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This post written by Clint The God of Animals
by Aryn Kyle
[cover name=thegodofanimals]
Alice Winston is twelve years old, and she has a rough life. Well, most of the bad things actually happen to people around her, but she has to deal with them all and there is nobody around to help her. Her mother is depressed and spends most of her time in bed. Her father is too busy trying to keep his ranch from going bankrupt to really pay any attention to her. Her sister ran away with a cowboy from the rodeo, so nobody even notices when she outgrows her current clothes.
As if family drama isn’t enough, Alice has to take over her older sister’s chores, including teaching some wealthy but untalented woman, Sheila, how to ride a horse. When one of her friends dies, Alice ends up talking with her English teacher. When he leaves, Alice still needs someone to talk to. She ends up telling Sheila things about her family that cause a lot of trouble, and her family sort of falls apart. Although Alice survives, and might even have an okay future, this story doesn’t really have a happy ending.
You can read some of it online at Google Books.
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This post written by Clint Essex County Volume 1: Tales from the Farm
by Jeff Lemire
[cover name=essexcounty]
Lester is a 10-year-old boy whose mother has just died of cancer. His father is out of the picture, so he goes to live with his uncle Ken, who lives on a farm. Lester loves comic books – he is writing his own, and he sort of lives in his own little comic book world. He wears a mask and cape all the time, and pretends to be a superhero defending humanity. Ken isn’t really sure what to do about this, but he’s pretty sure that letting Lester hang out with Jimmy, who runs the local gas station, is a bad idea. Jimmy is also a comic book fan, and he plays along with Lester’s ideas. Together, they continue Lester’s comic book and build a fort to defend against aliens. Despite Ken’s concerns, Jimmy is able to make a connection with Lester and eventually help him return to the real world.
There are two other volumes in this series, but they aren’t about Lester, Jimmy, and Ken.
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This post written by Clint Nighthogs: a Pearls Before Swine Collection
by Stephan Pastis
[cover name=nighthogs]
Pearls Before Swine is one of my favorite comic strips. Pearls Before Swine is about the adventures of anthropomorphic (human-like) animals; the primary characters are Rat, Pig, Zebra, and Goat. Rat is dishonest and cynical. Pig is… special. But he’s happy, too. Zebra is always trying to help out his relatives who live in the wild, but they always get eaten by lions. Goat is the smart one, so naturally he doesn’t like interacting with the others.
There are a bunch of minor characters, too. Guard Duck is a paranoid duck whose first plan for any situation involves a rocket launcher. Unfortunately, he seems to own a lot of rockets. Snuffles is a cat who divides his time between looking cute and committing all kinds of serious crimes. A whole bunch of crocodiles live next door to Zebra. They would really love to catch and eat him, but they are far too stupid to be a threat (to him, at least). Stephan Pastis, the writer, shows up in the comic strip from time to time. Many of the other characters hate him.
There are a couple of features that may attract or repel you. First, there are a lot of death jokes. If crocodiles show up in a comic strip, odds are that at least one of them will get killed. Some strips start off like “So X died yesterday.” We’ve never met X, but he/she had to die to set up the joke that’s coming. Also, there’s cannibalism. Half the time, when Pig goes to a restaurant, he orders a ham sandwich or a BLT or something else with pork in it. Yeah, Pig’s special.
Second, Stephan Pastis loves puns, and he goes out of his way to work them in. Sometimes a Sunday comic, one of the really long ones, is nothing but preparation for a single pun. I don’t think the puns themselves are always very funny, even for puns, but I really have to laugh at the massive amount of effort he put into setting it up
If you want to see what the comic strip is like, it runs in several Contra Costa newspapers, or you can read it online.
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This post written by Clint The Physics of Superheroes
by James Kakalios
[cover name=thephysicsofsuperheroes]
James Kakalios teaches a class called “Everything I Know About Science I Learned from Reading Comic Books.” Seriously. It’s basically a regular physics class, except that instead of all the stupid examples they use in regular physics classes, he uses crazy examples from superhero comics. The Physics of Superheroes does much the same thing, although it is not a textbook.
The book stats with a short history of superhero comics. Then it looks at different superheroes and superpowers and uses them to talk about different physics topics. Fortunately, the author is a huge comic book fan, so he does not start off the section on Superman by saying, “There’s no way Superman could do any of the stuff you see in the comics. It’s not possible, and here’s why.” Instead, he tells us how (in comic book world) Superman got is powers, focuses on “leaping tall buildings in a single bound,” and uses Newton’s laws to figure out just how strong Superman would have to be to jump that high. He doesn’t just connect superheroes with the basic laws of physics, though. He also works in modern technology, basically using superheroes and supervillains to explain how things like airbags and microwaves work.
