Over the span of my life, I’ve read nutrition labels off cans and contest rules off cereal boxes.  I’ve read almost every paper known to man, even if they are in foreign languages (never know what you can make out with common sense and squinting).  I’ve read at legal documents, classifieds, the notes on a Kenneth Pollack book, the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, and diet books.  I’m a reader.  That’s what readers do.  And if we find something that captures our interest, we disappear into the pages.

  However, I can no longer make myself read those software technical manuals.  The little pictures that are supposed to make things easy to understand look like hieroglyphics and my brain can’t absorb all the info on a piece of technology some technical writers believes I must understand. 

  What has started this rant?  I have a new digital camera . . . .and I’m starting to feel left behind.  This piece of equipment does far more than I need it to do, or that I want it to do.  I believe the thing could start my car if I point and click the right button. 

  But the simple stuff–taking pictures and downloading them–well, my friends, that is going to take me another hour or more to decipher.  Nor is it my imagination that all this technology makes some things easier at the cost of more and more of my time.  

  Where’s the balance?  There isn’t any, not if I want my pictures out of that camera!   

   Let me tell you about the author–Gregory David Roberts (GDR) escaped from an Australian prison where he was serving time for armed robbery and went to Bombay.  There, he set up a free clinic in the slums, worked for the Indian mafia (I guess there is one in every country), and did some counterfeiting, smuggling, and gunrunning.  He wrote a book about Lin who escaped from an Australian prison where he was serving time for armed robbery and went to Bombay where he set up a free clinic in the slums, worked for the Indian mafia and etc. etc. etc.   GDR fell in love with Bombay.  He introduces the reader to the many sides of this fascinating city while his hero comes to term with the life he once had and the one he wants.   You can’t walk away from this book untouched by Lin’s humanity and that of so many marvelous characters in this story.

   I admit I thought I had stumbled upon an  undiscovered talent.  The book has been out since 2003.  I wanted to take GDR under my wing and make him famous.  With noble intentions,  I went to his website to learn more and perhaps email him to rest assured I would do all I could to call attention to his fabulous book.  Turns out Johnny Depp beat me to it.  He’s optioned the book for a movie which should go into production fairly soon.  Casting tests and Depp talking about his plans are up on YouTube. 

  So, I guess GDR doesn’t need me to rescue him . . . but you should really, REALLY read this book.  Especially if, like me, you love being immersed into another culture.  At just under 1000 pages, it’s a hefty read.  Don’t be put off by the page count.  You’ll enjoy each and every one of them.

SHANTARAM by Gregory David Robert  ISBN 0-312-33053-7  St. Martin’s Griffin

   Yes, it’s a book of lists of books with quick taglines to pique your interest.    Here is a sampling of chapter titles–”First Novels”, ”Czech It Out”, “I Love a Mystery”, “Western Memoirs”, “WWII Fiction”, “WWII Nonfiction”, “Great Dogs in Fiction”, ”Cat Crazy”, “Shrinks and Shrinkees”, and the lists go on and on.  One of my favorite chapters is “100 Good Reads, Decade by Decade”.  Turns out most of what we consider “reading list” material was written before 1970.  Made me think about why . . . and perhaps I should read those thirty novels written after 1970-2000? 

   Or how about this entry for a biography by Janet Stevenson titled WEEP NO MORE?  Pearl writes that it “illuminates the sad yet ultimately noble life of Elizabeth Van Lew, who disguised her activities as a Union spy in Richmond, Virginia, by appearing to be simply insane.”  Since I live in the Richmond area, that book will be a kick to read. 

   Who needs this book?  Anyone who has to compile a reading list and wants to freshen it up as well as teachers, librarians, booksellers, anyone heading to a beach or the mountains, grandparents with the kids coming for the summer or parents who don’t want to see their kids stoned by television.    And, of course, book lovers like me.

  By the way, Nancy Pearl is the Director of the Washington Center for the Book where she created the program “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book.”  The idea is catching on city-by-city.  We had one in Richmond.  If you haven’t tried it in your city, give it a shot.  It’s a cool way of building community.

BOOK LUST by Nancy Pearl  ISBN 1-5701-381-8  Sasquatch Books

She also authored MORE BOOK LUST (I guess because one book is never enough!)

  Two books they are excited about are THE RUINS by author Scott Smith and INFECTED by Scott Sigler.  Kelly said when she was done reading INFECTED she “itched”, something she actually liked about the book.  

  THE RUINS has been made into a motion picture that Mark went to see over the weekend.  Kelly asked if the one character screamed through the whole movie the way he did in the book.  Mark happily said, “Yeah!”  Scott Smith did write another book that I liked very much titled A SIMPLE PLAN.  Now, that’s my kind of horror–the stuff that probably has happened before.  A SIMPLE PLAN was also made into a movie.  (Smith is doing something right.)

   Back to Kelly and Mark–it really bothers me to see these people that I like and admire so much enjoy human misery, but then such is the nature of the true horror fan.  It’s the old “what if” with a twist.  If you are the sort to enjoy reading while your guts are knotted with apprehension, here’s two reads that will bring joy to your heart. 

  Meanwhile, I’m going to do everything I can to stay on Kelly and Mark’s good sides.   

THE RUINS  by Scott Smith    ISBN 0-312-95271-6

INFECTED by Scott Sigler      ISBN 0-307-40610-5

    From Virginia’s plantations and orchards to cattle and sheep farms to the fishermen of the Chesapeake, Williamson provides us with ancedotes, history lessons, biographical sketches of everyone Virginian.  (Did you know Virginia makes cheese? Or that we raise emus and bison? And, yes, there is a host of info on our wineries–and the section on horses is great!  No, we don’t eat horses but she lists the big horse events that beg for a picnic so you can really enjoy the day.)

