Saving Normal by Allen Frances

I just finished the third book in Stieg Larson's Millienium series: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. My thoughts are at Goodreads, like I mentioned earlier, but spoiler, it was amazing.

I also wanted to mention my primary thoughts on Saving Normal. I picked it up because... well, my goal is to be a psychiatrist, and I thought it was convenient to read. I read the first 6 pages, then it sat on an end table until it was due... and it had a hold on it. So rather than read the whole book like most reviewers do, let's do something fun and get my first impression (because first impressions are always accurate).

For one thing, I found it preachy. This guy is a psychiatrist saying all the rotten things that psychiatrists do. Not so entertaining or enlightening. Another thing is that he seemed to be shutting down idea after idea when defining normal. I can only surmise that his goal was to present something he thought was fantastic, but who can tell. (Oh right, the readers... Whatever).

Overall, I became frustrated with his highly critical writing, so I just gave up. I'm ok with that and won't be finishing it in the foreseeable future. Feel free to read it and disagree with me (or tell me the bullet points so I can sound smart). Until next time, happy reading!

Update on Blog

I've decided that my scarce postings should be even scarcer. This blog was primarily started to keep my literary thoughts in a secure, albeit public, space. I have recently discovered goodreads.com through Facebook, so any review I do will now be there. There are some things that I will continue to post here, however. Any book reviews done here will be fiction that I think are overlooked, like Brothers, and nonfiction books like Blood Sweat and Tea and The Checklist Manifesto.

This decision is based on two reasons:
1. It's time consuming to write reviews, so I figure I should write reviews you guys can't find on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
2. The most viewed posts are those for nonfiction, so I want to continue doing what is wanted.

I'm sure I haven't devastated anyone by this decision, but if I have, you can always check on my reading status at Goodreads.com.

My Summer Reading

I have read a total of four books this summer (it's technically still summer)... I know. Pathetic, right? But for some reason, I just haven't had the urge to read a lot. It could be the stress of applying to jobs and medical school, or it could be a residue of my college "leisure-reading-less" mindset. Regardless of the reason (**cough, cough** medical school **cough**), the fact remains that only four books were read.

Near the end of June, I finished reading The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. I had a tough time finishing it because the writing was pretty dense. I will admit that it could have been from the translation, but I'm not going to learn Italian to see. It was also challenging to finish because my interest took a sinusoidal path throughout the book, even to the very end. It was a very difficult read, and although I probably didn't get all the subtitles of  the book had to offer, I doubt I will read it again.

Near the end of July, I finished The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Micheal Chabon which was awesome! It was honestly the best book I've read in a while. It had a bunch of different aspects that could appeal to a wide range of people. The story follows two Jewish cousins as they create a comic book empire. When I put it like this, it reminds me of Brothers, but it's a lot better. Of the books I've read in the past year, this is the one I encourage everyone to read.
  
Now onto the book I just finished. It was an interesting read called The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande. He is a general surgeon and a professor at Harvard Medical School. While I know this is not a book for everyone, I hope I can convince some of my readers to pick it up. Gawande is promoting the use of simple checklists in operating rooms and beyond to limit complications caused by forgetfulness. The problems he often mentions are infections and repeat surgeries. He makes a terrific case that I hope others will try to institute. I have to mention that I don't typically read nonfiction, but this was superbly written. The writing was succinct and kept me fascinated. If you want to include a bit of medical nonfiction into your repertoire, I suggest reading this or one of his other books.

Blood, Sweat, and Tea Review

I started reading Blood, Sweat, and Tea by Tom Reynolds based a strange chain of events. You should know by now that I am a fan of Game of Thrones, so I was looking at the IMDb page of Richard Madden, the actor of Robb Stark, and saw that he played in a series called Sirens in 2011. From there, I learned that this show was based off of the book this post is about. This is not my typical way of finding books to read, but it didn't turn out too badly.

This book is a collection of blog posts here (I think his original blog was removed, but you can still read it all there). Tom is an EMT and writes about his daily activities. It is an extremely interesting topic and I really enjoyed reading it, but it's very different from a novel. Good novels hold your attention as the plot progresses, but this book lacked a plot (because let's face it, life doesn't have a plot) so it was hard to spend a solid few hours reading it. I can see see myself picking it up when I have that urge to read a couple of paragraphs about some drunks or broken leg, but not spend a day absorbed in it.This doesn't make it a bad book, just different, and it should be read differently.

To summarize, I would recommend buying this book (so you can read snippets over a long time) rather than borrowing it, but you should definitely read it (or at least his blog... it's very cool).

Since I haven't had a post for awhile, I'll let you know what I am reading now. As my "dedicated" reader knows, I have The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, and Dune by Frank Herbert ready to read. I hope to finish them by the end of the month, so be sure to check back!

