I recently had an opportunity to review a new children’s book from Craig T. Feigh called “Little Bit & Big Byte.” This is a children’s book with big, colorful pictures and memorable characters (& lessons) written with the high-tech child in mind.
Illustrated by Patrick Carlson, Feigh & Carlson create a cool approach to telling a kid friendly story, without resorting to the use of bugs or animals. (Nothing against bugs or animals, but it’s nice to see something different for a change.)
The book also includes a fun little hide and seek-type game for the kids to see if they can find all of Click’s (he’s a Pointer) bones hidden in each of the pictures of the book. I know my 3 year old enjoyed that part best of all, but I think my 7 year old got the gist of the story too.
I thought the style and layout was excellent, but the story wasn’t as good as the story in the Tiniest Tiger. But that book lacked the beautiful layout and consistent display of art that this book had. If only they could combine the two styles somehow, we’d end up with an instant classic.
This is definitely a book to check out for any tech-savvy kids on your gift list. I’ll give it 3/4.
I am a huge James Bond fan. Was a big fan of the books not long after I was introduced to Dr. No as a kid. Ian Fleming wasn’t the greatest author in the world, but his world was so vivid that I didn’t really care. I devoured all of the novels I could find and eventually read all of the originals from Casino Royale to The Man with the Golden Gun.
So when I saw that another author had picked up the mantle, I was interested. Sebastian Faulks is not an author I’m familiar with, but when I saw that he was picking up where Ian Fleming left off… I was intrigued.
Faulks is not the first author to pick up Fleming’s world. John Gardner between 1981 and 1996 wrote fourteen James Bond novels. I think I read the first four or five before losing interest. By that point, the movies had started to lose their steam. And I never read any of Raymond Benson’s novels when he picked up where Gardner left off.
This book is set during the Cold War. It travels around the world, from London, to Paris, to Tehran and Cold War Russia. It doesn’t fail anything on the Cold War travel docket. Faulks chose not to update the character, but rather to keep it in line with the original Fleming novels.
And this book doesn’t fail to impress. It was a heck of a quick read. I polished it off in about 4 sittings. At 278 pages, it went fast.
I’ll provide the Amazon summary here:
“Devil May Care is a masterful continuation of the James Bond legacy–an electrifying new chapter in the life of the most iconic spy of literature and film, written to celebrate the centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth on May 28, 1908.
An Algerian drug runner is savagely executed in the desolate outskirts of Paris. This seemingly isolated event leads to the recall of Agent 007 from his sabbatical in Rome and his return to the world of intrigue and danger where he is most at home. The head of MI6, M, assigns him to shadow the mysterious Dr. Julius Gorner, a power-crazed pharmaceutical magnate, whose wealth is exceeded only by his greed. Gorner has lately taken a disquieting interest in opiate derivatives, both legal and illegal, and this urgently bears looking into.
Bond finds a willing accomplice in the shape of a glamorous Parisian named Scarlett Papava. He will need her help in a life-and-death struggle with his most dangerous adversary yet, as a chain of events threaten to lead to global catastrophe. A British airliner goes missing over Iraq. The thunder of a coming war echoes in the Middle East. And a tide of lethal narcotics threatens to engulf a Great Britain in the throes of the social upheavals of the late sixties.
Picking up where Fleming left off, Sebastian Faulks takes Bond back to the height of the Cold War in a story of almost unbearable pace and tension. Devil May Care not only captures the very essence of Fleming’s original novels but also shows Bond facing dangers with a powerful relevance to our own times.”
This sums it up nicely. If you’re interested in Bond — Classic Bond or otherwise — this book is for you. An enthusiastic 4/4 for this book.
Sad news to report. I’ve seen it in a number of places this morning. Randy Pausch has died of the pancreatic cancer that drove him to share his amazing view of the world with a global audience.
The Last Lecture is one of those books that stays with you. And I hope that many many more people get a chance to watch the video of his lecture and read his book. He will be an inspiration to those fighting cancer as well as those of us with friends or family fighting cancer.
ABC News has a great article here on Randy’s life and the impact he’s made in his far too short 47 years.
Hopefully in the next life he will have peace. Rest well Randy.
It’s not often that I read non-fiction books. This one was sent to me to read by my mother-in-law (thanks Sue!) and had been recommended online by a number of folks. I just hadn’t had a chance to watch the lecture online (you can see it here).
What a motivating read. Randy Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which is pretty much a death sentence. He did what he could to treat it, but it wasn’t enough and he was given a timeline with which to live the rest of his life. He did the Last Lecture as a monument to his family and friends, so that they could see not only that he had lived his life - but that they should also strive to live theirs.
This is a very inspiring story that anybody should be able to take something away from. Definitely take a look.
The book revolves around Simon — a simple kitchen boy, who has great potential. Similar to the story of the Sword in the Stone, where you have a boy with a destiny being groomed for greatness by those who can see the potential. I was sucked in from the very beginning.
