Book Review: Jim Henson's Tale of Sand

My rating: 4/5

From Amazon: "Join us as we explore this missing piece of Jim Henson's career in a celebration of his creative process. Discovered in the Archives of the The Jim Henson Company, A Tale of Sand is an original graphic novel adaptation of an unproduced, feature-length screenplay written by Jim Henson and his frequent writing partner, Jerry Juhl. A Tale of Sand follows scruffy everyman, Mac, who wakes up in an unfamiliar town, and is chased across the desert of the American Southwest by all manners of man and beast of unimaginable proportions. Produced with the complete blessing of Lisa Henson, A Tale of Sand will allow Henson fans to recognize some of the inspirations and set pieces that appeared in later Henson Company productions."

I'm not a big enough Jim Henson fan to have recognized set pieces, and I'm not a huge fan of graphic novels, but I really enjoyed the style of this book. The art work is fantastic (but: warning for the younger/sensitive crowd, there is a little nudity). It's well-drawn, and colorful, but it's also unique in the way it incorporates the (apparently) actual screenplay pages into some of the backgrounds, like a little reminder every once in a while what the whole thing is based on. The story is imaginative and surreal, but I can see why it wasn't ever made into a movie.  It seems more like something that would make a great short story, not a full-length film.  As serious as the topic of the story could be taken, it did make me laugh out loud a couple of times.

It was not what I expected from a Jim Henson story, and I appreciated it even more for that.  If you're a fan of Jim Henson, you really should read this book.

Book Review: Almost a Psychopath by Ronald Schouten and James Silver

My rating: 4/5

From Amazon: "Do you know someone who is too manipulative and full of himself? Does someone you know charm the masses yet lack the ability to deeply connect with those around her?

"Grandiosity and exaggerated self-worth. Pathological lying. Manipulation. Lack of remorse. Shallowness. Exploitation for financial gain. These are the qualities of Almost Psychopaths. They are not the deranged criminals or serial killers that might be coined 'psychopaths' in the movies or on TV. They are spouses, coworkers, bosses, neighbors, and people in the news who exhibit many of the same behaviors as a full-blown psychopath, but with less intensity and consistency—and with a higher degree of awareness of the impact they have on others. They possess charm, glibness, and a lack of empathy that allow them to live their lives somewhere between the boundaries of commonplace 'not-so-bad' behavior and psychopathy.

"In Almost a Psychopath, Ronald Schouten, MD, JD, Harvard Medical School, and James Silver, JD, draw on scientific research and their own experiences to help you identify if you are an Almost Psychopath and, if so, to guide you to the interventions and resources you need to change your behavior, creating a better life for yourself or those around you. If you think you have encountered an Almost Psychopath, they offer practical tools to help you recognize the behavior, attitudes, and characteristics of the Almost Psychopath; make sense of interactions you’ve had with Almost Psychopaths; devise strategies for dealing with them in the present; and make informed decisions about your next steps."

This book wasn't quite as helpful as I'd hoped it would be in learning to deal with "almost psychopaths," but it is helpful just to know that you're not crazy when you think there's something off about someone with these qualities. It does have suggestions for how to handle certain situations, but unfortunately the ultimate answer seems to be that there isn't much that can be done, short of getting away from the person or people if you can.  The book is easy to read though, and does discuss other psychological conditions that display similar characteristics, which are helpful. Also helpful are the case studies, which sometimes show examples of how a situation with an "almost psychopath" could actually be worse than what you may currently be experiencing, which can be a sort of silver lining.

I think this book would be very helpful for anyone dealing with someone they think might be an "almost psychopath," especially if that person is a significant other or a coworker/boss. There are many more suggestions dealing with these situations (which seem more destructive and even dangerous) than with others.

Book Review: How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You by Matthew Inman

My rating: 4.5/5

If you're familiar with The Oatmeal (aka Matthew Inman), then you're familiar with this book's style and probably already own or wish you owned this book. Some comics are repeats from his site, but most are new, and all have to do with cats. Cat thoughts, cat plots, cats as office workers, etc.  I actually don't care much for the office worker Bobcats, and there are quite a few pages devoted to them, but I still lol'd at almost this entire book.  It also includes a poster at the end, and I have no idea how you could possibly go wrong getting a book of hilarious cat comics and a poster for under $10.

(Warning though: some bad language, so not for the kids. It's not overdone though and always used for humor's sake. But still, if your kids can read, you might want to hold off on showing them the funny pictures.)

Book Review: World War Z by Max Brooks

My rating: 3.75/5

From Amazon: "The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years."

