be one of my all-time favorite things to do. There's nothing to cheer up a down day like popping a bunch of tiny air-filled bubbles of goodness, especially if there are other people around to be annoyed by it (just my personal opinion....). Other things make the list like "wearing underwear just out of the dryer", and "hitting a bunch of green lights in a row". I would totally agree with most of the entries here - they are AWESOME moments!

The other thing I enjoyed about this book was that it got me thinking about what I, personally, consider to be "awesome". I've come up with a few, and I'll share one here with you. I think it's awesome to be walking outside, either around a neighborhood or near a laundromat, and smell that sweet, clean smell of dryer air being vented to the outside. There's nothing like that smell, and it just envelopes me in a small cloud of heat and warm memories. AWESOME!

Definitely pick up this book if you need some motivation in today's not-so-awesome world. It's a bit like saying "stop and smell the roses", but Pasricha gives you real-world things to enjoy. And look for his sequel, "The Book of (even more) Awesome" hitting stores April 28, 2011. AWESOME!

"The Red Badge of Courage" by Stephen Crane

In my attempts to read more "literature" that I somehow missed in college, I have been sticking to a list I found a few years ago. I have a very simple method: I've been reading the books in order of number of pages. So, shortest works to the longest tombs. "The Red Badge" is fairly short, clocking in at just under 200 pages or so. The copy I picked up from work was even shorter than that - ours was an illustrated edition, so drop probably a good 20 pages or so due to pictures.

It still took me almost 6 weeks to get through the darn thing.

In essence, it's a simple story. Henry Fleming, the "youth" from a northern state, decides to join the Union army despite his mother's objections. He's full of patriotic pride.... until he realizes that waiting for the war to get his brigade is just plain boring. There are several scenes of tired, bored, somewhat unorganized Union soldiers waiting for to see action. They often wonder if they're being marched from location to location simply to have something to do.

Then the Confederate army shows up and there's a big fight. And Henry's patriotism is sorely lacking; when the fight looks bad, he and several others turn tail and run. When he meets up with his platoon again, he's been whacked in the head with a rifle, giving him a rather nasty head wound. However, he spins a tale of being shot in the head; he doesn't want to admit to his cowardice. One soldier questions him on the story but eventually lets it go, and Henry finds a friend of his among the men, and all is well again.

There's another big battle scene, one where Henry really does have quite a bit of patriotic pride, refusing to give up this time even though he and his friend have overheard an officer saying that their troop is basically being sent in as cannon fodder. And they are, losing several men in the fight, but eventually they do emerge victorious, living to fight another day.

I won't say this is a bad book; even though I wasn't enjoying it, I could appreciate that Crane did an excellent job with the mechanics of the language and such. What I will say is that I just do not find "war" stories appealing on pretty much any level. I think the only one I ever read and liked was "All Quiet on the Western Front" - which is told from a very different viewpoint. I had to force myself to finish this small book; I kept falling asleep every time I picked it up. But finish it I did, and I can now mark it off my list.

"Where's My Wand? One Boy's Magical Triump over Alienation and Shag Carpeting" by Eric Poole

"Perhaps it was my parents' relationship - which seemed to be devolving into nightly performances of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? sans the Edward Albee script and intermissions - that sparked my interest in magic. Perhaps it was because my new third-grade teacher, a sadist in stilettos named Mrs. Locke, had it in for me. Today, Mrs. Locke would be able to positively channel her aggression into a career as a bounty hunter or an Attica prison guard, but in 1969, her only outlet was a group of unsuspecting third-graders, and one in particular. Whatever the cause, I worshipped the TV show Bewitched. The notion of being able to snap my fingers, wave my hands, or twinkle my nose and magically alter the circumstances of life was intoxicating, akin to learning voodoo or having Jesus owe you one."

From an early age, Eric Poole was obsessed with Endora of TV's Bewitched. Just days after his family's Pontiac pulled into the driveway of the Pooles' new home in St. Louis, Missouri, eight-year-old Eric had staked out the basement as his special place: a spot where he could secretly perform magical incantations, draped in a flowing white bedspread he furtively hoped his compulsive mother wouldn't miss. At every rocky moment in his life, or when he was desperate to change future events before they could unfold, Eric would turn to his magical tools, close his eyes tight, and try to make everything all right. From his friendship with a fearless girl who has no arms, to his attempt to perform an exorcism on the cute boy in his Vacation Bible School, to his anxiety that his magical wish to be superior has caused the death of a family friend, Eric Poole's stories take you into the mind of someone trying to make sense of the world and his place in it. Where's My Wand? follows Eric from childhood through adolescence - a journey in which the magic in his life slowly morphs from childhood wonder to religious dogma to, finally, the grown-up understanding that the real, true magic is believing in yourself.

Can I just tell how much I loved this book? I don't know if it was reading about the 60s and 70s that made me nostalgic for my childhood (highly doubtful), or the family dynamics (more likely), or the wonderfully touching story of a young child searching for friends and being snubbed at almost every turn (BINGO!) but something really resonated with me while reading this hopefully introductory work from Poole.