   And the recipes!  These are not generic recipes.  Her generous recipe section is a Who’s Who of Virginia.  We have Teresa Jernigan of the Sedley’s Woman’s Club “Classic Peanut-Butter Cookies”, former attorney general Mark Earley’s “Squash Saute”,  and recipes from well known restaurants like The Tobacco  Company, The Inn at Montross, and Chateau Morrisette to name a few.  But Williamson also features some places that are kept secret by the locals like Stone Manor Bed and Breakfast innkeepers Don and Mary Davis’s Peaches-and-Cream French Toast.

   Okay, so why do I really like this book?  I love a good day trip.  I like getting out and exploring the countryside.   For example, my son goes to Ferrum College.  I thought the only thing in Ferrum was the college and Happy Pappy’s Convenience Store.  Thank you, CiCi, for letting me know about the Blue Ridge Institute and Farm Museum and the wineries close at hand.  I now can’t wait for my next trip to Ferrum. 

Publisher : Putnam Publishing Group
Published : 01/10/2008
Format : Hardcover , pages 32
ISBN-10 : 0399246150
ISBN-13 : 9780399246159

When I want more information to change my life, I turn to books, and there are zillions of books on how to better manage your money (and I’ve read a bunch of them). Two books are I like best are Your Money or Your Life by former Wall Street Trader Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin and The Total Money Makeover by radio host Dave Ramsey.

In Your Money or Your Life, Dominguez and Robin opened my eyes to the human cost of money by teaching me to calculate my expenses in what they call “life-energy.”  That means a $10 lunch could cost you an hour of work if you earn $10/hr or ten minutes of work if you earn $100/hr.  The question is, how hard to you want to work for that lunch? Perhaps you’d rather make a fifty cent peanut butter and jelly sandwich at home?Your call . . . but the book will make you start evaluating spending decisions in a new light, especially if you are a goal-setter.They have a website with additional info at www.newroadmap.org

I’ve purchased two copies of Dave Ramsey’s book The Total Money Makeover to give to my kids as they start out in life.  It has the best advice I’ve read on dealing with mountains of debt, sensibly handling money, and my personal favorite—budgeting.  (Yeah, my kids roll their eyes, too.) You can get a taste of his advice at www.daveramsey.com  Whatever you think about his style, his advice works. I’m also a fan of his book Financial Peace.

Look, I’m convinced that no matter what challenges you face in life, there is an expert who has written a book that can help you.Go to the library.The collective wisdom of the world is waiting.

   First and foremost, I want you to know Kelly Corrigan is a personable writer.  When you finish THE MIDDLE PLACE, you’ll want to call her for a catch-up chat.   Her book is both laugh out loud funny and heart-wrenching.  It’s a celebration of family and having the love of both parents and of a family of your own–i.e. “the middle place” when your parents are still wonderfully alive and you have the joy of being a parent yourself.  Yes, it is about all that is good, loving, and powerful in life.

  It’s also the memoir of Kelly’s battle against breast cancer at the age of thirty-six and her beloved father’s own subsequent battles with the big C.    See why I didn’t want to drop that one on you right in the beginning?  However, to say this is merely a book about overcoming cancer is like saying LORD OF THE RINGS is a tell-all about Hobbits. 

   Each of the Corrigans confronts this disease in his or her own fashion.  Kelly relies on Science, her father on Faith.  She attacks her breast cancer with her sharp wit, relentlessly researching her options.  Her father settles into his cancer, listening to his daughter’s advice and even taking some of it.  His worry is for her; her fears are for him–and her children and husband.   

     I want you to know there are only happy endings here.  Cancer doesn’t win.  But it also teaches Corrigan some  incredible lessons along the way that she has the talent to share with us.  Trust me, you will devour THE MIDDLE PLACE.

  Note to Virginians:  Kelly Corrigan is a University of Richmond grad.  Kelly Justice is hoping to bring her to Richmond for a book signing.  For more information, keep your eye on www.fountainbookstore.com

  My daughters were easy to turn into readers.  I pointed them toward Romance and they’ve never looked back.  My belief is that if you hook a person on what he likes to read, he’ll go on to read everything.  Worked on the girls. 

   Hasn’t worked on my son.

   Enter AMERICAN SHAOLIN by Matthew Polly.  Polly gave up his last year of Princeton in the early ’90’s to study kung fu at the Shaolin Temple in China.  He wanted to change himself–become more brave, more fit, and more spiritual.  What follows is a funny, off beat tale of living amongst monks, the Chinese, and coming of age as a man. 

   All I had to do was show Andrew the pictures in the book of the legendary “Iron Crotch” Monk Dong (I am not making that up!) in action.

“Hmmm . . . let me see that book, Mom,” Andrew said.

 ”Not yet,” I answered.  “I’m reading it.”  Which was true.  It’s also true that AMERICAN SHAOLIN is too good a read to give over to my son’s college dorm room before I’ve had a chance to savor each word. 

 Whadda great read!  I love cultural insight, politics, and history.  AMERICAN SHAOLIN has it all, not to mention an unforgettable cast of monks.  Polly gives China a human face, us an appreciation for a society caught between the old and new, and me an understanding why all those martial arts movies are so popular.  In fact, I think I’m going to rent a Jet Li . . . and maybe Andrew and I will watch it together.

AMERICAN SHAOLIN by Matthew Polly  ISBN  978-1-592-403370-0