Book Review: Zen and the Art of Writing

Book Review for Zen and the Art of Writing
By Ray Bradbury

Broken into essays on writing that spans over 19 years, this book is a gem of inspiration and passion. You can tell Bradbury loved to write. Truly. As in, leave a rip-roaring time to hurry home and put a story to paper. Zen and the Art of Writing covers subjects from feeding and keeping a muse, finding inspiration, using life in your stories, how the brain stores things for later, and of course, never giving up. The man gathered an impression rejection pile in his time. If you are looking for a little inspiration, the first few essays in this book are sure to do the trick.

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Book Review: The King and Dr. Nick: What Really Happened to Elvis and Me

Book Review for The King and Dr. Nick: What Really Happened to Elvis and Me
By George Nichopoulos with Rose Clayton Phillips

This book is an account from ‘Dr. Nick’ (George Nichopoulos), the personal physician of the late Elvis Presley, on what really killed The King of Rock and Roll. It also leads us through Dr. Nick’s personal turmoil and professional fallout that has crept over the last four decades as a result of Elvis’ early death.

The King of Rock and Roll died in 1977 setting off a heated media debate about what killed him and who was responsible for taking this icon from his millions of fans. Did Elvis die of a drug overdose like the press would have you believe? Is Elvis hiding out at a 7-Eleven, surprising unsuspecting shoppers?

Before reading this memoir, I knew little about the amusing stories surrounding The King and didn’t have a particular opinion, or even my own answers to either of those questions. Having read The King and Dr. Nick, I can say with conviction–no, and no. I won’t give too much of the story away but to mention Elvis definitely had health issues, health issues that Dr. Nick valiantly tried to lessen during his decade of diligent medical care as Elvis’ personal physician. On the second charge–Elvis is not the type of personality to hide himself away–although I could see him getting a kick out of surprising people in some out-of-the-way convenience store.

This book brewed several emotions within me–first, disappointment that I will never be able to experience Elvis performing live and second, disbelief and anger at how cruel the media can be, particularly when one person is looking to further their career and get the ultimate scoop–to the point of ignoring and misconstruing facts at the risk and expense of other people’s livelihood. (I always felt there was something sleazy and untrustworthy about Geraldo Rivera, and now I know why.) False stories in the media brought great pain and loss to Dr. Nick. This is a man who cared for difficult patients when no one else would, and as a thanks for his hard work, was falsely charged several times for not taking proper care of Elvis as well as other patients. In the end, decades after Elvis’ death, Dr. Nick lost his fight, losing his career despite the evidence proving he did all he could, plus some (and all within medical guidelines).

Kudos to Dr. Nick for his strength and rest in peace Elvis–you truly were The King.

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Full disclosure: This title was given to me as part of ThomasNelson’s Book Sneeze program in exchange for an honest review.
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Book Review: Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys to Creativity

Book review for Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys to Creativity
By Hugh MacLeod

Hugh MacLeod, a cartoonist and blogger, provides succinct, proven advice on creativity. (Everything from ideas to money to selling out to being broke to friends to hobbies to jobs to props to approval to… you get the point. He talks about the life and what it truly is and what it truly isn’t.)

Not only does MacLeod provide an easy-to-read book full of nuggets, his practical, down-to-earth, tried, tested and true advice is real. Can I repeat myself more? No, probably not. So, carrying on… His common sense advice is probably a lot of what is already swimming around in your creative head. That is, if you listen to it. And that’s the thing. It can be really hard to listen to those little voices, ideas and theories, especially when they go against your neighbours and friends who are saying something to the tone of who-are-you-and-what-do-you-do-and-what-do-you-make-doing-it society. It’s good to hear from someone who has been there and have him share his thoughts on paper. And not only that, but to have bigwigs agent it, publish it and sell it. It gives a certain legitimacy to those swimming ideas rocketing through your brain. But most of all, it gives you the courage to not only believe it, but to follow it.

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Book Review for Wonder Woman: Love and Murder

Book Review: Wonder Woman: Love and Murder
Written by Jodi Picoult
Illustrated by Terry Dodson, Drew Johnson, Paco Diaz

This is a comic book/graphic novel. It is like several comic books made shiny and packed together like a graphic novel often is. The illustrations are vivid and powerful. The writing is strong and witty. I didn’t know much about Wonder Woman before this, but it’s safe to say I am now a fan.

When I first saw that Jodi Picoult (yes, the same Jodi Picoult who wrote My Sister’s Keeper, Nineteen Minutes, etc.) had written Wonder Woman, I thought ‘that sounds intriguing.’ When I realized it was a comic book and I was even more intrigued. A stellar storyteller, Picoult does a fine job of portraying Wonder Woman and slides her between two worlds–human and superhero.

Wonder Woman, a fugitive after killing Lord in order to save the world, disguises herself as human (with some interesting transportation problems–you have to put gas in a car? What’s that cost anyway?). Throughout the storyline, Wonder Woman struggles to determine where in the world (quite literally) she fits in. With enemies creating a war that endangers the humans she loves, Wonder Woman is pulled into the conflict. To make matters more interesting she finds herself pitted against her mother who has mysteriously returned from the dead. I will warn you, this book does end in a cliffhanger that will leave you frustrated. I need more!

Welcome to Book Review Weekend

Yes, it is January. When is there a better time in the year to curl up with a book all weekend?

Oh, right. The beach in the summer. Doh!

Anyway, I’ve got a couple of books following my laptop around the house waiting for me to do up their reviews so they can join their friends in dusty stacks of ‘have read’ around the house–we are in dire need of bookshelves.

This is actually my kitchen.

So, without further ado… the book review lines are open. I hope to post two reviews today and two tomorrow–which means I have to finish one of the books I am reading first! Better get cracking!