Dance with Dragons and Season 3

I finished reading A Dance with Dragons last month and was very sorry that I did. (Is everyone feeling betrayed and vengeful? good... good) It is NOT because it was bad, but because now I have nothing to look forward to this summer. (ah, I tricked you all!) There is, of course, season three of the HBO Game of Thrones series premiering at the end of the month, but that won't get me through another year!

     This book's plot is happening concurrently with the previous book, but from different character's perspectives. This book focuses on what is happening outside or at the fringes of Westeros. Some notable characters are Jon Snow, Daenerys, and Bran. There are a few Cersei chapters at the end, but predominantly it's non-central Westeros.  It's unfair that I mention these characters, since all of the characters' stories are awesome, but everyone has a right to their favorites and these are mine.
     As in all of George R. R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice books, characters are introduced and other killed off. I don't know why, but death always comes as a surprise. Without ruining anything, (well not intentionally) I want to tell you the most surprising (but not really) death... very complex emotions here. There was a character that I was really rooting for; he was kind and honorable (a deadly combination in the world of George R. R. Martin) and wounded. As his chapter ended and I read another's chapter, I was hoping against hope that it "was only a scratch" so to speak, but alas... he died.... and I cried. (Don't judge me! I get very attached to characters!) Now I know that I shouldn't get too emotionally involved with honorable characters, but I know I will do it again.
     As always, Martin has an enticing book for all the right reasons. Highly captivating with suspenseful cliff-hangers in addition to a rich, immersible plot. If you have read any of my blog, then you know how much I recommend this series. If you haven't i am very curious why you are even reading this...
     I would urge Martin to hurry up with the sixth book, but after writing my review for Mockingjay, I think I can wait awhile.

Now just a quick mention about season 3... I am SUPER excited to start watching and have been watching everything their youtube channel as been spitting out. I think this may be the best one yet (fingers crossed). 

Mockingjay review

     I recently finished Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins and came away more satisfied than when reading Catching Fire, but still very disappointing in comparison the first in the series.
     After the 75th Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta are seperated as Peeta goes to the Capital and Katniss is delivered to the 13th District to be used as a pawn in the uprising. As you begin to read, you notice right away that Katniss is not psychologically there and the book can get very confusing at times. It could be that Collins intentionally did this to give us an idea of Katniss's state of mind, but even if this is the case, it only becomes a little easier to digest. Another thought I had was Collins recreating herself in Katniss as they are both trying to figure out life's great mysteries: such as "What has my life become?" In Collins's case, I think we can safely say that she has no idea.
     Overall, this book had a great plot, but was poorly written. It seems as though Collins was in a huge rush to finish the last two in the series after her first book became so popular. I was reading some reviews after I finished it and noticed that the final scene in the capital was meant to be like a 76th Hunger Games. Looking back, I could kinda see how it fit, but again, it was written terribly.
     I may have have been able to swallow all of the other trash that Collins decided to spit out, but what really made me grind my teeth was Katniss herself. She... I don't know what she is, but I don't think she was a good main character. She isn't emotionally strong and definitely doesn't seem intelligent. I think my main problem with her is that she never changes. Throughout the three books, she is always a dumb, self-minded girl. I can't even write this without anger causing me to clench my jaw into a very uncomfortable position. I can't believe it... an emotionless, fictional character causes this much emotion from me. Maybe Collins isn't as bad of a writer as I said. 
     I have a hope the she will rewrite these last two books, because I know she can write a coherent, captivating story from The Hunger Games. I don't think this will happen, so my next hope is that next three movies will be better than the last two books. (oh, I don't know how many of you know, but Mockingjay is being split into two movies... a rather ridiculous trend I think.)

Comparing Terrarium Books

My fascination with terrariums began with Pintrest, which is the mother of all DIY-projects-that-YWD (you won't do) sites (... you won't find this definition in urban dictionary, kids). So in a flurry of interest, I gathered all of the terrarium books I could get my hands on. In all, there were 7 that have been published between 1970 and 2011 which I read and compared. Let's start with telling everyone how to build a terrarium, and then I will review each book.

     The first thing to do when creating a terrarium masterpiece is find a glass container and clean it. Then lay some pebbles one the bottom and sprinkle some charcoal bits on top to reduce the earthy smell later. Then place a filter layer. the easiest thing to use is peat moss, but there are synthetic materials that you can use as well. The next step is the soil. It is suggested to use a very light soil without fertilizers. Finally put your plants in, spray some water in there, and top the container. That's it!

     Maintenance is very simple: if there is a lot of condensation, leave the lid open for a few hours; if no condensation is present, spray some water inside. Typically, you need to water it like this once a month or so, but keep an eye on it since it will vary. 

Now on to the reviews! At the end of this section, I will have a chart comparing my ratings.

Tiny World Terrarium: A Step-by-Step Guide to Easily Contained Life

      by Michelle Inciarrano and Katy Maslow

This was a very comprehensive book on how to form and manage a terrarium while also giving some neat examples. It was very easy to follow and had cool pictures. The only con I found was that it heavily focused on the mosses and said little about other plants suitable for terrariums. I would have preferred a balanced book, but the gorgeous photos make it hard to turn away.


