BOOK 'EM

What the Bleep Do We Know!? by Arntz, Chasse & Vicente

BOOK #12
Monday, 03/19/07 to Sunday, 03/25/07

ISBN-10: 0757305628
ISBN-13: 978-0757305627

The movie that inspired this book - also titled What the Bleep Do We Know?! - came out in 2004.  I saw the movie quite some time ago and was intrigued.  Then a customer special ordered the book.  When the book came in, I decided to flip through it to refresh my memory of the DVD and wound-up reading the entire book.

First of all, I love the title.  It's somehow funny to me that a book on leading-edge science, spirituality, quantum physics and biochemistry - with interviews from several of the most well-known folks in each field - would be called What the Bleep Do We Know?!.  I mean, these are the experts.  Shouldn't they know?  The title - and the book - comes at you kind of funny, but then gets really deep and ponderous.  The truth is that we - human beings - know alot, but what we know is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.  There is SO MUCH MORE.  And the more we know, the more we discover all that we don't know.  This book made me feel like a dog chasing it's tail - going around and around and around, never quite getting it, and feeling dizzy and silly, in the end.  This is definitely one of those "thinking" books... a book that will challenge your perception on many levels...a must-read if you like that sort of thing. 

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Everyone is still talking about the movie What the Bleep Do We Know?!  Now comes the paperback edition of the book based on the mind-boggling movie that grossed $11 million in the U.S. alone.  As the movie did, this book compels readers to ask themselves Great Questions that will recreate their lives as they know them.  With the help of fourteen leading quantum physicists, scientists and spiritual thinkers, this book guides readers on a course from the scientific to the spiritual, and from the universal to the deeply personal.  Along the way, it asks such questions as:  Are we seeing the world as it really is?  What are thoughts made of?  What is the relationship between our thoughts and our world?  Are we biologically addicted to certain emotions?  How can I create my day every day?  What the Bleep answers this question and others through an innovative, new approach to self-help and spirituality that's far different—and more exciting—than anything else on bookshelves.  More than twenty short, focused, interactive chapters take readers on a journey that will integrate the answers to these Great Questions into every aspect of their lives.

BACK COVER:

Hundreds of years ago, science and religion split apart; they became antagonists in the great game of explanation and discovery.  But science and religion are two sides of the same coin.  They both help explain the universe, our place in the great plan and the meaning of our lives.  In fact, they can only begin to do that adequately when they work together.

What the Bleep Do We Know?! is a book of amazing science.  With the help of more than a dozen research and theoretical scientists, it takes you through the looking glass of quantum physics into a universe that is more bizarre and alive than ever imagined.  Then it takes you beyond, into the outer edges of our scientific knowledge of consciousness, perception, body chemistry and brain structure.  What is a thought made of?  What is reality made of?  And most importantly, how does a thought change the nature of reality?

This science leads not just to the material world, but deep into the realm of spirituality.  If observation affects outcome, we aren't merely part of the universe, but participants in it.  If thoughts are more than random neural firings, then consciousness is more than an anatomical accident.  A higher power exists, but is it truly out there?  Where is the dividing line between out there and in here?  This is not a book of definitive answers.  This is a book of mind-stretching questions.  It is a book that shows you not the path, but the endless possibilities.  Do you think you have to go to the same job every day, do the same errands, think the same thoughts, feel the same way?  Well, think again.

Plowing A Crooked Row by Brenda Shirley

BOOK #11
Monday, 03/12/07 to Sunday, 03/18/07

ISBN-10: 0979354919

Plowing A Crooked Row is a simple, heart-warming story set in small-town, rural Texas.  In it, grandfather, Monroe Blackstock, uses the story of a tragic event from his past to teach his grandson, Jeremy, about regret and redemption.

I had the honor of having author, Brenda Shirley, come in to the store last week, while visiting friends in Cadiz.  During our brief conversation, I learned that Plowing a Crooked Row is Shirley's first book, which she not only wrote, but published herself.  I respect anyone who has enough confidence in their work to take that kind of initiative. Plus, I liked her, and I imagined that anyone that neat would probably write one heck of a book.  I wasn't disappointed.  I don't think you will be, either, if you decide to give this book a read.  We do, by the way, have autographed copies for sale at Eldora's.   

