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New Website

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Zombies: A Field Guide

From Goodreads:In the myths, legends, and folklore of many peoples, the returning, physical dead play a significant role, whether they are the zombies of Haiti or the draugr of Scandinavia. But what are the origins of an actual bodily return from the grave? Does it come from something deep within our psyche, or is there some truth to it? In Zombies, Bob Curran explores how some of these beliefs may have arisen and the truths that lay behind them, examining myths from all around the world and from ancient times including Sumerian, Babylonian, Egyptian, and Celtic. Curran traces the evolution of belief in the walking cadaver from its early inception in religious ideology to the "Resurrections" and cataleptics of 18th century Europe, from prehistoric tale to Arthurian romance. Zombies even examines the notion of the "living dead" in the world today???entities such as the "living mummies" of Japan

My Review: When I first got this book I thought I was getting a  Zombie Field Guide that explains the zombies we know in the movies and books. What I actually got was a history most of it concerning religious history of what people have thought about people returning from the dead.

I tried to put aside my misgivings and focus on what the book was and not what I thought it was. If you are looking for explanations of what people thought was the reason for some people seemly coming back from the dead then this book is for you. It covers the classic Haitian Zombie, how people in the Middle Ages thought that the dead could come back either with evil intent or just to be around family. It also goes into detail about the Body Snatchers in Victorian England. Once I adjusted my thinking I did find these bits of history somewhat fascinating. I just wish the book had been more aptly titled.

While reading this book I could see how we got the rise of the modern zombie that is shown in movies and books.I also learned that even in cultures far from us like the middle east or the far east each had their own versions of what constituted a zombie. I had never thought outside of these paragrams before so it was interesting to see that cultures that did not really cross also had stories and myths related to the dead coming back in what ever form they may. Some believed they came back in Corporal form and some believed it was a more spiritual form. Some came back with evil intent on their minds and some just wanted to be around loved ones.

There is a verity of cultures studied here so one gets a good sense of what each time period and each part of the world believed.

Aside from the misnomer of a name if you like zombies and want a historical and religious history of them then this book is for you.

Bout of Books Goals

 

 

 

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 13th and runs through Sunday, August 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 5.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. -From the Bout of Books 5.0 team

Time Devoted to Reading

I will be reading all week.

My Goals

• To read seven books

Books to Read

Updates

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*Goal post template provided by Bout of Books

Ready Player One

From GoodReads:

It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.
Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.
And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune--and remarkable power--to whoever can unlock them.
For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved--that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday's icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.
And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.
Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt--among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life--and love--in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.
A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready?

My Review: Being a geek I loved this book! I know I cant be the only one who read about immersion rigs wished that we had them RIGHT NOW to play World of Warcraft with. That would be the unltimate trip.

This book was so full of geekdom that I squealed with joy at each reference. It took me down memory lane to the 80’s and 90’s. It made me wistful for the time I DID play Dungeons and Dragons the old fashioned way.

This book is written to resemble a game. You have a quest, bad guys even some power ups. Reading what was happening was like watching a real live game. I have never read this sort of book before and it thrilled me.

The charterers were believable. It wasn’t to hard to make the leap into what the world in the book was like. Cline did excellent world building. From the world running out of fossil fuel to the widespread poverty and the new kind of ghetto’s it felt 100 percent real.

There are twist and turns in this book that will keep you on your toes. There was one point when I thought all was lost but the end redeemed itself.

It is also about good in evil in a uncertain world.In the quest we find that some people will do anything to win, including murder.

I would recommend this book to all the geeks in the world. Especially if you grew up in the 80’s and 90’s

Born On a Blue Day

From Goodreads:

One of the world's fifty living autistic savants is the first and only to tell his compelling and inspiring life story - and explain how his incredible mind works.
This unique first-person account offers a window into the mind of a high-functioning, 27-year-old British autistic savant with Asperger's syndrome. Tammet's ability to think abstractly, deviate from routine, and empathize, interact and communicate with others is impaired, yet he's capable of incredible feats of memorization and mental calculation. Besides being able to effortlessly multiply and divide huge sums in his head with the speed and accuracy of a computer, Tammet, the subject of the 2005 documentary Brainman, learned Icelandic in a single week and recited the number pi up to the 22,514th digit, breaking the European record. He also experiences synesthesia, an unusual neurological syndrome that enables him to experience numbers and words as "shapes, colors, textures and motions." Tammet traces his life from a frustrating, withdrawn childhood and adolescence to his adult achievements, which include teaching in Lithuania, achieving financial independence with an educational Web site and sustaining a long-term romantic relationship. As one of only about 50 people living today with synesthesia and autism, Tammet's condition is intriguing to researchers; his ability to express himself clearly and with a surprisingly engaging tone (given his symptoms) makes for an account that will intrigue others as well

