June 22, 2007

“Ambulance Girl: How I Saved Myself by Becoming an EMT” by Jane Stern is the funny, fascinating and fast paced story of how a middle aged, weight challenged gourmet food writer overcame her fears and phobias to become an EMT in Georgetown, Connecticut.

At first I was drawn to the cover art which depicts a little girl in a white dress with a red cross superimposed on the image. I tend to “judge a book by it’s cover” – if it is not eye catching and intriguing, I won’t read it. Once I started reading, I became hooked by the story the author was telling me.

Among my favorite passages in the book is when the author lists the four things EMTs should never do: “Do not try to replace someone’s organs if they are hanging from their body. Do not give CPR to a severed head. Do not try to revive someone who is in a state of advanced decomposition. If you have a patient whose arm or leg is partially amputated, do not pull it off to make things “neat”.” Kind of sick, but it does make sense!

So, check it out… in fact, check on any of the great non-fiction offerings – sometimes you find a gem in that pile of boring stuff about real people.

June 23, 2007 “Open the Book that Unlocks the Secret”

So goes the subtitle of “Endymion Spring” by Matthew Skleton. Skleton is new to the young adult writing world and tells the tale of the “Last Book”. Endymion Spring is the young printer’s “devil” who discovers a blank book hidden in a jewel encrusted chest. Spring also happens to work for Johann Gutenberg who happens to be visited by Johann Fust as Gutenberg is embarking on printing the world’s first popularly published Bible. Fust is as evil and black hearted as the famous Faust (one in the same actually) and has in his possession a chest which he cannot open without some innocent blood. Enter Endymion. Endymion’s mission becomes discovering and subsequently hiding the “Last Book”.

The story also involves a twenty-first century American boy named Blake who discovers the book during a visit to Oxford and also becomes embroiled with the “Last Book”. Blake’s quest, however, is to discover it’s hiding place before some other unsavory characters do. “Endymion Spring” is entertaining, quick paced and full of wonderfully written prose describing the book, the adventures both Endymion and Blake have and the world they both inhabit.

June 11, 2007 – Let’s dish some dirt…

I just finished reading “Dishwasher: One Man’s Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States” by Pete Jordan. Pete or “Dishwasher Pete” as he is more commonly known by fans of his underground dishwashing “zine” (a self published, copied and distributed magazine), is a college dropout who decides that all he ever wants to be in life is a dishwasher – but he is not entirely without ambition as he sets a goal of washing dishes in every US state. So Pete embarks on a journey that lasts 10 years, involves more than 80 different “dishpits” (that’s what they call that dirty dishwashing room in the trade) in 33 states (no, he never reaches all 50) until Pete gives it all up for love. There are truly some crazy people out there!

The story was fast moving, engrossing and utterly entertaining. I don’t thing I will ever look at the busboy or dishwasher in a restaurant or diner in quite the same way again.

Pete gave up his lifelong dream, married the woman he loved (this is where it gets really interesting) and moved to Amsterdam where he is currently writes for a magazine that caters to Dutch cyclists (apparently they are quite bike-happy in Amsterdam) and is writing a book about life as an American in this cycle crazy city. I really can’t wait to read that book!

What are YOU reading?

So many books, so little time…

As the moderator (author really) of the JTL blog, I should let you know I am a self-confessed Anglophine [one who is fond of (sometimes translating to obsessed with) English culture, English history, really anything even vaguely connected to England] so you may note a lot of references to Brit Lit, English Lit, English Writers and anything else English. If you are not a fan of England, just ignore these references and read the post like any good old American would…

So, to start off our first official “booktalk”, I’ll let you know about a good book I am reading right now. It’s titled “The Mysterious Benedict Society” by Trenton Lee Stewart. It is actually a Juvenile fiction work (another genre I am very fond of…) but it is equally entertaining for adults who like that kind of stuff. It’s the story of four orphans, all with some extraordinary talent, who are recruited by a secret and mysterious group of adults who are trying to prevent the world from being brainwashed into not thinking about anything (sounds not very far-fetched to me really). The four orphans have to infiltrate the source of subliminal messages that are sent out over the TV airwaves. I won’t spoil the ending but let’s just say everyone is happily ever after (although the book does end in a way that is not totally what you expect). The Anglophile connection here is that although the book is written by an American, the actual country it takes place in is not really identified but it sounds suspiciously like it could be in England…

So, what are you reading?

Welcome to the Jonathan Trumbull Library’s Booktalk Blog. This is the spot to tell the world what you’re reading… You can also share what you liked, what you hated and what you wouldn’t recommend to your worst enemy. To post your comment, just click on the “Comment” following this posted entry. Once you do that you can post your response to the posted entry or just say whatever you would like (about books, that is). And, just so you know, all comments have to be approved before they are posted on the blog (so, no bad language please!). So….start posting those comments…