Book Description:

This refreshing novel by native Texan Brenda Shirley is set in rural and small town central Texas.  The author has done an excellent job of using flashbacks to tell the story of the family through the experiences of the grandfather, Monroe Blackstock.  "Pa", now in his 80s, goes back to depression days on the farm and then as a ranch hand in his early teens for "Miss Ada."  This self sufficient lady, old enough to be Monroe's grandma, but not near as ornery as she would like to appear, becomes a good influence on the troubled 14-year-old Monroe.

Author Shirley skillfully introduces several other family members and friends into the moving story as she brings us back to the present trials and triumphs of the Blackstock family.

The story has a feel-good finish, but there are plenty of exciting events getting there.  You will enjoy the book and will want to share it with others - especially those who live in or long for the rural/small town life.

About the Author:

Brenda Shirley was born and raised in Gatesville, Texas and graduated from Gatesville High School.  Twenty years and two kids later, she graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology.  She spent many years working with children and most recently served as the facility administrator over the Colorado County Juvenile Facility in Eagle Lake, Texas.  Brenda is  married, and together she and her husband have five children and seven grandchildren.  She spends most of her time sewing and trying to live up to her new title as "Ma."   

Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

BOOK #10
Monday, 03/05/07 to Sunday, 03/11/07

ISBN-10: 0618485228
ISBN-13: 9780618485222

The Namesake, the second book by Pulitzer-Prize winning author, Jhumpa Lahiri,  can be simply described as a story about one Bengali family's immigrant experience in the United States, told over a period of three decades.  But it's much more than that.  The writing was so vivid and the detail so clear, it seemed like I might have been looking through the Ganguli family photo albums with Gogol sitting next to me, telling stories about the different experiences of his life.  I could actually see the characters and imagine them in the events described.  What's more, I could feel what it must have been like for Gogol - at least in some small way - to be American-born in an Indian family, always feeling pulled between the two cultures.  How easily Lahiri seemed to open up the story and plop me right down into it.  It reminds me, again, how powerful the written word can be.  No wonder this woman won a Pulitzer.

Book Description:

Any talk of The Namesake--Jhumpa Lahiri's follow-up to her Pulitzer Prize-winning debut, Interpreter of Maladies--must begin with a name: Gogol Ganguli. Born to an Indian academic and his wife, Gogol is afflicted from birth with a name that is neither Indian nor American nor even really a first name at all. He is given the name by his father who, before he came to America to study at MIT, was almost killed in a train wreck in India. Rescuers caught sight of the volume of Nikolai Gogol's short stories that he held, and hauled him from the train. Ashoke gives his American-born son the name as a kind of placeholder, and the awkward thing sticks.

Awkwardness is Gogol's birthright. He grows up a bright American boy, goes to Yale, has pretty girlfriends, becomes a successful architect, but like many second-generation immigrants, he can never quite find his place in the world. There's a lovely section where he dates a wealthy, cultured young Manhattan woman who lives with her charming parents. They fold Gogol into their easy, elegant life, but even here he can find no peace and he breaks off the relationship. His mother finally sets him up on a blind date with the daughter of a Bengali friend, and Gogol thinks he has found his match. Moushumi, like Gogol, is at odds with the Indian-American world she inhabits. She has found, however, a circuitous escape: "At Brown, her rebellion had been academic ... she'd pursued a double major in French. Immersing herself in a third language, a third culture, had been her refuge--she approached French, unlike things American or Indian, without guilt, or misgiving, or expectation of any kind." Lahiri documents these quiet rebellions and random longings with great sensitivity. There's no cleverness or showing-off in The Namesake, just beautifully confident storytelling. Gogol's story is neither comedy nor tragedy; it's simply that ordinary, hard-to-get-down-on-paper commodity: real life. --Claire Dederer

About the Author:

I found a great article by Lahiri - called "My Two Lives" - in the March 6, 2006 issue of Newsweek.  CLICK HERE to check it out.

The Namesake is a good book.  Well worth the read!

Oh, and I guess I should say: The Namesake is our March Book Club pick.  You can buy it at Eldora's Books, Etc. for 20% off and, if you like, join us for Book Club on Tuesday, March 27th at 6:30pm.  For more information, CLICK HERE to see the Book Club flyer on Eldora's website.

