August 31, 2013

“Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn – The Core Problems of Humanity

An ad is placed in the paper, telling only of a teacher seeking pupils. A disillusioned writer applies, only to come face to face with a surrealistic creature in the shape of a gorilla, named Ishmael. 

The book itself, also titled Ishmael, written by Daniel Quinn, is the story of how the writer and the gorilla telepathically debate through a philosophical dialog on various aspects, morals, actions, events and beliefs of human history, trying to get at the core of our problems, and how we may yet salvage ourselves.

August 30, 2013

“A Tap on the Window” by Linwood Barclay – Weaver of Fates

A Tap on the Window by Linwood Barclay is what I like to refer to as a good old detective murder mystery; the author doesn’t try any fancy tricks, and rather delivers us a compelling story with plenty enough twists and turns to keep us guessing.

Just to give you a run-down of the plot, it follows private investigator Cal Weaver as one night he picks up a hitchhiking teenage girl, Claire Saunders.

August 29, 2013

“Beloved” by Toni Morrison – Slaved by Ghosts

Beloved by Toni Morrison (Book cover)
The hardships slaves encountered during their captivity are relatively well documented, and there are plenty of different books and novels detailing them.

However, very few of them have actually gone to explore the lives slaves led after being freed and the kinds of obstacles they had to face when gifted with liberty.

August 28, 2013

“Animal Farm” by George Orwell – The Cycle of Revolutions

Animal Farm by George Orwell is without question one of the most influential and celebrated novels of the 20th century, and though many people rightfully claim that it serves as an analogy to the Russian revolution of 1917, I believe that it is about the process of revolutions in general. 

Just to give those who haven’t heard about it a little heads up, the story takes place on a farm where the animals have managed to overthrow their human overlord and have taken up charge, putting their own system in place. 

August 27, 2013

“The Synchronicity Key” by David Wilcock – Is there a Cycle?

The Synchronicity Key by David Wilcock (Book cover)
Perhaps we will never figure out how this universe works and what precisely, if anything at all, governs over our fates, but we certainly have a lot of time left to figure things out, and David Wilcock has attempted to take us one step closer to the truth with the help of his book titled The Synchronicity Key.

August 26, 2013

"The Husband’s Secret” by Liane Moriarty – Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty (Book cover)
Cecilia Fitzpatrick is living a relatively normal life, having three charming daughters, a husband with whom she has been living for fifteen years, and being the P&C President of a very successful Tupperware company.

One day though, she stumbles upon a post-mortem letter written by her husband over fifteen years ago, right after the birth of their first child, and its contents turn her world upside down.

August 24, 2013

“The Source Field Investigations” by David Wilcock – Fringe Science Proven

The Source Field Investigations by David Wilcock (Book cover))

In the scientific world there are two main flow courses: there is mainstream science, and there is fringe science. What differentiates the two is that it is believed that mainstream science is more grounded in facts and reality while fringe science is about the exploration of the wilder theories about this universe. 

For this reason, many do not take fringe science seriously, but the way I see it, The Source Field Investigations by David Wilcock will change all of that. 

August 23, 2013

“Night Film” by Marisha Pessl – Silver Screen Murder

Stanislas Cordova is one of the most revered underground movie directors of all time, seeing most of his movies banned from the theaters for their psychologically-disturbing subjects and depictions. One day, his daughter is found murdered, but it seems as if very few are actually giving a damn about it. 

And so, a formerly-disgraced journalist, Scott McGrath, becomes a sleuth and launches himself into an amateur investigation into the fate of the daughter, alongside his two sidekicks, Nora and Hopper. Their quest for the truth will take from the dark and unknown reaches of the internet, through the surrealistic and secret world of Cordova himself, all the way to the occult.

August 22, 2013

“What Alice Forgot” by Liane Moriarty – The Bliss of Forgetfulness

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (Book cover)Alice love is a bright and young woman whose entire life is full of potential and still ahead of her; she is madly in love with her husband and her first child is already on the way.

