Posted by Ayanna Grady, Campus Account Rep




Blood Colony, the third in a fiction series of books by Tananarive Due, focuses on a mysterious sect of people who are immortal, and live in a secluded colony in the Pacific Northwest.  Blood Colony in particular tells the story of Fana, a young woman who holds the power to cure nearly all mortal diseases with a few drops of her blood. 

Fana is an integral part of the new Underground Railroad – a distribution network to heal people with "Glow," the street name for her blood. Because of the nature of her talents (reading minds, regeneration, etc...), Fana has been shielded from the outside world. However, as a teenager’s rite of passage, Fana decides to run away from the confines of home to try and share the gift of her blood with the world. Her parents, Jessica and Dawit, set out on a desperate mission to find their once sheltered daughter, but little do they know that there is another group of immortals seeking to locate Fana - religious fanatics that wish to fulfill a prophecy to cleanse the world with "the Blood."

This book will take you to every end of the emotional spectrum – pain, agony, gut-wrenching laughter, horror and hope. Due is an excellent writer that uses beautiful imagery to keep the reader’s attention but this book has more: filled with sharp social commentary, cynical remarks and moments of terror that will have you gripping the pages. I finished in 5 days (reading slowly because I’ve been waiting for nearly 7 years for this book and I was not disappointed!). I highly recommend this book for anyone that may enjoy a thrilling series that spans over 500 years. However, you should read the two novels preceding this one, namely: My Soul to Keep and The Living Blood, before you attempt to read this book. It’s the only way you can fully appreciate the storyline.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Many people will be coming to San Francisco this weekend, on the small scale for the uber-fun (or uber-hated depending on how you feel about bikes vs. cars respectively) Critical Mass and of course, Pride 2008 (which should be particularly colorful considering the recent victory for gay marriage in the state of California).

If you plan on navigating the streets, as they will be full of bikers and floats, I suggest you peer through some literature first, so you don't try to cross Market St. too many times...

You could start here but to get deeper in, may I suggest:

You're going to want to take notes and file your pictures away.  If you want to access the city and do that the Moleskine Notebook series is amazing (the notebook of Hemingway and Picasso, notably).  They have one for most major US cities.

SF, what is it known for more than restaurants?  The food here is awesome, but you'll need help figuring out where on earth to go.  Zagat's is still the standard on this front.  I would definitely Yelp when you get a little more clear on what you're looking for, but the long thing maroon book is still the starting point, no question.

I've said it before, I'll say it again, Lonely Planet is amazing.  Get the SF one here.

Oh, and if you wanna stop by, the ultracool betterworld.com team is here in the Bay, leave a comment with your email, maybe we can go get a drink.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Over in the ATL office, home of book collections, and the Braves and unofficial capital of the Souf [sic], here's what they're reading (when they're not on the phone or emailing you updates):

Roselle - Smart Women Finish Rich (by David Bach, video interview with DB coming soon!)
Erin - Hell to Pay & Soul Circus & American Gods & Good Omens
Lora - Manner of Death & 11 on Top & Thr3e & The Good Guy & The Taking (overachiever!)
Jozi - Emotional Intelligence & Christine & The Enchantress of Florence & She Got Up Off the Couch
Courtney - The Five Love Languages
Angela - The Last Juror
Will - Black Voices
Ayanna - Shattered Trust & Rich Dad, Poor Dad & Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
[Library Team member] - Think and Grow Rich & No Plot, No Problem

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Here at the SF office we have 5 employees, all of whom work in some way or another on www.betterworld.com.  Here's what we've been reading lately between the hours of meeting and phone calls and "networking" at the local watering hole:

Xavier: The Landmark Herodotus (seriously it's like 980 pages of history)
Geoff: Let My People Go Surfing & Crossing the Line
Justin: The World is Flat & The World Without Us
Elina: Chinese Takeout: a Novel
Jack: Made to Stick & Jitterbug Perfume

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

I've read some quality books lately, I'm currently plowing through "Green to Gold" and just cleaned up "Made to Stick."  I also polished "The Alchemist" on two flights from here to Chicago and back (opting for the hypnotics of Coelho's text rather than the standard Jameson on the rocks to get me through).

Made to Stick was great, Green to Gold is a little amateurish in parts for someone already involved in the scene but it's a great conversion book for the old guard and I'll elaborate on my feelings on the Alchemist soon enough.

