New Books at Waycross College Library

Page 73 of Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan says, "Eat some foods that have been predigested by bacteria or fungi". That's from one of the new books on display at the Waycross College Library. I heard you saying, "Groooosssss!" Well he meant yogurt, sauerkraut, and sourdough bread for example. Here are some of the other books on display this week:

Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halpern

New York: a Novel by Edward Rutherford

Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi

Yemen: Jewel of Arabia by Charles and Patricia Aithie

International Digital Children's Library

Check out this digital children's library. There are books from all over the world in various languages and they can be read online.

Book Club Selection for March 2010

Our book for next month will be Angel's Game by Carlos Luis Zafon. I loved this book. I didn't think it was as good as Shadow of the Wind, by the same writer, but I still enjoyed the read.

I struggled with If on a Winter's Night a Traveler ; I gave up after page 77. That book was the original suggestion for March. So glad we changed it.

Jane Austen Book Club

I caught the last part of the Jane Austen Book Club on Liftime channel on Saturday. Very interesting. Held my interest far more than the novel itself and I noticed that some amazon reviewers felt as I did about the novel - characters were not interesting.

Southern Gothic

Got another email from Oprah's Book Club and ended up looking at the section on Southern Gothic. These are some of the features of the southern gothic genre which I can discern from the article.

First, a glance at some Writers of the genre: William Faulkner, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Carson McCullers, Eudora Welty

Features:

Characters: insane, abnormal, innocent redeemer, strangers who do not fit in and are therefore isolated, characters affected by violence, aging Southern Belles.

Setting: small southern towns, lonely plantations, after the Civil War and during a time of racial tension, violent period.

Themes: physical and figurative imprisonment, innocence, violence, broken bodies/broken souls, romance with tragedy.

You know what? These sound like the themes in the soap operas I used to watch, The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives.

Entrepreneurial Dreams

I took a break from my usual novels to read Donny Deutsch's book, The Big Idea, based on interviews he has done with successful Entrepreneurs on the show he hosts on CNBC. Deutsch describes himself as a brash, upstart, creative ad guy. It is a very inspiring book if you want to turn your entrepreneurial dreams into reality.

I like that he inserted encouraging tips in bold print titled, Big Idea Lesson. One story is about the creator of iHearSafe earbuds and the Big Idea Lesson on page 61 is : "You don't have to be a technical expert to invent a new technology. The idea is the key. Then seek out people who know...."

Who knew you could send a ball by mail? Deutch writes about the folks behind Send a Ball,also Vita Coco, MadPackers and so many others who had big ideas.

The Big Idea Toolbook is also very useful and the writer targets the young and the old entrepreneurial dreamer.

Oprah's Fabulous February Books

I got an email from Oprah's Book Club titled 10 New Books to Fall in Love With This February. O's must read list includes one of our book club's favorite, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.

It's the month for Valentine so the email had a list titled 9 Unforgettable Love Stories which include Love In the Time of Cholera and The Wild Palms by William Faulkner.

Jenny Staying True

After watching Jenny Sanford on ABC being interviewed by Barbara Walters on Friday night, I am expecting Jenny's memoir titled, Staying True to be a bestseller. True to the title of her book, Jenny Sanford came across as sincere and truthful. She radiated courage, brilliance, and devotion to family. Certainly didn't sound like she needed viewers to throw a pity party for her.

The Lost Prize 2010

The Lost Man Booker Prize 2010! Interesting concept to honor books published in 1970 that missed out on a Man Booker Prize. Here is the longlist.

Man Booker Prize website

This Man Booker Prize website says we (book club members) will be inspired by its list of books. Check out the reading guides for the books. Some of the books are:

Me Cheeta by James Lever

The Glass Room by Simon Mawer

Love and Summer by William Trevor

Brain Books

It's all about your wonderful brain today. Here are two "brainy" books by David Sousa:

How the Brain Learns
How the Brain Learns Mathematics

Also, take a look at these exercise-the-brain books:

Building Mental Muscle by David Gamon et al
Get Your Brain in the Fast Lane by Michael Noir et al
Workout for a Balance Brain by Ken Russell and Philip Carter

Try AARP's puzzles/games to stimulate the brain.

Elements of Lost in Shimmer

Just finished The Shimmer by David Morrell (2009). Interesting story. The story reminded me of Lost the TV show which will be back tonight, by the way, on ABC at 8:00PM. In the Shimmer, beautiful mysterious lights appear to some; not all. The lights heal and the lights can kill. The lights mean different things to different people. The source of the lights? No one knows.

The story is based off the real life mystery lights of Marfa, Texas.