Terrarium Craft: Create 50 Magical, Miniature Worlds
      by Amy Aiello and Kate Bryant
Overall, this book had some valuable information, but their primary goal was to show how to design a terrarium. They have 50 such design examples (I guess  you could get that from the title of the book). A redeeming aspect of the book were the novel (to me) ideas like moss balls and air plants. I feel that this would only be a good supplementary book after you have a better grasp on terrariums, but is not a good beginner's book.

The Complete Book of Terrarium Gardening
     by Jack Kramer
The name says it all. This is one of the more comprehensive books that I looked through. It has great information on types of plants to use, detailed information on how to create a terrarium, and most importantly, what to do when your terrarium fails from death, disease, or insects. Overall, a great book to have. It is a shame that it is out of print, though.

The Terrarium Book
     by Charles Evans
Similar to Kramer's nook, this is comprehensive in many facets. This book makes plant selection pretty easy by listing common plants for each light intensity and temperature range. It dedicates a lot of pages to plant selection, which is nice because you want the plants to stay alive for a long time. The maintenance chapter was also very useful and had a bit more detail on how to fix problems (i.e. bugs and disease) than other books that I read. This was an awesome find and is on par with Kramer's book above. Although an out of print book, it is an excellent book to have. 

The World of Terriums
     by Charles Wilson
This book contains a lot of valuable beginner information. I really liked the index of plants in the back of the book. It had things like growth habit (flowering, grass-like, etc.), temperature, and light requirements that were all neatly arranged in a grid. They were all in their scientific names so it was difficult to recognize them, but after finding one that fits your desired profile, just give it a quick Google search and you should be set. There was also a neat propagation chapter. I already knew how to propagate plants, but if you are a real beginner in the gardening arts, it is very handy to have everything in one book. Overall, it's very awesome. It is beginning to be a pattern that the books I really like are out of print, as this one is.

The New Terrarium
     by Tovah Martin and Kindra Clineff

The book started out wonderfully by describing some other types of containers to use such as cold frames (like a shadowbox). The book continues to exceed my expectations (since most of the modern terrarium books were more or less decorating books). The authors have a deep respect and love for terrariums and the plants they put in them. They do have a decorating section, but it is very brief and by no means the focus of the book. What is nice is that there are a few step by step projects in the back of the book to get you started. If you don't want to go through the hassle of getting older books, then I suggest getting this one. It is not as comprehensive as Wilson's or Kramer's, but it's darn close.

Gardens in Glass Containers
     by Robert Baur
Unlike the earlier books I talked about, this is the only one that isn't strictly about terrariums.
The bulk of the book is still about terrariums, but it also includes aquatic plants and dried arrangements. Baur is unique in that he discusses how to prepare any type of terrarium (i.e. bottles, tanks, brandy glasses, etc.) which may not be necessary, but it you were wondering, there is a section devoted to it.Most of the information regarding terrariums is similar to the other old books, so it's a pretty good choice, but just isn't my top choice.

Now on to the ratings! There are 7 aspects I thought were important (quality of the information on containers, plants, type of soil, drainage techniques, and plant maintenance as well as the quality of the pictures and how easy it is to read). Each rating is out of 5.

I hope this will help some people decide on what book to get. Especially considering the time I put into this. Let me know in the comments if you want me to review any other books and don't forget to send me some pictures of your finished terrariums!

Fear Nothing review

     Fear Nothing by Dean Koontz is a thriller about Chris Snow, a young man with XP. This disease prevents him from going outside during the day and being around bright lights. The reader often overlooks his restrictions because Chris is a strong character that gets caught up in a huge mess in his small town. Taking place over a couple of days, many horrific things continue to happen to Chris and he finds out things that he later wished to have left alone (very vague, yeah?).
     This book was very suspenseful, as are most of Koontz's works, and had a really engrossing plot. I had kind of ruined a bit of the story for myself by reading the sequel first, Seize the Night, but in my defense, it was not clearly labelled. It had been a few years since I read the second one, so not much was ruined, but I remembered things as I read the book. Overall, I don't think it mattered much so if you did the same, go ahead and read the first one second.
     Although in this book it fit, one thing that irritates me about Koontz's more recent novels is his incessant inclusion of dogs. I know he loves his retrievers and all, but good gravy(!) I'm sick of him preaching about how awesome dogs are. To be clear, the dog in this book was well placed and had some purpose. If this is your first Dean Koontz book, you will not be bothered by the dogs at all (or if you have a similar passion for dogs), but trust me when I say the more books you read, the more you will shake the book in frustration and wish it were Koontz's shoulders when you read how soulful a dumb dog's eyes appear.
     Enough of that rant...
     This novel also has some sci-fi lurking in it, and a touch of mystery, but it is mainly a thriller or suspense. I would definitely read this book again and urge you to read it too. If not this one, another of Koontz's earlier, dog-less books like Strangers or Odd Thomas.