Fast forward to some years later, and Alice, now thirty-nine years of age, comes to the realization that she got dumped off the gravy train a while ago; she has three children, is headed for a divorce, her sister barely speaks to her at all, and above all, she cannot recognize herself anymore.

August 21, 2013

“The Girl You Left Behind” by Jojo Moyes – Partners through Centuries

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes (Book cover)
The year is 1916, and Sophie must contend with her husband departing for the French front of WWI, leaving nothing but a portrait of her he painted before becoming a soldier. As fate would have it, the little town Sophie lives in falls to the Germans, and her beauty sparks her downfall as the local German commander starts eyeing her.

Slowly but surely, his obsession with her grows more and more dangerous, to the point where Sophie becomes willing to literally risk it all just to be reunited with her husband once again.

August 20, 2013

“The Art of Hearing Heartbeats” by Jan-Philipp Sendker – The Cruelty of Love

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker (Book cover)

Four years ago Julia Win’s father vanished without a trace, barely even leaving any kind of goodbye. Needless to say, Julia wasn’t exactly unfazed by this turn of events, and though time did help some of her wounds to heal, she nevertheless still has trouble coming to terms with her father’s life and decisions. 

Upon finding an old letter addressed to a woman in Burma she never even heard of, Julia decides the time has come to track him down and find the truth once and for all. Her quests leads her to the small Burmese town of Kalaw, where she is greeted by an old man who promises to tell her the story of Tin Win, Julia’s father, before he ever managed to come to New York.

August 19, 2013

“Can You Keep a Secret?” by Sophie Kinsella – The Irony of Fate

Emma Corrigan is about as normal as a person can be: she has caring parents, a loving boyfriend, a fulfilling career, and countless secrets never meant to be shared with people. These secrets include the replacement of her mother’s goldfish with an imposter, weighing ten more pounds than she claims to, and constantly jamming the printer out of pure spite. 

We all have a collection of skeletons in our mental closets, and everything goes well until someone opens the door and they all fall out… metaphorically of course. 

August 16, 2013

“The Liberty Amendments” by Mark R. Levin – Reviving the Constitution

Those who have followed the news in regards to American politics over the last few years know about the blatant disregard towards the constitution on numerous occasions as various bills were passed which many thought to be illegally-intrusive on the sovereignty of the state and individual freedom (more precisely, the Patriot and NDAA acts). 

Fortunately, there are still people out there willing to speak out about this issue, and Mark R. Levin is one of those who went all out, writing a book titled The Liberty Amendments, in which he basically dissects how the constitution was infringed, why we need to restore its authority and edit it up, and how we can really change things to ensure each of us can maintain our individual liberty.

August 15, 2013

“How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You” by The Oatmeal and Matthew Inman – The Most Important Survival Guide

Cats have been venerated on this planet since ancient times, starting with the Egyptians’ obsession with them, even heavily inspiring their deities’ physical appearance off of them. Today, though it may seem like things have changed, those who regularly scour the waves of the Internet know that if anything, our obsession with them has grown far worse than it ever was.

August 14, 2013

“The Daughter of Time” by Josephine Tey and Robert Barnard (Intro) – 500 Years too Late

Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant, while being the best, is not spared from the ravages of life, as a broken leg is keeping him away from his duty. Not being the kind of man to lazily stumble around the house all day long, Alan becomes fascinated by Richard III, a feeling reinforced by a modern portrait of the man which goes against all common knowledge, depicting him as an honest, noble and sensitive man. 

August 13, 2013

“Orange is the New Black” by Piper Kerman – Demons of Change

Piper Kerman is a woman with what many would readily describe as a perfect life; a good career, a loving boyfriend and a supportive family. She is a far cry from the woman she was ten years ago, when she delivered a suitcase full of drug money, a crime which has caught up to her, and long story short, it landed her fifteen months in a minimum-security prison. 

