Best Christmas Gift Book Ideas for Oddly Specific People on Your List: 2013

As a blogger, I have a really bad habit. You see, I have a terribly short memory and will frequently come up with "ideas" for posts, only to realize (usually after I have written and hit publish) that I basically already wrote the same blog post a year ago. So as I was thinking about a blog about gifting for the holiday season, in my head I started re-writing this post that I wrote a year ago. But then I realized that if I made it a series and did it every year and it was intentional, I wasn't plagiarising myself, I was just creating repeat content. So I present you with The Best Books to Buy as Gifts for Oddly Specific People on your list.

For your brother who is a bibliophile, but also want to work at Google and recently moved to San Francisco

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan.

Clay was a designer for a popular tech company, but when the bubble bursts, he needs a job and begins working as a night clerk at a mysterious old bookstore. He soon notices that the clientele are odd, come in the middle of the night and seem to borrow books in telling patterns.

The book is part mystery, part love letter to books, part techno-nerd geek out. I listened to the audio book and it would be a great one to listen to with older kids on a long holiday road trip.

For your Aunt who loves "The Jerk" and is slightly neurotic and just created her Match.com profile.

The Pleasure of my Company by Steve Martin

Remember when Steve Martin was just that one funny guy in those funny movies? And then you found out he was a writer and you thought "Vanity project!" and then you read one of the books and it was touching and beautiful and artfully written? And you really wished Steve Martin would stop sucking up all the talent in the world.

This book is the story of Daniel,  a bit of a recluse who watches the world go by from the safety of his Santa Monica apartment. He's neurotic and odd but completely charming and his story will warm the cold dark cockles of your heart (I've never actually used the word cockles in a sentence before and I am feeling pretty good about it.)

For your Dad who just got a Kindle Fire and keeps saying he really wants to "get into these graphic novels the kids are always talking about" and loves Star Wars, Romeo and Juliet and really weird sci-fi.

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

This was my first foray in graphic novels written for grown ups and I thought it was awesome. It definitely has some adult content, so please don't give this to your 12 year old nephew. The artwork is great, the story is odd and crazy but fascinating, and I can't want to read volume 2. And then wait a billion years for volume 3 to come out.

For your sister who is the one that told your dad he should read all those graphic novels and was at the midnight showing of all the Marvel movies

The Girl Who Would be King by Kelly Thompson

This book is the story of two girls who's mothers both die tragically around the same time. They both discover that they have inherited extraordinary powers and have to decide how to use them. The book expertly jumps back and forth between the two girls points of view as one chooses to use her powers for good and one chooses less virtuous pursuits.

The descriptions sounds a little lame and obvious, but Thompson creates two distinct characters who are equally likable and interesting, even though one is good and one is evil. And their names are Lola LaFever and Bonnie Braverman. How great is that?

For your co-worker who loves the 1930s and was super excited for The Great Gatsby to come out and then, like most people was disappointed

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

It's hard to describe this book exactly. It's basically a story of a girl, Katey Kontent, who meets an upper class investment banker, Tinker Grey in a bar on New Years even in 1937. Its about class, New York, the 30s and has great characters. It's not the type of book I normally read, but I was hooked.

Did I miss anyone? I feel like this pretty much covers every oddly specific person on your list. And stay tuned - after Christmas we'll be sharing all the PTAs best books of the year.

Spooky Books

I hope this week hasn't been too scary for you. That photo of Topher from 150 years ago dressed as a bug haunts my dreams. Apropos of insectile costumes, Topher and I were in a production of Richard III once where all the characters' costumes were based on bugs. Topher was some sort of water beetle, I think, and I was his servant. A butler flea? I don't know. Our scene was him bathing and me washing him (this was at BYU, so don't get any ideas) and him talking about his fear of death. Then I left and some people came in and drowned him. Oh, Shakespeare!!

Anyway, in our continuing effort to get you in the mood for next weeks spooky festivities, I wanted to share some great scary books to keep you up at night. Enjoy! (PS. If you are reading this on a mobile device or through an RSS reader you might have to switch to the desktop site to see this.)

The best quotes from the books I've read this year

I think I've mentioned in a post or two this year that I'm reading more. It's been great. I read novels, business books, self-help, and non-fiction. I like the variety. I think it's helped me with my writing too. Not here, obviously, but at work and on other projects.

So I thought it would be fun to gather some of quotes from most of the books I've read this year and put them here for all of you. Maybe they'll inspire. Maybe they'll make you want to read. Maybe they'll give you a peek into my psyche.

Who knows?

