Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Who Will Fall for Summer Falls? A Guest Post!

If I could travel back in time I’d spend more than a few extra moments thanking Dr. Lisa Regula for breathing some new life into this blog with this review, for all who love (or are awaiting an introduction to) Doctor Who. Thank you! Now without further ado…. 


Summer Falls is an interesting book, in part because it began life as not-a-book.  While it’s quite common for a book to be turned into a movie, or for classic literature to organically become a part of the popular lexicon (and thus be featured as a touchstone in other works), this book began as a plot point in the long-running British television series, Doctor Who, before being written as a free-standing book.  This nearly guarantees a high potential audience, as Doctor Who is one of (if not the) longest-running series in history, and about to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary on the air.  (There was a break from production, from 1989 to 2005 with a movie in 1996, but it’s a fiftieth anniversary, nonetheless.) 

Doctor Who Fans Likely to Fall for Summer Falls

Amelia Williams is one of the characters in recent seasons of Doctor Who, and the ghostwriter is Doctor Who television producer and book writer James Goss.  Amelia Williams is one of the companions of the Doctor, a human traveler accompanying the Doctor on his adventures and often serving as both conscience and colleague to the nearly-immortal last of the Time Lords of Gallifrey.  Amelia Williams (known more commonly as Amelia Pond) was one of the longest-running companions, and one of the few to have a companion of her own in the series, Rory Williams, whom she eventually marries before parting ways with the Doctor. Amelia, in her life after the Doctor, settled down with Rory to live their own story, becomes an author, and in at least two instances, her books are featured as helpful to the Doctor in solving some problem or mystery.  Hopefully, that gives you a little background into Summer Falls and how it came about.

Doctor Who and Who Else? A Pharmacist, an Evil Lord, and Talking Animals

Kate is a girl finding her way in a new town, where she and her mother have moved shortly before the start of a new school year.   Kate’s mother seems to be suffering depression, and Kate has little use for the mother, or most people, for that matter.  She mistrusts boys and adults, until she meets Barnabas, an odd museum curator in the town of Watchcombe.  Shortly after meeting Barnabas and Armand, a misfit neighbor boy whose pharmacist father is suspected of poisoning pensioners, the world is turned upside down for the trio by a painting and another loner, along with a dog and talking cat.  It’s up to the youngsters to save the world from an old evil, the Lord of Winter, and his trickster accomplice.  

Given the choice between starting a new year of school, or an eternal snow day, the Lord of Winter’s promise seems a temptation that most kids can understand, and the disdain at the ineptness of adults is something with which all of us can sympathize.

If you enjoy the sense of wonder in Doctor Who, or just want to while away an afternoon with a pleasant tale, try Summer Falls on for size, whatever size you may be. 

Doctor Who BBC ebooks: Reading Level, Recommendations

Summer Falls is appealing as a work of older tween or young adolescent fiction, but it bears enough marks of the Doctor Who world to find an audience with adult Whovians as well. Anglophiles especially will enjoy this story, as it takes place in the United Kingdom, and features an obvious touch of British culture.  While the book’s setting doesn’t specify a timeframe, I think it’s safe to place it in the 1950’s or so, before the advent of cell phones and computers and during that nostalgic post-war period that we collectively enjoy romanticizing.   The language is simple, and sentences plain, which makes for a good reading level for children about the age of the main character, Kate; it’s just as good for a quick afternoon vacation read for adults.  The tone also fits perfectly in line with that of the target reader, with its heavy use of proper nouns, and other marks developmentally appropriate to an 11-14 year old.  While you can’t tuck a little tome in a beach bag and enjoy a simple text on paper, the book is available on Kindle, and thanks to the computer science wizardry of Kindle on PC, and there are also iPad, Android, Mac versions and more available in case you have other tech devices you prefer.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Quetching about Not Reading

Not kvetching; quetching. But whatevs. Who has time? Another long weekend is here, so it's a good time to read ... or at least to quetch about not having time to read. I've just loaned out A Fine and Private Place, so it's off my shelf and no longer taunting me ("thought you just couldn't wait to read this! Ha! I've been here a year!") and I've been reading lots of cool stuff on screen (solar planes that fly at night!) and work stuff (there's always work stuff) but lately I've not gotten to read much that I really want to read.


I'm holding out hope I'll soon get to pick up Gone Girl.

Meanwhile, what have you been reading? Wanna talk about it? Or better yet, blog? Yep. This is another cry for help. Guest blogging, anyone?

Don't worry, I'm not exactly without options :D As a matter of fact, I've just scheduled a totally awesome guest blog that you, lucky readers, will see on Tuesday. Hint: it involves Time Travel. Which I'm totally going to learn how to do someday. When I have time.

(See you then.)