The good doctor Morgenes takes Simon under his wing and tutors him in letters, numbers, and history. And when things go wrong, Simon is helped along his path by the troll Binabik.
The mark of a good story is wanting to know more when the book ends. And I was definitely there. At some point, I will need to rejoin the adventures of Simon and Binabik in their quest to stop the destruction of their world.
If you’re looking for some great fantasy to immerse yourself in, this is a good place to look.
I recently had the great opportunity to read a new children’s book from Joanne L. McGonagle. The Tiniest Tiger documents a lost kitten’s journey through the zoo, talking with the other big cats there and attempting to find a place to call home.
As the author and illustrator of this book, McGonagle has created an amazing story that not only entertains, but educates young ones about some of the endangered big cat species around the world. Each time the kitten visits a new cage or habitat in the zoo, she sees a sign that documents the average size and weight of the animal, their status on the endangered species list, life span (in the wild and in captivity), and where the animal is originally from on a map.
Animals included are:
Tigers
Lions
Cheetahs
Clouded Leopards
Puma
Jaguar
Bobcats
and Ocelots
This captivating tale had my two daughters (ages 7 and 3) and my wife (a veterinarian) listening intently as the kitten tried to find a home. (Spoiler Alert: She does eventually find a home! )
To be honest, I felt there were a couple of language issues in the book where the text didn’t quite flow, but overall the writing was great. And the illustrations were amazing.
This is a book that should find its way into homes with children, school libraries, and your public library without batting an eye.
Thanks for reading! Let me know if you find any great books!
Had an opportunity to check out Molly Brandenburg’s new book — Everyday Cat Excuses: Why I Can’t Do What You Want. Anyone who has owned a cat (or been owned by one) knows that cats don’t listen — they just ignore you or do something THEY want.
Brandenburg both wrote and illustrated this book, published in April 2008. It is definitely a cute book meant for cat lovers. She has a website set up for her book at www.everydaycatexcuses.com.
Did I love this book? Not really. The line drawings were cute, but grew repetitive quickly. There were a few segments of the book I found amusing, notably the hairball sequence and the cartoon of a cat on Kitty Prozac because his/her owners got a dog. But overall I found it unoriginal and repetitive (Sorry Molly).
Sounds like the book has been picked up by a bigger publisher and will be distributed via Barnes & Noble sometime this summer if you’re interested.
But sometimes a book of cartoons just doesn’t live up to the promise of the material. Unfortunately I think this was one of those cases.
I have to share with you a find I made about a week ago. There’s a site called Wowio, which provides sponsored, free PDFs in a variety of categories for you to enjoy. You can only download three a day, but you can queue up as many as you’d like.
I’ve discovered a number of very cool comic books (I’m a closet comic book reader) — including Zero Hunters from writer Jay Carvajal and drawn by Marc Borstel for Cinemacomics. I have to admit I’d never heard of Cinemacomics before, but I have enjoyed the comic series.
More than that, you can find nice editions of classic novels, reference books, fiction, and tons of other things.
Topics include:
Architecture
Arts
Children
Classics
Cooking
Comics & Graphic Novels
Crafts
Fiction
Games
History
Horror
Reference
Science
Travel
and tons of others
I’ve been enjoying having access to all these unique comic books and graphic novels. Definitely a guilty pleasure.
So check ‘em out here. It’s free to sign up and as I said, you can download three a day from their huge list of books. So start reading!
I’ve been jonesing for going to the bookstore for the last week or so and have resisted because of a lack of fundage. But was curious what the folks reading this blog do to curb their appetite for books, at least those who have a bibliophilic nature like myself.
I tend towards Barnes & Noble. Yes, it’s a big chain store I know. But I can browse its shelves in the science fiction or fantasy area for a while, then bounce to the magazine rack, and if I have time hit the history, eastern philosophy, or writing books sections. And if I have my girls with me or am searching for something for them, I almost always have to visit the kids’ book section too.
Though I like Amazon, it’s not the same thing. I like to browse. I like to pick up a book, check out the cover flaps, maybe look at a few pages… But I know a lot of people who simply shop online these days. Now, I’m guilty of that too. If there’s a book I *KNOW* I want, I’ll sometimes just go and order it. But for the most part, I either pick up my books (hardbacks typically) at B&N or order them via the Science Fiction Book Club, which is another of my Achilles heels.
Yes, I like SFBC… I get the mailer and eagerly tear through it every month. I may not buy anything, but it at least gives me ideas. And I probably will actually order something about once a quarter from them. They have good prices and I enjoy 90% of what I order based on the blurb in their mailer.
But B&N is my main source for books.
My mother would prefer I went to the library and just checked them out. “Do you have to buy them?” she’s asked on a number of occasions. And always I have to say “yes”. It’s in my nature. Inherited through my father and my grandmother (his mom), both big book people.
What do you think? Where do you get most of your books? Do you like to browse or simply jump in and order online? Let me know!
fitz in 
Hey all…
Hi all…