“I always feel uncomfortable when people speak about ordinary mortals because I've never met an ordinary man, woman or child.”
― Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

“My daddy always told me to just do the best you knew how and tell the truth. He said there was nothin to set a man’s mind at ease like wakin up in the morning and not havin to decide who you were. And if you done somethin wrong just stand up and say you done it and say you’re sorry and get on with it. Don’t haul stuff around with you.” ― Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men

“The story is not in the words; it's in the struggle.” ― Paul Auster, The New York Trilogy

“...being happy and fulfilled is probably one of the most attractive traits you can offer a partner.”
― Amir Levine, Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find and Keep Love

“The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you.” ― David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest

“He was there for you, and yet at the same time he was inaccessible. You felt there was a secret core in him that could never be penetrated, a mysterious center of hiddenness. To imitate him was somehow to participate in that mystery, but it was also to understand that you could never really know him.” ― Paul Auster, The New York Trilogy

“Mythology is not a lie, mythology is poetry, it is metaphorical. It has been well said that mythology is the penultimate truth--penultimate because the ultimate cannot be put into words. It is beyond words. Beyond images ... Mythology pitches the mind beyond that rim, to what can be known but not told.” ― Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

“When Fortuna spins you downward, go out to a movie and get more out of life.” ― John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces

“Anyone too undisciplined, too self-righteous or too self-centered to live in the world as it is has a tendency to idealize a world which ought to be. But no matter what political or religious direction such idealists choose, their visions always share one telling characteristic: in their utopias, heavens or brave new worlds, their greatest personal weakness suddenly appears to be a strength.” ― David James Duncan, The Brothers K

“You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.” ― Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men

“Logical validity is not a guarantee of truth.” ― David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest

“The man who believes that the secrets of the world are forever hidden lives in mystery and fear. Superstition will drag him down. The rain will erode the deeds of his life. But that man who sets himself the task of singling out the thread of order from the tapestry will by the decision alone have taken charge of the world and it is only by such taking charge that he will effect a way to dictate the terms of his own fate.” ― Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West

“Basically, secure people feel comfortable with intimacy and are usually warm and loving; anxious people crave intimacy, are often preoccupied with their relationships, and tend to worry about their partner’s ability to love them back; avoidant people equate intimacy with a loss of independence and constantly try to minimize closeness.” ― Amir Levine, Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find and Keep Love

“[On having a rival] Women intrinsically understand human dynamics, and that makes them unstoppable. Unfortunately, the average man is less adroit at fostering such rivalries, which is why most men remain average; males are better at hating things that can't hate them back (e.g., lawnmowers, cats, the Denver Broncos, et cetera). They don't see the big picture.” ― Chuck Klosterman, Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas

“You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do.” ― David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest

“If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only makes it worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there's room to hear more subtle things - that's when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before. It's a discipline; you have to practice it. [Steve Jobs]” ― Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs

“Chronic remorse, as all the moralists are agreed, is a most undesirable sentiment. If you have behaved badly, repent, make what amends you can and address yourself to the task of behaving better next time. On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

“Greatness and nearsightedness are incompatible. Meaningful achievement depends on lifting one's sights and pushing toward the horizon.” ― Daniel H. Pink, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

“One way to remember who you are is to remember who your heroes are. [Steve Jobs]” ― Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs

“I am at the moment writing a lengthy indictment against our century. When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make an occasional cheese dip.” ― John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces

“You can be shaped, or you can be broken. There is not much in between. Try to learn. Be coachable. Try to learn from everybody, especially those who fail. This is hard. ... How promising you are as a Student of the Game is a function of what you can pay attention to without running away.” ― David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest

What are some of your favorite books this year? Do you have a favorite quote you try to live by?

Because Josh Told You...

You guys,

I super just finished the BEST book.  Hands down, uh-the-BEST! And you know how when you finish a good book it's like you invented reading and you are probably the first person to read this amazing book you found off the New York Times Best Seller list?  Well, that's how this book went down, even though Josh totally told us all to read this book here.

So it's a book about kids with cancer.  Two teenage kids with cancer.  A girl with cancer and a boy with cancer.  And yes, it is super sad. And yes, you cry when you are in public reading it on your lunch break.  But also, it's so funny, and so well written. The voice of Hazle, the girl with cancer, who tells this story is so very funny and smart (too smart, perhaps, for a teenager) and you fall in love with her on the first page.  That is all I ever ask of a book, to have me love it on the first page. Don't hand me some book and tell me that you have to read a few chapters before I really get into it. That book is called a coaster. Nope, I need a book to tell me, in the first moments of reading, that I am gonna want to take the time to finish this book.

So, I would love to tell you all about it!  I mean I could talk about it for days, but you haven't read it and maybe to don't read books because you are behind on 'The Call of the Midwife'  (you should also be watching that, it's a British TV show about Midwives in the 50's in the East end of London...it practically writes it's self!) but this book is written in such a easy voice that you can blow right through it.  It took Lisa Clark two days to read it cover to cover, and you're just as smart as her!

So, my name is Patrick and I just read 'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green and I loved it.  It's a book about two kids with cancer and I couldn't get enough. I hope you go down to your local library and check this one out...but you don't have to take MY word for it!

Read Me.

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” 
― Jane Austen

So I think you should reread 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.   I don't have anything clever to say about it.  It was laying on the floor in our playroom and the kids were climbing on the ceiling so I thought I'd start at the beginning.  It's just so very good.  I'm 10 pages in and I can hear Scouts voice plainly explaining how it all went down.

