Review and Confession: Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter by Tom Bissell

My review of Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter, a memoir of one man's journey through gaming, is up at my new blog! Read my review HERE.

Review of Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart: A Memoir

My review of Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart is up at my new blog, The Prairie Library! I'm also giving away a new paperback copy (open internationally) so check it out!

This Book is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson

In case you didn’t know, I begin classes this fall in Information and Library Science. So, the title of this book caught my attention right away. Johnson’s book gave me a nice overview of the changes in the field. She talks about the transformation from the card catalog to the digital age, from shushing librarian to reference activists providing 24 hour service. It’s a quickly changing field and Johnson captures the excitement as one who embraces the opportunities change brings.

My favorite chapters were: “On the Ground” in which Johnson discusses what the process of keeping up with current technology is like for librarians and IT specialists (who often butt heads); “The Blog People” because, obviously, I like blogging. Here are a couple librarian blogs which Johnson mentions and I found interesting: Miss Information (anecdotes and personal stories) and Tame the Web (with a current events and tech focus). And last but not least, I really liked “Gotham City” that explores the massive New York Public Library – its branches and services, changes and adaptations to budget cuts and community needs. If I ever make it to NYC the library is on my “to see” list.

The video is one I’ve seen before on another review about This Book is Overdue! by a fellow blogger. Believe it or not, each year the ALA holds a drill cart competition. Johnson attended one in 2007 and reported it was hilarious. The video is of the 2009 winners’ drill. Enjoy.


Johnson’s writing style is informal giving the text a personal quality as she focuses on individual librarians and their accomplishments. Some places were a bit dry. Personal descriptions tended to be long-winded. I wasn’t interested in a librarian’s mustache or glasses frame but his/her achievements. Otherwise, the text was very readable. Anyone working in a library or similar setting will likely enjoy this book. I’m glad I read it. I feel like I have a better idea of what I’m getting myself into! I can’t wait.
Publisher: Harper, 2010     Pages: 272
Rating: 4 Stars                     Source: Bought on Amazon

American On Purpose by Craig Ferguson

American On Purpose is an uplifting and fun read. This is not to say it is an entirely funny read. There is plenty of humor interspersed, as would be expected of the host of The Late Late Show, but this memoir is a reflection on the harrowing journey Ferguson took through drugs, alcohol and failed relationships before landing a successful show-biz career in the land of the free and home of the brave.

Growing up in Scotland, Ferguson felt an affinity for the United States as a young child, and after a visit to NYC he swore he would return to pursue a career in Hollywood. It was a long time before his dream was realized. There are a lot of dark moments as Ferguson hits several lows but eventually the light dawns, he reaches out for help and begins a slow but successful climb to sobriety and success. Eventually, Ferguson decides that the U.S. of A. is a people he identifies with and has a Constitution he believes in. He truly is a patriot who thought carefully before becoming a U.S. citizen.

Ferguson is a captivating writer who is able to recount events in his life without boring his reader to death. And surprisingly he handles the darker moments of acid trips and wild brawls in such a way that made me neither disgusted nor overly sympathetic. He maintains an endearing honesty throughout and an uplifting message of hope for anyone who has ever experienced or known someone who is consumed by an addiction. I strongly suggest viewing a few of his shows before reading because a) Ferguson is hilarious and b) it was so much fun to hear his Scottish accent in my head while I read. I enjoyed this book. It’s nice to know some people truly love this country. I am reminded of a professor of mine from Uganda who received his citizenship while I was taking his class. We were all so excited for him and he was thrilled. Encountering stories such as these remind me how precious our freedoms are and that the U.S. is still the land of opportunity!
Publisher: Harper, 2009          Source: Purchased at a Local Bookstore
Rating: 4 Stars                          Recommended Age: 16+ (for language and drug use descriptions)

American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham

To fulfill my reading quest for the seventh President of the United States, Andrew Jackson, I chose a substantial and more recent text. I was really excited to read about this dynamic president known as Old Hickory. I wanted to hear about his gallantry at New Orleans during the War of 1812 as well as his coercion and cruelties towards Native Americans. For some reason I thought the head title American Lion meant this text would delve into Jackson’s rough temperament. And it does touch on these subjects; however, the subtitle, in the White House, should have told me that this text focuses on the inner life at the White House during his presidency and not as much on pre or post White House events. In fact, much of the information was about Jackson’s family and how it played an important role in his moods and politics. I became bored with his niece, Emily, whose ideas on who was or was not respectable practically lead to the breakup of Jackson’s cabinet. His family life was important to politics but I felt the text lingered on these issues for far too long. I wanted more about the war hero and less about his family. I got hardly a paragraph on the War of 1812 and am disappointed by that. The text does deal fairly about Jackson’s managing of the Indians and I felt satisfied on that point even if it was sort of brief. Jackson’s issues with the U.S. Bank drag on forever as Jackson became consumed with crushing the institution. Jackson did face serious adversaries from within that threatened the Union which he carefully dealt with to avoid (or postpone) civil war. The text shows how Jackson singlehandedly increased the power of the Executive by the force of his will. So, he did exercise shrewdness in these respects.