The author says you don’t need to know anything about physics (or comic books) to read this. That’s probably true. He also says that, basically, all you need to know about math is
- 1/2 + 1/2 = 1
- so 2 times 1/2 = 1
- and whatever you do to one side of that equation, you have to do to the other.
You might encounter more complicated stuff than this, but the author claims you can skip it. That may be true, too, but I’m not sure. One thing that you should know that he doesn’t warn you about is that he writes like a college teacher. He is much easier to read than any of your college textbooks, but it’s more complicated than Harry Potter. Fortunately, he has good sense of humor and some really interesting topics.
You can read an excerpt online at the author’s website. Or, if you have a student or employee ID for LMC, DVC, or CCC, you can read the whole thing online. Neat!
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This post written by Clint Genghis: Birth of an Empire
by Conn Iggulden
[cover name=genghisbirthofanempire]
Almost a thousand years ago, the Mongol Empire stretched from Eastern Europe all the way across Asia. The Mongol army appeared to be unstoppable – they conquered China, subdued Russia, ran through Afghanistan and Iran, and were on their way through Hungary before they finally stopped. Just decades before they had this massive empire, though, they were a collection of independent tribes. The person who united the Mongols and led them in their conquest of two continents was a man known as Genghis Khan. Depending on who you ask, he was a military genius, a genocidal monster, or fantastic leader.
Before he was Genghis Khan, though, he was Temüjin, the son of a minor tribal leader. Genghis: Birth of an Empire follows Temüjin as he grows up, becomes an adult, unites the Mongol tribes, and invades China. This is fiction, not a history book. However, it is based on historical events, and if you want to learn more, there is a section in the back that talks about the history and compares it to the story.
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This post written by Clint A Fly for the Prosecution: How Insect Evidence Helps Solve Crimes
by M. Lee Goff
[cover name=aflyfortheprosecution]
Forensic entomology is the study of insects and how they can be used to solve crimes and settle lawsuits. When did this person die? Were they poisoned? Was the body moved? Can we prove the suspect was at the scene of the crime? If you are a skilled forensic entomologist, you might be able to answer any of these questions and more.
This book combines some personal stories of the author, such as how he stays sane while examining partially decomposed bodies, as well as the history of forensic entomology, a bunch of interesting examples of cases involving insects, and a some explanation of how it all works. He has one chapter that explains how he does his research, which involves lots and lots of pigs, and sometimes illegal drugs. Apparently, one conversation with a Drug Enforcement Agency officer started with, “Oh, you again.” Another chapter describes the different insects that show up as a body decomposes. If you know the cycle, you can often tell how long ago someone died.
If you aren’t easily bothered by maggots and decaying bodies, and if you really like CSI-stuff, you will probably like this book. It’s not a textbook, but you will learn a lot of neat stuff. It includes a lot of details and science, but it’s still very interesting.
You can read some of it online at Google Books.
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This post written by Clint Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist
by William R. Maples and Michael Browning
[cover name=deadmendotelltales]
If you like CSI or other shows like that, you might want to check out Dead Men Do Tell Tales. William Maples was a forensic anthropologist (someone who studies human remains to try to find out the cause of death and other things like that) and he talks about many different cases he has worked on. Some of the more famous ones include examining the remains of the Elephant Man, seeing if the 12th President of the United States, Zachary Taylor, was poisoned, and flying to Ekaterinburg, Russia, to tell whether nine skeletons there are those of the last members of the Russian royal family.
If you are uncomfortable reading about suicide, murder, or decomposing bodies, you should skip this book. I don’t think Maples goes out of his way to gross anyone out, but he is talking about dead bodies. On the other hand, if you’ve ever wondered how you can identify someone after they have been cremated, how you tell if someone was murdered or committed suicide, how you tell if a skeleton is from a man or a woman, or how you tell which particular brand of saw was used to dismember a body, this might be the book for you.
This is not a textbook. It is more like a biography that focuses on interesting cases Maples has had. He talks about his early life, how he got into forensic anthropology, as well as stories about his work and some general information about forensic anthropology. You get enough of the details to understand the big idea, but Maples mostly focuses on the story. You won’t learn how to do any of the stuff they talk about on CSI, but you should get a better idea of what they are talking about.
If you want to read some of the book online, you can do that thanks to Google Books.
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This post written by Clint His Majesty’s Dragon
by Naomi Novik
[cover name=hismajestysdragon]
Did you enjoy the movie Master and Commander? This book is a lot like that, but with dragons.
His Majesty’s Dragon is set in the early part of the 19th century, during the Napoleonic Wars.* Will Laurence is a captain in the British Royal Navy who captures a dragon’s egg from a French ship. When the egg hatched, the baby dragon attached itself to Laurence. He names the dragon Temeraire, after the famous ship. As far as Laurence is concerned, Temeraire has just ruined his life.