Is there anything like a very good book?

Once when I was freshly married, I had friends come stay with us in our freshly painted one bedroom apartment in LA.  It was real fun.  But, at night, and we were all through with the day, I grabbed my book from my nightstand and dove in.  One of my friends, who had known me all through high school and had never seen me with a book in my hand, asked me if I was just putting on a show for my new wife.  I did like the idea, it would have been little 'Talented Mr Ripley' of me to present myself as a reader to my new wife and then three years in hold a book burning on our porch. But the fact is, I made it all the way through every grade of public school and never found my love of reading. It eluded me though, it seems like that's all I should have been looking for, but we never came together, Reading and I.

It was my friend Stacy, who offered to have a favorite book swap, when I was 22 years old.  Luckily, I had stumbled on to 'The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe' a year earlier and loved it, or I literally would not have had a book to swap her.

She gave me, 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.  She was right.  I was shocked how this mandatory English 2 reading could also, inexplicably, be a good book.  The thought had never crossed my mind.  But as you know, a book requires you to be in the right place and mind to capture you.

My wife tried to read 'Cold Mountain' but never got into it, too cold and mountainous I suppose. Then, when she was recovering from surgery and had to be in bed for weeks, out of the blue the book reached out and pulled her in, deep into it's pages and held her there for hours.  It's one of her favorites.

There is so much great entertainment out there.  This is not one of those turn off your tv and read a book posts.  But, if you are reading this and thinking that the last book you read was...'To Kill a Mockingbird' but in 8th grade, then at the very least, start there again.  The world has changed since you were 15 and so have books.

The last book to really pull me all the way in was 'The Lonely Polygamist'. In the end I didn't really like it, but I loved the moment 15 minutes before my lunch break when I would remember that I had a good book in my bag and I was by myself for a whole hour and I got to read it.  An exquisite feeling.

I am always ALWAYS looking for another good book... why, do you have one?

Esquire Quiz Can Tell You How Attractive You Are to the Opposite Sex

I love these. I don't know why. Here, from Esquire’s 1949 publication "Handbook for Hosts: A Time-Honored Guide to the Perfect Party," is a set of questions for both men and women designed to help us make ourselves more wowee-wow-wow to each other. I read the original post on BrainPickings.org here.

Now, for your enjoyment, are some of the highlights filled with liquor, spankings, flattery, and ugly Cousin Belle:

For Women
Do you bring the names of other men into the conversation to give yourself a sought-after appearance?Don’t. This may give a man a sense of inferiority — he is uncomfortable with you, and soon drifts away to someone else. It may make him wonder how much talking you do about him.

Do you wear clothes that make you a little more up-to-the-minute than the other women in your set? Good — provided your taste is reliable and that the clothes suit you. Men may rant about the “crazy hat” but they swell with pride when their lady companions arouse admiring stares.

Do men marvel at your capacity for holding liquor? A great mistake: it gives you a fast reputation and runs into money — the man’s money — besides.

Do you keep men interested by hinting that later — not tonight — you’ll be really demonstrative? This is a low trick and one that a surprising number of men see through at once. If you kiss a man, it should be for your own pleasure and not to reward him.

Do you ever embarrass a man by telling him he’s good-looking or has big muscles or is too, too intelligent? Try it! Almost any man can stand almost any amount of flattery, however obvious, without embarrassment or surprise.

Do you knit when you are having a cozy, fireside evening with a man? For some reason, men hate to see a woman doing anything with her hands when talking to her. Undivided attention is best.

Do you keep your friendships warm by chatty calls to your men friends at their offices? This is fatal.

Do you save yourself wear and tear by not troubling to entertain men bores? A grave mistake. Bores have their uses since a clever girl can practice her conversation on them, with nothing much to lose. Besides, they often have attractive friends.


For Men
Do you show your real fondness for a girl by telling her about her bad points and advising her how to improve them? This is an error. If you must tell her you hate her perfume or how she does her hair, wrap it up in heavy sugar coating.

Do you show your devotion to a woman by holding her hand or putting your arm around her when her friends are present? Please don’t. Even a girl who is affectionate in private dislikes public mauling.

Do you make distinctions between the jokes you’d tell a man in the club and those you’d tell a girl in a park automobile? Almost no women like bathroom jokes or jokes with dirty words.

Do you tell a woman she’s beautiful, even if she isn’t? This habit hurts nobody and makes a lot of girls happier.

Do you believe it necessary in the modern age to push in a girl’s chair for her and to light her cigarettes? These small courtesies mean a lot to a girl.

Do you try to arouse a girl’s interest by boasting of your success with other women? Don’t ever do this!

Do you consider it a young girl’s own business whether she gets tight and is indiscreet when she’s out with you? Keep an inexperienced girl from getting tight, if you have to spank her, and don’t let any woman become indiscreet through liquor. Triumphs over drunken women don’t help any man.

If a girl you’re fond of asks you to be nice to her cousin with adenoids and buck teeth do you cut her off your list? Not pleasant, but if you rally around and give Cousin Belle a whirl, you’ll soon be known as the nicest man in town.