Those reviews are coming, but what I'm really excited about is a new book by Byron Coley and well known avant-garde Sonic Youth guitarist/indie rock historian Thurston Moore: "No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York. 1976-1980."  Usually I bear no particular love for art books, per se, however their previous effort re: CBGB's, 2005's “CBGB & OMFUG: Thirty Years From the Home of Underground Rock,” was polished and great so I expect nothing less here.  However, CBGB's attacks 30 years, digging deep and producing profound moments from a fabulous collection, how can this new book capture the camera flash of a movement that enthralled and destroyed the Lower East Side in it's brief 4-5 year shelf-life?

Well, that remains to be seen, but I trust that the effort will be fruitful in learning for the uninitiated and will have pearls for even the most accomplished in the genre.  "No Wave" a term said with wink and a kick in the rear to the "new wave" of The Cure and such bands was a music devoid of the previous tropes of rock and is to be particularly appreciated for it's elevation of female rockers (who dominated the scene unlike any before it, save "serious musics" such as opera).  As someone entrenched in the roots of John Cage over John Lee Hooker and Steve Reich rather than Steve Perry, I'm ready for a book that shows the visceral and raw nature of a music that pulled no punches about displeasure with the current music situation.  I'm ready for No Wave.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Maybe you haven't seen the new site yet, that's cool, we can still be friends, but seriously, you should check it out: www.betterworld.com .  If you have, sneak those eyes down to the bottom right to the staff picks section.  There we have a ton of suggestions to ease your searching soul, be it searching for high literary works (Eliot, Pynchon), style (Dior, Victorian era), horror (King), business books (the brothers Heath), or just a good read (Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime anyone?) or Bengal poetry (not even going to try to type that author name, it's not going to go well).

Regardless of what you're into, you're going to find a good suggestion and a good price at the site, so check it out.  Also, expect more reviews and more staff picks coming soon.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

With the exception of academics, and a few serious writers such as NYT's David Carr or the ever loved/hated Sasha Frere Jones ("lack of miscenegation in indie music" seriously, Sasha?) plenty of music criticism comes off as hipster tripe or "rockist" rambling.  33 1/3, the series from Continuum offers a legitimate venue for serious music writers to scribe their research and thoughts about everything from the musicality of great records to the meaning of lyrics to the techniques in the recording.  Each book is a densely packed wealth of knowledge about one particular record.  Thus far I bought Neutral Milk Hotel's "In an Aeroplane over the Sea" as well as My Bloody Valentine's "Loveless" and David Bowie's "Low."

I can't express this enough, this series is awesome.  Whenever I'm going to do a book review, I like to make sure we have it in stock, and if we don't, take the steps needed to get it in stock.  This series I was so excited about I was crossing my fingers when I checked Betterworld.com (which makes it much harder to type, incidentally) but we have many of them!

Anyway, the series in question is called "33 1/3" (after the RPM of a record player for an LP).  You can find their blog here, or the wikipedia entry here.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Here at Better World Books we reach our do-gooder tentacles to many different realms, but now we've cracked a new one: publisher.



Yup.

If you're looking for an objective review of our first book: Jazzocracy, head over to All About Jazz.

An excerpt from the review:

How Will Two of American's Quintessential Icons Foretell the Future?

Presenting Jazzocracy: Jazz, Democracy, and the Creation of a New American Mythology by Kabir Sehgal (Better World Books)

If one wonders how two of the most quintessential American icons relate to each another, consider this thought by one of New Orleans' favorite sons: “Jazz is democracy in action," said Wynton Marsalis.

Ever more so in New Orleans, where the birth of jazz reflected the ease of a mix of many cultures: Caribbean, European, African, among many others. The intent of these cultures to express their ideas to one another via music, civic discourse, festivals, and of course, books, is one of America's most vivid successes.

With its commitment to the promoting literacy worldwide, Better World Books is pleased to return to the New Orleans Public Library for the premiere of the very first book of its new publishing imprint.

On April 17, Better World Books will bring Jazzocracy: Jazz, Democracy, and the Creation of a New American Mythology to New Orleans. Written by Kabir Sehgal, an exciting new author who began the book under study with Douglas Brinkley at Tulane University, Jazzocracy argues the evolution of jazz and democracy is forming our next set of mythologies to govern culture, politics and economics.

For any other writer under the age of 30, these might be dusty topics. But new author Kabir Sehgal magnetizes the two using his personal experience as a jazz musician, political campaign consultant, economist and writer. A graduate of the London School of Economics and Dartmouth College, Sehgal is also a professional jazz bassist, and has played with the Wynton Marsalis Orchestra. He has also worked with the presidential campaign of Sen John Kerry, as well as in the offices of Senators Max Cleland and John Rockefeller, IV. He is an economist with JPMorgan in San Francisco. Jazzocracy is his first book.

