Joel B

• Rated 4 stars

“Mediated is a hard book to describe, which is a shame, because I find myself recommending it to almost everyone I know. Imagine that you are the sun, and every flower on Earth points toward you, every leaf on every tree angles toward you. This is somewhat similar to the situation we, as 21st-century Americans, face every day. Each of us is at the center of our own solar system, surrounded every day by hundreds of flattering appeals for our attention, be it television, radio, books, magazines, billboards, etc. What effect does this have? How do we, who are practically the stars of our own reality shows, compare to our grandparents, whose media intake was but a trickle? How do kids growing up today find their way through the constant barrage of information, advertising, and entertainment? Is there anything left in the world that's still real, or is "real" the best we can hope for? DeZengotita neither celebrates nor condemns our situation, but he does a great job of describing it, and opening the reader's eyes.”

Joel B wrote this review Tuesday, December 4 2007. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“Lina and her friend Doon are 12-year-old school kids in Ember, a town that's familiar, but rather odd: it's pitch black outside, 24 hours a day. Floodlights are turned on every morning, and turned off every night. Food comes from storerooms in the bowels of the city. Supplies are running a little thin—Lina's grandmother tells her of a heavenly, but long-gone, treat called "pineapple"—and power failures seem to be occuring more and more often. The townspeople seem entirely uneducated in the ways of science. They have never questioned the workings of their city, and now it's falling apart. A few have tried to explore the outer reaches, but found only blackness. When Lina finds a mysterious set of instructions that seems to tell of a way to leave Ember, she and Doon investigate, and what they find shakes them to the core. It's a terrific young adult book that resonated deeply with my 35-year-old soul.”

Joel B wrote this review Tuesday, December 4 2007. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“If you enjoyed Guns, Germs and Steel for its big-picture examination of long-term cultural trends, you might enjoy zooming in just a bit on the more recent history of the Americas. Just as Jared Diamond's book attempted to explain why different cultures evolve differently, The Americas follows the turbulent history of the New World, from the first human migrations up to today. Only when the Americas are studied collectively, argues Fernandez-Armesto, can one start to understand how we arrived where we are. How did the most promising, resource-rich, culturally complex zones fall into political chaos and unrest? And how did the barren hinterlands to the north grow into the United States of America? Can the "other Americas" ever hope to catch up without being allowed to exploit their natural resources the way the USA has? This brief, but masterful, survey of American history provides some thought-provoking answers and will undoubtedly spark some questions.”

Joel B wrote this review Tuesday, December 4 2007. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“I read this pre-9/11, and it seemed like it might not be as relevant after that, but, with some distance, I now think it's still right on target. There are real problems in this world, but our fear-based media tends to get us all worked up about the wrong things. When we start to come back to our senses, there's always some new scare to put is in a panic again. Very thoughtful and eye-opening book.”

Joel B wrote this review Tuesday, December 4 2007. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 1 stars

“I often enjoy John Irving, but this book was a real stinker. Irving seems to have had a big chunk of his brain removed before he wrote it. Terrible. Bleh.”

Joel B wrote this review Tuesday, December 4 2007. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Young-adult sci-fi fantasy that feels like a new Anne Frank story. Incredible.”

Joel B wrote this review Tuesday, December 4 2007. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 1 stars

“By turns brilliant, transcending, grotesque, disgusting, boring, pretentious, baffling. Why, Chris, why? I almost feel like the author himself lost interest after a few chapters of this giant novel. Not good.”

Joel B wrote this review Monday, December 3 2007. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“Great fun. Bryson not only makes a wide scope of scientific knowledge accessible and entertaining, he also delves into the stories behind the acquisition of all that knowledge, and some of the best parts are about the strange characters behind the science. ”

Joel B wrote this review Monday, December 3 2007. ( reply | view 1 replies | permalink )

• Rated 2 stars

“A few funny parts. Not great.”

Joel B wrote this review Monday, December 3 2007. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 2 stars

“This book had such potential, great characters, a mysterious and heartbreaking neurological condition... and then the author just wandered off, seemingly forgetting what he was writing about. If you have two fascinating, relatable main characters, and two boring, self-absorbed side characters, why on earth would you decide to spend all the reader's time with the latter? Hello?”

Joel B wrote this review Monday, December 3 2007. ( reply | permalink )