I think we all learned something today. So, how do you make yourself attractive? Let us know your tips in the comments!

How to Have a Winning Book Club

You too can have a book club this fun!

I have very little social life. With work and blogging and going to the gym and getting the kids to scouts  (Blerg!) and dance class and gymnastics it just seems like hanging out with friends is so low on the list that "buying light bulbs at Target" often seems to take precedence. I typically only see my friends once a month at our Book Club. And every month I thank my lucky stars for it. You see, when you vaguely have some ideas about "we should all get together soon" with your friends, it will never happen. (Those light bulbs won't buy themselves!) But if you have something on your calendar, something that involves great food, great conversation and an excuse to buy a new book, it gets you out of the house.

In my life, I have been involved in starting many book clubs and they always fail. People get busy, the books are lame, no one reads anything. When Amy and I moved to Oregon our friend Chanel started a book club. We met every month with that book club the whole time we lived there. And when we moved back to Utah we created a similar book club and have met every month since. That's 5 straight years of book clubbing, y'all! And I think having some rules and structure makes it easier to be successful.

My friend Kacy (who is in my book club) has already blogged about some of her rules, and I think she hit some key ones (Mainly: have good food. It's the best part of book club.) Here are a few that I think are key:

• Have a different person choose the book each month. You can draw names or have a rotation. The person who choose the book is in charge of hosting book club and leading the discussion.
• You can only choose books that no one has read. (We will make an exception if only 1 or 2 people have read the book.) This way you avoid the problem of someone choosing "their favorite book" and then having everyone else hate it. If someone chooses a terrible book (and it is usually me) no one's feelings are hurt. I have friends in other book clubs who have been called names because they didn't like someones favorite book enough.
• Books can be no longer than 300-350 pages. We are all busy people. If someone chooses a 600 page book it feels a little overwhelming. You don't want book club to be a chore! But if the book is 275 pages, even if you don't start it until late in the month you feel like you can get through it. 
• Choose the date for the next book club before you go home for the night. Anytime we forget to set the date and try to do it later it starts a string of emails where people suggest dates and then other people reply that that date doesn't work for them and what about a different date? And then some people don't reply either way. And then some people don't really read the emails and think we're talking about a different date. It's always easier if the date is set in stone before everyone goes home.
• Make enough food that people can go home with leftovers. It's fun to be sitting in church the next day and get texts saying thing like "These runzas are even better the next day!" or "Just getting ready for my Sunday nap but first I am eating some leftover smoked chicken!" It's like a part of book club continues until the next afternoon. 

So there you have it. All you have to do is have some rules, read some books and make some amazing food and you too can have a book club. Trust me, when you are sitting through that terrifying Cub Scout court of honor where someone is wearing a slightly racist Native American costume as he hands out Arrows of Light, you'll be glad that you have something on the calendar to look forward to. 

Some of our book club selections that Patrick arranged artfully on his end table. Patrick does everything artfully. 

15 Books For Your 15 Year Old Boy

I've always been a big reader. In fact, my first job was at the Provo Public Library. I was a page (really!) that meant that I was the guy that pushed the cart around and re-shelved the books. I loved it, and I worked there until I left on my LDS mission. I was upstairs in the adult department for about a year and then moved downstairs to the children's library. We would frequently get frantic mothers coming in saying "My son will ONLY read Goosebump books. How do I get him to read something better?" And our answer was always the same, "Leave your son alone. He's reading. Just let him read."

And I firmly believe that. If you kid only wants to read books about weather (we went through that phase) or graphic novels or Goosebumps (Ermagerd!!) then leave him alone and just let him read! Reading is the key. And if he gets to read what he wants, then he enjoys it. And then he reads more. And then he reads new and different kinds of books. But if you try and force him to read "something else" (i.e. the books you like) then reading becomes a chore, and he doesn't want to do it and then he stops reading.

I get it. My son Jonah reads a lot but will get obsessed with series and read those and only those (He's 8 and right now is really into Andrew Lost.) For Christmas I gave him The BFG, Big Red and Danny the Champion of the World which were three of my favorite books when I was a kid. And he has completely ignored them. Every once in a while I ask about them casually, but I don't push. He's reading. Leave him alone and just let him read.

But if you have a tween/teen boy who is looking for something to read, here are 15 of my favorites that would be good for boys (or girls!) who are 13-17. Let me know if the comments what I missed.




(Disclaimer: while I would feel comfortable letting my kdis read these books when they are old enough, some of them have grown up themes about sex, violence, mean people, monsters, etc. If you are sensitve to those things, do your research before letting your kids read and decide what's right for you and your family. i.e. Don't send me angry emails if you or your kids are offended.)

