Dissecting Stephen King by Heidi Strengell

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Popular Press 3; New Ed edition (March 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0299209741
• ISBN-13: 978-0299209742
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• List Price: $26.95
• I finished this book on August 5

The subtitle to this book is From the Gothic to Literary Naturalism, but I swear that it's much more interesting than it would lead you to believe. Let take the cover, for example. I don't know if you can see from this image but in the picture instead of rib bones what you see inside this dissected chest are typebars from a typewriter. Cool.
Anwho, as you know I am a "constant reader" of (and often claim to be dating) Stephen King. And, because I am a turbo-nerd I am often compelled to read non-fiction books about things in which I am interested. Hence, the SK non-fiction book. I actually took out several from the library to peruse, but this one caught my attention the most.
Inside, author Heidi Strengell dissects the works of SK (did I basically just tell you what you already know from the title? You bet!). She talks about how his work is related to the Gothic tradition, including a drawn out comparison of King's Salem's Lot to popular gothic masterpiece, Dracula (for more info on Gothic books, click here). Then she talks about the myth/fairy tale tradition in King, discussing his "multiverse" and a cool part about how The Dark Tower series, is, among other things, a western, a gothic and an apocalyptic fable. Finally she ends up talking about King using literary naturalism, discussing things like: his use of free will, genetic determinism and the idea of fate.
Strengell herself is mysterious, not having published anything not about SK (more obsessed than me, perhaps?) but if you're interested in reading an essay of hers, then check it out here. So, because she clearly spends too much time thinking about SK she does point out some really interesting stuff and uses tons of examples from a variety of his books. After this I feel I need to go immediately and read Dracula and compare it with Salem's Lot. And eat Count Chocula. (mmm, marshmallow bats) so look forward to that in the near future.
When I was in undergrad I took a course called Philosophy in Literature for which we read several books I hated (who shall remain nameless). And my professor for that class (who shall also remain nameless, but I will note that he habitually wore Chuck Taylors) once went on a tirade about how Stephen King was awful and ruining literature etc. and that he had a magic computer that spit out his books at random according to a formula. Actually, that sounds more like a Stephen King novel premise than reality, doesn't it? Anyway, I remember at the time being very heated by these comments and wanting to make a rebuttal that King's work was popular for a reason. Perhaps I could give Mr. ChuckTaylors a copy of this book. Okay, maybe not. Really, I would only recommend this book to someone who was a big fan and has read a lot of King's work since it relies so heavily on examples. If you are interested, check out King's website.
Happily, even though I have read lots of King, there are still many more of his books out there waiting for me.

My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler

• Paperback: 213 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (May 12, 2005)
• ISBN-10: 1582346186
• ISBN-13: 978-1582346182
• List Price: $13.95
• I finished this book on April 2

Alright, kiddies: the subtitle of this one is: A collection of one-night stands. If you don't know Chelsea Handler is a comedian who's been on a bunch of different things. This book is basically her tales of drinking and debauchery.
I think I mentioned that often I find it necessary to talk to the books I'm reading. I also laugh out loud on occasion, as I did with this one. But you don't understand. I was not politely laughing to myself. I was not chuckling. I was not giggling or snickering. Friends: I was guffawing. Seriously. There were times when I had to put the book down and walk away, laughing so hard I was weeping. That's all I'm saying. Here's what I say to you: there are midgets. There are dogs stealing underwear and there is an M&M costume. Just let that marinade for a second. In the immortal words of Richie Tozier, it is chuckalicious.
The book isn't a laugh out loud romp all the way through, in fact, some chapters were more pathetic than funny. But the funny parts definitely outweigh the lamer parts. Mostly her exploits end embarrassingly, and hilarity ensues. One of my favorite parts is where a sleazy guy says to her "You don't need to drink to make yourself more interesting" and she's like "I have to drink to make you more interesting." Good times.
Thanks to Bridget (best GA co-worker ever) for recommending this one to me. For more info on Chelsea Handler check out her website or her myspace page.

Poplorica by Martin J. Smith and Patrick J. Kiger

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Collins; Reprint edition (April 12, 2005)
• ISBN-10: 0060535326
• ISBN-13: 978-0060535322
• List Price: $12.95
• I finished this book on Feb. 20

