Books, books, and, yes, more books…

Earlier today I went out and was doing some shopping. I stopped by both Best Buy and the nearby Barnes & Noble, but found myself wishing for the cheaper prices found online. I think Amazon has given me a dislike for paying MSRP for items that I don’t necessarily need right away. These places are good for browsing, but I don’t know that I’ll really buy from them unless I have a dire urge or a really good coupon.

While I was out and about, I decided to take a detour to one of the local Half Price Books. I had meant to go to one, but never found the reason to do so until today. After visiting there, I wish I had discovered that reason before. I loved the selection of books I found there, and most of them were in remarkably good quality for used books. (I compare that to my experiences at library book sales where books range from good to pretty darn poor.) In addition, I found a lot of books that I’m not sure I would find at other places, and I paid good prices for them. For instance, I had seen a copy of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude at B&N as part of a Buy 2, Get 1 Free sale. I would have paid about $10 for that copy, but I found it on sale at Half-Price for a buck.

They also offer a service where they purchase media (books, DVDs, software, etc.) from you. I’m sure I could send in a lot of my excess books there, but I don’t think that I’d get a whole lot of money for my books. Besides, I’d much rather give them to the library so they can use the funds to support their programming. Ultimately, too, I also can’t find a place where I can get a better deal for books than at those book sales; whether it be 25 cents for trade paperbacks or a bag of books for $8, they definitely provide a way to fill up my bookshelves. If only I had more bookshelves and more time to get through the books I have…

Mini-Mini-Review: A Canticle for Leibowitz

Title: A Canticle for Leibowitz
Author: Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Awards: 1961 Hugo

When I picked up the book, I looked at the editorial reviews on the outside that acclaimed it as “one of the most significant literary works of our time.” At first, I dismissed it as purely being editorial drivel. I didn’t remember seeing it on any reading lists in the past, and I’m not sure I had even heard of it before picking it up from the library.Experiencing it over the course of today [yes, I started and finished the book in one day], I found my initial reaction to be… well, wrong.

The story is about a post-apocalyptic Earth and the ongoing history of a religious order dedicated to Issac Leibowitz. Among other things, the book goes into conflicts between religion and science and the world in general. It’s also a generally good science-fiction novel. Over the course of the three acts, one cannot help but pick up the allusions to the history of the West as we know it, with the final act closely approximating today’s Earth. While I won’t reveal how the end of the book happens, it’s interesting to see how Miller lays out the ideas of history being cyclical.

In one sense, I wish I had taken more time to read the book. It’s not often that I pick up a book and find myself addicted not only by the plot stories, but by the philosophical questions it poses. One of the reasons I read books is to gain a better understanding of the world from them, and this book has caused me to rethink a few religious items. It is in all of these senses that I find this book one of the most intriguing ones I’ve ever read, and one certainly worthy of its accolades. I just wish more people would read the book.

Synopsis: Highly recommended as a read, especially if you’re a fan of post-apocalyptic anything, philosophy, the conflict between religion and the world around it, religion vs. science, and so on.

Book Covers

Just a quick note.

The book covers in the reviews are taken from a LibraryThing feed of user-submitted covers. It’s a simple way of getting them (without having to search on Amazon and either direct linking or storing), and it’s legal to do so. However, the images that are produced aren’t necessarily the highest-quality works, at least at the quality I’ve chosen to display. I might choose to change the size later on… stay tuned.

Mini-Review: Something Wicked by Carolyn G. Hart

Book: Something Wicked
Author: Carolyn G. Hart
Awards Won: 1989 Agatha Award for Best Novel

Third in the Death on Demand series, this book features Annie Laurence and her (as of this book) fiancé, Max Darling, in their attempts to figure out who’s behind a series of pranks being pulled on a local summer production of the classic play Arsenic and Old Lace. The pranks escalate to a murder (but of course; what would be a mystery without a murder in it?), and Max falls under suspicion. Annie works not only to clear Max’s name but to figure out who’s actually behind it all.

One reason I liked the book so much (like the previous ones in the series) is all of the allusions to other works. Annie works as a manager of a mystery store that she inherited from her uncle, so her deliberations about various clues are filled with references to all sorts of works from the classic ones to the  obscure (to me) ones. In addition, her store runs a monthly contest that gives a free book to the first person who can identify which mysteries are portrayed in five different paintings.

Summary: Good read if you like mysteries in the ilk of Agatha Christie or enjoy stories focusing on the theater. It’s not necessary to start from the beginning in the series, but the earlier two books are both excellent reads in the same style.

Book Review: Stilwell and the American Experience in China

Over the weekend, I also finished off my first book since starting the blog. Here, then, is my first book review. [Note that review formatting will probably change as I go along.]

Book: Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45
Author: Barbara Tuchman
Awards received (if any): 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Non-fiction

This book delivers a biography of China over the first half of the 20th century as seen by General Joe Stilwell, who went there originally in 1911 as a tourist on leave from the army. Over the next 34 years he lived on-and-off in the Orient serving in a variety of roles, ending up as Theater Commander of the CBI (China-Burma-India) theater for most of World War II before being recalled after a series of tiffs with Chiang Kai-shek. Tuchman was an ideal historian (with a previous Pulitzer under her belt) who portrayed Stilwell in a largely positive light. On the other hand, she sharply disagreed with Chiang Kai-shek’s actions, albeit with the caveat that the actions were consistent with the traditional Chinese philosophy. Near the end of the book, she describes a meeting between Stilwell and T. V. Soong, a brother-in-law and close confidant of Chiang, in this way:

Throughout Stilwell’s mission every action and decision of the Generalissimo had been molded by the principle of hoarding resources and waiting until one barbarian should defeat the other. From the Chinese point of view this was sensible and justified. From the point of view of the Americans, who were providing the resources and believed in taking action to command fate, it was unacceptable and unjustified. There could be no meeting across this divide. (490)

The book, like so many of those dealing with wars, pointed out the stark contrasts in views between those that are actually out in the field (in this case, Stilwell in China) versus those who in government who were in charge (Roosevelt and the ilk in DC, along with the general populace). Had there only been better communication and rapport between Stilwell and the people in Washington, he might have survived there and things in that theater may have turned out remarkably different.

Summary: It’s well worth the read if you’re at all interested in Chinese history or finding out more about this much-overlooked part of World War II. Also worthwhile to read as a somewhat non-traditional biography.