My Review: This is a book that was recommended to me by a friend. I had heard of Daniel Tammet but did not realize he had a book out so needless to say I was curious to read this book.

Daniel is a high functioning autistic savant. He is one of only 50 living savants in the world and the only one that can explain his thought processes. This makes him remarkable in more ways than one.

This book is his autobiography and in it he details his life growing up knowing that he was different but not knowing how. He tells us how difficult school was and how he had a hard time connecting with other children.

The book was dry but nevertheless I found it a fascinating account of how he explained how his brain works. He has Synthesia which allows him to visualize numbers and letters as images. These images helps him memorize to such a degree that he broke England's record for reciting the most digits in the number PI.

He can also learn languages in just a week. He explains how for a TV program they asked him to learn Icelandic in just four days. After conversing in Icelandic for four days he was able to give an interview all in Icelandic. The way he learned it was amazing.  I wish I could do that. I struggled to learn French.

This a rare account into the mind of an autistic savant. No other savant can communicate such details to us.

This is a book I think everyone should read if just for the educational opportunities it affords.

ElectroBoy

From Goodreads:

Electroboy is an emotionally frenzied memoir that reveals with kaleidoscopic intensity the terrifying world of manic depression. For years Andy Behrman hid his raging mania behind a larger-than-life personality. He sought a high wherever he could find one and changed jobs the way some people change outfits: filmmaker, PR agent, art dealer, stripper-whatever made him feel like a cartoon character, invincible and bright. Misdiagnosed by psychiatrists and psychotherapists for years, his condition exacted a terrible price: out-of-control euphoric highs and tornadolike rages of depression that put his life in jeopardy.
Ignoring his crescendoing illness, Behrman struggled to keep up appearances, clinging to the golden-boy image he had cultivated in his youth. But when he turned to art forgery, he found himself the subject of a scandal lapped up by the New York media, then incarcerated, then under house arrest. And for the first time the golden boy didn’t have a ready escape hatch from his unraveling life. Ingesting handfuls of antidepressants and tranquilizers and feeling his mind lose traction, he opted for the last resort: electroshock therapy.
At once hilarious and harrowing, Electroboy paints a mesmerizing portrait of a man held hostage by his in-satiable desire to consume. Along the way, it shows us the New York that never sleeps: a world of strip clubs, after-hours dives, and twenty-four-hour coffee shops, whose cheap seductions offer comfort to the city’s lonely souls. This unforgettable memoir is a unique contribution to the literature of mental illness and introduces a writer whose energy may well keep you up all night.

My Review: I have a confession to make. I myself have bipolar and discover the gem of a book when I was first diagnosed. I went to the library and asked to check out books related to bipolar and this is one of those they gave me. This is also one of my favorite memoirs related to bipolar disorder. This is also on my yearly re- read list

This book brings a lot of comfort to me I read it to know that I am not alone. That some one else went through worse than I did and survived and is now functional.

I feel it is important to have books such as these to know what bipolar really is like. The doctors fail to explain in depth what it is and there is so much misinformation out there related to bipolar. It is important to have as accurate information as possible.

One reason I like this book is that he conveys what happened to him in a humors light. There are so many doom and gloom tales of mental illness that it is refreshing to have one that is downright funny. I laughed all thorough this book.

He tells about his journey with medicines and their side effects. The meds did not work well for him so he and his doctor decided to try electro shock therapy. That’s is how he got his name. He explains how he his memory was affected and how he lived through the side effects. This is an honest portrayal of what electro shock therapy is like. There is no glamorizing here. In fact there is no glamorizing in any of this book. This is a raw gritty account of what bipolar is.It expresses the manic highs and the lows and the rage that comes with it.

Overall I feel this is a must read book. even if you don’t have bipolar you can get enjoyment out of this book and learn about it at the same time.