The above blurbs from the dust jacket should pretty much give you all the information you need. I will say that I thought the book was going to be a lot more about Poole growing up in this time period as a young gay man, how that would make him feel isolated, how hard it would be to come to terms with those feelings, etc. But the sexuality issue is barely touched upon, except for one very hilarious scene where Eric tries to "exorcise" a "demon" from his friend that he's made through church. Even then, I got the impression that his intentions were still honorable; he thought his friend was possessed because he found himself attracted to this new friend, and that couldn't be because there was anything wrong with him, Eric.

The other thing that I thought was interesting was his relationship with his mother; it pretty much blows all the old stereotypes right out of the water. His mother does not dote on him, nor are they particularly close. (She does stand up for him in one completely brilliant scene, which made me like her a bit more). On the other hand, he and his father do seem quite close, and take an annual trip every year to have the family car worked on by an old friend of Eric's dad. They get to ride the bus (not Greyhound, as it's a bit too pricey), stay in a nice motel (12 stories!) and spend some time together without having to worry about raking the shag carpet back into pristine condition (yep, that would be Eric's mother's OCD rearing it's ugly head).

There are some strong family dynamics here, and I learned a lot more about the Baptist faith than I knew before. I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants a touching story about growing up as a nerd/loner, as well as anyone who wants a good laugh. I sincerely hope that Poole has another book in the works, as I would love to read about his life again.

"If You Can Read This: The philosophy of bumper stickers" by Jack Bowen

Long before blogs and tweets, people were telling the world how they felt through bumper stickers. Even now, whether they're political or religious, passionate or proud, controversial or corny, these brightly colored, boldly lettered mini manifestos are declarations of who we are, where we stand, and what we'd reather be doing. But as bestselling author and noted philosopher Jack Bowen reveals, there's much more to the pop-culture phenomenon than rolling one-liners - no less, in fact, than a wise, funny, poignant, contentious, and truthful discourse on the human condition. Mixing pop culture with the ideas of historically prominent philosophers and scientists, If You Can Read This exposes the deeper wisdom couched behind these slogans - or, as need be, exposes where they have gone wrong. If you brake for big ideas, now's the time.

This was not exactly the book I thought it was when I put it on my "to-be-read" list so long ago. I thought it was going to be more of a historical look at the bumper sticker itself; how they came about, have evolved, why people love them, etc. Imagine my surprise when I realized that I was going to get a lesson in philosophical theory instead!

But it works, it really does. I thought it was very clever of Bowen to use something we all know (and mostly love), something as simple as a bumper sticker, to delve into some pretty tough topics. This small work covers just about everything: "reality", "the self", "values", "morality", even "the big questions". Each chapter has one of these general titles, then we get the bumper stickers.

For example, under the chapter "God and Religion", there are bumper sticker slogans ranging from "God Said It. I Believe It. That Settles It." to "God, Please Save Me, From Your Followers!". No sticker is safe, and Bowen discusses the philosophy behind them all. And brings up some valid points that I hadn't really thought about, either. Such as when he discusses the sticker "When You Pray Get Off Your Knees". I'm pretty sure I've seen this one somewhere before but have never really given it much thought. Bowen talks about the driver's selection of this sticker, that this person most likely believes that you need to do something to change things other than pray. Or that you can pray, but still need to get off your butt and do something to help yourself as well. Bowen uses a quote from Frederick Douglass to illustrate this point: "I prayed for freedom for twenty years, but received no answer until I prayed with my legs." Perhaps the driver would have the companion sticker on the other side of the bumper (just my thinking here....), "God helps those who help themselves."

It's a very interesting look at such a small, common thing, one that really makes the reader think about the "slogan" being advertised. Some stickers have a good, solid philosophical theory behind them; others are completely destroyed by Bowen, who points out a lot of faulty logic. A fun read, and one that will teach you something while entertaining you at the same time.

"Dear Undercover Economist" by Tim Harford

In Dear Undercover Economist, the first collection of his wildly popular Financial Times columns, Tim Harford offers witty, charming, and at times caustic answers to our most pressing concerns - all through the lens of economics. Does money buy happiness? Is "the one" really out there? Can cities be greener than farms? Can you really "dress for success"? When's the best time to settle down? Harford provides brilliant, hilarious, unexpected, and wise answers to these and other questions. Arranged by topic, easy to read, and hard to put down, Dear Undercover Economist lends an outrageous, compassionate, and indispensable perspective on anything that may irk or ail you - a book well work the investment.

I'd read "The Undercover Economist" a few years ago, and it wasn't too bad a book, a bit hard to get through at times, but still informative. I saw this title and thought it might be a better choice, seeing as how it's written as letters rather than chapters full of information. And it is - to the extent that it was much easier to decide when to close the book at night and go to sleep.