I think the text would be more accurately called American Father: Jackson in the White House since Meacham constantly refers to him as a father and how Jackson referred to himself as a father to his supporters, extended family and even Native Americans. This bio hardly touched on the aspects that made Jackson a lion. We rarely see him on the attack during his time as president (save the bank issue) but more as a protective father figure. The prose has a tendency to wander. In one paragraph we hear about Emily and her parties and in the next, Clay and Calhoun’s plots to undermine the president. Subjects are not well weaved together. On the other hand, this text does give the reader a look at the intimate life of Jackson during his two terms. It tells us what it was like for family who lived with a president subject to swings of temperament and a need to control his surroundings. Ultimately, I wish I chose a bio that encompassed Jackson’s entire life to get a better view of his lion-like image. I may have to find a text with a chapter or two that focuses on pre-White House Jackson to get my Battle of New Orleans fix.
Publisher: Random House, 2008     Source: IC Public Library
Rating: 2.5 Stars                                          Pages: 361, 483 with acknowledgments, notes and index

Persepolis II: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi

In Persepolis II, Marjane’s parents send her to Vienna where she lives by herself and grows up quickly. It is an extremely difficult time for Marjane. After four years, she returns to Iran at age 18 with emotional baggage and conflicted feelings. In this poignant sequel, Marjane is a woman of two worlds, feeling western and Iranian but not fully accepted by either culture.

Persepolis II highlights the subjugation and chauvinism exuded by the state that makes it hard for free thinkers to live in Iran. Although the war with Iraq is over, fear is ever prevalent as Marjane and her friends dodge the “guardians of the Islamic revolution.” Marjane struggles to find companions with similar ideologies and often feels alone. This text shows how precious our freedom of speech is as we watch Marjane become paranoid about how she speaks, dresses and draws advertisements for work.

Book two is much more serious as Marjane deals with the burdens of adulthood. She turns to radical friends, smoking, drinking and relationships in an attempt to find a place and purpose for herself. It is her strong will that keeps her going, but even her will wavers when she experiences a severe depression leading to an attempted suicide. As she realizes the extent of the state’s control over her life, Marjane’s perception of and hope in her country changes. I found Marjane’s story to be captivating. She has lead a challenging life to say the least. Her memoir allows readers a peek into a very conservative and foreign culture and how many people there continue to hope for change and peace.
Publisher: Pantheon, 2004     Recommended Age: 15 and up
Source: IC Public Library       Pages: 187
Rating: 4 Stars

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

Marjane Satrapi chronicles her life when growing up during the Islamic revolution. When the Shah is overthrown Marjane and her family are overjoyed but soon realize that their hopes for liberty are being thwarted by a new and powerful regime. While she and her family hold onto their freedom (with clandestine card parties and music bought from the black market) the war with Iraq breaks out, increasing tensions among Iranians as they fight over religion and food supplies. From the innocent and often naïve perspective of childhood, Satrapi presents a dissident voice during a troubling time.

Can one be patriotic and dissident at the same time? The Satrapi family loves their country so much they do not want to leave despite the increasing violence and subjugation. They love their culture, friends and family and feel their life in Iran is better than what it could be anywhere else, including the United States. They want to make their home a better place by staying rather than leaving. It is the people that define a nation and Marjane’s parents want to be a part of that definition. Despite the context she grows up in, Marjane is a typical teenager who wants to go to parties and listen to popular music. Marjane is resilient after all she sees and experiences during protests and war. Seeing Marjane as a typical kid should make it easier for U.S. kids to identify with her and put themselves in her shoes and to ask how they would have felt if they were Marjane’s maid, neighbor or if they were Marjane herself.

I read this book in one sitting and enjoyed it a lot. The text offered an inside perspective of a third-world country that I would likely have never seen otherwise. It shows us what it was/is like for women who are forced to wear the veil. Marjane’s spunky attitude kept me hooked. It was amazing that she never asked the reader for sympathy or pity but to simply listen to her story. She just wants her side of the story, the unheard part of the truth, to be told.
Publisher: Pantheon Books, 2004     Source: IC Public Library                  Pages: 160
Rating: 5 Stars                                  Recommended Age: 13 and up

John Quincy Adams by Robert V. Remini

After a two year break (mostly because of school), my quest to read biographies/autobiographies of each president in chronological order continues with Prez number 6.