Best of 2012: Books

For our final "Best Of" I get to wrap the year up in Books.  Now if you knew me in high school you would think, "He don't know no books."  Weel, first I would correct your grammar, "I do not know any books."  But then I would have to agree with you. I never ever ever read any book in high school.  Not one.  I remember taking a test for 'My Antonia' and it was a open book test and I was just scrambling threw the chapter and I thought, "This is the dumbest book I've ever had to skim." I never read, "To Kill a Mockingbird." I never read, "The Scarlet Letter." I never read, "Huck Finn." I never read, "Lord of the Flies."  I hated to read, I raged against.  It was dumb and you were dumb if you did it.  Then, I was living in California and I didn't have a TV and I woke up in the middle of the night and I could not get back to sleep and there was copy of 'The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe'. I opened it, read the first word, the last word, and all the words in between in that one night.  I was fixed. And now I get to sift through all the books I've read this year and tell you my favorite:


The Best: Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter. 

It begins with a dying actress and it winds through the history of the movie Cleopatra, LA Screen Plays, the Donner Party, WWII German Soldiers who paint, and community theater.  It is beautifully written and stuffed with interesting facts about subjects I didn't think I cared about. Everything ties together, but lightly and without strain.  If you are going on a cruise around Italiana this year, you need this book...but not as bad as if you are NOT going on a Italian cruise.

Guilty Pleasure: The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick deWitt.  

The protagonist is a ruthless hit man (and his brother) in the wild west who get an assignment to hunt down and knock off a amateur chemist.  You guys, this book is wonderful.  SUPER FUNNY, and weirdly has this heart that hit me just right.  There is wild 1800's science and the relationship between the brothers is so spot on...I would know, I have four.  It might get violent, but not so much that you put it down...let's just call it dark.
    

Josh's Picks:

Best: The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green

When you try to explain this book and tell people that it is about a girl with terminal cancer who meets a boy in her cancer support group, people think you must hate yourself. Why would anyone want to read such a depressing story. John Green is an amazingly gifted writer (one of my personal favorites) who creates believable, lovable characters. I don’t think it is a spoiler to say that I sobbed several times while reading this book. It is gorgeous and life affirming and hopeful and wonderful.

Guilty pleasure:The Gathering Storm, by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson 

Let me tell you a story. There is this series of books called The Wheel of Time that I started reading when I was a freshman in high school. They are of the epic fantasy vein and are full of a million characters, good vs. Evil and are all about 900 pages long. I would eagerly await each book and devour it when it came out and then begin the long (sometimes 2 or 3 year) wait until the next book came out. The books started out great, then by about the 6^th one they started to drag. In those 900 pages, very little would happen to advance the big plot. It was painful and I eventually gave up. I figured I would just wait until they were all done and then read them. Then, after 11 books, the author of this series, Robert Jordan, died tragically and left the series unfinished. His widow picked a new author, Brandon Sanderson, to write the last three books using Jordan’s notes and wrap it up. Books 10 and 11 (the last 2 Jordan wrote) were absolute slogs. Page after page of description with no plot advancement. The Gathering Storm is book 12 and was amazing. It reminded me of everything I love about these books. I to read the next two and finally, after about 20 years, see how this series ends.

Brett's Picks:

Best - Bossypants, Tina Fey. 

I know, I'm late to the party but this book is so good because I laughed a lot and learned extra stuff about something I love: comedy and improv. 

Guilty Pleasure - Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card. 

Very late to the party on this one. That's why I feel guilty about it. It's really quite amazing and I'm glad I finally got to it. Card really puts you right in it, makes the stakes super high, and keeps raising them through the whole book. There's not one moment that feels like padding. Just so good.

Ken's Picks:

Best Book: The best book I read this year? Why, it’d have to be Tell Me Who I Am, written by your very own Part Time Authors, plus others! 

If I’m not self-promoting, then I would have to select AMillion Miles in a Thousand Years, by Donald Miller. 

Mr. Miller wrote a book called Blue Like Jazz,and then, in the wake of its huge success, he found himself in a weird funk where he kind of questioned his life and life in general. While in this slump he was approached by two movie producers that wanted to make Blue Like Jazz into a movie. (Which they did! And it bombed at the box office!) However, in writing the screenplay and transforming the book events into proper and interesting movie dialog, Donald learns more about the elements of story and through that process learns more about life being a story and the story he wants to be living. I love storytelling, so this book struck a chord with me.

Guilty Pleasure: I don’t think I have any guilt pleasures in this area. But if you want to read books out loud to your kids, may I suggest the classic Rascal, by Sterling North. 

We did that this year, and it was a great read!    

 

Chris' Picks:

I really only read non fiction, to be honest. I have no idea why. Im not proud of it or  trying to sound awesome or smart. In fact, a lot of the non fiction I read is trashy, pointless, or inflammatory. That being said, My favorite book this year was Life Itself by Roger Ebert. A really charming and funny memoir by someone who loves movies as much as I do and probably more.

I also read that Amateur book about President Obama but it was pretty dumb. I'm sure enjoying Untouchable, a biography about Michael Jackson right now! Whoo boy! He was a kook!

Well, there you go!  Happy Reading!

