Some books are fun to read, but others are downright beautiful.  Author/artist Nick Bantock’s books are always stunning, sometimes more so visually than anything else.  His double-set of trilogies following the exotic lives of Griffin Moss and Sabine Strohem will amaze you from start to finish, both through the story and the visuals. 

Griffin & Sabine was the first of six books published in the series.  It was released in 1991, and no one had seen anything like it.  Like each of the other books in the series, it is made up entirely of letters and postcards written between characters.  One page will feature the gorgeous front of the postcard, and then on the back you can read the writer’s words.  Occasionally, the reader literally pulls letters from the envelopes, creating a sense of closeness to the characters, as if she was pawing through Griffin and Sabine’s actual belongings.

When No Country for Old Men was published in 2005, critics absolutely loved it.  They praised it as Cormac McCarthy’s latest masterpiece and one of the greatest books of the year, if not the decade.  The story follows an everyman who finds a lot of abandoned drug money, the serial murdering hitman hired to recover that money, and the aging Texan sheriff who’s trying to piece together the seemingly endless murders connected to the case.

I can’t argue with the critics that this is an incredible book.  The writing is clearly masterful, even if it does feel a bit showy at times.  Even though I found myself frustrated by certain writing tricks, I had to admit that they were very well done. 

There is one word I found used over and over in people’s reaction to No Country: haunting.  People find it haunting because the story is so dark and hopeless.  Survival simply doesn’t happen.  I don’t want to ruin the end of the book for you (or the recently released Coen brothers movie, for that matter), but I think it’s safe to say that it’s not a happy book.

Pirates seem to be all the rage these days.  Ever since Napster burst onto the scene last during the last millennium it seems as though every kid on his parents’ computer has become one.  But these pirates aren’t after your booty and aren’t threatening you with sharpened cutlasses and threats of the plank.  They just want a few songs… and maybe a couple episodes of their favorite television show… and, perhaps, a poorly recorded peek at that movie that’s only been out in theatres for a few weeks… and… a Stephen King novel?

I have to admit, I never thought that piracy of books would ever become a problem.  Books are, after all, a very physical medium.  And while e-books have been on the scene for years now, there aren’t many people who want to sit at their computer desk staring at a screen for hours consuming a novel, clicking from page to page.  To most, reading for pleasure involves curling up in a favorite spot under a cozy blanket, relishing the satisfying scraping sound of paper against paper as the steady accumulation of pages builds under their right thumb.

However, change happens.

Are you a procrastinator?  Do you need to get those last few gifts before Christmas on Tuesday?  Or perhaps ALL of your gifts by Tuesday?

 

Pretty much everybody loves a good book, so long as it's about something they love. Making a stop at your favorite bookstore is the perfect one-stop shopping trip.  You can find something for everyone, and to help you out, the Books Team has compiled this holiday shopping guide.  

 

We hope you can find something for everyone!

Town tells the story of thirteen young people in one small town, somewhere in Australia.  The specific city and state are never named, which allows it to have a feel of familiarity.  Each of thirteen short stories is told from a different perspective, and they all take place over the course of a year.  It is another book for young adults by James Roy, an award-winning Australian author.

 

Of the many different stories, I found several memorable, a few rather boring, and one quite difficult to read.  Roy explores different techniques and aspects of the short story, telling some in the first and some in the third person.  

 

I really ejoyed the stories of Veronica, Hattie, and Malith.  Malith is a Sudanese refugee, living with his brother and sister in a poor part of town.  Hattie, on the other hand, is the daughter of the mayor and a pharmacist.  Soon after her sister loses her battle with anorexia, Hattie has to figure out whether she should stay with her grieving parents or escape to another part of the country to live with an aunt. 

When author Iris Chang committed suicide in 2004, those who knew her were shocked and grieved. Paula Kamen’s biography Finding Iris Chang is both a memoir of Chang and the chronicles of Kamen’s personal quest to reconcile the image of a successful writer and exciting personality with the depressed, paranoia-prone person that she witnessed her friend become at the end of her life.

Iris Chang was a controversial young researcher who published The Rape of Nanking, an influential book shedding new light on Japanese war crimes in China during World War II. Although I was not familiar with Iris Chang’s writings before beginning this book, Finding Iris Chang drew me in from the start with its engaging (and sometimes painfully honest) narrative. Who was Iris Chang? What made her such a strong individual? Why did she kill herself? These are the questions that Kamen asks as the book progresses. Perhaps the most gripping question she asks herself is: Could I have done something to save her?

In the realm of "What Were They Thinking?": Thomas Nelson Publishers has delayed indefinitely the parenting book planned for a Mother's Day release by Lynn Spears, the mother of Britney, according to The Associated Press.

The AP quoted company spokeswoman Lindsey Nobles declining to say the delay was related to the revelation this week that Britney's 16-year-old sister, Jamie Lynn, is pregnant. Jamie Lynn Spears stars in Zoey 101, one of Nickelodeon's top rated shows.

The proposed book title was to be Pop Culture Mom: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World.

That of course sounds as if it would be full of helpful parenting tips for most of its readers. Or, perhaps it will have chapters on how not to parent...

Comments (0) 

I almost did it. I almost took a knife to my copy of Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days. But instead I chickened out and put it back on the shelf next to an old paperback version of Alice in Wonderland.

No, I’m not developing aggressive tendencies towards the classic books I loved in childhood. I’ve just been reading about book art. In case you’re like me and never have heard much about book art before, a little background information is needed. Otherwise the picture of some poor, snow-bound madwoman standing at her bookshelf with a knife in her hands may keep you up at night.

Book art has two branches, creation and alteration, but the concept behind both is the same: books don’t have to be just words on pages bound into rectangular packages for mass consumption. Their physical format can be just as varied as their contents.

Amazon.com paid 3.9 million dollars yesterday to acquire a copy of J.K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The book was purchased at a Sotheby's auction and is the only one of its kind for sale. Rowling has given the remaining copies to friends and people involved in her Harry Potter series. Proceeds will go to benefit a European children's charity.

 

The book is handwritten and illustrated by Rowling herself, bound in Moroccan leather with silver and gem ornamentation. It's not the book's production that makes it so valuable, though. Only seven copies have been produced and very few people will have the chance to read the book for themselves. Amazon has already posted reviews and pictures of the book's content , but has not announced whether excerpts will be made available for viewing online. 

Comments (0) 

Tim Hughes is a Dove Award-winning songwriter--perhaps best known for his ubiquitous worship song, "Here I Am to Worship"--and he travels the world as a worship leader. In every hemisphere he says he observes Christians of all sorts worshipping half-heartedly when they should be holding nothing back.