Only One You by Linda Kranz

BOOK #9
Monday, 02/26/07 to Sunday, 03/04/07

ISBN-10: 0873589017
ISBN-13: 9780873589017

Opening boxes of new books is one of my favorite "bookstore owner" things.  I can't tell you how much I love it!  My brother, Will, says statements like that only prove what a big nerd I am.  Perhaps.  But, nerd or not, I think most people will be captured by the cover of Only One You, just like I was.  The little "rockfish" on the cover of this book caught my eye as soon as I opened the box.  Don't you just love 'em?!?!

I dug down in the stack, pulled it out of the box, sat down immediately to read it... and was pleased to discover that the story was as colorful and uplifting as the "rockfish" illustrating it.  It's a wonderful book for kids of all ages (even grown-up ones).

Book Description:

"There's only one you in this great big world. Make it a better place."  Adri's mama and papa share some of the wisdom they have gained through the years with their eager son. Their words, simple and powerful, are meant to comfort and guide him as he goes about exploring the world. This exquisitely illustrated book explodes with color and honest insights. Kranz's uniquely painted "rockfish," set against vibrant blue seas, make an unforgettable and truly special impression. Only One You will inspire parents and children of all ages as they swim through the sea of life.

About the Author:

Linda Kranz and her husband, Klaus, shared with their children the things they found to be important in life—being in nature, finding solitude, time together. Now that their children are grown they have taken these lessons to heart and have found that they have a deeper appreciation of the world. Linda is the author of eight journals and a craft book, Let’s Rock: Rock Painting for Kids, which won an IRA Children’s Choices Award. Linda lives with her husband in northern Arizona. Together they enjoy discovering new landscapes in and around the Southwest and returning to their longtime favorite places, again and again.

Other Great Books For Kids of All Ages:

On The Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman
ISBN-10: 0312346069
ISBN-13: 9780312346065

Book Description:

The birth of a baby—"the one and only ever you"—causes jubilation throughout creation in this quietly celebratory picture book from newcomer Tillman. Polar bears dance, giraffes weave to the sound of brass horns, and "the moon smiled with such wonder/ that the stars peeked in to see you/ and the night wind whispered,/ 'Life will never be the same.' " - Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.

Flotsam by David Wiesner
(Caldecott Medal Book)
ISBN-10: 0618194576
ISBN-13: 9780618194575

Book Description:

Wiesner offers another exceptional, wordless picture book that finds wild magic in quiet, everyday settings. At the seaside, a boy holds a magnifying glass up to a flailing hermit crab; binoculars and a microscope lay nearby. The array of lenses signals the shifting viewpoints to come, and in the following panels, the boy discovers an old-fashioned camera, film intact. A trip to the photo store produces astonishing pictures: an octopus in an armchair holding story hour in a deep-sea parlor; tiny, green alien tourists peering at sea horses. There are portraits of children around the world and through the ages, each child holding another child's photo. After snapping his own image, the boy returns the camera to the sea, where it's carried on a journey to another child. Children may initially puzzle, along with the boy, over the mechanics of the camera and the connections between the photographed portraits. When closely observed, however, the masterful watercolors and ingeniously layered perspectives create a clear narrative, and viewers will eagerly fill in the story's wordless spaces with their own imagined story lines. Like Chris Van Allsburg's books and Wiesner's previous works, this visual wonder invites us to rethink how and what we see, out in the world and in our mind's eye. - Gillian Engberg Copyright © American Library Association

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron illustrated by Matt Phelan
(Winner of the 2007 Newberry Medal)
ISBN-10: 1416901949
ISBN-13: 9781416901945

Book Description:

Kids want books that make them THINK, GROW, QUESTION and LEARN ... like everything, edgy is fun and when done right (like this book) it will encourage reading - and teach them to love reading their whole lives. The reality is kids in this age range have all kinds of scary ideas and powerful curiosities. Being able to read about Lucky going through such experiences gave my kids the opportunity to think about and talk about all kinds of things. As a family, we thought this was an excellent book. - Shulamit Widawsky, Northern Virginia, USA.

Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
ISBN-10: 0763622621
ISBN-13: 9780763622626

Book Description:

Hawkes's deft acrylic-and-pencil pictures have appeal for generations of library lovers. They are rich with expression, movement, and detail. The lordly, lovable lion is a masterful mix – regal beast and furry friend – and the many human characters are drawn with animation and emotion. This winsome pairing of text and illustration is a natural for storytime and a first purchase for every collection. - Kathy Krasniewicz, Perrot Library, Old Greenwich, CT