Okay, so this book officially wins the longest subtitle award, ready? Here is it: A Popular History of the Fads, Mavericks, Inventions, and Lore that Shaped Modern America. Yeah. So that's that. I don't even have to describe it, it's right there for you.
Basically the book is set up so that each chapter is one thing that supposedly super affected our culture. I really liked a few of the entries, but I was not so hot on most of them. I understand the impact that lawn care, air conditioning and wrinkle free fabric had on society, but that is not really the fun, silly stuff I was hoping for. My favorite entries are, of course the one on Night of the Living Dead and the one on Kinsey's honeymoon. (Not just because I heart zombies and sex, either...okay, that's why) I also enjoyed the inclusion of velvet art. Even though I appreciated the addition of these fun things I was not in love with this book.
There was something about it that made even interesting topics seem dull. I guess the writing style just didn't appeal to me that much. Nothing about it was exciting. The last chapter is titled "Think we blew it?" this is in reference to their choices. They invite people to share their choices at their website. But it wasn't necessarily the choices that I didn't like, it was the writing.
One plus though, is that at the end of each chapter there is a little "Want More?" section with suggested reading on each topic. And the back has a full list of citations and further reading by chapter. The librarian in my liked that. But there was something lacking in the overall presentation of this book. Le sigh.
Because I do love pop culture, and I don't recommend this book, here are some of my favorite pop culture blogs for your viewing (aka: time wasting) pleasure.
Pop Candy
Best Week Ever
PopSugar
Pop Goes the Library

The Power of Reading by Stephen Krashen

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann; 2nd edition (August 19, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591581699
• ISBN-13: 978-1591581697
• List Price: $25.00
• I finished this book on Jan. 23

Let me tell you something dearies, this book is preaching to the choir here. It is known that I heart reading, and the major point of this book is to tell me that reading is good. Also, according to Mr. Krashen I can thank reading for my excellent vocabulary and spelling skills. Outstanding. This book is aimed at educators, I would say, not just librarians. There is a big section in the middle where Krashen discusses the benefit of reading things like comic books and romances. So there you have it, kids, I'm not a failure for wanting to read fluff, or as Krashen puts it 'light reading'. That's a totally superior and even respectable title. BTW: every time I read that phrase I thought of Harry Potter (Hermione: I checked it out weeks ago for a bit of light reading. Ron: Light??) Anywho, I love any book that touts the plus side of graphic novels and comics. This one even uses pro-comic books quotes from African Bishop Desmond Tutu!
I like the book's stance promotion of sustained silent reading programs and demonization of the way we teach spelling to kids. So, basically, I bought this one hook, line and sinker. The other great plus of this book is that it is very readable and interesting.
What's more, this book taught me random facts that I will for no reason remember and then share with other who will not care. Such as: the lexicon of most television is 5,000 words (aka: not very many words).
Moral of this story: books are good. that is all.

Getting Graphic by Michelle Gorman

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Linworth Publishing (November 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586830899
• ISBN-13: 978-1586830892
• List Price: $36.95
  
• I finished this book on Jan. 7
  

No kids (Yes, we're on a pet-name callling basis now. Nice, isn't it) it's not a dirty sexbook. Sigh. But it's about an equally sexy topic: Graphic Novels aka comic books. Here's me explaining to my father the difference between comics and graphic novels:
me: A comic book is a short serial that's staple bound, and a graphic novel is a longer story that's actually a book.
my dad: ah-ha (goes back to eating his dinner)
Now, I have no idea if that is right, but it seems solid, right. Anywho, I love the graphic novels. This book is designed to introduce the format to librarians. Btw: it's a format, not a genre. A graphic novel can be any genre. The problem with me reading this book is that I am already sold on them. However, the book did include good selection guides and book suggestions.
I didn't really like the layout of the book, I felt that all the suggestions should be at the end. But I liked the content so what can you do?
Now my next task is to get the librarian at my friendly neighborhood public lib to start ordering some. I'm thinking of giving him this book.
For fun, here's links to some good sites on graphic novels and comics.
Comic books for young adults

Here's a great link to many different sources

American Library Association's site on graphic novels

Cybersins and Digital Good Deeds by Mary Ann Bell, Bobby Ezell, James L. Van Roekel

• Hardcover: 187 pages
• Publisher: Haworth Press (February 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789029537
• ISBN-13: 978-0789029539
• List Price: $39.95
• I finished this book on Jan. 5
  

The subtitle of this book is: A book about Technology and Ethics. I would have to say that this isn't really what I got out of it. I feel that this title implies a discussion of those topics, but that is not really the case. The book is essentially a glossary of popculture terms loosely tied to technology. It could be useful as a glossary of terms and idea, but for someone who has a good working knowledge of popculture and technology I thought it was not really teaching me anything.
It is organized well and an easy read. I could see a newcomer to using technology (do those still exist?) getting some use out of this book, but only as supplementary knowledge. There is really nothing super helpful about reading one page about "Flash Mobs" or "Marketing to Children"
This book's origional title was "Some stuff about technology for people who've recently crawled out from beneath rocks" but it was changed because they thought it was too long.
sigh.