June 30, 2012

"Bared to You" by Sylvia Day

Love and attraction in modern society are very complicated concepts that have thousands of little nuances to them. In most places, there are various pre-programmed personal and social expectations for those who fall in love with each other, just like there is an unwritten rulebook on how they must behave and how they should react to various situations. 

Fortunately, many of us choose not to follow those imaginary social constraints, but it doesn’t necessarily make the process easier, as Sylvia Day clearly explores it in her novel titled Bared to You: A Crossfire Novel.

June 28, 2012

"Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford (Book cover)
It is somewhat fascinating that regardless of the fact that we are all humans, we always managed to find ways to differentiate and categorize ourselves, whether it is based on gender, race, age, political alignment or religious beliefs.

One of the least explored aspects of World War II was the treatment Asians had to endure back in America; the Japanese were shipped off liberally to special camps (not concentration camps, but not exactly your jolly summer camps either) because they were suspected to be with the enemy.

June 26, 2012

"I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell" by Tucker Max

Most of us have heard and possibly even experienced the old saying that fact is stranger than fiction, or that fact can be more exciting than fiction. Well, it is very possible that few people have experienced this phenomenon as well as Tucker Max has, who today writes for his own website. He has had quite the young life as a prominent drunk and fornicator who managed to get himself into bizarre situations, each one more absurd than the last one.

Naturally, Tucker believed that letting such an experience go to waste would be a crying shame and so he decided to share his stories with the rest of the world through the medium of a book appropriately-titled I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell.

June 24, 2012

"Slaughter-house Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

Perhaps somewhat unconventional, Slaughterhouse-Five tells us the famous story of Billy Pilgrim, a veteran of the Second World War and a POW (Prisoner Of War), who has become unstuck in time and is reliving various events of his personal chronology in no particular order… and in some cases, he relives these events simultaneously.

The story mostly takes place inside Billy’s head, who after being traumatized by the Dresden bombing drifts through a number of historical events, with his role ranging from a mere witness to someone who is directly implicated in the actions.As is the tradition with Vonnegut books, there is a very large cast of characters, many of which recur time and time again throughout the story.

June 22, 2012

"Catch-22" - 50th Anniversary Edition by Joseph Heller (Author) and Christopher Buckley (New introduction)

Perhaps one of the most recognized cornerstones of American literature, Catch-22, written by Joseph Heller, presents a comic and downright absurd story which revolves around Yossarian, a pilot who not only has to deal with hundreds upon hundreds of men trying to kill him, but also with his own army. 

June 20, 2012

"Outliers: The Story of Success" by Malcolm Gladwell

For most of us, there are two kinds of people in this world: those who blend in with the rest and those who stand out. As it happens, in most cases those who stand out from the crowd and walk down their own path become quite successful, or at least notable people throughout their lifetime. Some people may refer to them as outliers of society, as Malcolm Gladwell did in his aptly-titled book Outliers: The Story of Success.

June 18, 2012

"Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall

Many of us have wondered at one point or another whether there are people living outside the confines of conventional civilization who have managed to master some aspect of life much better than we have. 

Well, Christopher McDougall may very well have an answer to that question as in his book titled Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen he looks at the Tarahumara Indians, living in Mexico’s Copper Canyons, who have gained the ability to run hundreds of miles without resting or injuring themselves.

June 16, 2012

"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand

Many of you are probably familiar with Ayn Rand, a Russian-American novelist who wrote all-time classics such as We the Living and The Fountainhead. Many consider her magnum opus to be Atlas Shrugged, a complex philosophical book which presents a very bizarre and imaginative story in which Ayn Rand explores the concept of objectivism.

In Atlas Shrugged, we are presented with a story which follows a man who successfully stopped the motor of the world. However, the consequences of his actions are far from clear-cut; some see him as a destroyer, others as a liberator.

June 14, 2012

"A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness

Witches, vampires and demons have been part of popular culture for a such long time now that many people wince just at the idea of having yet another story revolving around them. 

Well, as writers have shown us time and time again, the human imagination is practically limitless as there are always new and exciting ways to tackle a subject, something which Deborah Harkness has undoubtedly done in her book titled A Discovery of Witches, which is part of the All Souls trilogy.

June 12, 2012

"Sh*t My Dad Says" by Justin Halpern


The internet era has opened up a world of possibilities for normal people who had something to say but weren't known celebrities for whom the world stopped turning. Blogs, social networks and video hosting websites have allowed anyone to gain worldwide-caliber exposition, proving that many seemingly-average Joes out there were indeed wise people with good pieces of advice to share.

Such is the story of Sam Halpern, a man who is described his son as being an angry and vulgar Socrates; for a few years now millions have been following his philosophical thoughts and musings on twitter. When Sam’s son (Justin Halpern) came home after a hard break-up, he decided to record all the things his dad would say to him and wrote a book based on that titled Sh*t My Dad Says.

June 10, 2012

"The Great Destroyer: Barack Obama’s War on the Republic" by David Limbaugh

The election of Barack Obama was a historical moment as it marked the first time the United States would be governed by a black president. However, some people got over the novelty factor quite fast as it became apparent that one’s skin color doesn’t really have an impact on their ability to govern a country. 

David Limbaugh is one of these people and he even went as far as writing a book titled The Great Destroyer: Barack Obama’s War on the Republic in which he examines from a critical point of view what exactly the Obama administration has done to America in their first term.

June 8, 2012

"Bel Canto" by Ann Patchett

If there is one way of setting a story which has always managed to catch the audience’s attention, it’s when it all (or most of it at least) takes place in a single location, let it be a room, an office, or perhaps even an entire building.

Naturally, developing a story without being able to change the setting is more than problematic from a writer’s point of view, which is why so few have managed to successfully pull it off.

June 6, 2012

"State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett

Many of us have wondered at one point or another what it would be like to undertake a trip in the insect-infested Amazon forest. Many of us imagine the exotic flora with a number of majestic and vividly-colored animals to be found at every turn.

However, most of us do not stop to wonder as to the psychological impact such a trip would have one us, especially considering that we would be in unknown territory with there being hundreds of things out there which can kill us.

June 4, 2012

"In the Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larson

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson (Book cover)
Erik Larson has already established himself as one of the most interesting authors on an international scale, with real masterpieces such as Devil in the White City, perhaps his most famous work to date.

Well, after having explored serial killing and Chicago at the turn of the century, Erik Larson set his sights on 1933 Berlin and the troubles an American family is going through while trying to survive under the rising Nazi movement.

June 2, 2012

"The Charge: Activating 10 Human Drives That Make You Feel Alive" by Brendon Burchard

Many throughout history have pondered as to what actually drives humans to keep on living every day. Among the numerous theories which have been presented the most popular one may very well be Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which basically classifies what is most important to people, with the main driving factor being basic needs of safety and sustenance.

However, this hierarchy was elaborated at a time when life was very different for the common person, and as motivational speaker Brendon Burchard argues in his book titled The Charge, we should take a new approach today to what drives human ambition.