Even with the shorter format and such, I still had a difficult time getting through this title by Harford. Perhaps I was spoiled by "Freakonomics" - another book that attempts to use common, everyday life to explain the weird world of economics. I think the authors there did a brilliant job of not only explaining but entertaining, and as anyone who has ever tried to teach anyone knows (esp. when trying to teach children), it's so much easier if you can keep your audience entertained.

The only really cool thing about this book was one of the letters in the "how to fool a wine snob" section. No, the letter itself isn't exciting - it's the author. George Pollitt of Buckinghamshire, UK, submitted a question about his favorite pub table getting too crowded. Why is this important? Well, "Pollitt" happens to be my family name, and I'd been told by my grandfather and my dad down the years that "Pollitt" is very common in England. Not on par with "Smith" or "Jones" here, but probably along the lines of "Mason" or "Carpenter". And here's the name! And no, I do not know George Pollitt, or at least, I don't believe I do. I've never heard his name mentioned in the family tree. But it sure was neat to see my family name appear in a book!

"Collected Novellas, volume 1" by Josh Lanyon

I love Josh Lanyon, and I'm happy to say that this collection of short stories (novellas) is pretty darn good. There's an intro to each story, so the reader gets an idea of what the author was thinking about when he wrote the story. I love that, a little insight into a writer's mind....

"Cards on the Table" gives us the story of Tim North, a writer who is investigating an old unsolved murder mystery. His neighbor, Jack Brady, happens to be a cop, and he finds himself helping Tim when it appears that someone doesn't want this mystery solved.

"Dangerous Ground" gives us two law enforcement men out on a camping trip that turns into a fact-finding mission regarding a casino robbery. Taylor MacAllister and Will Brandt have been partners for years, and one of them would like that to be off-duty as well as on-duty. The danger reveals itself as they make their way back to civilization after finding the remains of a plane crash, the plane that was used to whisk away the thieves. Turns out not all of them died on impact...

"In Sunshine or In Shadow" is a very short story about Keiran Quinn and Rick Monaghan, homicide detectives and partners. Keiran makes a huge decision about his life and runs as far as he can to put space between him and Rick.

Finally, there's "Snowball in Hell", a period piece set during WWII. Homicide detective Matt Spain meets reporter Nathan Doyle during the investigation into the death of a very wealthy and famous young man. The sparks fly, but this isn't the world we're used to; their attraction is dangerous and could bring them both a lot of trouble, including the loss of their careers.

I liked all the entries here, although I thought "In Sunshine or In Shadow" wasn't fully realized, perhaps due to the length of the story. The one thing that I have noticed now that I've read quite a bit of Lanyon's work is that he definitely has a thing for cops! Makes me wonder about his significant other, if perhaps he's in law enforcement himself. And while I enjoyed these shorter works, I still believe Lanyon's novels are better. The good news is that "Snowball in Hell" is supposed to be the start to a new series. I really enjoyed the subtle relationship between Matt and Nathan, and I would definitely be interested in reading a series of novels about these two.

"A Hard Day's Knight" by Simon R. Green

Welcome to the Nightside. For those foolish enough to seek it out, it's a literal tourist trap, populated by beings, human and otherwise, who have never seen the sun rise. A place where your dreams can come true - as long as your nightmares don't get you first. My name is John Taylor. I'm a PI with a special talent for finding lost things. Which was more than enough for me - until recently, when fate offered me a job that I couldn't refuse. So now I'm the new Voice of the Authorities, who run the Nightside. And I'm also the reluctant owner of a very special - and dangerous - weapon: Excalibur, the legendary sword (which isn't what you think it is, and never was). Excalibur chose me, and no-one knows why. To find out, I'll have to consult the last defenders of Camelot, a group of knights who dwell in a place that some find more frightening than the Nightside. London Proper. It's been years since I've been back - and there are good reasons for that...

Just like Taylor says, things aren't what they seem to be. For example, this 12th installment of his popular Nightside series. I thought the majority of the action was going to take place in "London Proper", which would have made it a very interesting read indeed; the infamous John Taylor would have had to play it cool so as not to draw attention to himself in the world of us mere mortals. He does go to London, but only for a very brief chapter or so, then it's right back into the Nightside.

Most of the usual gang is here, including John's girlfriend, Suzie Shooter, aka "Oh Christ It's Her, Run". Alex, barkeep and owner of Strangefellows, is also on the scene, as is Julien Advent and a few others. It's like visiting old friends, and of course, we meet new ones, namely the London Knights (who aren't really new as they've appeared before, but we learn a lot more about them this time). Then there's the man himself, King Arthur; that was truly a treat for me, being a huge fan of all things Arthurian back in the day. There are nasty elves, too, and of course, lots of fighting.

I thought this book was much like the others in Green's series: a good, solid read. The Nightside books are short and cover familiar ground each time, with John getting himself into trouble and relying on his friends to help him save the day. And while I like the relationship he has with Suzie, the end of this book gives one quite the shock, taking that pairing into territory I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to enter. Guess I'll just have to wait for the next book and see what happens. The Nightside is a fun place to visit, and I'm glad that Green writes about it. But I'm with Taylor - I don't think mere mortals such as I were meant to stay.