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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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!

Book Review: Girls of Riyadh

Book Review: Girls of Riyadh
By Rajaa Alsanea

The Girls of Riyadh caused waves in the Middle East when Alsanea released this revealing look into four young women and their quest for love and marriage. The book tells the stories of four girls through a series of emails. From the outgoing to the passive, these four girls band together to try and find love, play by the rules and laws of their society while figuring out men, love and most importantly, what they will settle for and what they won’t.

Basically, the book is chick lit set in the Muslim/Islam world, so if you like chick lit as well as learning about women in other parts of the world, you’ll enjoy this book.

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Book Review: The Wisdom of Crowds

Book Review: The Wisdom of Crowds
By James Surowiecki

Good quote: “It may be, in the end, that a good society is defined more by how people treat strangers than by how they treat those they know.” (Page 118)

An interesting read from a sociological perspective. Basically, Surowiecki proposes that often crowds are smarter than individuals. Maybe not smarter an expert, but crowds are made up of everyone (experts included) and that often a crowd can predict the correct outcome or the correct weight of an ox–better than any one individual. Isn’t that something? And the thing is, it’s true. After reading this book, I tried it. I used the wisdom of crowds and found myself out of a large maze in record time. His theory, in my books, is now considered tried, tested and true.

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Book Review: How To Stop Backing Down and Start Talking Back

Book Review: How To Stop Backing Down and Start Talking Back
By Lisa Frankfort and Patrick Fanning

This is a short, easy-to-read book with 50 tips on how to be assertive in almost any situation.

Do authority figures automatically make you back down and take a passive stance? Do you get pinned down for hours by the office gabber? Do you have trouble standing up for what you want? This book has not only simple, effective answers, but lots of humour to put the laughs in self-help.

This book is great for anyone seeking the words, body language, or simple tools and methods to help them become a more assertive person. It’s a great, must-read guide for any teen girl.

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Book Review: The Guinea Pig Diaries

Book Review: The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment
By: A.J. Jacobs

What if you took a father of three who edits Esquire magazine and had him run experiments on his everyday life? Well, you might find him acting on behalf of his female nanny and turning down men on online dating sites, or listening to an East Indian man reading a bedtime story to his son over speaker phone. Or how about putting his wife in charge of his every action for a month, or maybe striving to follow all 110 of George Washington’s Rules of Civility? Or scary thought–being radically honest (that’s a great way to build relationships with the in-laws). Maybe you’ll even find him posing in the nude for a magazine shoot or dressing in a tux to go to the Oscars as a famous actor (which he is not).

The lovely thing about Jacobs’ books is that you learn while you are entertained. For example, I learned a lot about George Washington and outsourcing. All while laughing my butt off at his shenanigans. With several short essays discussing his antics and the results of such behaviours, it is a book that would make a good gift for pretty much anyone on your Christmas list.

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Book Review: 5 Cities That Ruled the World

Book Review: 5 Cities That Ruled the World: How Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London and New York Shaped Global History
By Douglas Wilson

Well, sadly, I have to admit that this book was not for me. I suppose I was expecting more of a social history or a socio-geographical history that linked the past great cities to today. And yes, there was some of that, but the book was heavy on the religious history which is not currently an area of interest for me.  If you are into ancient history and religious history, then you will find this to be a great, fascinating book.

Wilson covers Jerusalem (talk about a long history of fighting there–wow), Athens (city of ancient philosophers), Rome (amazing how much of current law originated there), London (literature), and New York (commerce). Personally, I found the history of London and New York to be the most interesting. Did you know London has burned at least 20 times in its history? Yikes. (Better buy fire insurance if you live there.) And New York is also a intriguing city that, indeed, seems to be currently the world’s center. I enjoyed Wilson’s perspectives and insights on New York. Although the city is relatively young (but older than I realized), it has become a center for the world. He also discusses how and why it became a target, and more.

In every nonfiction book there is usually a statement that makes me pause and look at things a little differently. In this book it was: “England’s greatest achievement–in terms of long-range impact–was the creation of the American colonies and the subsequent creation of the United States by losing those colonies.” Hmmm. What would today look like if England hadn’t lost the American colonies? Would it be the same anyway? Or would it be different? And if so, how? Maybe Montreal or Toronto would be the New York.