Best Book Gift Ideas

I'm a reader. Always have been. And I love books. And I love nothing more than getting and giving books as gifts. In fact, my family invented a whole holiday around the idea of buying ourselves new books. And I love giving books. I think it takes the anxiety Chris described yesterday out of giving gifts. It's a book you love that you think they will love too. And if they don't, well then it is probably months after the gift giving occasion so you never have to know about it.

So with that said, I present to you my top books to give as gifts this Christmas. These are not necessarily my favorite books (stay tuned for PT Author's year end wrap up the week after Christmas for that!) but are books that I think you could unequivocally give as gifts (or buy for yourself.)

For your dad, who is a bit of a nerd and who once bought you a 6 foot long map of the world of the Book of Mormon to enhance your personal study

Maphead by Ken Jennings Remember Ken Jennings, that Mormon guy who won a bunch of money on jeopardy and became like the best player ever and even played against a computer? Well, turns out he is super funny and wrote a book about maps. Which sounds weird and boring, but is actually fascinating and funny and well written. And your Dad would love it. It's full of lots of odd facts that he can tell you later when he's already talked to you about the weather when you call home. What's that? That's just my dad? Ok.

For your sister who is a nutritionist but who likes dystopian fiction and was super excited when the Hajukari Mini line launched at Target because she loves anything Japanese.

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. This is one of those books that throws you into the deep end and expects you to figure out who everyone is and how this world works. Basically, it takes place in a future earth where the world has been ravaged by climate change and bio-terrorism. In this world where oil wells have run dry Anderson is a calorie man - a corporate employee who must seek out new foods that haven't been destroyed and lost by rampant genetic engineering. I know my description is making this sound like the Steam Punk version of the Weight Watchers handbook, but it isn't. It is gorgeously written and I'm a sucker for a good world-builder, which Bacigalupi certainly is.

For your Aunt who loves to watch CSI but got her major in Medieval Studies from an all girl's liberal arts college.

The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch. Apparently, back in the medieval days of yore, hangmen weren't just executioners. They were also police officers, jailers, interrogators and detectives. And when a drowned boy is pulled from a river with the mark of a witch on him, the hangman has to find the real killer before the town gets wrapped up in Witch Hunting Fever. Also, he has a daughter. Thrilling and well written - it just feels grimy, like a book set in 1659 should.

For your Mom who got a kindle last year and only reads ebooks now and who loves a good science fiction tale and secretly likes when girls kick butt.

Wool by Hugh Howey. This book is newly available in actual paper book form because when I first read it it was only available on Kindle. It's one of those inspiring/depressing stories about someone who wrote a book and then ventured out on their own and published it (this one was published in 5 parts no less) and now has a movie deal and a contract and a writing career. But Howey deserves it. This is a clever science fiction book set in a world where humanity all live inside a giant hanger buried underground because the rest of the world is unsafe to live in. And when people get too restless and antsy for the outside world they are put in a suit and sent out - ostensibly to clean the camera lens that shows the outside world. But no one ever returns from these cleaning trips.

For your recently divorced Uncle who is a foodie and a gourmand and a glutton, but who thinks Sandra Lee is for a knob. 

Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton. I, too, got sucked into the food writing world post Kitchen Confidential. And even though there were some great food memoirs, most of them were just garbage interspersed with lame recipes. But this book is different. It is unromantic look at food and an honest memoir about Hamilton's less than perfect life. It's compelling and beautifully written, even if you are not a wannabe chef.

For your goth Nephew who dresses in black and paints his fingernails and keeps telling you how you need to watch Dexter because it is so amazing.

I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells. John Wayne Cleaver is obsessed with serial killers (He also happens to be accidentally named after one and after a knife.) But he works had to seem normal and keep his creepy instincts in check. But then, someone starts killing people in his town. And it seems to be the work of a serial killer. And John has to release the beast inside himself to get into the mind of the killer to stop him before he strikes again. I loved it.

For your best friend who was teased in high school because of that giant mouth piece she wore.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio. August Pullman is severely deformed and has always been home schooled so he doesn't have to deal with the inevitable teasing mainstream school would cause him. But in the 5th Grade, he decides to attend public school where he wants to be treated like a normal kid, but his classmates have a tough time getting past his looks. The story unfolds from the points of view of different characters, so you get to see sides of the story you though you already understood through someone else's eyes. If you have ever been bullied, or felt left out, or bullied someone or did something to fit in, or have a human soul, you should read this book. 

Let's see...yep, I think I covered everyone on your list. And if you are done with your shopping, pick up a couple of these for yourself. No pressure. If you hate them, you don't have to tell me. Any books you are buying as gifts this Christmas? Any books you hope you get? Let me know in the comments. 

Want to keep up with what I am reading and share your recommendations? Follow me on Goodreads.

Is Audiobook Listening Considered Reader Cheating?

I'm listening to audiobooks now. In the past, I avoided them for two reasons: I didn't have a long enough commute and I thought that if I didn't actually pick up the book and read it, then it didn't count.