Orange is the New Black is Piper Kerman’s autobiographical account of her experience behind bars, detailing everything from the small daily rituals to the relationships that were forged in what could be referred to as one of the “lighter” circles of hell.

August 12, 2013

“Orphan Train” by Christina Baker Kline – Fate Down to Bad Luck

Orphan Train by Christina Kline Baker (Book cover)
Molly Ayer is very close to growing out of the foster care system, and to make things worse, the only thing keeping her from ending up in juvenile jail is the community service position she is holding, which consists of cleaning out the house of an old lady. Molly struggles on through her life, feeling as if none truly understand her or are worth the effort to form a relationship with.

August 11, 2013

“Bones are Forever” by Kathy Reichs – Peaceful Canada

Bones are Forever by Kathy Reichs (Book cover)
Andrew Ryan is a homicide detective working in Montreal, going through his routine one day at a time. The plot quickly thickens as Ryan is sent to investigate the case of a woman whose nightly visit and sudden disappearance at a Montreal hospital raised some concerns.

Upon following some obvious leads, Ryan makes is way to the woman’s apartment, only to discover two things: that she is known by at least three different, and she has the decomposing bodies of three infants.

August 8, 2013

“The Night in Lisbon” by Erich Maria Remarque – The Refugee’s Perspective

The Night in Lisbon by Erich Maria Remarque (Book cover)
When stories revolving around the Second World War are written, for the most part they are told from the perspective of either soldiers or politicians.

However, it seems as if many forget about the refugees, the simple civilians who suddenly saw their lives threatened and were forced to flee from their homes by any means necessary.

August 7, 2013

“Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison – Weep, and you Weep Alone

To start things off, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is probably not the book you are thinking of, the classic where a man manages to achieve physical invisibility. Rather, this is the story of a man who manages to achieve figurative invisibility, living his life with nobody ever taking notice of him. 

Naturally, that man wasn't always a recluse in his lair. He had a long and tumultuous life filled with ups, downs, trials and challenges that shaped him into the one he became.

August 6, 2013

“I Wear the Black Hat” by Chuck Klosterman – Am I Evil?

For most part of his childhood and adolescence, Chuck Klosterman was walking the straight line and only related to the characters and people who transpired positivity and goodness. However, as the illusions of youth faded away Klosterman noticed something strange; he was having much more fun siding with those who would be classified as evil rather than good. 

This one realization eventually pushed Klosterman to write a book titled I Wear the Black Hat, in which all of the text is centered on exploring the modern concept of villainy.

August 5, 2013

“Unseen” by Karen Slaughter – The Ever-Present Evils

The word about Karen Slaughter’s writing has only recently begun to spread, and it is in great part thanks to masterpieces such as Unseen. The story in this book follows detective William Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, as he infiltrates a dangerous, violent and depraved gang of bikers. 

Finding himself cut off from the world (none of his friends, loved ones or relatives know about his assignment), Trent begins to look deeper and deeper into his own mind, digging up many demons for him to struggle with while trying to bring the gang to justice. 

August 3, 2013

“Winterdance” by Gary Paulsen – The Race Against Nature

Many people scoff at the idea of partaking in unreasonably-challenging activities and competitions, but what they ignore is that such trials are the ones which shape people and help them ascend to what can be basically described as a greater level of existence. 

Such was the experience of Gary Paulsen as he undertook the unnecessarily-cruel and challenging race called Iditarod, which basically involves going all the way from Anchorage to Nome (that’s about 1150 miles) with your only method of transportation being winter dog sleds. The experience was chronicles in a book very appropriately titled Winterdance.

August 2, 2013

“Light of the World” by James Lee Burke – The Murders that Almost Were

Light of the World by James Lee Burke (Book cover)
James Lee Burke has made a name for himself in literary circles as being a very talented author when it becomes a question of creating a multi-layered and complex story with many seemingly unrelated plotlines that brilliantly join together in a massive climax.

His Dave Robicheaux novels are where, in my opinion, we can see that most clearly, especially his latest one, Light of the World.