[CONTINUE...]

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist


Tom Wolfe, A Man in Full

Hey readers, I was just checking out the New York Times when I saw that their feature "Reading Room" was tackling Tom Wolfe's great-text-cum-awful-movie, Bonfire of the Vanities.  "Reading Room" is an excellent discussion about a text.  In this case it begins with an hour long podcast with Wolfe, discussing everything from journalism to his thesis to his works and then moves forward with some really fascinating discussion about race and the book as a period piece (which I would say, and they would agree, that it is most certainly not).

Anyway, here's the beginning and here's the rest (N.B. like any blog, start at the bottom to sift through the lot).

Posted by Abby Rae LaCombe, Rocky Mountain Regional Director

In honor of the holiday ... Oh, hadn't you heard? Saturday, March 7 is International Women's Day! That's right folks, Better World Books is keepin' you up to date on the obscure but AWESOME holidays.

Anyway, in honor of the holiday, the Better World Books team has narrowed our list of most amazing, substantial and generally badass women (and through thorough debate and numerous arm-wrestling tournaments) down to 10.  We'll be the first to admit that it is not all inclusive, but it's a start ... Just in case you don't feel comfortable conversing on any of these fine women, we've included book suggestions:

(Listed in NO particular order ... seriously, that would be impossible)


Dian Fossey - Gorillas in the Mist


Maria Faustina Kowalska - Diary of...


Mother Teresa - In My Own Words


Princess Diana by Richard Buskin


Jehan Sadat - A Woman of Egypt


Eleanor Roosevelt by Russell Freedman


True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis deMontfort


Lynne Cox - Swimming to Antarctica

 
Jane Goodall - In the Shadow of Man


Rosa Parks - My Story

So get reading and here's your excuse to worship the ladies in your life (as if you don't all the time)

Posted by Kim Emery, Administrative Support Specialist

Every once in a while, you read a book that crosses the line of entertainment  and into the realm of life changing. I am no longer the same since reading SOLD by Patricia McCormick. An easy read, this cleverly written tale follows thirteen year old Lakshimi's life in Nepal, and the devastation that led to her sale into child prostitution. The realities of the torment that follow, literally had me covering my mouth, in an attempt to stifle the moans of anguish I felt for her. As I read of Lakishimi's struggles to survive in this world so new and so devastatingly cruel, I found myself, hand over my heart, thinking of ways to rescue her. But in the end, I found myself sighing with relief and celebrating her victory. READ THIS BOOK! It will give you a perspective on life that is sure to change you forever...hopefully.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Check it out, Wake Up and Smell the Planet is exactly what it says: "The Non-pompous, Non-Preachy Grist Guide to Greening Your Day.  Like most things Grist the book values the balance of utility and humor making it less an on the soapbox indictment and more an on the bedstand read.  Great reviews from anyone who has read it and add one more from me.  Check it out at www.betterworld.com by clicking the cover.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist

Over at Slate, one of my favorite online magazines, the audio book club took on Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love.  Listen to the podcast.  This book is one that is much talked about from people arguing that it's an "original work excellently written in a real woman's voice" to people who see her writing as bordering on  "petty, conceited and fickle."

Decide for yourself at www.betterworld.com

Posted by Jack Hanlon, CBO & Evangelist



Yes, it's another music book.  Originally I picked up Frank Conroy's Body and Soul (possibly a nod to the awesome Benny Goodman song of the same name?) because he's an incredible author.  He penned Stop-Time, one of my favorite books of all time as a high-schooler and I'm re-reading it now, sitting on my bedroom table with my other favorite of all time, The Great Gatsby. 

Body and Soul is also the story of a child piano prodigy.  Unlike my last suggestions however, this one is not by a musician but rather cuilds the story and talks about music in a way that the musician can really feel and the casual reader can get an extremely unique view from.  If you read some of the reviews, both trained and non-musician say that the book looks into what the musician feels in a manner that few have ever seen in writing.

Quit reading this review and get the hardcover for $3.48 and free shipping (in the US).  Wow!  Did I mention it's carbon neutral shipping and money will go to our literacy partners?  But of course you know that already...

Posted by Abby Rae LaCombe, Rocky Mountain Regional Director

I’m excited to say Khaled Hosseini has done it again!  I just finished Hosseini’s second novel (the first being the excellent text-cum-movie: The Kite Runner), A Thousand Splendid Suns and it was awesome!