Of course, technically, listening isn't reading. But, in theory, the activity of listening vs reading is only different in the method of input. When you read, you see the words and your brain creates images and creates a world for you to live in. When you listen, your brain still does those same things. You still have to imagine it all. Perhaps the biggest difference is that you can't go at your own pace or stop to take notes when you're listening.

So, today I believe that when I listen to books, I've legitimately consumed that book. However, I still think there are certain books that can't simply be heard and must be read. I plan to practice some basic rules to determine if I go book vs audiobook:

1. Books for improving my job need to be audiobooks because they normally take me months to read. Good info, not very fun.
2. Humor books read by the author are great audiobooks, e.g., Tina Fey's Bossypants.
3. I'm torn on "classics" because some you just HAVE to read and others are Moby Dick.
4. Sci-fi, Fantasy and Horror make great audiobooks and can really freak your ___ while you're driving home from work and it's dark.
5. Any audiobooks read by Kirby Heyborne because he's a friend and doesn't suck at it.
6. Read books by authors who love and play with language because that is a visual experience and can't be duplicated by listening. Authors such as Hemmingway, Beckett, Chabon, Cather, Poe, Pynchon, Shakespeare, and Faulkner, for example.
7. Read books that your book club is reading if at all possible just because. I don't belong to a book club but I feel like I would prefer to have read the book myself. Maybe it depends on the book. Thoughts, book-clubbers?

But enough about me, let's hear (ok, read) what some other people have to say about the question.

"Is listening to a book as good as reading it? I contend that it is not ... I choose audiobooks that are heavy on plot, but relatively light on character development and lyrical descriptions." – Mary McCauley of the Baltimore Sun blog

"Audio books are not cheating. In fact, I think that in some cases hearing a story spoken aloud can bring a new depth to the experience. I no longer stumble over the phrase “I’ve read that book” if, in fact, I have listened to it instead of reading the print version. The end result – hearing the tale – is the same whether you’re reading or, in essence, being read to." – @suddenlyjamie of the New Hampshire Writer's Network blog

I listen to audiobooks with the Audible app for the iPhone. Now, on my way to work, I listen to books all the time. I look forward to every moment I have in my car now, even with work-related books. I once again feel like a "reader" because I'm finishing books.

Are audiobooks cheating?

book it!

Last weekend when I was in Portland I was able to visit Powell's Bookstore, which is a really famous bricks and mortar bookstore right downtown in the famous Pearl District. I had never heard of Powell's before, but that's not a surprise. I worked for Barnes & Noble for five years and now I have a traumatic mental block about bookselling. I'm like the Manchurian Candidate. Say the words "bestseller" "sticker" or "chai latte" and I zone out and try to murder someone.

Anyway. Powells has millions or books, or at least it feels like millions. You wander through all of these different levels; up staircases, down ramps, through wardrobes, it just keeps going and going. It's the perfect place to hang out on a rainy day. The clientele runs the full gamut from hippy to hipster. Everyone is lurking in dark corners reading books, growing beards, and looking a little suspicious and disaffected. Lots of flannel and tattoos. But that's just Portland. (Lisa and I had breakfast at the famous Pine State Biscuit Diner, and everybody there was really nice but we just felt conspicuously clean and super Mormon. Even with my too-tight cardigan and three-day growth. Portland has a vibe.)

But back to Powell's. While I was browsing the shelves I found some titles that I really want to share with you. Because, well, they are amazing.

So, this one. What do you think? I feel like I could have written it. My answer is YES, because I would do anything to reverse my baldness but I can't. But maybe I'm confusing "necessary" with "inevitable." My students, you know, are always showing off about their hair. But it's coming. Those hairlines are creeping back. They know it, I know it, and we all see the writing on the wall. I wish baldness wasn't necessary, but nobody has figured out a way to stop it! Except this book I read once that advocated peeing on a ball cap and wearing it to bed. Somehow urine was supposed to regenerate hair growth. But who has time for that?

I like the idea of this book. Who doesn't love puppets going to church? I feel like the authors missed the mark, somehow, with their cover page. Yikes! That puppet girl has really terrifying eyebrows and she's taking dead aim on that poor little chapel. Can you imagine anything more terrifying than sitting in church when a giant felt lady with a Navajo blouse comes pawing through the rafters? I'll admit, I've daydreamed such a scenario to get out of a boring Sunday School class. But I would never want the real thing! Especially if the puppet lady has hair ribbons the size of gallows and a greedy, crater of a mouth cranking open to take in our fancy bell tower! Try again, Wilma Powers Perry! This cover does not say what I think you want it to say. But then again, I haven't read your book.

  

Pop Quiz! You know Suzanne Somers from:

1. Being really dumb and jiggly on Three's Company

2. Selling you thigh masters and making you feel bad about your body

3. Complimenting your earrings while waiting in a line (that happened to my mom)

4. Writing poetry. Poetry where she encourages you to touch her.

I'll let you answer that. Geezy! Those poems must be horrific. Don't quit your day job, Suzanne! Wait. What was your day job again?

Anyway, that's my report. Keep reading, you guys! You can learn so much from it.