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Living and Dying and Telling the Tale

It seems disingenuous to complain that a book written by a doctor - an emergency physician, no less - could've been a little better, but here I am.

Sampson Davis, a native of one of New Jersey's toughest neighborhoods, beats the odds and not only avoids drugs, prison (barely), and poverty, he graduates from medical school. Instead of getting out of the neighborhood, though, Davis did his residency (plus a few years) in the hospital emergency room where many of his friends and neighbors arrive - on stretchers.

Davis's story, Living and Dying in Brick City, is gripping, and told as it is in autobiographical vignettes, it could be very instructive to high school and college students who are struggling to make good in a bad situation - any situation, but particularly those who are aiming for a career in the medical profession.

Unfortunately, the narrative wasn't as captivating as the story itself.  I certainly admire Sampson for the work he has done and is still doing, and I really, really wanted to love the book as much as I love the author's philosophy. I just wish Living and Dying has received a little more TLC in the editing room.
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Have you read any of Sampson's other nonfiction tales? If so, I'd love to hear what you thought.






Friday, May 17, 2013

Is A Higher Call overrated?

A Higher Call made The Diane Rehm Show and CNN, among many, many other (flattering) reviews. Can it possibly live up to its hype?


If you've read it, please weigh in with a comment or squawk at me

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

#AmReading and #AmTweeting, What about You?

I'm still trying to get the hang of this Twitter thing. I slap the popular #AmReading tag on some of my tweets, and (when I feel like wasting half and hour or so) I scroll through others' #AmReading lists. When I really want to procrastinate, you'll find me perusing the #pageturner tags.

I'd to hear from some readers who can argue that Twitter has enhanced their reading experience or choices. Anyone? 

(Yep, this is a thinly masked plea for #guestbloggers.)

I can't claim that any of my best-books-read-in-2013 have come from Twitter recommendations, yet. But the year is still young... anyone?

Anyone?

If you're interested in writing a blog post about what you're reading, or how you waste time when you'd really rather be reading, please contact me... where else? ... here.




       

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

In Step with Mom

It's that time of year. Time to reminisce with mom, remember her, honor her influence in your life.
Maybe you're feeling a little guilty, too - like perhaps a gift is in order? (Hey, I'm a daughter and a mom. I get it.)

Walking, biking, hiking, strolling and sightseeing in ClevelandNaturally, I have to take this opportunity to remind you that 60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Cleveland makes a perrrrrfect gift for the all the strolling, running, jogging, biking, rollerblading, rockclimbing, marathon, tough-mudder moms in Northeast Ohio. And, the 60 Hikes series is available for Cincinnati, Chicago, New York, Orlando, San Francisco, San Diego, Phoenix, LA, DC, Houston, and dozens of other metro areas in addition to Cleveland.

Now back to reminiscing.

While I credit my dad with giving me the "hiking gene" and teaching me to enjoy walking fast (because when I hit the trail with dad, the rule was keep-up-or-stay-home)  it was mom who taught me to appreciate the little things along the way.

"That's Trillium," she'd say. "And that's Phlox. And do you know what that is?"

"I just like to listen to the water. Isn't it relaxing?"

"Look at that. No, not over there. Over here. Squinting in the sun gives you wrinkles, honey."

I'll admit she slowed me down more than I wanted, many times.
I want to walk! Not sit on a bench, I'd almost scream - barely, just barely, able to keep that voice in my head from popping out of my mouth.


Mom is 83 now. And I'm almost grown up enough to sit on a bench, patiently (?) while she amazes me with her knowledge of wildflowers, and myriad opinions about things I could be doing just a little bit better...

*sigh* Once a mom, always a mom, eh?

To everyone who is, or has ever loved, one: Happy Mother's Day! 

Friday, May 3, 2013

The Phantom Tollbooth: Guest Post from a Third Grader

 A kid named Milo is very bored. He finds a tollbooth in his room and drives through it. In there he finds many new friends, has new adventures, more problems, and more solutions.

The Characters
The main character is Milo. He meets Tock, a watch dog, the Humbug, Rhyme and Reason, the Which, King Azaz, the Mathamagician, the Dodecahedron,* Dr. Dischord, and the Terrible Dynne.

The Setting
The settings are Milo's apartment, Dictionopolis, Digitopolis, the Land of Disillusion, the Island of Conclusions, the Way to Infinity, the Castle in the Air, and the Valley of Sound, which is silent, until Milo sets the sounds free.

The Problem
The problem is Milo is bored. He says, "There's nothing for me to do, nowhere I care to go, and hardly anything worth seeing."

The Solution ... is found inside the Tollbooth. 

* my mom had to look up this word

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Thank you to a talented young writer for this guest post.  Like fantasy? Some others I've enjoyed here: http://what2readornot.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-banish-reading-doldrums.html