Why? Wouldn’t it be awesome to have your own dragon? Well, not exactly. The dragon becomes property of the British Empire, and since it seems to really like Laurence, he is forced to give up command of his ship and serve in the Aerial Corps. That means living out in the middle of nowhere, where the dragons have the space they need and won’t cause trouble. That probably means never getting married, since the Aerial Corps is no place for a gentleman. As far as Laurence’s wealthy family and friends are concerned, commanding a ship is fine. Commanding a dragon is so undignified.
Temeraire, as it turns out, is an unusual dragon. He isn’t one of the kinds of dragons you find in Europe. Instead, he seems to be some special breed from China. He is smarter than many other dragons – he enjoys being read to, and he questions the way dragons are treated in the military.
Laurence stands out just like Temeraire does in the Aerial Corps. As a former Royal Navy captain, he is very fond of rules and regulations and politeness. Nobody else in the Corps really cares about that stuff. They are misfits, isolated from regular society. Of course, one of the most shocking things Laurence finds is that the Corps allows women to be soldiers.
Laurence also stands out because, despite his obsession with making lower-ranking soldiers salute and call him “sir,” he takes way better care of his dragon than anyone else. Most people in the Corps like their dragons, but they treat them more like pets and horses than people. Laurence is very different – he treats Temeraire like a person, and he thinks all dragons should be treated that way.
A lot of the story is about Laurence loosening up, learning to fit in as much as honor will allow, and dealing with his family, who are not happy about his new position. We also get to see a lot about the daily life of dragons, and we get to watch Temeraire grow up. As you might guess from a book about dragons in the military, there is also some good dragon-to-dragon and dragon-to-ship combat.
If you like Master and Commander and you also enjoy fantasy, this should be the perfect book for you. Unlike Master and Commander, there aren’t many nautical terms in the book, so you don’t need to worry about what a bosun’s chair is or anything like that.
If you want to read the first chapter or so online, it’s on the author’s official website.
* This is also when the Master and Commander series takes place. It’s also when the Horatio Hornblower and the Bolitho series take place. Why? Because Will Laurence and Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower and Richard Bolitho and probably a dozen more fictional captains are all based on the same person, Thomas Cochrane. If you enjoy these kinds of books, you should really read about Cochrane.
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This post written by Clint Three Girls and Their Brother
by Theresa Rebeck
[cover name=threegirlsandtheirbrother]
Daria, Polly, and Amelia, along with their brother Philip, are the grandchildren of a famous (dead) literary critic. The three sisters become major celebrities when The New Yorker publishes a photo of them. Daria, Polly, and their mom are thrilled. Daria wants to be a model, Polly loves to be the center of attention, and mom was almost Miss America and really wants her daughters to be famous. Amelia, on the other hand, has a special talent for seeing disasters coming, and Philip is smart enough to know trouble when he sees it.
The sisters get thrown into modeling, show biz, and the theater, where they meet the kinds of strange people who prey on celebrities – paparazzi, publicists, and a creepy fortysomething guy with a crush on the fourteen-year-old sister. The author, who has worked in the television industry, makes fun of all of these people.
If you’d like to read some of it online, you can, thanks to Google Books.
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This post written by Clint Yakitate!! Japan
by Takashi Hashiguchi
[cover name=yakitatejapan]
How can I describe Yakitate!! Japan? Take some kind of action manga like Dragonball Z or Naruto and replace all the fighting and martial arts and ninja stuff with baking. Or maybe it’s like an all-bread comedy version of Iron Chef, except where the main character is dumb. There’s action and difficult training and secret techniques and excessive drama, all focused around making bread products. There are actually a lot of manga like this in Japan, but they never seem to get translated into English. The basic plot of a lot of these manga, including Yakitate!! Japan, is that some extremely talented cook travels around and defeats many rivals in cooking contests.
Yakitate!! Japan isn’t just about cooking, though. It’s also about comedy. Everything is just over the top – people often have out-of-body experiences after eating a particularly good pastry, for example, and the characters are all a little bit crazy. There are a lot of puns. Other times there will be a parody of some other manga. There is also crude humor from time to time, just so you know.
The hero is Azuma, a sixteen-year-old who wants to invent the best bread in Japan. He calls this Ja-pan, which is a pun, since “pan” means “bread” in Japanese. He’s dumb as a post, but he’s a genius when it comes to bread.
Kawachi is Azuma’s rival/sidekick. They meet when they both apply for the same job at the start of the series. Kawachi knows more than Azuma does about almost everything (he knows what a croissant is, for example), but he is nowhere near as good at actually doing the baking. Even though they work together, he would really like to beat Azuma one of these days.
Tsukino is the manager of the store where they work. She is about Azuma’s age, but she has a talent for finding and hiring skilled people. She is actually fairly normal.
Matsuhiro works at the same store. He’s big, loud, and fond of horses. Oh, and he has an afro. He might be the craziest of the bunch, but he is also very skilled.
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