A Thousand Splendid Suns demonstrates the innate ability of humans to overcome the oppression of social order and war in order to find their own sense of worth and value.  Following the lives of two women who have nothing in common but guilt for their own existences, the book brings to life the plight of women in Afghanistan during the past 40 years.  The story begins in the 1960s and follows two women, Mariam and Laila, through the overthrow of Communism, the constant fighting between warlords, and the institutionalized sexism of the Taliban.

Hosseini has an amazing knack for story telling.  His use of foreshadowing and ability to develop not just believable, but lovable and sometimes equally despicable, characters sets his novels apart from most.  A Thousand Splendid Suns is one of those remarkable stories that encompass true friendship, lost (and found!) love, and the struggles that individuals in war torn countries face.

We in the United States hear frequently of Afghanistan in the news.  We know the realities of Al Qaeda and the Taliban and terrorist training camps, but it is rare that we are exposed to the reality of Afghanistan as a country with a rich history and culture that has been beaten down repeatedly by war and violence. It is rare that we are exposed to the pain that millions have bared, not just since 2001, but for generations. Khaled Hosseini does not just tell us of Afghanistan’s recent history, he shows us how time has impacted the individual lives of its citizens. He turns the anonymous masses we see on the nightly news into souls that we can identify with, giving us a connection for compassion and a greater understanding of the complex political history that has led Afghanistan to the center stage of the 21^st century.

And what’s great is you can support worldwide literacy initiatives by purchasing A Thousand Splendid Suns as well as Hosseini’s first novel, The Kite Runner from www.betterworld.com (click covers)

Posted by Jack Hanlon, Northeast Regional Director

Before I was writing here on the blog and running book drives around the northeast of the US and Canada I was busy being a music major, doing everything from conducting orchestras to playing classical guitar concerts to a regular Wednesday gig at a pub in Ireland.  Even these days I've been known to write the occasional piece for a festival or dance.

Anyway, because of this huge part of my life, I tend to read books that either have to do with music or my other love (modernist literature, particularly turn of the 20th century British lit).

Luckily there has hardly been a better time to be into the former as there are a few great new books for me to suggest that you read (as usual click the cover to check it out at www.BetterWorld.com ):




The one most recently reviewed in the Sunday New York Times Book Review: Grand Obsession.  This text, by Perri Knize describes her search for the perfect piano that takes her on a journey all over geographically and mentally.  It's an entertaining and engaging story that will have you longing to play, be it chopsticks or Chopin.



Not being a piano player didn't take away from my enjoyment of Grand Obsession, but I certainly was more apt to pick up Practicing: A Musician's Return to Music.  I've heard great thing but haven't cracked this one open yet.  I'll review it soon for those of you itching for a book about a classical guitarist who returns after years away from the instrument (tell me almost everyone doesn't regret not continuing their _____ lessons as a kid).



Last is a book I'm just getting through right now called This is Your Brain On Music.  This book approaches music with a far more scientific approach than the previous two.  This book deals with layman's versions of how the brain works in it's approach to listening to, reacting to and generally engaging with music.  Anyone who can understand the haunting quality of a single note or chord or finds themselves playing the same songs over and over needs to check this one out.

Posted by Silvia Sweidan, Northwest Regional Director

After reading John Wood's Book, "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children," I was greatly inspired to say the least. It reaffirmed my commitment to the amazing work we are doing with Better World Books, from simply running book drives on college campuses so we can live in a Better World. On page 116, John asks, "You say you want a Revolution?" and then suggests an answer: "THINK BIG FROM DAY ONE." He continues to say, "when I started Room to Read, I declared immediately that our goal was to help 10 million children to gain the lifelong gift of education." And true enough, Wood's words are coming true everyday of our lives. As you continue your amazing book drives, think BIG and be part of a Better World for all!

Posted by Abby Rae LaCombe, Rocky Mountain Regional Director

Authors in Britain are putting pressure on the Prime Minister to nip illiteracy in the bud. 545 authors signed a letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown expressing their concern over poor reading skills among British youth. An official statistic released showed that one in five 11 year old British school children are not able to read to the minimum standard.

They could be scared of a plummeting book sales, but my bet is that they and many others are scared of a world where kids aren’t well educated enough to read and savor Roald Dahl. Seriously, childhood without Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or The Witches can barely be called childhood.

And before anyone even suggests it, the movies do the books no justice. Grab a cup of cocoa, snuggle up with your favorite Dahl book, and relive your childhood this weekend. I know how to recognize a witch, do you??

Original article



(looking for some Dahl for Christmas?)