This is the second biography from “The American Presidents” collection I’ve read. They are concise and compact bios with enough substance to be informative without getting into the nitty-gritty details. This makes the series nice for those with general interest who don’t want to commit to a detail oriented (and much thicker) bio. This text was exactly what I was looking for. Having read David McCullough’s excellent biography on John Adams, Sr. (all 752 pages), I felt I knew enough about JQA that I didn’t need minute details of his youth repeated to me. Considering JQA kept lengthy journals nearly all his life, I wish there had been even more quotes from him. Other than that, I’ve no complaints with Remini's text.

John Quincy was a genius in several areas, perhaps most notably language. His command at an early age of languages (including French, German and Latin) gave him a great advantage in foreign countries in which he represented the United States for many years. His skill as a foreign diplomat was a great asset to a country that desperately needed foreign recognition as a sovereign power. There’s much more to this man but I’ll let you read his bio for yourself. =)

As always, reading Presidential bios is a great way to learn about U.S. history, the creation of political parties, early journalism and different interpretations of the Constitution throughout time not to mention what early life in America was like. Bios make two-hundred-year-old history come to life by revealing how those lives were lived. How did Mrs. Adams like the White House? What was family life like for a Presidential dynasty? Did you know JQA swam in the Potomac on a regular basis? Presidents are unique people to say the least and John Quincy was no exception.
Publisher: Times Books/ Holt, 2002      Source: IC Public Library
Rating: 3.5 Stars                                   Pages: 155 (172 to the index)

Maus: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman

Another great graphic novel! Maus II picks up where book one left off. Art, the graphic novelist, is still recording conversations with his father. Vladek Spiegelman begins his story again, entering the gates of Auschwitz to endure unimaginable terrors. The novel opens with Art’s misgivings about drawing Vladek’s experience during WWII and about the man he became after the war. Art admits feeling presumptuous and feels the weight of his project. Perhaps more than the first novel, Maus II highlights Art’s conflicted feelings for Vladek. He feels deep respect for his father but struggles to love the miserly and racist man his father is. Moments of such honesty keep readers from idolizing Vladek but to respect his story, to learn what we can from it and to understand each person has his or her own history. And from our personal histories we construct our world view. I think that is one lesson (even though the novelist says he intended no “message”) I get out of reading Maus. Art finds it difficult to be around his father and I think he wants to know Vladek’s story so badly because he desires to understand Vladek’s history, to know the whole person who is his father. Vladek and his wife survive the war but are forever altered.

Maus I/II is a wonderful text to introduce young people to WWII/ the holocaust. It is honest about war cruelties but is not gory. There is some swearing and a few naked mice but nothing graphic or sexual. My recommended age is 13 only because I feel kids much younger may not appreciate the relationship between Art, a grown man, and his elderly father. But don’t let the YA tag fool you. Adults can appreciate Maus as much as young people. It's not strictly a children's story by any stretch. Highly recommended!
Publisher: Pantheon Books, 1991 Recommended Age: 13 and up
Source: IC Public Library              Pages: 136
Rating: 5 Stars

Maus: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleed's History by Art Spiegelman

Maus (pronounced mouse) is a graphic novel that is easily in my top twenty if not my top ten favorite books. This is not simply a comic book about super heroes. Maus is a true story of love and survival during the Holocaust. The narrative shifts between the present and past while the graphic novelist interviews his father about living in Poland during World War Two. It is a riches to rags story as Spiegelman, Sr. loses all his worldly possessions while dodging the Gestapo for as long as possible. Wars may end but their devastating effects are felt for several generations. The narrative structure allows the reader to see how an entire family, born and unborn, are affected by the persistence of and memory of war. World War Two shaped many lives directly and indirectly as seen in the relationships in the Spiegelman family, especially between father and son.

The graphic part of this novel is genius. Spiegelman chose to portray Jews as mice, Germans (presumably all Nazis) as cats and the Polish as pigs. Apparently, the popular German nickname of Poles was pigs, hence their depiction as such in the novel. The mice motif, depicting Jew as victims hiding in holes in the walls, is challenged by the narrative as we see them, not just as victims but as individuals actively fighting for survival. The way people looked was hugely important, race even more so. Imagine people trying desperately to not “look Jewish” and in the novel trying not to look like a mouse. The symbolism of the animals enhances the feeling of isolation as well as camaraderie in the novel. The art allows for body language to become a visible part of the reading experience which allows emotions to come through in a way that words often fail to capture.

Maus was a big surprise. I didn’t expect this kind of experience from a graphic novel. This is my favorite WWII text for sure followed by The Hiding Place and then Last Man Out. Oddly they are all nonfiction which is something I usually don’t get into. But it makes sense that true stories are the most touching and inspiring. I could go on but if you read it for yourself you’ll understand why I like it.
Publisher: Random House, 1986 (originally, 1973) Recommended Age: 13 and up
Source: IC Public Library                                        Pages: 159
Rating: 5 Stars