I haven't read Zombie Survival Guide yet, so, although the Guide is mentioned several times in this book, I can't compare the two.  I can say that this book is very detailed and well thought out, to the point that you almost believe it was really written from eye-witness accounts.  Though it's intended to be transcriptions of oral history interviews, the majority of it reads like it was always intended to be a movie script, or at least more like prose than like real people speaking.  That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it did keep my disbelief suspended only about a few inches above the pages.  (That being said though, it doesn't look like the movie based on this book is going to follow the book very closely; those movie zombies move dang fast, and Brad Pitt looks like he's in the thick of the action, not an interviewer/author. *shrug*)

A lot of the characters seemed really similar too. This may have been intentional, with everyone having gone through similarly terrible things during the war, but I kind of doubt it.  I can't say that the book was boring for this reason though; the stories and the detail made up for it and kept me interested. I'll probably go back and read the Guide soon.

Book Review: I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells

My rating: 3.75/5

From Amazon: "John Wayne Cleaver is dangerous, and he knows it. Obsessed with serial killers, he never wants to be one. Yet terrible impulses constantly tempt him.

"Having grown up helping his mom at the family mortuary, dead bodies are no big deal to John. He likes them, actually. They don’t ask for the empathy he’s unable to offer. Perhaps that’s what gives him the clarity to recognize that something is frighteningly different about the freshest body on the slab. 
For the first time, John must confront a danger outside his own mind, a threat he cannot control, a menace to everything and everyone he would love, if only he could."

Though it was the first book that I've finished in under 2 weeks in a very long time, it could have been so much better. In fact I really wish I didn't have the complaints that I do. 

First off, I'm going to spoil something for you because, I believe, it might actually make you like the book more if you decide to read it.  I felt duped when it happened, because it turned out to not be the type of book I thought I was reading.  So....

***************SPOILER ALERRRRRRRRRT*******************

....this book has a huge supernatural element to it.  That's all I'll say; I won't ruin more than that.  And don't get me wrong, I love supernatural stories.  But I wasn't out to read a supernatural story; I wanted to read about a sociopathic teenager.  Which I still did, and it was mostly well written, incredibly interesting, and very engaging.  But the supernatural bent really got my knickers in a twist when it came out of the blue like that. I was surprised, but not in a good way; it seemed like the author thought we wouldn't read it if we knew it was supernatural, so he just left that out of the blurb.  Or, he thought we'd appreciate the shock.  But again, I just felt tricked.

Once I got past that though, I thought all of the characters were incredibly realistic. The John, his family, his therapist, the villain, everyone.  I love it when an author knows his characters, and this author definitely does.

And the story is usually, though supernatural, believable.  However, there are moments that seem to defy logic.  Without spoiling anything else, I'll say that more people should have been suspicious of the sociopath teenager than were, especially after some of the actions he took.  (How's that for vague?)  It was enough that at moments, I was taken out of the story and giving the pages a look of disbelief.  Which was especially disappointing because the book was otherwise so absorbing.

This book is one of three books in a series (John Cleaver series), but at this point I probably won't read the others.  I may at a later date, but I was irked just enough by this one to kill any eagerness I might've had to immediately read the rest.

Book Review: The Joy of a Peanuts Christmas by Charles Schulz

My rating: 4.5/5

This little book is a great collection of Christmas-themed Peanuts comics from the 1950s-1990s. There isn't a lot of text other than a few pages with descriptions of different characters. Mostly it's just a comic per page and a quick, enjoyable read.

If you love Peanuts, it's a must-read.

(And is it just me, or were the '50s characters even cuter than the more recent ones?)

Book Review: Diagnosing Jefferson by Norm Ledgin

My rating: N/A

From Amazon: "Historians have long remarked on Thomas Jefferson's "peculiarities." But it took author Norm Ledgin, whose son has Asperger's Syndrome, to see what others did not. In this intriguing book, Ledgin carefully constructs a convincing case for the likelihood that Thomas Jefferson had Asperger's Syndrome. He matches Jefferson's behaviors with five diagnostic criteria for Asperger's: social impairment, preoccupation with "special interests," impairment in nonverbal communication, lack of emotional reciprocity, and inflexible adherence to nonfunctional routines. He also addresses other well-known signs of Asperger's, such as failure to recognize social cues, need for calming pressure, and indifference to peer pressure. A fascinating read!"

I expected this book to be an historical, factual treatise on the behavior of Thomas Jefferson and why the author believed Jefferson had Asperger's; but judging by the introduction and first chapter, it was not. (I only got that far, hence the N/A rating.)  The author instead repeatedly states that the only possibility is that Jefferson had Asperger's, and that everyone who thinks otherwise is wrong, without giving any explanation as to why they were wrong.  If you're right in your assertions, you don't have to repeatedly tell us that you're right; you have to show us.  Judging by others' reviews, this doesn't change later in the book, and I couldn't bring myself to finish it.  If anyone has read it though and would like to convince me to re-check it out from the library, please feel free. :)