What to buy me for Christmas: A new Kindle

Note: This is the original Kindle, not the shiny new ones. 

Amazon announced their new Kindle's today and they are gorgeous. I have loved the Kindle since the first one launched in 2007 when they were weird and big and boxy and cost like $500. I got my first Kindle a year or so later when they were slightly more affordable (but still WAY overpriced) because my wife is generous and lovely and kind. Later, I upgraded to a newer model (because of course I did) and she took my old one. She didn't think that she would use it much. She was a book lover. But she took to that Kindle like Walter White took to meth cooking. I think she reads about 1 book per day on her kindle and uses it a lot more that I ever do.

I wrote this post awhile back for Modern Mormon Men, where I used to be a contributor. I think it still applies. It is called (e)Book?

It's a Book by Lane Smith

It makes me happy when children's books are smart and funny. It makes me even happier when they are topical and well written. (If I have to read another one of those Hot Wheels books again when on every page the cars are on a different continent, I am going to tear my remaining hair out.) It's a Book by Lane Smith is fantastic in that regard. Gorilla (or whatever he is) is reading a book, and his friend Jackass (which is kind of a funny name to have in a children's book) can't seem to get his head around it. He keeps asking questions like "How does it scroll down? Does it need a password? Does it tweet?" to which Gorilla simply replies "No. It's a book."

I read it to the kids last night and laughed (especially when the book ended with the pithy "It's a book, Jackass.") but it made me think about the books and their place in our world.

I am a great lover of books. My wife and I were both English majors, so we own plenty of books. Just last week we were measuring the home office to see if we could fit another bookshelf in there. We have bookshelves in our living room, in the kid's bedroom, in the upstairs hallway. The china hutch in the dining room holds our collection of cookbooks and food literature. The floor next to my nightstand is stacked with an ever growing and expanding collection of books I want to read. I meticulously catalogue it all on Goodreads. Our house is overflowing with books.

But I am also a great lover of technology. I got a Kindle a couple of years ago (not this new one, mind you. I covet this new one.) and have loved it. A lot of my book-loving friends pooh-poohed it when I got it and said things like "Oh, I would never want to read a book on a screen." or "I just love new books! I love the smell and the feel and everything." Some even asked me "Are you just not going to read actual books anymore?" I do still read a lot of actual books. Last year I read about seven books on the Kindle and about 26 actual paper books.

Right now, I can't see myself ever giving up paper books. But there are some things that I love about reading books on the Kindle. In fact, I prefer to read certain books on it. The first book I bought on my Kindle was Drood by Dan Simmons. It's a fantastic book but it is also about 975 pages long. I got it first from the library and it weighed about 14 lbs. I couldn't imagine carrying it around on business trips. It would need its own ticket. I also love the convenience of a Kindle book. Because I have a free Kindle app on my smart phone, I have a book with me wherever I go. If I am on a lunch break at work, or waiting for an appointment, I can pick up in my current novel of choice and read a few pages. When I get back home, my Kindle is already synced to the same page. It's magic.

So will books ever go away? Slate's Julia Turner posed this question in the great Culture Gabfest. Paraphrasing her, she pondered whether the day would come where all physical representations of cultural media would go away. Think about it - when is the last time you bought a DVD instead of getting it from Netflix or downloading it from iTunes? Or when was the last time you bought a CD? Do they still even sell CDs in stores? Are books the next icon to fall?

I can hear your arguments now. And I agree with you. Remember, I love books! But remember when mp3 players first started hitting the scene and audiophiles complained that the sound quality was poor and that a digital copy of a song could never have the same depth and soul as an actual recording? I am no audiophile, so I can't argue with that point. But I do think that the convenience and ease of carrying 1 million songs in my pocket outweighs any loss I might have in sound quality. So will the ability to carry every book I've ever read and ever want to read in my pocket at all times outweigh the need for that great smell or great feel of a new book? I'm not convinced yet. But I can feel the tide shifting.

Author's Note: Even though it sounds like it was, this post was in no way sponsored by the Kindle or by Amazon. However, if Amazon feels so inclined to send me a free new Kindle, I would gladly take it. I am a blogger, so I have no journalistic integrity and love handouts.

My Top 20 Summer Reads

Summer is upon us and if you are like me you are planning which books you are taking on vacation next month. Or maybe I am the only one who does that. I love to read and my idea of a dream vacation is to sit somewhere sunny, near water, with an icy Diet Coke and a stack of books and read for days. So if you are not sure what to read this summer, here are some of my tried and true favorites, presented in a fancy Amazon slide show (just click on the book to buy it!)

 Disclaimer: I have a horrible memory when it comes to inappropriate content in books. I read it and then promptly forget it. So don't go recommending these books to your grandma and then sending me angry letters when she is offended at the horrific penguin slaughtering scene, or because someone has an affair, or because someone says "Dagnabit" or other such inappropriateness. I just know these were books that moved me and I enjoyed one way or another. I make no guarantees that they are rated G.




What's on your list for the summer? Or what are your favorites from past summers. Weigh in in the comments and tell me what I need to get.